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Gearheadotaku (Forum Supporter)
Gearheadotaku (Forum Supporter) UltimaDork
11/23/21 12:26 p.m.

Anyone think it's possible to join 2 V-Twins and make a V4?  Seems like an interesting way to power a small RWD roadster. Plenty of torque, lightish, and just leave the hood off for cooling.

lnlogauge
lnlogauge HalfDork
11/23/21 12:29 p.m.

you forgot unreliable. There's better motors that already exist for that purpose. 

it exists though.

https://thekneeslider.com/v-quad-4-cylinder-engine/

David S. Wallens
David S. Wallens Editorial Director
11/23/21 12:47 p.m.

Honda VFR?

MotorsportsGordon
MotorsportsGordon Dork
11/23/21 12:49 p.m.

Matt hay has a 170 hp Honda v4 motorcycle engine in a Lola champcar 


 

 

RacetruckRon
RacetruckRon Dork
11/23/21 12:52 p.m.

You mean like the loosely LS based V4 in the Motus bikes? Mast Motorsports developed the engine.

californiamilleghia
californiamilleghia UltraDork
11/23/21 1:05 p.m.

Here is the guy to ask , 

At Home with Allen Millyard | Genius Motorcycle Engineer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48UL3i6SHJQ

MotorsportsGordon
MotorsportsGordon Dork
11/23/21 1:05 p.m.
paddygarcia
paddygarcia Reader
11/23/21 1:17 p.m.

Someone has made wish for air-cooled V4 to pushing small and sports driving automobile?

Look no further, ZAZ has answer.

 

pres589 (djronnebaum)
pres589 (djronnebaum) UltimaDork
11/23/21 1:21 p.m.

I never hear about people playing with the Honda ST1100 and ST1300 engines.  Besides not having reverse they seem like they should be good fun to play with.  And they're already shaft drive.

Yamaha VMax should also work pretty well in a car, they're pretty torquey by the numbers.  They always seemed kind of bonkers.

ShawnG
ShawnG UltimaDork
11/23/21 2:02 p.m.

HD tried a V4 already. It never made it.

I belive it's in the HD museum in town.

No Time
No Time SuperDork
11/23/21 2:05 p.m.

I believe the aftermarket has reverse kits for HD engines. 

pres589 (djronnebaum)
pres589 (djronnebaum) UltimaDork
11/23/21 2:42 p.m.

ShawnG made me go looking for this article I read about the HD V4 effort previously;  https://ultimatemotorcycling.com/2016/09/19/harley-davidsons-project-nova-look-might/

A V4 wth Honda smoothness and sound, in a chassis that's more like the XR1200 (or other standard like a Suzuki GS or Honda CB750) sounds like an interesting machine had it ever happened.

ShawnG
ShawnG UltimaDork
11/23/21 2:56 p.m.

In reply to pres589 (djronnebaum) :

Sadly, it never would have flown with the HD faithful customers.

The XR1200 wasn't a "real Harley" becase it was quick, could turn and stop well. The same people that say a 1200 Sportster is a "girly bike", nevermind that it's one of the fastest things they make.

They could build really cool bikes if they would just tell the "bretheren" to get stuffed.

nocones
nocones UberDork
11/23/21 3:11 p.m.

So to support your insanity i think it's a great idea but probably will be harder then it seems.  Looking at the HD crankshaft the shafts are multipiece.  The front side uses a tapered friction fit and the drive side is splined.  I'm not sure you could drive the tappered shaft with the output of the front motor with any reliability.   Since the shafts are 3 piece you maybe could make a custom front and rear shaft section to allow what you want to do.  Or just make a new crankcase that allows for 4 pistons to go up and down at the same time.

Probably an easier way is to just drive a trans input with 2 engines with 2 primary belts.  

Now talking insane multi motor things I made the mistake of checking FBM for "snowmobile engine" and have found several 3 cyl motors for ~$300 each.  That's a dangerous amount of power for way to cheap.

Mr_Asa
Mr_Asa PowerDork
11/23/21 3:16 p.m.
ShawnG said:

HD tried a V4 already. It never made it.

HD barely got their fans to accept EFI.

FSP_ZX2
FSP_ZX2 SuperDork
11/23/21 4:01 p.m.

In reply to Mr_Asa :

Every Harley-Davidson since 2007 has had Fuel Injection.  Not sure what you mean by that comment.

Justjim75
Justjim75 SuperDork
11/23/21 4:12 p.m.

