Motorcycle builder is a term we often use around here but it's becoming more apparent it doesn't do justice to the full range of skills and capabilities found among "builders." An article in the November 2006 issue of The Classic Motorcycle caught my eye, it's actually the story of the motorcycle engine shown on the cover. The engine in question is an air cooled 50 degree … [Read more...]
Radial Engine Motorcycles – Redrup Radial
The Redrup Radial engine is new to me but it's actually quite old. After all of our coverage of radial engine motorcycles using the Australian Rotec 7 cylinder radial like the one built by Jesse James and the radial motorcycle built by JRL Cycles that they actually plan to produce, I received several pointers to the Megola radial engine used in a motorcycle many years ago where … [Read more...]
Rocket Bike Leads to Rocket Truck
Some of you may remember the rocket bike powered by roofing tar built by Tim Pickens some months back. He was experimenting with the engine and kept building more powerful versions, getting up to 200 pounds of thrust which worked well enough on the bike but he had more ambitious plans, like putting a much bigger version in a pickup truck. Well, Tim has his truck now, a 2003 … [Read more...]
Steam Engine Motorcycle – Hubbard Steamcycle
Steam engines would seem to be a bit impractical as motorcycle powerplants go but they look so cool you just have to try. This particular steamcycle is being restored by Jim Anderson of CAMA, the Connecticut Antique Machinery Association. It was built in the early '70s by Arthur "Bud" Hubbard of Monroe, CT following a design from The Model Engineer and Electrician in an article … [Read more...]
Kawasaki ZX-14 Runs Over 200 mph
A ZX14 prepared by Brocks Performance Products ran 200.92 mph at the ECTA (East Coast Timing Association) speed trials in North Carolina a few weeks ago. There have been quite a few street bikes able to crack the 200 mph mark in recent years but this ZX14 did it without nitrous, without a turbo and without a supercharger. This was no big bore monster, either, in fact, it was … [Read more...]
Lacing a Spoked Motorcycle Wheel
In the family of skills broadly known as motorcycle building, many skills are a subspecialty in themselves. We can learn each of these individually and do reasonably well though we may never reach the proficiency of those who decide to practice their art and become true masters, metal shaping being one of the best examples. Lacing wheels, on the other hand, though certainly not … [Read more...]
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