Will get the build notes on yet , Dont Hold your Breath , though .

Cool!

Nice That's what I call a real crouch rocket

Webby

You left out the operative words "2 cylinders from a Merlin" which gives it a whole another life...

Wow that"s some timing belt I'd be afraid of getting pinched in the inner thigh, but still, 4500ccs of nasty torque

indeed , my first reaction was ' drive chain / Thigh ' , ' Babs ' and a few other Chain Drive veterans caused foul damadge
throwing chains .Hopefully the quality's improved in the intrim .

Years ago I read an article about a lad, living Down Under, that cut two cylinders off the timing side of a de Havilland Mosquito engine. The WWII vintage plane had crashed. The rest of the plane burned or disintegrated over time but the engines were left. I am not up on vintage airplane lore and I have no idea if the Mosquito used Merlin engines but it could have. I don't remember much of the story but I do recall that he used the bike in drag race exhibitions and that it had no transmission only a direct drive through some type of clutch.

Out Narrowmine , Im told to dig ' by the river ' , its a l o n g walk and rather warm , arounf 50 deg. often ( 110 Deg thingo )

The ' highball ' Mosquitos ( Mk 40 s ) were based there . Sort of two mini Barnes Wallis ' Dam Buster ' skipping mines for
Jap Battleships ( Murry would like that ! ) .
After the war , they were flogged off for tuppance , so Farmers grabbed them for chicken sheds , wheels , hydraulics & the like. Often they sawed the wings off , and towed them home backwards , the tail wheel on a truck bed .
Narrowmine's out past Dubbo , say 350 miles from the coast , very flat . War Time training Airfield . Tiger Moths & Mosq's .

There were six engines ? sitting in the field , when he was a Lad . . . . From little things , big things grow , as they say .

Engines in a Museum in Qld. Got a snap-shot . Asked ' wheres the Engine ' told over in the Cnr. Wandered over glareing around. Walked back . . ' No , its there . Walked back , The Carb & supercharger sitting on top of it had put me off. Was Right in front of where Id stood . .
Heads are maybe waist high .
Annoyed , as without the extras I recon he couldve sorted it , as a good Road Bike . .

yes well , our I T expert has pevailed over the inane computor . ( but what about its feelings ) Infos posted .

Another article around, can't find it, said the engine came from up north ?

http://home.st.net.au/~fettesi/merlin.htm

That Merlin has been around for a few years now in Australia, the owner builder use to take it to all the bike shows around the country, I have seen it fired up and he has done one hell of a big burn out, when he fires it up every one comes runnig to see it in action and off course its very loud, don't know if its still running as I haven't seen it for a few years now.

Ashley

A , or the , Engine , is in that Museum Half way Ipswitch to Katoomba .Along witha few Nortons , Manx , JPS Commando , roadster etc . All Mint .
Would you send it here please. Postage C.o. D.

Big_Jim59 wrote:Years ago I read an article about a lad, living Down Under, that cut two cylinders off the timing side of a de Havilland Mosquito engine. The WWII vintage plane had crashed. The rest of the plane burned or disintegrated over time but the engines were left. I am not up on vintage airplane lore and I have no idea if the Mosquito used Merlin engines but it could have. I don't remember much of the story but I do recall that he used the bike in drag race exhibitions and that it had no transmission only a direct drive through some type of clutch.

Yes , they were RR 27 litre engines.

Matt Spencer wrote:Will get the build notes on yet.

Thanks, Matt, for posting the Merlin powered bike. It had to happen sooner or later.

The Merlin has special significance to me because my father-in-law was a rear gunner in Halifaxes and Lancasters during the war. Both types used Merlins although the Halifax III he flew in had Bristol radials, if memory serves. The local museum has a Mosquito with Packard-Merlins and they also have a Rolls Royce Merlin on display. That engine is so beautiful it brings tears to my eyes.

This Australian fellow with the Merlin bike has stumbled onto a breakthrough without even knowing it, if he could only think outside the box. Why are we all still using wheels like on a cave man’s wagon? Why not use pads like nature has put on a Kangaroo’s feet. If he were to fix pads instead of wheels and configure the engine for maximum imbalance it should hop about six feet per engine revolution. Imagine a Kangaroo that could hit two or three hundred miles per hour with no transmission, clutch, or drive train needed. This bike is sheer genius or something and deserves an environmental research grant for further development.

Yea , the Kangaroo was directly desended from Tyranasaurous Rex .
Think of the poor Cave Men .
Being chased by jigantic lizards that cover 100 yards in one bound .
No wonder the Aboriginals are good runners .

Natural selection resulted in good runners in Africa too . . .
the Lions ate all the Slow ones .