On Mon, 22 Nov 1999, Atwell Haines wrote:
> At 03:46 PM 11/22/99 -0500, Scott Hall wrote:
> >
> >man, I'd love to see someone try this. <snip>
>
> >I keep burning out on the idea when I realize it'd be easier
> >to actually tune the triumph lump rather than deal with the tranny issues
> >from using a m/c engine.
> >
> Don't racecars like the Legends racers (and some midget sprinters) use
> motorcycle engines? What kind of trannies do they use?
yeah, several different types of race cars use from the cbr600f2,3,4
engine (which is why I can't buy another cheap, dammit) to the fj1200
engine. the numbers indicate displacement. the fj (if you're interested)
is an air/oil cooled lump and is what they use in the legends cars, and
most of the rest of race car mounted engines (usually, but not always the
cbr engine) are cutting edge dohc, blah, blah. they usually use the
unitized m/c tranny as is; some run a short chain to the rear wheels a la
go-kart, some run a chain to a 'diff', some convert to shafts. some
modify (somewhat heavily) the m/c tranny, but I know of none that actually
cut it off.
the race cars are lighter than a street spit, and there's a lot of
knowledge on how to make the setup work in their classes. I don't think
much beyond basic theory would transfer to a spit. but if you can stick a
nissan motor into a spit, the m/c swap isn't _too_ much farther... engine
tuning is a different matter though. you'd have to redo the power curves
with cams and figure out a way to make the clutch and tranny survive the
spit's weight. the legends guys might be able to help a little there, but
probably not much, becasue you wouldn't want to use the fj in a spit,
you'd want a big liquid cooled 4-cylinder (gsxr, or perhaps a zx12). none
of the parts would swap, and you'd be looking at lots of custom machining.
plus, they don't do multiple starts from a dead stop, and they're (again)
carrying a lot less weight.
then there's the question of reverse...
scott
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