IWL SR 56 Wiesel

IWL SR56 Wiesel

IWL came from East Germany and were built south of Berlin and used MZ engines. MZ at the time had the pioneer of 2 stroke race development but at around 5 bhp this single cylinder wasn’t going to be a race engine. These are big and heavy and low to the ground. SR meant Town Scooter so it wasn’t aimed at touring like other Scooters were used.

These look long and low with plenty of metal work to work on, in the UK they are very rare, in Europe there are lots, they made nearly 60’000 of this model. The SR56 was the second model made, the first was a ‘Pity’ the one I have missing, I’ve tried bidding a few times and lost – they fetch silly money these days and are rare.

This one I found in Berlin, it was owned and restored by a mechanic who built Armoured cars for the Gulf, that sounded good enough for me so bought it. When it came is was as good as described.

If I ever get time, I’ll put some petrol in it and try to put it on the English roads.