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Message started by Dave on 06/28/13 at 12:50:46

Title: Staying Single!
Post by Dave on 06/28/13 at 12:50:46

Last night I went to the local shopping center Thursday night car/bike show. My wife is out of town and it was a chance to get a grilled cheeseburger for a couple of bucks and see some local friends.

I was talking to a fellow that owned a Buell adventure/tourer bike and we slipped into a discussion about the Buell Blast - which was a single cylinder 500cc bike. He commented about a friend that had owned one and had put a loud muffler on it......and how weird a single cylinder sounds.....putt, putt, putt.....instead of potato, potato, potato!

I have never thought a single sounded weird.....and then I realized that I have never owned a motorcycle with more than 1 cylinder! I owned a Kawasaki 125 enduro, a Yamaha 175 enduro converted into a motocross bike, 2 - Suzuki TM125 motocrossers, 3 - Suzuki RL 250 Exacta trials bikes, a Suzuki TS90 converted to ride Hare Scrambles, a Suzuki RE5 rotary engine street bike with a Windjammer fairing, an Ossa 250 GP3 motocross bike, a Sherco 290 Trials bike......and I currently own a Sherco 320 Trials bike and my Suzuki Savage Cafe' bike. I have ridden bikes with more than 1 cylinder. - but never owned one.

I guess I am just easy to please......Keep it Single Stupid!

Title: Re: Staying Single!
Post by apache snow on 06/28/13 at 12:54:26

I've owned a bunch of motorcycles but besides the S40 the only other singles that I have owned have been scooters.

Title: Re: Staying Single!
Post by LANCER on 06/28/13 at 15:42:14

Got my first single in '69 and have had one ever since.

Title: Re: Staying Single!
Post by Serowbot on 06/28/13 at 15:45:55

What's not weird about sounding like a potato?... :-? :-? :-?...

Title: Re: Staying Single!
Post by Charon on 06/28/13 at 19:17:15

I am not sure how many bikes I have owned over the years - somewhere just over twenty I think. Of those, four have been twins. First a Suzuki GR650 Tempter, then a Honda 200 Twinstar, then my current 250 Ninja and 250 Star. All the rest have been singles. I have ridden bikes with one, two, three, four, and six cylinders, displacing from 50 to 1500 cc. I have never owned anything larger than 650 (ignoring the odd cc, since the S40 is 652). I think I'd like a chance to ride a Suzuki Titan, a 500 cc two-stroke twin, but I doubt it will happen.

Title: Re: Staying Single!
Post by bobert_FSO on 06/29/13 at 06:33:26

Although not monogamous, I have had my share of thumpers. I like 'em.

Honda S90 - Single!
Ducati 250 Scrambler - Single!
Yamama RD200 - Twin
BSA Victor 441 - Single!
Suzuki Savage - Single!
Kawasaki 800 - Twin

Title: Re: Staying Single!
Post by mpescatori on 06/29/13 at 11:27:23

Nice array of bikes, Dave, however the Suzuki RE5 rotary isn't a single,
it's a 3-stroke twin...

;)

Title: Re: Staying Single!
Post by mpescatori on 06/29/13 at 11:32:34

BTW, here's my bikes from the very first on...

1976, a new Malaguti Fifty, 1hp 50cc 2str air cooled single, 4sp.

1978, 1972 Ducati 450 Scrambler, 432cc OHC big single with kick start only (!)

1984, 1982 Moto Guzzi V50 Monza (café racer) kept until 2000

1987, 1978 Benelli 750 Sei (six cylinders!) kept one year

1988, MkI BMW R65 flat twin kept until 1990

2006, 1988 Suzuki Savage (still going strong)

2010, 2005 BMW R1200ST (getting better all the time)

Wonder what's next... (I would be looking at HD FLs in a new light...)

Title: Re: Staying Single!
Post by Dave on 06/29/13 at 13:00:00

564B5E48585A4F5449523B0 wrote:

Nice array of bikes, Dave, however the Suzuki RE5 rotary isn't a single,
it's a 3-stroke twin...

;)

It had a single rotor.....with 3 sides. Only one spark plug and one combusion chamber.

Title: Re: Staying Single!
Post by mpescatori on 06/29/13 at 13:58:24

One spark plug and one combustion chamber?

Look again, it's a three stroke, whatever you say about the rest, that's how the Wankel works and that's how Wankel described it when introducing his design to be patented.

Many "ignoramus" would be engineering books describe the Wankel as a "highly modified 4 stroke", RUBBISH!

2 and 4 strokes are a derivative of the steam engine.

The Wankel is a completely different animal.

Lucky you, you had the privilege to own one. They cost more than a Cadillac over here on the collectors' market.

Title: Re: Staying Single!
Post by mpescatori on 06/29/13 at 14:17:36

To further my point, see this animated gif from Wikipedia.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Wankel_Cycle_anim_en.gif

Regardless of Felix Wankel's description, Wikipedia also insists on describing the engine as "4 stroke". although the lobe only has three sides.

So, instead of looking at the names of the four cycles of a piston engine (of which there is no trace) look at any one side of the three faced lobe and ask yourself how a triangle rotating within an ellipse can have four cycles.

I only see three: admission, ignition, exhaust.

Title: Re: Staying Single!
Post by mpescatori on 06/29/13 at 14:20:05

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/rotary-engine4.htm

Title: Re: Staying Single!
Post by ToesNose on 06/29/13 at 14:55:42

It's the sound of a thumper that drew me to them, originally Royal Enfields. But it's the simplistic mechanical nature and reliability that keeps me on one ;)

Title: Re: Staying Single!
Post by verslagen1 on 06/29/13 at 15:49:53

4A57425444465348554E270 wrote:

I only see three: admission, ignition, exhaust.

The 4 phases of intake, compression, ignition and exhaust are performed by each face of the rotor. They cannot be combined, nor omitted and each takes same amount of time to perform.

BTW: I think each rotor is a triple. Two rotors are equivalent to a 6 cylinder engine.

Title: Re: Staying Single!
Post by gizzo on 06/29/13 at 16:15:45

I'm a single fan too. Only owned one 4cyl bike, a GS750. It was great and sometimes I wish I hadn't sold it. But otherwise, I don't feel the need for more than 2 cyl. My shed has
Savage
225 Serow (wife's one)
250 DR
600 Pantah
600 Monster (wife's one)
C90 postie bike (anyones)
peewee 50.(kid's one)
Mostly singles. My next scooter will be a new Royal Enfield Continental GT (the indian one) if they get them imported into Australia. I like singles.
Good luck with the rotary debate. I've only had one rotary and it was a minature one made by OS for model airplanes. It wasn't very good and I swapped it for a bunch of vintage control line glow engines. Appropriately, they were all singles :)

Title: Re: Staying Single!
Post by Dave on 06/29/13 at 16:30:40

For the purpose of my narrow minded (single purpose) post......the Suzuki RE-5 rotary is a single rotor engine.......so it "IS" a single..regardless of how many sides or cycles the engine has.

There is no single correct answer as the Rotary doesn't fit into any piston criteria. For each rotor there is one combustion chamber, and three sides to the rotor. If you guys want to debate it.....somebody start a Rotory War thread.