My Personal Leitra Story

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Leitra logo © by Carl Georg Rasmussen
White Leitra Photo © by Arno Schröder
Yellow and blue Leitra (convertible) Photo © by Friedhelm Schwegler

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First Contact

I first found out about the Leitra when a friend of mine was at an exhibition of special bikes (which shows just about everything which is not a "normal bike") in Germersheim, Germany in spring 2002. He told me about some bikes with fairing he saw and being a person who always disliked getting wet in the rain on a bike, I was very interested in those. So I went on the net and tried to find information about fully faired cycles, and I found - amongst others - the Leitra.

From the first minute, I was fascinated by the Leitra. There are other bikes with full fairing on the market, but I got the impression that the Leitra is the one wich is most adapted to daily use. There are so many small details I really love on the Leitra - but I will tell you later about those.

There is a mailing list on yahoo which covers the Leitra, and being very interested in the vehicle, I subscribed to the list. I posed the question if anyone on the list knew where I can see a Leitra in reality near my hometown. I was really surprised about the number of people who offered me a test ride. And I was also very delighted to even recieve a mail from the builder of the Leitra, Carl Georg Rasmussen himself!

Riding the Leitra

I then arranged a test ride with Jürgen Eick of Rüsselsheim who manages customer relations for Carl Georg in Germany. He sent me a big amount of information before so I was already quite well informed what I had to expect.

I had a my camera with me complete with a bag for different lenses and it was very nice to be able to put all of it into the "boot" of the Leitra. Getting into the Leitra is very easy - I had more problems getting into a Mazda Miata roadster once ;-) - since there is no handlebar as on a normal bike. The Leitra is controlled using two side sticks (much like an Airbus A 320 - unfortunately it doesn't fly as well as the latter) which always move in opposite directions. The steering, in fact, is a lot of fun because it is very responsive and accurate. Carl Georg has really done a great job on the steering.

Actually, I tested two Leitras on that occasion, because Jürgen's Wife also owns one and I also had a friend of mine with me so we switched bikes several times. The older one was about 20 years old and had some 70,000&km under its belt. Its was also not as well equipped with springs as the newer one. And you could really feel the difference!

What I loved straight away was the very comfortable riding position sitting in the very well designed seat. Almost as being at home in your living room - only the TV is missing... ;-). Unfortunately, we had no rain that day, so I was not able to test that.

After getting going, I was very surprised how hard it was to keep up the pace. But this soon turned out to be an illusion, because I was not used to riding bikes with no wind in my face. It takes away the feeling of speed a little bit in the beginning. But you get used to it. I was able to keep a pace of 25 km/h very easily. On a normal bike, this kind of speed is already quite a challenge for me.

After the test ride we talked with Jürgen and his wife for a bit (thanks for the cake and the tea, by the way!) to answer some of the questions me and my friend had after riding the Leitra. It was a very nice evening - it is really a pleasure to find such freindly people as the Eicks.

Obtaining a Leitra

Just a few days after the test ride the weather in Germany started to become really dreadful - rain, rain, rain. Not really typical july weather for a city like Karlsruhe which normally logs the second most sunny days in Germany after Freiburg. And it was in those days that I decided that I really need a Leitra. I sent an email to Carl Georg in Denmark and paid 50% of the total amount to him. Fortunately, there is a bank account in Germany of the german Leitra GmbH, otherwise it would have been necessary to pay a lot of fees. International money traffic is really expensive!

All I can do now is to wait until november. I will then go to Denmark and help finish my Leitra which I think is a great offer, because it gives a great opportunity to learn all about the mechanical things, which really is an advantage, considering the very low density of Leitra service points in Europe. ;-) In addition to that, you can stay at the factory for free and you even save a bit on price by helping in the assembly of the bike. Does anyone know a car manufacturer which offers something like that? :-)

Sure, the Leitra costs quite a big amount of money for a bike, but you have to consider what you get for it: A bike which is enjoyable at almost any weather you can think of. A bike which is fun to drive and has storage room for your daily shopping. A bike that helps you control the temperature very easily (have you ever forgotten your coat when riding home late after a party?) and - best of all - a bike which also offers you a close realation to the manufacturer and other riders.

To be continued...


Michael Koppenhoefer

Please notice the important remarks and the disclaimer on my main page.