The Rare Engine that Kills Everything it Touches
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 พ.ย. 2021
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Only one internal combustion design from the 20th century has gone into production: the Wankel Rotary. Yet every motorcycle manufacturer who tries it goes bankrupt. What’s the curse?
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Directed and Edited by Luke McAdam - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
“The scariest philosophical question born in the bathhouses of Ancient Rome. Who’s wankle am I touching…. “
F9 is truly a wordsmith and a poet
liked for this phrase alone. hilarious!
Who’s wankle am I touching...?
A question that needs to be asked more often I suppose....😅
*whose
Word
@@JCBigCat Are you absolutely certain the correction shouldn't be: "Who is Wankle? Am I touching...?"
The way the paper lands perfectly on the seat at 7:58 was either unplanned or this was take 23. Either way, the fact that Ryan seemed not to notice was the best part.
Totally caught that. Had to be some sort of editing magic.
@@JCrozier1 next tilktok challenge. Forget bottle flips... we're on to 3 hole binder paper tossing now.
Agreed... plus did you note none of the paper he tossed while walking was visible behind him?
Thats what stuck out the most in this vid...was it PFM or , cut...retake
@@kyphilburg extra points if you manage it on the seat of one of those, as common as they are
"I once went to Poland in September. It was lovely! You just...can't get carried away"
OMG
😂😂😂
I wonder if he was in Ackron Ohio🙂 nice this time of year
Man, I really tried, but I don't get it!
@@MrMrMrMrMrT My guess is don't invade it
@@MrMrMrMrMrT This was a line from the Harvey movie😁
Your production value is through the roof. Love your work.
Netflix series grade
Bro this shits corny 😂
You're not a reviewer, you're a story teller, and that's amazing!
Unless its a story about an electric bike
and a litter bug
Your pfp seems like giga but from Walmart
both
@@owenbaxendale540 there is nothing funny to say about electric bikes... they're just sad.
This is a Netflix series for motorcycle lovers. Period.
Was not expecting to see you here. :)
Unless you like electric motorbikes
I thought from listening to the video that it was part of a series for rock music lovers. We don't get to hear the motorcycle properly at all.
No you're on your period. Also so is the fem bot in the chat.
I don’t even like motorcycles but I like to watch for the entertainment value and beautiful videos overall
This guy is truly a great presenter. Not sure if he’s the writer as well but both writing and presentation are extremely entertaining.
He is a writer
These videos are some of the best on this platform. I'm not even a motorcycle guy and I can't get enough of these videos. They're amazingly well done. Keep up the great work!!
You should join us, it is way cooler here in the dark side
I live in the town where Felix Wankel had his workshop and lived while engineering the rotary engine. My mother knew him. Had a small dog apparently. He also developed a boat which could dive under waves. That's why his workshop is a few feet away from lake constance. The facility is owned by Audi today.
That's amazing
BC could really use that submersable tech right now!🌧️
Interesting! I did come across his hydrofoil-ish things: de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gleitkufenboot ~RF9
Wait. Is it that small Audi thing inbetween Bregenz and Lindau?
@@FortNine spelling Gleitfukenboot is more better
Rumour has it that Mazda has never actually stopped developing their rotary in their secret labs deep down underground. As a former RX8 owner, I sold before seal failure, I love the rotary and would love to have another….
They are awesome when they aren’t broken, lol.
Same! Bought my RX-8 at 12k miles and loved every day of it until 55k. It was a thrill to ride at 8k RPM.
you are right they are going to put a rotary engine in the extended range electric car they have now it going to run a generator to recharge the battery .
There might be truth to that! I've heard rumours of Mazda developing Wankel generators for use as range extenders in hybrid cars. They work pretty well at steady rpm! ~RF9
@@FortNine The Mazda MX-30 should be soon available with a Wankel range extender. As you said, it'll work at fixed operative condition
Had a boss who swore by rotary engines....he drove his wifes car most of the time cause his mazda was always broken
I used to ride its nemesis, the Suzuki RE5 Wankel in the late seventies. Enjoyed your presentation so much I'd forgotten how first class you are your craft. Informative and entertaining, most others on YT don't get anywhere close.
Can we all agree that Ryan from Fortnine is a freaking living legend in the motorcycle community.
I want to ride his Wankel!
Don't forget the video team, the quirky edits are part of the charm
Living legend.
He is very good indeed. However when he stops playing Jeremy Clarkson he would be even better.
But that is not mandatory, I have no problem with 2 Clarksons on this planet)
Just on. TH-cam all together
My wife divorced me because she said I watch too much fortnine. I am now alone and happier than ever and can watch as much F9 as my heart desires
Boomer vibes. Wife bad hehe
What she ment was: "Make more money! "
You're better off.
Hold on cumsterdump, you may have a point
Hope you’re joking.
Women initiate 80-90% of divroces. We're better off without them honestly.
Great videos! I appreciate the effort that you put into planning and filming these. The videography is awesome. Well done!
This video is so well put together, it‘s a piece of art and a pleasure to watch. Also gives me a hometown vibe, counting 16 years in Austria and being from North Vancouver. Thanks for the awesome content!
The episodes about weird and extinct bikes/technologies are my favourites.
Thanks guys 🙂
multiverse crossover. I started watching both these channels in the last month.
