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History of the Motorcycle Part IVOddity or Innovation?Throughout the history of the machine there have always been men who felt the need to break the mold or step out of the bounds that others have set.. Certainly the world of motorcycles is no different. While most designers have been satisfied to copy or attempt to improve on the designs of those that have come before, there are those who are driven to attempt to alter the machines of their predecessors with some rather radical design concepts. So in keeping with this theme I thought we should explore some of these design “variations”, some which were well thought out and useful and some not. As with the car industry some designs where simply too far ahead of their time to be accepted while others were simply done to be different and died a quick and quiet death.
Other attempts at a departure from the prevailing engine design of the time was the use of the Wankel Rotary engine. There were a number of companies that tried to adapt this to a motorcycle, unfortunately none were very successful. Here are three examples.
For information on motor designs such as the Gnome rotary and Wankel engines try this link http://www.keveney.com/gnome.html
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One of the first attempts to deviate from the norm was Glen Curtiss, whom I mentioned in a previous article in this series, with his attempt to build a machine that would break the land speed record. And indeed he did, though not “officially” as he was unable to complete the second run due to a mechanical failure. Besides employing an V8 engine, based on a then current Curtiss airplane engine, it employed a shaft drive, which later became the mainstay of the BMW motorcycle line, though not till some 20 years later. Photo courtesy of the Glen H. Curtiss Museum.
Next there was an attempt alter the placement of engine as well as the design. In this 1922 Megola the engine was placed inside the front wheel. This too was a concept based an airplane engine, the famous Gnome Rotary. In this engine design, the crankshaft was stationary and the engine, cylinders, wheel and all, rotated around a fixed axle. While this may at first be a bit hard to envision I have included a link to a diagram showing how this type of engine design works at the end of this article. In the version used in the motorcycle one problem encountered was the need to transfer fuel from the main tank, housed in the frame, to the auxiliary tank mounted on the front wheel every so often. Not the most convenient arrangement and I imagine it used a total loss lubrication method as well so the wheel and rider were constantly sprayed with a fine mist of used oil. Not the most pleasant ride, I would imagine, though it did come with a bucket seat on the road going version, while the racing version had a more standard saddle. Also of note was the fact the cylinders could be removed without disassembling the front wheel. 
The first was the DKW W2000 in 1974 followed by the Suzuki RE5 in 1975-77 and finally the 1977-78 the Van VenOCR. The first used a single rotor air cooled design, the last two employed a water-cooled twin rotor engine. While the Wankel engine has some outstanding features in regards to simplicity it never made much of impact for many years, due to the problem of the “apex” seals (located at the tips of the triangular rotor) that separated the compression, combustion and exhaust chambers tending to fail quite often requiring a complete tear down and rebuild. Suzuki, in fact, sent a spare engine with each bike to the dealer, so the engine could be swapped out and returned to the factory in case of failure as the local shops were not equipped to repair such motors. 
Suzuki RE5
Van VenOCR
Several other notable attempts to digress from the V-twin was the use of an in-line four cylinder engine such as the Pierce Arrow in 1910 with a two speed gear box and shaft drive, a design that was rather advanced for it’s time. Others such as Henderson , in the early teens and twenties, Ace (later bought out by Indian) from the twenty till early forties and Nimbus, in 1950’s, tried their luck at building in-line fours.
Another interesting attempt to break the mold was the Ner-a-car. Here’s a web site that has some interesting information and pictures of this rather odd machine. 
NSU Ketterkrad half track was an attempt to adapt a motorcycle to desert conditions. Apparently several thousand were produced during the war. Though they seem unwieldy at best.
The Bohmerland was another interesting diversion from the all too common V-twin of the day. This again is one I have mentioned before but it is just so odd looking with its bright color scheme and elongated frame, I just couldn’t resist including it here. Designed by Albin Liebisch, these Czech machines featured some unusual design elements. Produced between 1925 and 1939 they employed a single cylinder overhead valve engine with open push rods and valve train. The gas tanks were rear mounted and some models came with a sidecar and they all had seating for three on the main frame, plus they were equipped with two transmissions and shifters allowing both driver and passenger to shift gears! Note too the rather unwieldy front-end design. I’d be willing to bet this baby could take some punishment.
The 1967 Munch Mammoth was an attempt to adapt a car engine to a motorcycle. The result was a monster of a machine utilizing a double overhead cam inline 4 cylinder engine, transverse mounted in the frame. It came with a number of options, three different motor sizes, raging from 1200 CC’s up, several different seats and tanks sizes, and they offered a supercharged version as well, in 1967 it was reputed to be the worlds fastest production motorcycle.
Now how about a machine that came with outriggers for use in snow and ice conditions? Surely you’ve always wanted a snow-cycle? Here’s one from Jawa, circa 1960, that I saw recently at a vintage bike I attended in Germantown, Md. One simply had to place one’s feet on the outriggers pushing the skis down to transverse snow or ice. 
Lastly two other machines of note, both American and both made during the second world war that represented a departure from tradition were the HD 1942 XA and the Indian 841. These were built in response to the Army’s request to test motorcycles for use in the African theater during the second World War. 
While HD’s offering was clearly based on the BMW of the time, the Indian 841, looking for all the world like a copy of a Moto Guzzi, was in fact built prior to Moto Guzzi adapting it’s now famous transverse mounted V-twin design. Both designs were chosen by the designers for the fact that having the cylinders mounted out in the wind stream kept the motors running much cooler than the V-twin design currently used by both companies. It was shown that the engine oil ran a good 100 degrees cooler in these machines.
While there are countless others I could have included here, enough to fill an entire book, I chose some of my favorites, choices that were sometimes hard to make being the aficionado of the odd that I am and the endless variety to choose from! So what do you think, were these innovations or oddities?