Yamaha R1 1100cc triple!?

[tigertim20]

I've got no idea what the hell a cross plane triple is. A 120 degree triple is the only lay out that makes sense as anything else is seriously out of balance.

fucked if I know either, was just in one of the promo things I read.

[Drew]

It's quite simple to make a triple run 'crossplane'. Have them fire 1 2 3 in 120degree increments, and let it spin the next 480 degrees without firing.

I can't actually figure out how they get them to run smoothly if I'm honest. But it's early, and I'm not thinking clearly yet.

[mapsanji]

bit late to be trumpeting triples as something new isint it?

unless they come up with some novel way of arranging the cylinders

imagine a rotary engine on two wheels...

[Ocean1]

imagine a rotary engine on two wheels...

I might just possibly have been the first owner of a rotary bike. Not road legal, to be sure, but then it wasn't quite as strictly enforced a requirement as it is now.
The old man made the brother and I a pair of minibikes, originally powered by the conventional 2hp B&S lump. I fried mine, and as he worked for the then agents for Wankel it was replaced with a 5 hp rotary ditch pump engine. That would have been about '69.


Had solid footpegs. I've never really walked properly since.

[Drew]

imagine a rotary engine on two wheels...

RE5 Suzuki. Rotary powered, in the 70's some time.

[Drew]

I figured out how to make a triple smooth too, been a productive day. Have it fire at 240 degree intervals, simple as fuck.

So yeah, cross plane is a piece of piss, so is screamer.

What can't be done without ridiculous balance shafts, is big bang. But there's little or no point in that for a road bike anyway.

[pete-blen]

RE5 Suzuki. Rotary powered, in the 70's some time.

I had a blue 75 RE5.. was about the only year they were made..
Yamaha had a rotary RZ201 but never made it to the market..

[madmartin]

Are you saying shrinking customer base worldwide or down here in a tiny country insignificant in the world market?

Yamaha arguably are the premier quality Japanese manufacturer, the 2nd largest in the world and pretty handy at making championship winning MotoGp bikes. They are also pretty handy at making key components or whole motors as a subcontractor to Toyota. Toyota probably are the most reliable car in the world. Yamaha aint dead and all power to them.

Yes its a dogs breakfast in NZ but we are just a pimple in the ocean

Dealers in NZ, well that's likely as there's plenty hurting, worldwide tho, i'd have to agree. They do make a top (heavy) bike and would take some knocking off their perch.

[Harry up]

Neat idea, but will they have any dealers left by the time those bikes arrive in NZ?

Haha, I test rode an S1000RR the other day mostly because my closest yammy dealer is now in Kaiwaka. (BTW it will eat my R1)

[BMWST?]

I had a blue 75 RE5.. was about the only year they were made..
Yamaha had a rotary RZ201 but never made it to the market..

me mate had one,it would use a tank of gas from welly to manfeild...he had to fill up in sanson

[Kornholio]

Don't forget this one...

[haydes55]

I had a blue 75 RE5.. was about the only year they were made..
Yamaha had a rotary RZ201 but never made it to the market..

Like this?

Wouldn't mind that one bit

[Eddieb]

Like this?

Wouldn't mind that one bit

That's a later one, the early ones had a tube shaped instrument panel that opened up to reveal the instruments when the bike was turned on.

The best 2 wheeled rotary

[Monkfish]

The best 2 wheeled rotary

Awesome... brings back memmories of my 1981 S1 RX7 they (the nortons) must be worth a mint nowadays.

[GrayWolf]

I had one, it was shit. In it's defense, I pulled it out a of a shed after twenty years sitting there. And it went.

if you think the 850 was 'shit'? try the early version XS750, the 850 was the bike it should have been from the start... they were never a performance bike, they were good solid long legged eurotourer's,,, really. Think the 750 only just managed 115mph from memory, but they were a smooth, grunty 'for the day' old beast.

and while we are on Rotaries? Lets not forget the FIRST rotary motorcycle that went into production a couple of years BEFORE the RE5 the Hercules/DKW W200




The first production rotary-powered motorcycle, the Hercules W2000 was a techie's dream but faltered in the real world.
The Hercules W2000 was the first-ever production rotary engined motorcycle and for that reason deserves a place in history. It was also the first in a line of not undistinguished rotary engined motorcycling failures - not because it was an inherently bad bike but for the simple reason that engineers believed their own hype.