Today on BCpov...we watched a cool video of a vintage bike!❤️
I'll never forget people telling me I'm crazy for saying that the rotory was used in some bikes.
you're welcome
Intersting piece of history. I hope more to come.
"I visited Poland in September. You just can't get carried away."--Ryan, as much as I howled in laughter, you are definitely going to the special hell for that one!
Lol can you explain? It went over my head!
Invasion of Poland sept 1939, basically the beginning of world war two. طه خليل
Come on. I laughed hard, even though I am a Pole. :) Nice one!
Classic understated Fortnine humor. Love it.
Comes remotely close to Clarkson's "Berlin to Warsaw in one tank" Scirocco commercial.
5:19: Small correction, hamsters don’t get drunk. They have the highest tolerance for alcohol of any vertebrate animal.
You deserve an award for your work these past few years. Incredible job. 👏👏
"I once went to Poland in September, It was lovely! you just can't get carried away" lines like this are an example of great writing! some of the best out there
Explain me, how you can compare Natzi Germany to Polish September??? No taste at all, no funny at all.
@@Jan-eh7nf I'm pretty sure he's making a joke about invading Poland
@@Jan-eh7nf For a quick lesson, please listen to "40:1" by Sabaton.
This is about as funny as naming a motorcycle „Fat Boy“ and painting it in colors of the first US nuclear bombs, which this channel called „tasteless even for 80s standards“!
@@TR850 If you're past the age of 12 you should understand the MONUMENTAL difference between the two things. One is a joke, and fucking clearly so, while the other one is a massive wink to pro-war and pro-nuke motherfuckers, which amerikkka was and still is full of.
My parents were a Hercules dealer in the late 70's. Couldn't sell any of the 3 bikes initially sold to them by the company. So, the oil injector model(yes there was one you didn't have to pre-mix for) went to a business partner/investor. The 2 pre-mixers, dad road raced. One was a sprint race bike, the other the endurance bike. Never won anything, but never finished last. He ran them until about 1983.
Thats super rireous.my dad raced also but more like late 70s into early 80s.true hardcore kinda shit right there.i mean they had metal everything.and 4 wheelers were still bein tried out with 3 wheels for whatever reason.stupid lookin but do i still wanna try it out ? Damn well know it
there was one of them rotting for at least a decade outside a house (in athens greece) that as kid I would pass by it every day on my way to school (in the 90's), I guess the engine was dead and nobody could fix it.
Hardcore, Wow....I love the "ROTons.. " aka Rotary NORTONS..that Trevor NATION, and Ron The Rockets raced in uk..90s..Your story? Just. wow.
What ever happened to the three Hercules bikes bike mon
They say the last 200 (or so) produced right when 1975 became 1976 had oil injection. They are easy to spot as there is *a visible "tube" indicating the level of the oil tank* on the side panel directly beneath the *second 'E'* in HERCULES that's painted on the gas tank. th-cam.com/video/1bni-fir4A8/w-d-xo.html
This popped up on my suggested, took a chance and watched since I've always been interested in the Hercules.
I was not disappointed. The voice, the style in which you weave the history, humor and production together made this entertaining. I'll be sure to check out some more vids. Subscribed.
The scene of you just coughing in the lobby of that bike shop was priceless. Pure gold. Keep on doing whatever this is.
The greatest mystery from the ancient bath houses of Rome, “who’s Wenkel am I touching?”
This has got to be one of the best lines I’ve ever heard. Omg, you need your own syndicated television show.
I just choked on my breakfast. Easy play on words but effective.
Wankel, for those who think that Ducatis service intervalls are to far between and are cheap.
"I once went to Poland in September.." 😂
Wankles are easier to rebuild than pistons though.
@@sl600rt ...And you'll get a lot more experience doing it too!
My Ducati has cost way more money than my old RX7 ever did on maintenance haha
@@chrispekel5709 Really? I have 42,000 VERY HARD km's on my 2017 939 SP, other than a chain, sprockets, and the regular service intervals it's had nothing done to it.
@Lassi Kinnunen 81 There was one big service around 30k that I did, they changed the timing belt and plugs, I think they checked the valves there too. Desmo valves are pretty much the best in the business in my opinion, much less to go wrong. That sevice was hefty enough though, I think around $800. I ride it very hard though, it's seen it's fair share of abuse.
This has to be the best produced and most well written motorcycle content on TH-cam.
I've just "discovered" your channel and I'm absolutely in love with it! even tough I am not a fan of motorcicles the aesthetics are just plainly perfect
In 1974 I was in the Army, station in What was West Germany, and I remember the Hercules rotary engine motorcycle. I was fascinated by it but I couldn’t figure out how it worked. It was a nice looking bike and I still remember this weird motorcycle like it was yesterday. Thanks for doing a show on it, it made me fill young again.
Cool memory! Thanks for sharing, and thank you for your service.
I saw my first 1 in Spain, was amazed by it, plus my uncle had an early 1900s converted barge with a single rotory engine, which my father had to fiddle with to get running
“I once went to Poland in September… you just can’t get carried away.”
Awesome.
What you mean by this?
@@szymonk4861 Nie dać ponieść się emocjom ;)
@@szymonk4861 I was commenting on something the presenter said that I found historically amusing.
