|
|
Earliest four?
|
Arose out of a conversation at an autojumble recently....
Earliest production road four-cylinder bike? Not the Honda CB750,
obviously, because Nimbus, Henderson and (I think) Indian also made them
at one time or another.
But which was the earliest? Anyone know?
Earliest triple would be interesting as well....
|
ME THINK!! AFAIK
The Henderson 58.
Designed in 1904 by Paul Kelecom (Belgian) of the FN-factory
(Fabrique Nationale de armes de guerre). Translated:
National factory of war arms.*
Prototype built in 1910 by William G. Henderson,
emigrant from Glasgow to the US.
First series sold in 1912.
Cilinders were in a square. It had intake valves in the head (a
novelty), exhaust valves were on the side.
|
While I was typing the above, others contributed too.
Okay, I lost. Henderson probably was the 1st square four.
|
I've only seen two Hendersons and one Indian four, but
all three were inline straight fours.
Just spotted a real beauty today at Cal BMW in the bay area.
Only other one I'd ever seen, also a straight four was several
decades ago at Imperial Cycle in Buffalo, N.Y.
Got some pictures of a square four Henderson ?
I think they were all inline.
|
|
|
|
While we are at it, does anybody know about the first five cylinder?
I recall a bike (five cilinders in a star, like the airplane
engines in the 1st world war), with no gear box, air cooled (I better
say that the cylinders had cooling fins so I think it was
air cooled). It also had a leather drive belt with short wooden
V-shaped blocks rivited (sewn?) onto the leather so it was like
the later V-belt, and a lever that pressed a roller on the
flat outside of the belt, which made it work like a coupling.
The rear pully was a big one, almost the size of the wheel.
That all was bolted onto an (in my memory) almost standard
bycicle frame.
If you think of an aircraft engine, the propellor was on
the left hand side, but replaced by a small drive pulley.
It was owned my someone my father knew, but I don't know
if he was a friend of my father or a customer that wanted
something be repaired. I only saw it once.
Could also be that the owner was a former pilot with
left over spare parts who decided to create his own
bike. I haven't got the faintest idea.
Glued to that memory is the year 1917, but I could be
totally wrong.
|
web-search for 'verdel "five cylinder" '
Says they were build from at least 1912
|
Way earlier though, the 1892 millet with a 5 cylinder rotary in the
back wheel.
|
They must have been fun on a roundabout.
If you have one that revs to 12.000, it will be
fun on a strait course too. Who need wings.
|
I suspect the later Spagthorpes were a shameless ripoff.
|
My teacher used to say that a good designer was one
that glued together good ideas from others and left out
their bad ideas.
Some years ago I saw an article about a new type of
front suspension the Japs invented. I looked at the
picture and said: "He, a Webb front fork"
Back to the five-cilinders.
=============================
At last. You really set my mind at ease.
For a long time I had a conflict between memory and brain.
Memory said: "you saw it", brain said: "Nah. Can't be. You
even don't remember 5 exhaust pipes"
That Verdel comes pretty close. And I see no exhaust
pipes. Well, I see them now, but it is clear to understand
why I did not notice them almost 60 years ago.
This Verdel has a chain. The one I saw probably was
older. But this one comes verrrrrrry close.
Of course I copied the picture. There's memories attached
to it. A pity I did not hear it.
|
|
|
|
|
|