SHL M04 "kielecka"

SHL M04 "kielecki" version (i.e. built by Huta Ludwików in Kielce, before production was moved to Warsaw). M04 was built in Huta Ludwików (Ludwików Steelworks) from 1949 to 1951. The motorcycle was fitted with two-stroke, one-cylinder "S01" engine, manufactured by PZL Psie Pole in Wrocław both for SHL and for Sokół motorcycles. The engine displacement was 123cc, and power output was 4HP at 4250 rpm. M04 had three-speed foot operated gearbox and 6V alternator. There was no battery, no electric horn and no stop light. Front suspension: girder fork, rear - none. Weight about 80 kg, top speed: 67 kph, fuel consumption: 2.8 ltr./100km.

Production of SHL motorcycles was renewed short after WW2, in 1947. First bikes were assembled by Państwowe Zakłady Samochodowe nr2 (National Automobile Works no2) in Warsaw, using pre-war spares from Huta Ludwików and original DKW engines, and then S01 engine 123cc designed for Sokół 125 motorcycle and manufactured in Wrocław. 203 units were built before the pre-war supplies were drained. This early SHL model was named M02 (model no. 2) because Sokół 125 was considered to be the model no. 1. In this time Huta Ludwików, SHL home factory, was struggling to be allowed to continue their brand. In 1948 the SHL production was reactivated there, and Huta Ludwików was renamed to Kieleckie Zakłady Wyrobów Metalowych. The Warsaw factory was charged with a task of assembling Sokół 125 instead. In 1948 Kielce works started the production of SHL M03, a model which contained only few pre-war parts. About 350 units were built. The main difference between Sokół 125 and SHL M03 was frame construction. Sokół frame was made from expensive imported seamless steel pipes, and SHL frame was built from C-shaped sections, just like on original pre-war SHL 98. The engine was the same in both motorcycles, and many other components, in time, got unified to decrease production cost. That's how the next SHL version emerged, SHL 125-U48 ("u" for unification, "48" for a year). Next year the changes to the contruction were made, the frame being reinforced and stiffened. This 1949 model was named SHL 125-M04. In 1950 Sokół 125 was discontinued and M04 became the only motorcycle available on Polish market. It was manufactured in Kielce by the end of 1951. About 18 500 units of SHL M04 were built there. Then the goverment decided to move the motorcycle production to Warsaw. The previous National Automobile Works was renamed to Warsaw Motorcycle Factory (WFM), and by June 1954 another 27 000 units of M04 were built there. The production of S01 engines also was moved to WFM. The successor of M04 was M05 with improved front suspension (obsolete girder fork was replaced with telescopic fork). It stayed in production until the beginning of 1955 (about 12 500 units were built). Later SHL brand was discontinued and WFM factory started to build motorcycles with their own logo.