I did not think it was possible to actually joke about this and have it be funny, but FortNine pulls it off!
I fell of my chair
His jokes land so soft it takes you a second to comprehend
but he just said
I know this is old but it was good. I have no idea why I learn so much from ure stuff. Your goretex video was a life changer for me!
He is the best motorbike channel period. He should get a TV series. His production values are first class. He has a great sense of humour
FortNine video! Yeah! I don't even read what it's about anymore. I simply know I can trust Ryan to make an outstanding experience no matter what
"Ya just, can't get carried away" /me: has to rewind the last 30 seconds that I missed through laughing. That is some *quality* deadpan right there Ryan.
Lol I didn't get it - can you explain?
@@tahaks He says he went to Poland in September and basically didn't do anything crazy. Echoing the Nazi invasion of Poland in September 1939, except they "got carried away" and started World War II.
@@tahaks I needed the clarification too. Thx
@@Zeebad101 Ryan means the Nazi's "started WWII" and the Poles were "carried away, " LITERALLY, to concentration camps, as victims of Nazi aggression.
@@1TruePatriot While I don't dispute that that happened, I think you are over-reading Ryan's joke because 1) It doesn't make sense that way, and 2) It's pretty tough to make that level of detail funny in this case.
"I went to poland in september, it was lovely! You just can't get carried away"
Comedy genius right here.
Love your show. I remember seeing new RE5 Suzuki in showroom and wondering who would buy it as so expensive and just looked too different. Now, fifty years later, I want one!
I like how Ryan doesn't ask the viewers to subscribe and like his video. The viewers subscribe and like the video because they feel compelled to by the quality of the content and don't need to be pushed to do it.
Real talk!
If he did he would have more subs. TH-camrs do that because that motivates people to do it mostly unconsciusly. Because his content is Highest top tier material he get the subs anyway but if he do that then he would get better numbers.
Your comment made me scroll to subscribe but then saw that I had already did before lol.
I subscribed just for that reason
I've watched and laughed and commented these stupid masterpieces but only just now subbed that someone mentioned it.
You just make a Masterpiece EVERY time don't you.
Texting killed the motorcycle. Not the quality of the motorcycle or price.
Only to the generations who do not know much. That engine, with out a energy eating rotating counter balance, (which both type engines have used), shakes a lot.
Back in the day, I rode my buddies 1972 Artic Cat Panther snowmobile with Wankel engine and no counter balance. It shook like a paint shaker at Home Depot.
You, the next generation, would not know that. But he is wrong---and that can easily be called a masterpeice if you don't know the difference. What story will a person speak, if they don't know? Nothing you can prove wrong.
@@eugene7518 Well, I never fell into the trap of buying a cell phone, and still I did not ride my bikes last summer. If many people prefer texting instead of riding,---mankind is doomed.
Motorcycle riding is too dangerous now.
Great presentation. Should have mentioned the problem of wear to the rotor tips though. Another major Achilles heel there.
Just found this, just now.
Very nicely done sir.
Subscription imminent, binge shortly after. Brilliant, and fun!
That Poland joke still has me laughing 🤣
Back in the '70s I had an Artic Cat snowmobile with the same Sachs rotary engine, the engine size was called a 303 though. It was a good, torquey motor, and was able to power up hills that the more powerful 440s would spin their tracks on. I always wanted to try a Hercules with that motor.
Reciprocating engines have had over 100 years of development by almost every car and motorcycle manufacturing company to get them to the high level of refinement they now enjoy. By comparison, the rotary has had only a handful of companies even get to the point of building development mules, and only one has made a serious production engine. I've always wondered where we would be if the rotary had been invented first. Imagine trying to convince a rotary engine manufacturer that they need to replace their engine with something that had 100 times more parts and vibrated like a paint shaker.
NSU made Wankel.
Sachs
Mazda
Suzuki
Many others .
All came to the same end.
Norton made them and it took them down the dead end to bankruptcy ( or they were dead anyway and clutched at this straw)
AIE makes them today and is aiming at the Drone market .I have a sneaking suspicion that they have Norton roots.
While an attractive idea it is inherently full of compromise to make the concept work.
@@billycaspersghost7528 NORTON were ripped off by criminals.
The later F1s were amazing...
in the automotive industry, Mazda used a rotary engine for it's RX-7 and I've heard they we're really nice cars. I think the oil and gas combination is always a pretty big turnoff, but I also think two stroke engines have charisma despite of it... You've got a good point with the historical development of both engines
@@c.nahmad only the very first rx7s had 2 strokes. They stopped that shit real fast.
@@Leotheleprachaun yeah, what I meant by mentioning the two-stroke engine was only using it as a comparison to a rotary which also burns oil inside the ignition chamber. But thanks! I really didn't know they used a two stroke earlier
Missing the most important feature of the Hercules.
At the motorcycle shop I worked at, we had a couple of Hercules advertising posters that clearly showed that if you purchased a Hercules, topless Scandinavian models would happily jump on the back of the seat.
I still have no idea why it failed. That should have been the biggest feature.
Made me think of dumb and dumber with the busload of Swedish models
Can confirm. Toples Scandinavian women are very, very attracted to me when I ride the Herc.
@@bashkillszombies - I totally knew it! My 850 Goose didn't have that accessory.
