To most people, ‘Germany’ plus ‘bikes’ equals ‘BMW’, no questions asked. While BMW is currently the only motorcycle manufacturer in Germany, this has not always been the case. Back in the heyday of German motorcycle production during the 1920s there were 260 independent brands being made in the country. A visit to the the ‘Zweirad Museum’ in Werder, Germany provided me with the opportunity to see some of these machines first hand and to trace the history of German engineering back to its roots.