Friday 23 August 2013

They Say More Is Better,

a twin cylinder motorcycle is considered better than a single cylinder engine,


and a four is better than a twin, so what might be the ultimate motorcycle is sometimes on display at the Hertfordshire Superbike Center, Potters Bar, based strangely enough on the 2 stroke Kawasaki triples, it is called the Whitelock Tinker Toy, so take 16 Kawasaki KH250 3-cylinder engines arranged in six banks of eight and you then have a motorcycle with a 2-stroke engine that has 48 cylinders and a capacity of 4200 cc (256 cu in). so Simon Whitelock in the UK has built the vehicle engine with the most cylinders in the world and this is the important bit, it is completely road-legal, but there is more to come, 


technically, the motorcycle has 49 cylinders, the 48 cylinder lump is slightly harder to start than your conventional motorcycle engine, so instead of an electronic starter motor, a "donkey engine", a little sub-50cc engine, is started and in turn that starts the 48 cylinder engine, 


but before you rush off to see it, the motorcycle was on exhibit at the V&A (Victoria and Albert) Museum, so at times it's not at the Hertfordshire Superbike Centre, it is well-known and as you might expect there are lots of requests for it to appear at shows around the country, so ring first, 01707 66 33 44 and do not forget to look at the Guinness World Records Certificate to prove it's claim as the road going vehicle engine with the most cylinders.


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