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to the Archive indexRecently, I received an e-mail from Finland asking if I had any information on a Polish moped called the Komar. I hadn't heard of it but a couple of evenings' research turned up this advertisement in a 1964 issue of The Motor Cycle:
...but that's all. Does anyone know any more about this machine?
First published - February 1998
Founded in 1957 the United Bicycle Factories Bydgoszsc (ZZR = Zejednoczone Zakłady Rowerowe Bydgoszsc) manufactured the Komar (Polish for mosquito ) since 1960. The Komar soon became one of the most popular mopeds in the Peoples' Republic of Poland. Beginning in about 1965, the moped was exported to other states of the Eastern Bloc and also to Western Europe. As far as I know there have been exports of the Komar to Sweden, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the Federal Republic of Germany (amongst others). In the Federal Republic of Germany the Neckermann Versand (back then the market leading mail-order firm in West Germany) was the sole importer of the Komar. There the Komar MR-232 and Komar MR-2320 have been sold as Neckermann CONDOR Record 25 (1966) and Neckermann CONDOR Record 50 (1968).
Equipped as standard with a 50ccm (49.8ccm) two-stroke engine the Komar was produced until 1983. There have been only a few technical changes but quite a lot of modifications to the frame and the attachment parts. The most important changes were the implementation of kick starters, frame and fork suspension in 1969 (Komar MR-2330).
There is no official information available about specific quantities of the production and the export of the Komar. Also I haven't succeeded in finding information about other still existing and running Komars as well as manuals (except in Polish). Even nowadays the acquisition of original spare parts in Poland and re-mafuctured spare parts in Hungary is still possible, though becoming more difficult lately.
| Model | Years of Manufacture | Colours |
|---|---|---|
| Komar MR 230 S02 | 1960-1962 | cherry red grey |
| Komar MR 231 S38B | 1962-1963 | cherry red |
| Komar MR S1 | ? ( 1964 ) | ? |
| Komar MR 232 | ? ( 1966 ) | dove blue |
| Komar MR 2320 | 1967 - 1969 | white & red dove blue |
| Komar MR 2330 S38B4 | 1969-1973 | cherry red cherry red & black white & blue |
| Komar MR 2328 S38SH | 1970-1974 | black & blue |
| Komar MR 2338 S38SH | 1970-1974 | black black & blue |
| Komar MR 2350 S38ZB4 | 1970-1978 | cherry red cherry red & black white & blue |
| Komar MR 2351 S38ZB4 | 1975-1980 | orange red green & black |
| Komar MR 2352 | 1978-1980 | orange blue red |
| Komar MR 2360-2361 sports S38ZB4 | 1972-1975 | cherry red white white & blue black & white |
| Komar MR 2352W | 1975-1983 | ? |
All the information above is based on private internet sites, oral traditions and collected works like manuals, photos and vehicle documents and therefore may include inaccuracies and mistakes. The author just edited all this information and isn't responsible for any inaccuracies and mistakes.
Düsseldorf, Germany - October 25th, 2006
I am grateful to Sören Volkenborn for providing this translation of an article he wrote for his MC Volkenborn-Tower an Friends website.