Oddball engines and prototypes

[guyhockley]

Most of the 2T Detroit diesels I worked on had spring loaded flaps poised over the blower intake. Knob in the cab pulls the pin. Was maybe 2-3mm thick plate, and I once had occasion to use one on a 671 on a dyno. It came out later looking like an ashtray.

I once had the engine in my van (2.1l turbo diesel) ticking over with no air cleaner on and made the mistake of leaning over the intake...

[WilDun]

Problem is Willy that the crankshafts and 70 mm con rods keep breaking, however the STRIKE Ozzie made piston has survived through all the testing to date

Looks like you'll have to buy in some cheap Chinese pistons to fail first and hopefully cure that problem then!



BTW, why are the rods and cranks breaking? I would assume that you are using standard competition kart engine parts.

[guyhockley]

Turning 4 into 2

[ken seeber]

BTW, why are the rods and cranks breaking? I would assume that you are using standard competition kart engine parts.

Willy, nothing has broken yet, just drawing a possible association to the dimension of the Ryger bottom end and how it handles, or ever handled, 30,000 rpm.

Guy, good article.

[WilDun]

Willy, nothing has broken yet, just drawing a possible association to the dimension of the Ryger bottom end and how it handles, or ever handled, 30,000 rpm.

Guy, good article.

Ken,
I guess there must be some way of making engines produce much better power and torque without the crazy RPM now seemingly required to obtain higher horsepower. - Just like the sixties when the major manufacturers obtained high power outputs by increasing the revs to obscene levels (by the standards of the day) and sacrificing torque to the extent that they were even trying 14 speed gearboxes!
Then the (sensible in my opinion) rule makers restricted gearboxes to 6 speed and reduced the number of cylinders allowed, this actually forced research toward increasing the torque instead - and it worked!
But now the trend is toward revisiting the folly of the sixties, ie obtaining horsepower by increasing the revs.

Yes Guy,
I hadn't ever heard of that one, a great effort! - he didn't need to use revs to make that a good machine!

BTW, I did say a few pages back that Dovisioso was a very intelligent rider - the last Moto GP (Austrian) proved that! and Marquez has been reinstated to my list of good riders (was out of favour for his antics against Rossi etc.).

[ken seeber]

Getting a bit quiet here. Have a look at this for some impressive numbers:

http://newatlas.com/indian-motorcycl...h-bajaj/50859/

Tons of YouTubes on how they're made

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4AuIFqneUU

[WilDun]

That's a pretty amazing story! I had 3 Royal Enfields, I started off with an ex army RE1 two stroke (one of the actual wartime models which were dropped in to the troops in Europe by parachute and I'm pretty sure our Dutch friends were quite familiar with those! Then a 350cc model G and finally a 500cc Bullet.
Yes they are like the Harleys but sold in India in much greater numbers - it does prove though that hi tech isn't always the best way to go! - I mean, if we all raced something like a 350 bullet we would still have a helluva lot of fun!
What impressed me more than anything in that factory was the guy painting the stripes on the petrol tanks with a brush! - that is skill!

[guyhockley]

I mean, if we all raced something like a 350 bullet we would still have a helluva lot of fun!

Already doing it in the UK.

[guyhockley]

Not forgetting the Linsdells...
https://royalenfield.com/uk/goodwood...steve-linsdell
Ollie Linsdell has been invited into the "thoroughbred" class where he regularly embarrasses Manxes and G50s.

[WilDun]

...................Ollie Linsdell has been invited into the "thoroughbred" class where he regularly embarrasses Manxes and G50s.

Of course there is the rider to take into consideration, ie whether he is prepared to risk his 'pride and joy' and only out for the enjoyment, or is out there totally dedicated to winning!

Must say that I am pleased to see the Royal Enfield enjoying such a resurgence in popularity - in my day, I was more or less alone in my love of that brand, and to be honest it was probably only marketing which made the difference, because each make of machine had good and bad points and again to be honest, there wasn't a helluva lot to choose between them.
I remember a guy who campaigned on a 250 model (not the super GT ....or whatever) - he cut a hole in the bottom of the crankcase and covered it with a bolted on plate in order to facilitate changing the big end bearing (from an Austin A40 Farina) between races - from memory, he didn't even have to take the engine out!

[pete376403]

The first bike I had (all of 1 week) was a 250 RE. I had it hidden in the shed hoping to get it going. My mother found it and made me take it back.
Had a thing for RE ever since. Would be happy with a nice Mk II Interceptor.

[WilDun]

Would be happy with a nice Mk II Interceptor.

Yes, a very impressive looking machine!

I was 16, living on a farm and I successfully hid my 125 and 350 in an old barn across the road - was totally hooked and riding them before my parents found out ...... there was no stopping me after that!

[guyhockley]

Of course there is the rider to take into consideration, ie whether he is prepared to risk his 'pride and joy' and only out for the enjoyment, or is out there totally dedicated to winning!

Think it's a combination of very good rider on a very good machine in this case!

I remember a guy who campaigned on a 250 model (not the super GT ....or whatever) - he cut a hole in the bottom of the crankcase and covered it with a bolted on plate in order to facilitate changing the big end bearing (from an Austin A40 Farina) between races - from memory, he didn't even have to take the engine out!

I was confused by this as I remember rebuilding a roller bearing crank for a RE250 but googling tells me it was probably a Clipper I worked on and the Crusaders and Continentals had shells. Bet the Linsdell racer doesn't still have the original floating bush big end, though!

[WilDun]

Think it's a combination of very good rider on a very good machine in this case!


I was confused by this as I remember rebuilding a roller bearing crank for a RE250 but googling tells me it was probably a Clipper I worked on and the Crusaders and Continentals had shells. Bet the Linsdell racer doesn't still have the original floating bush big end, though!

Yes I think it may have been a Clipper and it seems he got a bit tired of removing the engine and splitting the crank to replace the roller big end.
I don't think the later Crusader and Continental GT would have used white metal coated "bushes" (instead of rollers) - as in the much earlier Model G which had a bush and maybe the Bullet as well, this was probably a cheaper innovation to replace the more expensive rollers, but still using the original crank and rod!
Possibly the later 250's had moved on to a one piece crank and removable split shells, I dunno, I never saw one apart. - That was getting well into the Japanese era and they were also using roller big ends.

[husaberg]

Yes I think it may have been a Clipper and it seems he got a bit tired of removing the engine and splitting the crank to replace the roller big end.
I don't think the later Crusader and Continental GT would have used white metal coated "bushes" (instead of rollers) - as in the much earlier Model G which had a bush and maybe the Bullet as well, this was probably a cheaper innovation to replace the more expensive rollers, but still using the original crank and rod!
Possibly the later 250's had moved on to a one piece crank and removable split shells, I dunno, I never saw one apart. - That was getting well into the Japanese era and they were also using roller big ends.

The white metal floating bush big end was because one piece cadges in plated aluminium were not available at the time to RE.
Whist the then available rivoted steel cadges broke up do to the cyclic variation of the big end accelerating and declerating.