Question on air-cooled engines.

[dave01]

I ran an 86 GSXR 1100, bored 7mm over to a 1255 here in Fl with no issues. It was air/oil cooled and would hold up well in the stop and go traffic, except at bike week. Much ea.sier to push it along main street back then.

 

[sandrunr1]

Only thing you have to remember, water cooled ryde anywhere, air cooled dont ryde above 20,000 feet up or on the moon. No air no cool.:shemademe_smilie::yikes:

 

[Bob Denman]

:agree::roflblack:

 

[BajaRon]

Who says no air-cooled above 20,000 ft? Been doing it since 1935......

[SIZE=+2]The Douglas DC-3/C-47 Specifications and Variant Information[/SIZE]
Role: Military Transport (C-47)/ Early Airliner; Currently Passenger/Cargo Transport Engines: Two 895-kW Pratt and Whitney R-1830-S1C3G Twin Wasp radials at 1200hp Performance:
Maximum Cruising Speed: 207 mph
Ceiling: 23,200 Feet
Range with maximum fuel: 2,125 miles

But will a Pratt and Whitney fit in the frame of a Spyder? :dontknow:

 

[Star Cruiser]

Question for all. A lot of people on this forum have owned many bikes before this spyder. What are your thoughts on an air-cooled bike over 1,000 cc’s.
I’ve only owned 1 air-cooled bike in my life and it was 400 cc Suzuki, 1-cylinder, I bought in 1981. I put 24,000 miles on it and never had a problem with overheating and the summers get pretty hot here in St. Louis, MO. I would appreciate reading some of your experiences, good or bad on air-cooled bikes over 1,000 cc’s. Thanks everyone. Jerry

I rode only Air Cooled machines before the Spyder. I didn't have problems unless I was in stop and go traffic, when they would really over-heat. Riding south in the summer did not help. (Texas was a trip that had me stopping and going because of heat in August one year.
I guess my advice is, If you live in a "heat belt" rather than a "snow belt", it might be better to have Liquid Cooled. A little more to look after (Air cooled don't leak and you don't have top check levels - LOL) but give a little more consistant temperatures to operate under. Heat to the Ryder (as HDX says) is heat anyway you look at it. I prefer the liquid cooled Spyder over the air cooled bikes overall, especially now that I ride outside of Canada more often.

 

[Bob Denman]

Who says no air-cooled above 20,000 ft? Been doing it since 1935......

[SIZE=+2]The Douglas DC-3/C-47 Specifications and Variant Information[/SIZE]
Role: Military Transport (C-47)/ Early Airliner; Currently Passenger/Cargo Transport Engines: Two 895-kW Pratt and Whitney R-1830-S1C3G Twin Wasp radials at 1200hp Performance:
Maximum Cruising Speed: 207 mph
Ceiling: 23,200 Feet
Range with maximum fuel: 2,125 miles

Maybe he was just talking about the rider???

 

[COOLMACHINE]

Prefer Liquid cooled.

No doubt, I prefer liquid cooled over air cooled but if the price is right, I would consider an air-cooled machine.

 

[Bob Denman]

A little more "stuff" to maintain, but more consistent operating temperatures and a potentially longer life... I'll keep the fluid in the system! :thumbup:

 

[BajaRon]

Where there's a will.......there's a way.....

Maybe just 2 cylinders of the Pratt & Whitney would fit. That is where Harley got their design, 2 cylinders of a radial engine.

 

[NancysToy]

V-twins were in motorcycles before Orville and Wilbur took to the skies......:yikes:

Glenn Curtiss (of later aviation fame)produced a v-twin motorcycle in early 1903. Indian produced a v-twin in 1905. Harley's first v-twin was in 1909, they didn't originate a new design, they just borrowed the idea from the standard of the times.

Successful radial engines came after v-twin motorcycles.........

:agree: Pratt & Whitney wasn't even founded until 1925. The first radial engine was circa 1901, but they were not successful until after WW-I. Despite the similar appearance, the radial internal structure is much different, and it requires an odd number of cyclinders to function as a 4-stroke.

 

[spyryder]

While enjoying great success in the second World War, the radial engine had been replaced by liquid-cooled designs in nearly all of the aircraft by the time of the Korean War. Advances in engine design as well as engine components led to lighter weight, more reliable, liquid-cooled power plants. The radial has seen glory pass it by, and evolution made it an obsolete design in just a few short years. Influences of the radial design can be found in modern-day Harley-Davidson V-twin motorcycle engines, however. With the two piston rods attaching to the crankshaft on a single rod journal, the Harley-Davidson air-cooled engine operates with many of the same principal designs as the radial engine.

 

[NancysToy]

...Influences of the radial design can be found in modern-day Harley-Davidson V-twin motorcycle engines, however. With the two piston rods attaching to the crankshaft on a single rod journal, the Harley-Davidson air-cooled engine operates with many of the same principal designs as the radial engine.

Or perhaps vice-versa, since the Harley and Indian were mainstream first.

 

[Bob Denman]

Dare I mention Wankels?? :roflblack: They run smooth as silk and love to rev...

 

[BajaRon]

Dare I mention Wankels?? :roflblack: They run smooth as silk and love to rev...

Here you go!

 

[BajaRon]

Whoa! So Harley is even more antiquated than I gave them credit for! I apologize! pps:

V-twins were in motorcycles before Orville and Wilbur took to the skies......:yikes:

Glenn Curtiss (of later aviation fame)produced a v-twin motorcycle in early 1903. Indian produced a v-twin in 1905. Harley's first v-twin was in 1909, they didn't originate a new design, they just borrowed the idea from the standard of the times.

Successful radial engines came after v-twin motorcycles.........

 

[spyryder]

Successful radial engines came after v-twin motorcycles.........

Here's a Felix Millet rotary radial bike from the late 1800's.....not sure how successful it was though.:shocked:

 

[Arthur---Mexico]

Oil radiators

Give this a thought. An add on oil radiator only works to cool oil when the air cooled m/c is moving. And when the m/c is moving the add on radiator is not need. I doubt that the add on radiators would help cool the engine if the m/c is being operate at a slow speed like 3 to 5 mph, in a parade or heavy traffic. Air cooled m/cs like a HD operate correctly when they are moving like at 20 mph. On my HD sidecar I was always running hot in traffic so I built a fan cooled radiator with a thermostate that turned the fan on when the oil temperature rose above 200º. I can stay stopped for an hour with the engine running and my HD s/c does get hot but not too hot to affect its performence. The radiator is for a hydraulic transmisson and the fan is one for aditional cooling. Both are available in bigger auto parts supply houses. A solid mounting of the cooler assembly is very important as it will be subject to a lot of vibration. Been there and done that.

 

[spyryder]

Millet made a rotary engine in a radial shape. The case and cylinders rotated around the stationary shaft. The 1920's German Megola did the same. A radial shape, but neither are true radials....

There are two types of radial engines. The stationary radial remains fixed to the airplane and the rotary engine where the engine and propeller revolve around a fixed crankshaft.
The stationary radial was derived from the rotary in the early 1900's. BOTH engines are true radials in configuration.

Another cool video: