German Megola motorcycle.

[John Schmidt]

An interesting looking thing, I was amused by the labels in the link below. They call it a radial engine which is wrong, it's a rotary engine mounted on the front wheel. Big difference in engine design between the rotary and radial. The rotary actually spins all the cylinders, whereas the radial is stationary and all the moving parts are internal. Neat looking old bikes though. In the early 20th century, a lot of planes were rotary powered. The oiling system was such that the oil was metered in the fuel/air mixture and expelled out the exhaust....covering everything behind it with oil, including the pilot in most cases. They were said to use a gallon or more of oil per each hour of flight. Kinda like some old cars I've owned in years past.....fill up the oil and check the gas. 

https://www.google.com/search?q=megola+motorcycle&tbm=isch&imgil=gzC3BZ8Jd_TdyM%253A%253BsLd2i_U1upSInM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fsilodrome.com%25252Fmegola-motorcycle%25252F&source=iu&pf=m&fir=gzC3BZ8Jd_TdyM%253A%252CsLd2i_U1upSInM%252C_&usg=__Cdrjvn846xnpXsSlNqvdOXZclMg%3D&biw=1283&bih=595&ved=0ahUKEwiprJGKra3VAhUK7SYKHRovCpIQyjcIQA&ei=deZ7WemdForamwGa3qiQCQ#imgrc=gzC3BZ8Jd_TdyM:

[rocketray]

gear head....actually maybe there is a spot in heaven when we will have the time to...nah..the future stuff is here--Tr-3b Astra project dark government--look at the NR and NAD supplements NASA is backing the research on for the Mars mission to overcome the cosmic radiation damage to our astronauts DNA and ribosomes in the 4 year each way space travel..

[Gryphon Rider]

Radial:




Rotary:

[John Schmidt]

Sorry Gryph, but the rotary design I'm talking about preceded the the Wankel by a few decades. Check the link out.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotary_engine

[Gryphon Rider]

Okay, well I learned something today.  It looks like it's impossible to stop the bike without stalling it.

[Cracker Jack]

John, I see what Wikipedia says but I've always understood that the early aircraft engines that utilized the stationary crankshaft and rotating cylinders were radial engines as were the later radials with the rotating crankshaft. Same basic engine.

Not to be argumentative, but in my mind the one shown in the Wikipedia link is a radial. I think Wikipedia is wrong in this case. The Wankel is a rotary.

Understand you can call it a rotary if you want to, no big deal.

[RDKLL]

 
It looks like the first "rotary" (cylinders in a circular arrangement around the crank) was a stationary crank and rotating cylinders, then it was a rotating crank and stationary cylinders to achieve much more power, can you imagine a 28 cylinder Wasp motor where the cylinders were rotating.
Then you get the Wankel rotary...the "cylinders" were captured area by the rotor and the outside walls...
They are all rotary engines...
 

[John Schmidt]

I've seen an example of the original rotary motor running. It was in a car at a car show, car was early 20th century, looked funny to see the motor literally spinning around like a top. I'll see if I can find an example of the motor actually running, then it will be easier to see why it was called a rotary.

OK, here's what the rotary looks like when running.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfEEmdz7-Fk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYc-H8Wg-MQ

[RDKLL]

An engine with the cylinders in circular arrangement is a radial engine....stationary crank and rotating cylinders may be a rotary...whatever they are cool

[John Schmidt]

I hope you realize I'm not arguing any of the points brought up, I was merely passing along an interesting motorcycle adaptation of what was called.....back then.....a rotary motor. Granted, the construction is laid out like a radial which was necessary due to the function of the engine itself. Personally, I don't give a rat's ass what they called it, I just thought it was kind of a neat application but not sure I'd want to try and ride it. 

[Hooter]

That's one of those times where you hope a friend doesn't see you riding it.

[sheets]

I wonder what this thing sounds like . . .

[RDKLL]

I wonder what this thing sounds like . . .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VU-ULRps4Y

[Patrick]

What John says is correct.

I used to spend a lot of time at Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome.  They specialize in very early aircraft.

An early Rotary is as John says. The cylinders/crankcase are attached to the prop. The crankshaft flange is attached to the firewall. There is no throttle plate, these engines run WOT. The engine speed is controlled by cutting the magnetos. These engines were lubricated with castor oil or mineral oil and threw it out the exhaust all over everything especially the pilots. Thats where the white scarfs came from to try and keep the goggles clean enough to see thru. The pilots usually ingested so much oil/exhaust that there was a mad dash to the 'facility' once back on the ground. If you watch a video of an old aircraft which has  such a motor you'll notice the plane 'wobbling' back and forth requiring 'wing men' to hold the wing tips. Axe handles were used on some planes as there were no enough people around when needed. The wobbling was caused by the pilot shutting off and turning on the magnetos to keep the speed where he wanted it. The engine was in effect a huge ass flywheel. It was thought the whirling cylinders aided in cooling.

A radial engine is also round, but, as said, the crankcase is fixed to the firewall and the crankshaft flange to the prop. This allowed the carburetor to have a throttle control plate and an exhaust ring to route the exhaust away.


The Wankel is a completely different animal and is just called a rotary.

A look at the enclosed link shows many pics of this engine/bike combination. A couple pics seem to show the engine as a rotary and then a couple more seem to show it as a radial. Hard to tell. It looks like the crankcase is affixed to the forks on some and then affixed to the wheel on others. I couldn't see on any of the pics I looked at engine speed control.



Everyone should hear a rotary and a radial aircraft engine run sometime during their life. There is nothing like flying a round engine airplane [ especially if flying wires and an open cockpit is involved].
 

[Patrick]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfEEmdz7-Fk


This a video of a 1917 Le Rhone being started with cowl removed.