Hence the success of the Italians.
Now to have a Hercules as well......a man could die happy, exhausted, but happy.
no vibrations no interest from females
You forgot the Henry Ford quote " The answer to the question no-one ever asked ! " i`m a Brit-expat living just down the road from the old NSU Werk who knows quite a few Ro80 owners, who would probably find this video a bitter pill to swallow. Am enjoying your work , well done. Nick
This is the best motor sport channel on YT. Bar none.
When the Suzuk RE5 was contemporary, the Australian Motorcycle racing rules counted the capacity as twice the single-rotor-face capacity, so for the RE5, it was rated as a 1,000 cc. Bit more reasonable than counting 3/3, or 1/3.
RE5 was of limited practicality, but that didn't stop me from riding from Melbourne to Darwin and back again, one fine month, about 5,000 odd miles.
I have one sitting in the shed, waiting for me to move into a residence with a garage (or should I say: into a garage with attached residence).
Good vid, I enjoyed it.
Great. The RE5 wasn't bad ride at all (I was a mechanic for a Suzuki/Kawasaki shop in New York) but had some peculiarities that just wouldn't be overcome. The styling of the first incarnation was a bit off what was pleasing the market but on the road, it was pretty nice. There were some odd stories coming down the pike about servicing them, one: don't put one on a dyno or you'll stand the chance of melting the aluminum exhaust manifold attached to the engine. Synching the two carburetor throats was tricky but once dialed in, it didn't vary enough to cause trouble.
@@whalesong999 The RE5 seems really interesting, but if I'd walked into a Suzuki dealership to look at one, I think I'd have probably ridden out on a GT550. Even today I'd love to have a Suzuki triple. Park it right next to my Kawasaki triple.
If I rode from Melbourne to Darwin,, I would have definitely not gone back to Melbourne!!!
@@JETZcorp So refined, the Suzuki triples. I liked them too. The 550 did have an issue for a time with the starter clutches engaging and disintegrating the starter motor during operation but the factory covered that well.
Long bloody ride mate, was it all bitumen? I (drove) from Adelaide to Darwin a few times.. from memory I rekn there was over 770ks of corrugated dirt..mate it shook my bus to bits.. How'd your kidneys go?
Another note.. weren't Wankels & Rotax donks really successful in sidecars.. like for years? Loved revs, low COG & flew...
I don't know how you always keep this crazy good standard. I swear your videos are better than 70% superhero movies, they are like little stories with mythology history science. Thank you man.
just wishing they were 2 hours long and a new one each week
Absolutely
I think Ryan & Co. (Ltd.) go for quality over quantity. I'm sure they could probably churn out a video every week, but I think the quality might suffer, and I'd hate to see that.
I rented a v-strom 650 2nd gen from BC Cycle maybe 5-6 years ago. Great shop, professional, right in Van, great riding the BC coast, and now I'm about to roll over 100,000 clicks on my own beloved 3rd gen. Nice to see the joint again.
Can’t deny, this is a really really great channel.
Awesome episode
Fantastic even.
Rolls Royce made the compression problems and also the efficiency problems go away by using a two stage rotary. It made enough compression to work as a Diesel generator. In essence a supercharger/turbocharger hybrid. with a big compression rotary and a small rotary that used the compressed air from the big one and spat the remains of its combustion back on to the big one too. They were geared together.
That still doesn't solve the lubrication issue, but it does solve the problem of how to get it to bang hard enough.
The issue comes when you bang too hard without lubrication, only bad things come from that ;)
@@sandwichmaker1289 When I bang with lubrication there is a change of pants that follows. ; )
AIE from UK has a Wankel engine with proper lubrication.
As said above swapping the Dorito and egg-shapes with a spark at each corner solves the poor blow down stroke and the excessive flame quenching.
Seems like it would be more efficient to just use a supercharger as a first stage compressor instead of two wankels in a row? I’m quite sure that a Wankel rotor is far from the the ideal compressor.
The production level of this channel is insane. I don't even ride bikes and I had to subscribe.
Great story and excellent delivery. This guy is very entertaining!
I owned a 1973 Hercules Wankel 2000 in the early 1980's. All spare parts came out of Quebec, Canada. You had to *WRITE A LETTER* with a list of parts (including part #) you wanted. They replied with prices for each item. You then responded with which parts you wanted to buy and included a check. You accepted it because it was the only way to get them!!! I can't count the number of times people asked me if it was a jet engine!
there was one of them rotting for at least a decade outside a house (in athens greece) that as kid I would pass by it every day on my way to school (in the 90's), I guess the engine was dead and nobody could fix it OR they couldn't get the parts... :-(
Wow, didn't they have Telephones in your Town? Or didn't they speak English?...... Did you have to translate your letters in to French first? Lol......
@@nickmaclachlan5178 They had a phone but wouldn't take orders over it. Probably too many mistakes writing down what another person said. Also, it may have been Montreal, not that it matters, and most French Canadians are bilingual. The parts for that bike were not high-turnover items and only one guy there knew them well enough to pull the orders.
Ah the good old days of pen and paper. . . Kids today don't know what they're missing. . . .
Two days for your letter to arrive at its destination, one day for the reply followed by two days for that reply to reach you. It made for very drawn out conversations.
