As mentioned before, AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days at Mid-Ohio is one of those events you really should attend if you have any interest in motorcycles beyond the latest and greatest factory offerings. I’ve already pointed out a couple of bikes, the Doublewhiz and the Munch Mammut replica, but there were thousands of motorcycles at the track, some in the various show areas and displays and some rare finds were just ridden in and parked among the most common daily riders. You needed to keep your eyes open because you might see something really interesting almost anywhere.

Here are just a few bikes of interest in no particular order:
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After the story about adsorbed natural gas conversions for motorcycles, one commenter said, “If one could fill up at home that would be really cool.” Well, with Phill, you can. Made by FuelMaker, Phill is what is termed a Vehicle Refueling Appliance (VRA) and is one of several products made by the company. It hangs on your garage wall and is connected to your home natural gas supply lines. It has been designed to work in the U.S. with the Honda Civic GX, a natural gas powered car, and the Sierra and Silverado from GM. In Europe, a lot of vehicles can be refilled with it, however, no motorcycles are on the list, yet. You simply plug in the line when you park in the garage and Phill refills your tank and automatically shuts off when done.

Phill is what is termed a “TimeFill” appliance, meaning it refills the tank at a slower rate while it compresses the gas. There are also “FastFill” solutions for fleets which uses pre-filled tanks to transfer already compressed gas in a couple of minutes.

Phill works with CNG solutions, not the ANG setup we wrote about from EnergTek, however, a similar solution may not be far off for that technology either, especially since there is growing interest in natural gas as an alternative fuel. This type of switchover from gasoline to natural gas in the internal combustion engine could happen very quickly compared to the time necessary before we’ll see widespread use of electric vehicles.

It’s interesting how much new technology is appearing, or in many cases, how quickly existing technology is becoming well known, as a result of the run up in gasoline prices. I think natural gas has a lot going for it, ANG in particular, and I would be interested in seeing some natural gas conversions on a variety of motorcycles to see how well it works.

Link: Phill by FuelMaker

Adsorbed Natural Gas (ANG) is a technology that’s been around for a while but has been getting more attention for the obvious reason that gasoline prices are forcing us to look at alternatives and I wondered recently which technology would eventually win. ANG conversions for motorcycles are interesting because they can be used to convert 2 stroke engines, as well as 4 strokes, over to this cleaner burning alternative.

Adsorbed natural gas is the technology that uses a filler material inside the gas canisters that allows it to hold more natural gas at the same pressure or the same amount at a lower pressure. Although most of us are familiar with compressed natural gas (CNG), the cylinder pressures (200-250 bars) involved make some folks a little nervous, even though the cylinders are very safe. Fill that cylinder with the right material and you can lower the pressure (30-70 bars) and still have the same amount of natural gas. Even better, with the lower pressures involved, you can use other shapes besides cylinders which obviously makes fitting them into odd places a lot easier. Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) is even more difficult to handle than CNG.

One company, Energtek, Inc., has just announced a plan to power motorcycles in Asia with ANG, the only modification necessary is a $200 conversion. The ANG is stored in canisters that can be swapped out in less than 1 minute. To work on a large scale, natural gas filling stations would be necessary to stock the containers so someone can pull up and purchase a full one for the swap, something which should not be too difficult to set up, certainly easier than setting up a CNG refueling station.

I’ll be watching this develop, it sounds like it has a lot of potential.

Link: Energtek
Related: Which Motorcycle Engine Technology Will Win?

Last year we had an article about the Munch Mammut replicas being built by Mike Kron of Germany. Over the weekend I had a chance to look one over closely at Vintage Motorcycle Days 2008 at Mid Ohio. Looking at a line of bikes from a distance the Mammut immediately caught my eye because it has a very distinctive shape from almost any angle. When I approached it looked exactly as it should, at least exactly as any photo I had ever seen since this was my first encounter with one in the metal, and if it were not for the information provided, you would assume it was a perfectly restored original.

The workmanship on this bike is phenomenal, every inch is perfect. This is a replica of a 1968 model and as such, it reflects the technology of the time, but there are a lot of things you might miss if you didn’t look carefully.

This bike has Weber carbs which were a high performance option on the originals. The rear suspension is interesting, the chain case on the left is a cast assembly and makes up the left side of the swingarm, a hydraulic chain tensioner does away with the need for adjustment slots for the rear axle.

This bike is not as big in person as it might look in photos and it actually weighs only 470 pounds, (there is some question about this figure, it may be much higher, 675 lbs ?) compared to most cruisers today, it’s a lightweight. True to its era, the tires seem a bit skinny for the power of the engine.

These bikes are accurate down to the recreated castings and, never having seen an original, I wouldn’t be surprised if this one was finished better than they were then. Anyone who enjoys seeing the work of a highly skilled builder would love to look one of these over. Very nice!

More photos below: Read the rest of this entry »

For all of you small displacement, lightweight motorcycle guys, here’s something I came across as I wandered around Vintage Days 2008 at Mid Ohio. It’s called Doublewhiz for the twin engines it currently sports. Total displacement is 276cc. The engines are Whizzers, or whoever made them for Whizzer, and power runs through a 3 speed transmission. I’m not sure of the year this modified bike is based on but it is pretty cool. Just shows how a custom builder will start modifying just about anything for a bit more performance so no matter how anemic some future vehicle might be, some guy will always look at it and start to wonder, “What if …?” and the process begins.