My 2010 Sportster is the most reliable motorcycle I've ever owned or even known about.  It's not fair to say they aren't reliable as the AMF years and the current gen are polar opposites

Kreb (Forum Supporter)
Kreb (Forum Supporter) PowerDork
11/23/21 5:22 p.m.

The XR1200 was ahead of it's time - Harley time that is. Don't look now, but Harley's starting to make some interesting motorcycles again.

I've seriously looked at V4s for BEC application. The Aprilia one is pretty sweet, but I don't feel adventurous enough to go with an Italian sourced motor. I've heard that the V-max may have a weak transmission and/or clutch, but that's entirely hearsay.

It's a shame that the VFR1200 is pretty rare, and chocked full of electronics that one would have to reconcile, because otherwise it would make a great BEC donor.  

 

Kreb (Forum Supporter)
Kreb (Forum Supporter) PowerDork
11/23/21 5:25 p.m.

Now talking insane multi motor things I made the mistake of checking FBM for "snowmobile engine" and have found several 3 cyl motors for ~$300 each.  That's a dangerous amount of power for way to cheap.

What's FBM? 

Mr_Asa
Mr_Asa PowerDork
11/23/21 5:28 p.m.
FSP_ZX2 said:

In reply to Mr_Asa :

Every Harley-Davidson since 2007 has had Fuel Injection.  Not sure what you mean by that comment.

I mean I remember before 2007?  I can remember uncles and cousins, and all sorts of forums where people were bitching endlessly about EFI on their bikes.
I also mean that I know that there are dozens of versions of this kit out there. 

By and large, Harley owners are cavemen.  There are always exceptions, but generally they are the most resistant to change of any hobbyist.

Mr_Asa
Mr_Asa PowerDork
11/23/21 5:29 p.m.
Kreb (Forum Supporter) said:

Now talking insane multi motor things I made the mistake of checking FBM for "snowmobile engine" and have found several 3 cyl motors for ~$300 each.  That's a dangerous amount of power for way to cheap.

What's FBM? 

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Gearheadotaku (Forum Supporter)
Gearheadotaku (Forum Supporter) UltimaDork
11/23/21 6:36 p.m.
nocones said:

So to support your insanity i think it's a great idea but probably will be harder then it seems.  Looking at the HD crankshaft the shafts are multipiece.  The front side uses a tapered friction fit and the drive side is splined.  I'm not sure you could drive the tappered shaft with the output of the front motor with any reliability.   Since the shafts are 3 piece you maybe could make a custom front and rear shaft section to allow what you want to do.  Or just make a new crankcase that allows for 4 pistons to go up and down at the same time.

Probably an easier way is to just drive a trans input with 2 engines with 2 primary belts.  

Now talking insane multi motor things I made the mistake of checking FBM for "snowmobile engine" and have found several 3 cyl motors for ~$300 each.  That's a dangerous amount of power for way to cheap.

That's the type of info I needed, thank you.

My idea was centered around being able to put couple of old motors together on the cheap. Making/modifing a flywheel seemed the hard part. 

Jah29
Jah29 Reader
11/23/21 6:41 p.m.

In reply to Kreb (Forum Supporter) :

 

the aprilia V4 is used in the griip formula car.  V faces forward and a driveshaft connects an output sprocket adapter to a diff.

 

NickD
NickD MegaDork
11/23/21 7:05 p.m.

I remember seeing a crazy Unlimited class pulling lawn tractor that had 4 Harley V-Twins daisy-chained together somehow to essentially make a V8. It was wild.

No Time
No Time SuperDork
11/23/21 7:07 p.m.
Gearheadotaku (Forum Supporter) said:
nocones said:

So to support your insanity i think it's a great idea but probably will be harder then it seems.  Looking at the HD crankshaft the shafts are multipiece.  The front side uses a tapered friction fit and the drive side is splined.  I'm not sure you could drive the tappered shaft with the output of the front motor with any reliability.   Since the shafts are 3 piece you maybe could make a custom front and rear shaft section to allow what you want to do.  Or just make a new crankcase that allows for 4 pistons to go up and down at the same time.

Probably an easier way is to just drive a trans input with 2 engines with 2 primary belts.  

Now talking insane multi motor things I made the mistake of checking FBM for "snowmobile engine" and have found several 3 cyl motors for ~$300 each.  That's a dangerous amount of power for way to cheap.

That's the type of info I needed, thank you.

My idea was centered around being able to put couple of old motors together on the cheap. Making/modifing a flywheel seemed the hard part. 

Find a parts sled and you can get the drive and driven clutch and driveshaft. Find the right chain case and you get reverse. 

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