@@mark3427 I just this second realized why I've been so patient with my Amazon Prime shipments taking a week to arrive instead of a day or 2. It's because I was born in a time of, *"It'll arrive when it arrives. A tracking number? What's that?"*
Ah yes, the ol' Rotary.
it's like a genius kid to divorced parents, there's so much potential, but it all hides under heaves of hardships and trouble.
Perfect analogy.
Lots of rape, copious amounts
A fascinating failure now just a footnote in history.
Texting killed the motorcycle. Not the quality of the motorcycle or price.
That's a very elegant, albeit very sad, way of stating it.
First time I've seen this guy and he is good at doing what he does, well done chap from UK,
Great video. I remember the Norton rotary-engined race bikes taking part in the British GP back in 1992. I think Ron Haslam was one of the riders. I drove an NSU Ro80 saloon car back in the day. It was a nice looking car and very roomy inside. It had a strange semi-automatic gearbox were you pushed the gear lever down to change gear. The rev counter was a bit scary as it would cruise along at 20,000 rpm. Sadly, the bearings couldn't handle the revs and frequently wore out so the cars were never successful.
The only thing Norton lost more than races... was customers.
The NSU Ro80 was a fantastic car crippled by the worst type of engine ever made.. the Wankel.
20.000 rpm? Not even in three minutes... Pushing the gear lever down to change gear? No.
@@TheSnurkyjt Joe doesn't know what he is talking about.
@@TheSnurkyjt I may have been exaggerating about the revs but it definitely had a semi-automatic gearbox as you can see from this en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSU_Ro_80
@@sandervanderkammen9230 You obviously never drove one. I did and can tell you that the car had a semi-automatic gearbox (see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSU_Ro_80). Check your facts before you accuse me of ignorance.
I only saw this machine once. It was extremely expensive, compared to similar bikes and I didn't have the money for it. I still remember the sales brochure with the very Teutonic models posing with the bike. It was a very handsome machine with extremely high build-quality standards. It's a shame it did not succeed but I remember it as one of the bikes "that got away."
how high can the quality standard be for an engine that spits out gasoline and smoke?
@@rosemaryus-ct6151 all of these types of engines like to run "wet". It's not just this machine, all rotaries.
@@rosemaryus-ct6151 Two strokes are brilliant but also spit out smoke
I don't agree. Yes it was handsome but the really big Company Hercules went out of Business because it did not work and the development was so expensive. All Wankels, except Mazdas were shit, because the Odea of Wankel is shit.
@@markusnellen1599 The idea is not shit, it is genious. If only some companies had tried to develope it to the better ...
My old RX-7 used to run so smooth, the tach redline featured a loud warning buzzer to try and ensure you didn't spin the rotors right out the engine 'block'
Yeah, and forget about hearing it idle at a traffic light.
I don't think that would actually happen, not at that lower rpm. One guy I was chatting with had 4x of those engines stacked (I believe with the stock turbos though), and he had it set for something like 12k rpm redline. Apparently stacking those is easy, but he didn't know for the RX-8 (which is what I have and would love a quad rotor, let alone a beast of an octa-rotor like he made). On mine you get this barely audible little "beep" I don't even hear 99% of the time because it's so soft compared to the engine screaming, but they have a rev limiter at 9.5k rpm anyways.
It is incredibly smooth, I once drove like half an hour down the highway and didn't realize it was in 3rd gear instead of 6th (just purring away 7-8k rpm), oddly didn't seem to affect fuel economy...
@@jakegarrett8109 Mazda's first commercial for a rotary engined car had a song that went something like "A piston engine goes boing boing boing, but a Mazda goes hmmmmmm!" th-cam.com/video/oHzeGEHWMjo/w-d-xo.html
About 25 years ago when I was an auto tech we had a customer who had one of those 3rd generation RX-7s with the twin rotor turbo engine (twin turbos? I can't remember). That thing was amazingly smooth and fast. Driving it felt like the closest thing to riding a big-bore sport bike. Wouldn't want to own it and have to pay the repair bills though.
@@jfess1911 It should be more like "brap, brap, ptu-pOW!". I like how they brag about the quite noise, lol, though mine does have an exhaust mod probably a little louder than stock. I'd compare them more to a rolling gang or warzone on wheels with the occasional gunshot sounds after getting to 9.5k rpm and shifting with some nice flames coming out the tailpipes.
I don't even ride motorcycles but I enjoy watching F9 cos of the scripts, presenting, and smooth smooth editing.
I think I found the best Motorcycle channel on the planet.
It's been such a long time since I've even thought about Hercules bikes.
Thanks for taking me down a trip through memory lane. I was always fascinated by these after seeing one for a ridiculous price in a magazine.
Hercules bikes is so way back then.
As a kid I had one similar to this, a KTM with a Sachs two-stroke. Basically the same thing as all the others, just not Hercules
„I went once to Poland in september - it was lovely. You just can’t get carried away” - a true masterpiece 👏
That was probably one of the best title-to-opening sequences I've ever seen.
That was entertaining enough to watch the whole thing even when I have other stuff to do. Great work.
Ryan,
Sachs produced a Wankle engined dirt bike with leading link front suspension in the early seventies. It was a strange beast. A family friend kept his in my father's shop. It was an interesting ride.
