Wankel bike

APART from providing endless schoolboy sniggers the Wankel rotary engine is one of the wankel bike near-misses of 20th century engineering. It promised to revolutionise the bikes we rode and cars we drove, but despite decades of work never quite overcame the problems that prevented it from becoming a mainstream hit, wankel bike.

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Wankel bike

Many of us know and are fans of rotary-engined cars like the Mazda RX-7 , but there are even cooler Wankel-engined motorcycles. The likes of Kawasaki , Suzuki , and Yamaha have also created wild rotary bikes. To know more about rotary motorcycles, we first have to get to know the rotary engine. Made by Dr. Felix Wankel in Germany in , it took some time for the eccentric rotary mill to jump from drawing board into production, be it for cars or motorcycles. In fact, the first production Wankel-powered cars and motorcycles only came around in the '70s. When it comes to the advantage of the Wankel engine as compared to the traditional counter-balancing piston format, it has uniform torque and less vibration. It also tends to have more power, is smaller, and weighs less. While all this makes it sound like a perfect fit for motorcycles, it is not as popular as the V-twin engines of today. For Wankel-engined motorcycles, there are serious drawbacks when it comes to engine seals and emissions, and these motors tend to have a limited lifespan. That said, there are plenty of Wankel-engined motorcycles around, and here are the coolest of them all.

Not unless you were a police force or breakdown service, that is. Watch our world-class technology in action.

The internal combustion engine has been with us since the s, but it has remained largely the same in all that time: pistons moving up and down in a cylinder, converting that movement to rotary movement by the use of a crankshaft. One brave and seemingly revolutionary development was the rotary engine , conceived by Felix Wankel in the s and offering advantages in simplicity of construction and power output. Here, we celebrate the motorcycles that dared to be different. It was also expensive, with Cycle World magazine summing up thus: "Less performance for more money takes this rotary out of the realm of practicality. It might not have made it into production - only two prototypes are believed to have been built - but it just shows how serious the Japanese manufacturers were considering the Wankel engine and how it was seen as one possible future for the motorcycle. It made its first appearance at the Tokyo Motor Show and was powered by a 66 horsepower, single rotor engine, fitted into the frame and running gear of the Yamaha TX, which at least gave it typical s Yamaha good looks.

Like many teenagers in s Australia, I was a willing participant in the Japanese rotary-engined street racer phase that swept the country at the time. But for me, the whole thing crystallized when my mate Daryl rolled up in a red Mazda RX-3 one weekend while I was still in high school. Not at all. Fast forward 20 minutes later. Things had been pretty sedate up until now, but the moment the lights went green, Dazza stood on the go pedal, and all hell broke loose. I was—for the first time in my life—unable to keep my head straight and my eyes forward while accelerating, thanks to the g-forces that this very humble-looking car could pull.

Wankel bike

The revolutionary rotary engine designed by Dr. Felix Wankel, henceforth known as the Wankel engine, is a design of tremendous promise, and expensive vexation. It seemed the wonder motor of the future in the s, and many automobile manufacturers took a out a license on the design, from General Motors to Rolls Royce, as did many aircraft and. Felix Wankel born in Lahr, Germany had the vision for his remarkable rotary engine at the age of 17, began working on prototypes 5 years later, and gained his first patent for this remarkable engine in His work on the motor was slow in the following two decades as he developed rotary-valve applications for piston engines. By , working in conjunction with NSU, he had a fully functional rotary engine prototype, and immediately began licensing the engine, which had many theoretical advantages over a typical piston motor. First to take up this new design was aircraft engine builder Curtiss-Wright, who licensed the design on Oct.

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After messing around with the engine for most of the s, the Interpol ll appeared in and was only for sale to police forces and breakdown services, such as the RAC. However, these motorcycles never made it to production due to various reasons. Given that in , Hercules sold all its rotary motorcycle paraphernalia to Norton, it was only natural order that Norton later debuted its Wankel-powered motorcycle. Top 10 Wankel engined bikes Rotaries might have been a blind alley, but plenty went down it…. Around were made and prices today are steep. It was also expensive, with Cycle World magazine summing up thus: "Less performance for more money takes this rotary out of the realm of practicality. Configuration Water-cooled twin-rotor Wankel engine Displacement cc 40 cu-in Horsepower 66 hp Torque Configuration Liquid-cooled twin-rotor Wankel engine Displacement cc 36 cu-in Horsepower 85 hp Torque 56 lb-ft. Top ten things no biker should ever do Felix Wankel in Germany in , it took some time for the eccentric rotary mill to jump from drawing board into production, be it for cars or motorcycles. Although pretty tidy-looking, only a couple of prototypes are believed to have been made. Compared to the two-strokes of the time, however, the Wankel was just too complex and unreliable and the manufacturers had an uphill struggle to persuade customers. Making a whopping horsepower from a cc twin-rotor Wankel engine and weighing less than pounds, this is a rotary-powered motorcycle that has a MotoGP-level power-to-weight ratio. MikeSchinkel via Wikimedia Commons. It might not have made it into production - only two prototypes are believed to have been built - but it just shows how serious the Japanese manufacturers were considering the Wankel engine and how it was seen as one possible future for the motorcycle.

The Hercules W used a Sachs-sourced Wankel, single-rotor, rotary engine. Felix Wankel born in Lahr, Germany had the vision for his remarkable rotary engine at the age of 17 and began working on prototypes 5 years later. He gained his first patent for his engine in

By , Hercules sold it all to Norton, and they managed not one but multiple Wankel-engined motorcycles. The Vintagent. Configuration Air-cooled single-rotor Wankel engine Displacement cc 18 cu-in Horsepower hp Torque While all this makes it sound like a perfect fit for motorcycles, it is not as popular as the V-twin engines of today. Smooth and sporty, the Classic was light, powerful, and, more importantly, very reliable as it came based on Norton's police-spec motorcycle, the Interpol. With the oil crisis at a peak and the motorcycle taking in too much fuel, it could never make production, even as it made for a smooth ride. Made by Dr. For Wankel-engined motorcycles, there are serious drawbacks when it comes to engine seals and emissions, and these motors tend to have a limited lifespan. Brian Crighton, a maintenance tech, finally realized his longstanding dream of making the perfect Wankel motorcycle and debuted the Crighton CRW in It carried a cc air-cooled engine with a single rotor, making 20 horsepower and later producing 32hp. More conventional styling that owners could equate to the styling of the race-winning bikes in British Superbikes and at the Isle of Man TT, but it was definitely a case of too little, too late as, by this time, Norton was in its final death throes, which was a shame as the rotary engine had finally come good.