Whizzer has been making motorized bicycles since 1939 but the company has changed hands and gone out of and back into production over the years but they still retain the motorized bicycle form of the originals. Current models are 138cc with a top speed of 25 mph.

I don’t know if this is any kind of daily rider but I bet it has enough performance to get this guy wherever he needs to go for short trips and errands, maybe even back and forth to work. It’s certainly as practical as some of the first electric motorcycles being built and it probably has a much greater range. Interesting.

The other American cruiser company, Victory Motorcycles, is celebrating their 10th anniversary and their 2009 lineup is out. After introducing the Victory Vision last year, changes this year are a bit less dramatic. There’s a new 106 cubic inch Freedom V-Twin and a new Kingpin Low. The rest of the lineup seems to have only minor changes.

The Freedom V-Twin is a new 106, not the 106/6 found in the Vision. The 4 valve overhead cam engine puts out 97 hp and 113 foot pounds of torque compared to 92 hp and 109 foot pounds. This new engine will be found in the Hammer and Jackpot cruisers.

The Kingpin Low is exactly that, a closer to the ground version of their Kingpin cruiser with a seat height of only 22.5 inches, which should make any rider with shorter legs happy. Many women, especially, are on the lookout for bikes with a more accommodating seat height, the Kingpin Low looks like a solid contender in that area.

Link: Victory Motorcycles

When you think about vintage motorcycle ads, Zundapp probably doesn’t spring to mind. You’re thinking Honda or Norton or BSA, but Zundapp? Sure, and as these ads show, they were just as much into the idea of mixing motorcycles and pretty girls as anyone else, even though the one ad shown below tries to explain why but most guys don’t need an explanation, the girl catches their eye and if the company is lucky, somehow the ad connects the two in the guy’s mind and he runs down to his dealer with cash in hand.

Zundapp, Zunder Und Apparatebau GMBH, (Fuse and Apparatus Construction, Ltd.) started out making shell fuses for Krupp in World War I. Over the years they made outboard motors, sewing machines and even airplane engines but in 1921 they made their first motorcycle, the Z 22. In WWII, they produced the 4 stroke shaft drive KS750 with a power takeoff to drive a sidecar wheel and it saw action with the German army. They later began building 2 strokes and the KS100 featured in these ads is an example from 1966. Nice ad, nice little bike.

Complete ads below: Read the rest of this entry »

We’ve mentioned a couple of times how many Super Cubs have been rolling off the assembly lines, first 50 million, then recently they passed 60 million and now Honda held a celebration at Honda’s Kumamoto Factory where Super Cub is produced in Japan to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Super Cub production.

Honda began making the Super Cub C100 in August of 1958, a 49cc, 4.5 hp single cylinder 4 stroke and the rest is motorcycle history. In 1961 production began in Taiwan, the first location outside of Japan and currently it’s being produced in 16 plants in 15 countries. Who would have thought this little machine would become as popular and long lasting as it has? It still ignites memories for many riders who remember their first ride on a Super Cub, me included, I wonder how long it will continue to help keep people on 2 wheels?

From Honda:

“The reason we have been able to continue producing and selling Super Cub for 50 years, which is quite a long time, is because of our customers who enjoy using Super Cub every day,” said Takeo Fukui, president & CEO of Honda Motor Co, Ltd. “I would also like to thank Honda associates who have supported the history of Super Cub. Super Cub has continuously advanced to accommodate the needs and preferences of people throughout the world, and cumulative worldwide production of Cub series motorcycles reached the 60 million-unit milestone in April of this year. Moreover, in this year of the 50th anniversary of Super Cub, a new motorcycle plant has been built at this Kumamoto Factory, and the transfer of motorcycle production to the new plant will be completed within this year. I expect Kumamoto Factory to serve as the global leader of Honda’s motorcycle production operations around the world and to continue providing our customers with products that create new value.”

Key milestones of Honda Super Cub Series:
August 1958 - Sales of Super Cub C100 began Production site: Yamato Plant (later became Saitama Factory Wako Plant)
1959 - Exports to the U.S. began
1960 - Production at Suzuka Factory began
1961 - Cumulative production reached 1 million-unit milestone
Production based on component parts sets began in Taiwan (first production outside of Japan)
1964 - Sales of Super Cub C65 (the first OHC engine) began
1966 - Sales of Super Cub C50 (OHC engine) began
1967 - Cumulative production reached 5 million-unit milestone
1974 - Cumulative production reached 10 million-unit milestone
1983 - Fuel consumption of 180km/liter (30km/h constant-speed test value) achieved (Super Cub 50 Super Custom)
1988 - Sales of Press Cub began
1991 - Production was transferred to Kumamoto Factory
1992 - Cumulative production reached 20 million-unit milestone
1997 - Sales of Little Cub began
2005 - Cumulative production reached 50 million-unit milestone
2007 - An electronically-controlled fuel injection system, Honda’s PGM-FI, was installed on Super Cub 50, Press Cub 50 and Little Cub.
2008 - Cumulative production reached 60 million-unit milestone (April)

Related: Honda 50 was High Mileage Champ 45 years ago
Related: Honda Super Cub Gets Fuel Injection