Wild! Hercules also had an off-road variant with this engine - the 502GS. Super rare, I gather. ~RF9
As a RX-7 "mechanic", I have PTSD to this day about the seals that ... don't. Not really. Unless spinning at a steady RPM... a single good RPM. I think Wankel's make for great generator engines ...
And when it only works with one good RPM, that is what you use. That is why Wankel's are used on generators and such that does not need a range of speeds. Other uses is being coupled with Continuously variable transmissions like in a snowmobile.
I had a buddy buy a dead RX-7 and we got it going with split fire plugs - the smoke was so blue and sweat smelling... I just patted him on the back and shook my head. 'let it go, buddy.' was my advice. he was like ' what does this mean? what does this mean?'
@@leadbadger9543 Please tell me you didn't manage to convince him. They're supposed to do that. If he saw what they go for these days....
@@somejerk1520 the Kiwis know that: th-cam.com/video/WSCX9IBtCDI/w-d-xo.html
@@somejerk1520 Boat Schmoat, airplane engines, constant speed, weight even more important
I’m not a motorcycle guy but this channel is just superb
Felix Wankel and Oskar Heil were two German engineers who had an outsized impact on my early life. I'm 47 and had a modified 2nd gen RX-7 (non-turbo) from about 1997 to 2001. And I inherited ESS AMT-1 speakers back in high school that blew me away ("sound as clear as light").
The paper landed so smoothly on the seat, it's like even the laws of physics know your videos are perfect
The ongoing tease to the crescendo amongst every piece other of pristine editing 😍 we do not deserve this for free
Thankyou for putting out some of the best documentaries Ive seen
its been almost 3 years (2020) now since i have been following your channel and watching your videos seriously i enjoy your videos specially the way you reperesant and describe your videos your voice man thats so hypnotizing that i seem to be lost and taken back to some fantasy world
The best videos are where you laugh and learn simultaneously. Absolutely incredible content and a great guy !!!!
I hope you didn't learn anything from this video... it was a comedy video mocking the worst engine ever made.
@@sandervanderkammen9230 I never knew this engine was used on a motorcycle so that’s learning !
I bought a new CBR500R the other week.
Yesterday, a driver ran into it when I was in a roundabout. Now it’s in the shop getting repaired.
I’m binging all of your videos until it’s fixed. You’re a legend, thanks mate.
Oh man, I hope your bike's fixed soon!
Nice bike, it's a shame. I had a '75 CB100 when I was a kid, but my ma made me get rid of it before someone ran into me.
You are one of my favourite channels, and I'm not even a big gearhead, I just think you have a really good way of sucking me into your narrative and keeping me watching till the end.
You have great skills at documenting and narration, This is really amazing
He is a very talented comedian
I almost bought the Suzuki when it was new. Beautiful bike, a tamed tiger.
I know it was a sales failure, but I rode that bike and there wasn't a thing wrong with it.
One of the first water cooled bikes I ever saw. While Air cooled bikes were shutting down in traffic jams in the summer heat, this thing was purring right along. It came before it's time.
The RE5 was an epic failure that bankrupted Suzuki..
It's performance was horrible to compareable bike of the day.
The Wankel engine is inherently unsuitable for motorcycle applications..
I suffer from
Chronic back pain and depression due to that, it’s currently 1am and as usual I’ve been woken due to the pain but these videos are a godsend, especially at this hour of the morning! Love your work man
Stay strong man
Keep up the spirit man! Stay strong 💪
Oof! That's tough! I can sort of relate having broken both of my legs. Have you tried acupuncture? Got me off the narcotics
Get this book, it will change your life: Back Mechanic by Dr. Stuart McGill
I own 4 sachs 303 wankel snowmobile engines, and honestly that was the perfect application for them. They aren't just air cooled, but are also cooled by the fuel mixture, which solves both the oiling and cooling problems which shortened the life of other rotary designs. One of mine has well over 4000 miles which is a lot for a 70s snowmobile, and it still starts and runs like new. In fact, very one I've found will run awesome after it gets fresh crank seals and a good week long ATF soak to break up carbon deposits. It was really the fuel crisis that killed them more than anything else. They suck down gas but make amazing and smooth power for their weight.
Wankel engines were not popular at all in snow machines, sold very poorly and were fairly quickly discontinued.
Sachs abandoned all development Wankel engines in 1977 and sold most of the tooling and rights to Norton... who lost a fortune and went bankrupt.
You don't mention that in 1989 the the Norton rotary had a good success on the tarmac in the British road racing Cup beating the factory Yamaha's
Bull. Cat sold 10,000 Panther 303s in one year alone. They ran great when tuned right and we sold a boat load in the 1970s. Time moved on they got expensive and the Kawasaki twins took over for Cat.
Yep, it was mostly the fuel economy that killed them with the gas crisis. Phenomenal power density but poor fuel economy. I recently got my hands on a 75 cheetah 295 Wankel, it has a mikuni slide carb instead of the tillotson diaphragm, makes a night and day difference in the tuning. The tollotsons are temperamental on the roatries, but even swapping a 303 over to a mikuni slide carb makes the engine far more stable. @@glenmallory9982
Love the narrator's voice, presentation and the entire clip. Also educational. Thank you.
