It replaced Werner's 1897 model, whose motor placed above the front wheel caused handling problems.

[4] Some 50, now known as the "Leitner Rossiya Motorcycle", were also produced under license in Russia with Fafnir engines at the Riga bicycle works.

[4] The New Werner's lasting innovation was to place the engine at the lowest point in a bicycle-style diamond frame, where a bicycle crank would have been (the bicycle pedals, crank and redundant chain were relocated rearward and retained for starting and hillclimbing assistance).

[citation needed] The New Werner was selected by Cycle World's Kevin Cameron as the most influential motorcycle of all time.

[10] It was shown in the Guggenheim Museum's 2001–2003 The Art of the Motorcycle exhibition in Las Vegas.