Kinda makes my Softail Deluxe sound like a moped.
If you think about it, why wouldn't somebody try a radial. Every other internal combustion engine has been tried on MC's Including a small block Chevy.
These of course are radial engines not rotary (Wankel) like the RE-5. Beautiful but impractical in a motorcycle. The rotary was also used by Norton and DKW in motorcycles, also not very practical. I had the pleasure of rebuilding an RE-5 Suzuki engine in the early eighties as a favor for a friend. It was not an easy task for someone only intellectually familiar with the design, no prior hands on. It had good power for a 500cc engine but got terrible gas mileage and in my opinion an unattractively styled machine with its tube shaped instrument panel. A fellow was showing a restored Megola radial motorcycle at a show in the Tacoma Dome. Stunningly beautiful and equally expensive. Best. Tom
Remember the old round loafs of bread we used to get that's what the dash reminded me of a friend has a RE-5 in his collection bit like was it the CX 500 Honda Turbo well before their time but the market was not ready for it.
At present there is a Hyabusa on E Bay/Au fully bombed & turbo'd 400BHP the thing is an 8 second bike for the 1/4 mile asking 20K not for me.
Just when you thought they could not get any faster (Drag bikes) here is this thing the drawback is your arms stretch 3" every time you do a pass.
In WWII the Germans tried to utilize Hydrogen Peroxide for a propulsion system in a submarine they could not get it to work properly they were called Walther Boats..
But in testing they did with the craft its under water speed would rival a USA attack subs which they are purported to do 50kmh under water but probably allot faster I'd say.
There were a few weapons the Germans had that if deployed properly with out H*tler fiddling would have turned the course of the war namely the 262 Jet and the Type XXI U-boat.
PM
