It's probably apparent that I like motorcycle engines. Old motorcycles and motorcycle engines are especially neat because there was such a wide variation in their design and appearance. Today, many engines are hard to distinguish from one another. As I was looking for something else I came across this web site, the Wolverhampton Museum of Industry in England. Now I admit I … [Read more...]
48 cylinder motorcycle engine
No sooner do I mention motorcycle engines up to 8 cylinders and someone points out a 12 cylinder made from two inline sixes. OK, today I come across this, this ... oh heck I don't know what this is. 48 cylinders! I would chalk this up to Photoshop but there's a video on the website. Hmm... … [Read more...]
Hydrogen engines
Yesterday's post about engines led to a comment by Doug Staab who wondered what a hydrogen engine would sound like. Well, it might sound a lot like the engines we already run. Some college students, way back in 1972, converted a Gremlin to run on hydrogen and the engine they used was a transplanted Boss 351 from Ford. The exhaust was water vapor and it actually was cleaner than … [Read more...]
Motorcycle engines and car engines and airplane engines and …
I've always loved internal combustion engines, anything that powers and moves something else is fascinating. These days, electric motors are getting into the act but they don't hold the same appeal, at least not for me. I like cars, but there's often so much sheet metal and plastic covering up the engine we lose sight of the mechanical drive system and that's what is so cool … [Read more...]
Diesel motorcycles
I mentioned here that some diesel motorcycles had been out speeding at Bonneville and admitted I hadn't given much thought to them before but after coming across more info I see good reasons for them. Especially in military applications, everything else runs on diesel already so using the same fuel is a big advantage plus it's more efficient, the bikes get over 100mpg and … [Read more...]
Motoczysz C1
An American Builder Builds a Racer and it's an amazing piece, the MotoCzysz C1! Michael Czysz has a running prototype that's getting coverage in the motorcycle press and it deserves a lot of attention. An inline 4, mounted longitudinally usually has a lot of torque transferred to the bike, so Czysz split the four into a pair of twins then reversed the front pair so it … [Read more...]