My fathers Sail plane has a wankle engine in it that has a small prop fixed to it for climbing when you can’t find thermals to gain altitude. It can also be used for take off so you don’t have to have a small plane tow you up. It’s really cool. It comes out of the fuselage when you need it out of a little trap door on the top.
Basically the same Sachs KM24 engine thats in this motorcycle which was made in limited batches by Austrian company *Austro* from old stock parts after Diamond failed to get FAA airworthiness certification and went bankrupt.
The title really resonates after the conclusion. Another piece of masterful storytelling. Thank you!
Wankels are still going strong! I own a selflaunching glider (ASH 31 Mi) The engine is manufactered by Austro. I think it is developed from the Norton wankel.
It is light, no vibrations and quieter than a twostroke. It is fuelinjected and has 57 hp. It works very well in this application. It has a separate oiltank, and mixes itself, and can run on 95 leadless car petrol. I have so far had no troubles with it.
The Austro AE50R only exists for special circumstances where high power to weight is extremely critical and fuel consumption and emissions are relatively unimportant. Powered gliders are a classic example as are milatary drones. This engine's fuel economy is pretty horible and its emissions are even worse. Fortunately it's not an issue in a glider because they have such small engines and they run for relatively short periods of time compared to their overall flight times.
Can I put it on a go kart?
@@nessie42786 Sure, as long as you are happy to spend $20k+ on a go kart engine.
@@nessie42786 When I was in my early20s there was a commercial sort of Go Kart track, they had suspension, that used an air cooled rotary engine. I loved that place. It was all timed laps. They went under pretty quickly.
*Wankel engines are inherently unreliable and cannot meet the minimum PFTR reliability standards for passenger aircraft.*
I first heard of rotary engines because of the NSU, Mazda and Lada cars which had a Wankel engine. Then one day I spotted a Suzuki RE5 in a town in England and my eyes popped out of my head to see its 'rotary' badges. I took a photo. Never saw another rotary bike again. Interesting video
Gotta love the Wankel rotary engine. Amazed there are still any RX7/8s left running them!
Not many...
@@sandervanderkammen9230 Haha I knew that would trigger you. Hey, here's another. Every single stock RX7/8 is running a Wankel rotary engine. All of them.
@@flippy66 The problem with a Mazda RX is finding one that still runs!
@@flippy66 65 million new cars were sold last year... NONE were sold with a Wankel engine.
The Wankel and it's many derivatives fail vs the conventional piston engine because of its very inefficient combustion chamber. It's cursed with a large wetted area to volume ratio so the heat of combustion is soaked up by the sides of the chamber instead of doing work. The best shape for efficient combustion would be a sphere which, of course, has the most volume to surface area. Nobody has yet figured out how to couple mechanical energy out of a sphere so we are stuck with the second best shape: the cylinder. The Wankel has good mechanical efficiency (but so does a two-stroke piston engine). The Wankel excels at getting a lot of hp out of a small size but that trochoidal combustion chamber makes it uncompetitive with piston engines whenever fuel efficiency counts.
we had an Re5 rotary ZOOK ! at our shop in Co Usa..10 years ago. Amazing. but i liked ( loved ) my dads Gt750 Buffalo MORE! I still flip my shitt when I seen one ( both)..Notice: The Herc W2000 has CO plates>? how am I NOT stalking this Bike ?? How did i not know it was HERE>? LOL RF9 might have it in BC Duhhh.
Dave Longmont CO
See the gas turbine helicopter engine. Most power to weight ratio
Try looking up liquid piston rotary engine
Talking of " getting a lot of hp out of a small size " I was reading that MAZDA wanted to use a small Wankel fro Hybrid cars.
Because of the size/hp ratio the idea was to mount a small Wankle to produce the energy needed by the main elctrical powertrain (or maybe for the batteries, so if you have an engine which reload the battieries, it increases your driving range).
Which makes sense IMHO.
Yes.. fuel efficiency of the Wankle is poor BUT not so relevant because of its size and scope..
I don't know how is this idea going.
@@x_mau9355 a big advantage to using an engine as a generator is that it can have a very narrow powerband, so it can be tuned for great efficiency and power output. Traditional car/bike drivetrains are limited by the need to have a very wide powerband.
The thought that goes into these videos, the delivery, and production value blows my mind a bit each time. Good on ya, F9!
Got to admit, this is the very first time, I sub just from the intro on the very first video I ever watch from a channel.
This is the first video I've ever seen by you but your editing style is so good it could be on cable TV
cable tv? what even is this? must be some forgotten tech. are you saying this video is bad?
Wow! I saw one of these Hercules at the hot rod show in Daytona Beach Yesterday and it was in about the same shape as this one. I was a Suzuki factory service rep when the RE5 rotary was introduced and one of my duties was to fix problems the dealer couldn't fix. I think I worked on every RE5 that was sold in my territory. I was never so happy to see a model dropped from our product line.
God what a horrible task to be entrusted with. I'm glad you never lost your mechanical interest after that design quagmire.
Yeah, for a lot less money you could buy a very similar Suzuki but with a proven and reliable 3-cylinder 2-stroke 750 engine that would out run the RE-5 and use less fuel doing it and run forever. So why did anybody buy the RE-5? Just to be different? Did former RE-5 owners move on to Tempters?
we had an Re5 rotary ZOOK ! at our shop in Co Usa..10 years ago. Amazing. but i liked ( loved ) my dads Gt750 Buffalo MORE! I still flip my shitt when I seen one ( both)..Notice: The Herc W2000 has CO plates>? how am I NOT stalking this Bike ?? How did i not know it was HERE>? LOL RF9 might have it in BC Duhhh.
