Old multi-cylinder bikes of the 50s to later on. Japanese, British, Euro, etc

[F5 Dave]

I really love that the old Honda 50s had bicycle brakes. Besides making them look killer, you have to respect the mental cases who raced them like they did!

Golly, didn't notice that. Guess they are the ultimate disc brake size wise. But feck that

[husaberg]

Golly, didn't notice that. Guess they are the ultimate disc brake size wise. But feck that

I er wrote it in my original posts "note the brake"

[WilDun]

rg50 are water cooled . could they be gt50 ? or rd50 witch are yamaha . are they cast iron or aluminum

Yes, they are alloy with what seems to me to be quite thick CI liners (making me think they were reduced bore from an eighty or something), but just a thought.
I think now that you are probably right, ie they are for a GT 50. Been away from bikes for so long that I've really lost track - that's why I keep harping back to the sixties!

Will.

[WilDun]

crap... works of farking art

Well you could well be right, that's why they are locked away in glass cases - for show!

.......and I did think they were great as well, but it still took some very talented people to ride them, they gave the average rider no chance to do well, only within reach of those who had huge amounts of money! and the average mechanic/tuner never stood a chance of ever producing anything which would be able to challenge either.
Their phenomonal power was produced by higher revs. and when they were restricted to 1 cylinder and six gears, people had to re think and find more torque instead, so it was actually a good decision to to have this change.
There was only one person who looked capable of taking them on at the time and that was Jan Thiel with his 'Jamathi' but that came in a little later in the sixties when those things were on the way out.
They ( Hondas etc.) are remembered as unrideable little beasts but in saying that, they were very very interesting and they contributed a lot to the development of modern four strokes, as did Suzuki, Yamaha, Kawasaki, Bridgestone, Tohatsu etc. for two strokes (unfortunately stopped in their tracks by those in high places who knew best).

Will.

[WilDun]

Golly, didn't notice that. Guess they are the ultimate disc brake size wise. But feck that

Yes, but look what they've done for bicycle brakes today!

[mr bucketracer]

Yes, they are alloy with what seems to me to be quite thick CI liners (making me think they were reduced bore from an eighty or something), but just a thought.
I think now that you are probably right, ie they are for a GT 50. Been away from bikes for so long that I've really lost track - that's why I keep harping back to the sixties!

Will.

sound like mb50 honda have they got small bores in them 38mm ?

[WilDun]

sound like mb50 honda have they got small bores in them 38mm ?

No, 99% sure they were aftermarket cylinders for the GT 50 Suzuki. - Bores are 41mm.

If no one wants to buy them I think I'll try porting them (just for fun) and if it all starts to look good then I'll consider actually building an engine, ie. if I can find the bits. I'll be using the great piles of information here.

Who knows where it'll all lead me!- the last time I did any engine modification was around 1969 on a Suzuki T20 (250cc twin)......... before that? BSA Bantam, Ariel Arrow, Itom 50cc, - first one? wartime Royal Enfield 125 (upped top speed from 40mph to almost 50 mph!!).
Meantime, I'm in the middle of building a furnace and I really need to reorganise my very cramped workshop before I can actually do very much.

Will.

[mr bucketracer]

No, 99% sure they were aftermarket cylinders for the GT 50 Suzuki. - Bores are 41mm.

If no one wants to buy them I think I'll try porting them (just for fun) and if it all starts to look good then I'll consider actually building an engine, ie. if I can find the bits. I'll be using the great piles of information here.

Who knows where it'll all lead me!- the last time I did any engine modification was around 1969 on a Suzuki T20 (250cc twin)......... before that? BSA Bantam, Ariel Arrow, Itom 50cc, - first one? wartime Royal Enfield 125 (upped top speed from 40mph to almost 50 mph!!).
Meantime, I'm in the middle of building a furnace and I really need to reorganise my very cramped workshop before I can actually do very much.

Will.

ok standard gt 50 are all cast iron but like you said aftermarket , how much do you want for them as my bike is a gt50

[WilDun]

ok standard gt 50 are all cast iron but like you said aftermarket , how much do you want for them as my bike is a gt50

OK, will send a PM soon.

[WilDun]

ok standard gt 50 are all cast iron but like you said aftermarket , how much do you want for them as my bike is a gt50

Sent you a PM. - also I did a bit of research and found that when I bought them, they were advertised as:-

[" 2x SUZUKI TS50X BARRELLS, BIGGER PORTS THAN STANDARD , (FASTER THAN STANDARD) COME WITH INSTRUCTIONS AND BIGGER MAIN JET GENUINE SUZUKI PART NUMBER 11210-13630".]

So I'll leave it up to you to decide whether they are right or not. I can give you bolt hole dimensions etc etc if necessary, ( no jets, but I guess that won't matter).

Cheers,
Will.

[mr bucketracer]

Sent you a PM. - also I did a bit of research and found that when I bought them, they were advertised as:-

[" 2x SUZUKI TS50X BARRELLS, BIGGER PORTS THAN STANDARD , (FASTER THAN STANDARD) COME WITH INSTRUCTIONS AND BIGGER MAIN JET GENUINE SUZUKI PART NUMBER 11210-13630".]

So I'll leave it up to you to decide whether they are right or not. I can give you bolt hole dimensions etc etc if necessary, ( no jets, but I guess that won't matter).

Cheers,
Will.

sounds good to me , will pm you a address and need your bank details ... cheers scott

[WilDun]

Golly, didn't notice that. Guess they are the ultimate disc brake size wise. But feck that

Ok, now where were we? - about those "bicycle" brakes on the Honda 50 twin, - obviously they wouldn't be running red hot like modern disc brakes, otherwise the front wheel would disintegrate in a pile of burning rubber and molten aluminium! - did they do much braking at all? - couldn't have done! so they must have been very brave lads going into most of the corners at high speeds! Remember, those things could clock around 110mph.

What are those discs/covers on the wheels for anyway, was it just for looks?
Also on that photo of the cranks/pistons, I reckon that's a very interesting wear pattern on the primary drive pinion!

Thanks for the (expected) photos Husa - very good.

Will.

[husaberg]

Wear Pattern thus

[WilDun]

Wear Pattern thus

Got it now!

[Bert]

Yes, they are alloy with what seems to me to be quite thick CI liners (making me think they were reduced bore from an eighty or something), but just a thought.
I think now that you are probably right, ie they are for a GT 50. Been away from bikes for so long that I've really lost track - that's why I keep harping back to the sixties!

Will.

Scotty might be slightly confused the RG50 vs the RG50 gamma (being water cooled).
Air cooled from 77 to the mid 80s. And all the parts interchangeable between GT&TS&RG&ZR and iterations of..
Hard to tell which one would produce the most ponies in stock form.