The Welbike - a British motorcycle fitted in an air drop canister for use during WWII

**machining 4 all** · Mar 6, 2021, 02:00 PM

**mklotz** · Mar 6, 2021, 03:46 PM

Was the production version issued with an accompanying clown costume?

**machining 4 all** · Mar 6, 2021, 04:40 PM

The circus only catches fire when you give confidence to the clown ...

**NortonDommi** · Mar 6, 2021, 06:28 PM

My father was in the 2nd Paratroopers and said these things were usually chucked out far away from the drop zone so they didn't have to bother with them. Might be useful to have in the boot of your car in case of a breakdown but these days an electric scooter would be better.

**machining 4 all** · Mar 7, 2021, 05:49 AM

It's a noisy motorbike! Its driver would be easily found on the battlefield and shot. If it were electric, it would be silent as a cat ...

**mklotz** · Mar 7, 2021, 08:49 AM

Originally Posted by machining 4 all

It's a noisy motorbike! Its driver would be easily found on the battlefield and shot. If it were electric, it would be silent as a cat ...

Indeed; riding into battle at 20-30 mph in a tank or APC might be OK but fully exposed on a noisemaker would be lunacy.

**clavius** · Mar 7, 2021, 11:49 AM

I think these things were intended to be used by couriers and the like, it was one of those ideas that somehow seemed good at the time but did not work out all that great in practice.

**olderdan** · Mar 7, 2021, 12:31 PM

Post war in london I would often see those Wellbikes being used for go to work transport.

**Drew1966** · Mar 8, 2021, 08:52 PM

They were great fun to play with when I was a kid.

**old kodger** · Mar 9, 2021, 02:48 AM

Originally Posted by olderdan

Post war in london I would often see those Wellbikes being used for go to work transport.

were they Wellbikes or Korgi's that was also a folding motorbike. incidentally a few years ago (maybe 20) there was an Italian folding motor scooter aimed at yachties called a DeBlasi, didn't survive long in the market place