One of our readers from the land of Oz left a comment on yesterday’s post about Roland Sands, suggesting another possible engine for the bike. What Dodgy found was a 5000cc Rolls Royce Merlin V-twin motorcycle engine!
This engine was built in 1982 and was adapted from a 27 liter V12 aero engine by Australian engineer Lucky Keizer. According to the listing it was used in a streamliner that holds the current Australian record for the 3001cc+ class. The particular V12 used as a source for this V-twin was originally at home on a Mosquito bomber.
The engine uses a handbuilt crankshaft, has 4 valves per cylinder, runs a Rochester carb on a GM 3/71 supercharger. It also includes nitrous with water and glycol cooling. Power output is in the 500 horsepower range though no torque figures are given, those are the numbers I’d like to see! It weighs 330 pounds.
This engine was previously installed in a motorcycle and the photo here has circulated around the Internet for some time. Lucky Keizer has put the engine up for sale, ready for someone else to install it in their own VERY special V-twin custom.
Of course, if you start with a V12 and make a V-twin, you have the makings of 5 more, right? Some resourceful machine shop should look into that, you never know, there may be a huge market for monster V-twin motorcycles. You have to wonder, though, what the rotating mass in that engine would do to the bike’s handling when you try to tip it into the turns, could be exciting!
Thanks for the pointer, Dodgy!
Link: 5000cc Merlin V-twin Motorcycle Engine For Sale
The Kneeslider: V-twin motorcycle from a 9 cylinder radial