I was lucky enough to begin my motorcycle mech apprenticeship not long after the RE5 had been shot in the skull. Amazingly the tech college i was sent to had one gifted to them, we ran it up on the colleges dyno one day and despite not really making any real horsepower it still managed to set fire to the ducting attached to the muffler.
@@barryervin8536 ohhh! I so remember that triple 2 stroke. That thing was scary fast…an absolute hoot to ride!
As an RX-8 owner I'm so happy
You shouldn't, the RX-8 was the worse way to end an era of Mazda Wankel engines...
@@PedroWeissach Mine still runs, it's light weight, easy maintenance, and so smooth I once ran it 7-8k rpm for over a half hour on the highway before I realized it was in the wrong gear (didn't seem to affect my fuel economy either).
I go by Smiles Per Gallon, not MPG, and almost nothing puts such a huge smile on my face that it's actually painful and I actually have stretch marks on my face now (and I'm 26)
@@jakegarrett8109 The RX-8 is extremely un-reliable and underpowered
@@PedroWeissach Well yes, its a baby sub-250 pound engine that fits in an 18" cube that's NA. I think they should have came with turbos, otherwise its barely beating the GSX-R 1000cc bike I'm looking at in terms of power/size, also they set a very low rpm limit at 9.5k rpm stock instead of something more reasonable like 12k.
Mine I've had to do very little maintenance, the most unreliable thing are the headlights... Why can't they make headlights last as long as the ones on my 30 year old Mercedes? Trying some LEDs now, otherwise headlights would die every 6 months (and I don't do much night driving). Second most unreliable thing are coil packs, you basically want to change those every time you change a sparkplug! Why do stores only carry 1x coil pack? I had to bike over to several stores just to replace 2 of them, you can't even get a matching set without ordering them (maybe the mixed brands is part of it having 4 different brands of coil packs, but I'm sure they are same assembly line).
That's basically it, for maintenance I try to remember to change the oil relatively on time (also don't follow the suggested oil, use heavier), change the oil filter every other time, and I dump a random amount of 2 stroke oil in the tank when I'm filling up (a good portion always ends up on the side of my car, meh, whatever, clean it off when it gets on the brake disks). I also make sure to redline it every time I drive it, you do that and you're golden, drive it like you stole it (burns out the carbon from the cold side), its quite easy and make sure to thrash it and you won't have much issue!
@@jakegarrett8109 exactly
I remember as a grade-schooler hearing the AM radio spots for Mazda cars and pickup truck (singular, they only had one p/u model on offer at the time). The radio ads really ripped into the shortcomings of the piston engine but, as their tagline at the time stated, " . . . the Mazda goes h'mmmm . . .". I recall Mazda transitioned to piston engines with a new pickup truck model, which was introduced in the U.S. market as the Ford Courier, and shortly afterward sold the same truck under their own badge in the U.S. as well.
Interesting bit of information about the drone engines. I wonder if the relatively lower noise and vibration were factors in selecting rotary engines for military drones. I guess I could check out if there are rotary model airplane engines to give an idea.
Wankel engines are very poorly suited to aviation applications.
They are significantly louder than reciprocating engines and have less payload and loiter time because of high fuel consumption.
The U.S. military, the largest user of UAVs no longer buys any drones with Wankel engines due to poor performance and reliability problems.
Mazda launched a new line of car models in the 1970s all powered by Wankel engines, they imediately flopped and Mazda went completely bankrupt.
In 1979 FORD bought Mazda from a Japanese bankruptcy court auction.
Ford owned Mazda until 2008.
Back in high school I lost a drag race to a guy in a Mazda pickup running a turbo RX-7 motor.
Those pickups are really rare. I'm 50 and that's the only one I have ever seen.
Those motors get horrible mileage for the power they produce. A friends NA RX-7 got 12mpg. It had a header and glasspack "muffler" on it but it was not a good sounding motor.
This was from beginning to end, just an outstandingly captivating video ! Awesomeness incarcerate !!!
I actually owned and rode the Wankel made by Suzuki, the RE-5, meaning 500 cc. It was red and had the weird cylindrical instrument cluster and spherical turn signals, all thanks to Italian design firm Peninfarina. The SECOND year Suzuki sold their RE-5, all were painted black and they had normal instruments and turn signals. They still did not sell well. I got my red one for half price at the dealership, when it was a year old _demo model_ with 498 miles on it. I kept it completely stock, except I added a full fairing. That made it a joy to ride, even for long distances like 500 miles in a single day. It was perfectly comfortable cruising at 80 mph, with no numbing vibration in the handlebars or footpegs and no buffeting by the wind. It also had enormous torque, even at low rpm. There was no need to slip the clutch for a quick getaway, just crank the throttle and simultaneously dump the clutch. It went 0-to-30 mph in the width of a 2-lane intersection, barely laying rubber, with no tire squeal. For the first half of a city block, it was quicker than the screaming, clutch-frying 1100 cc piston "superbikes", despite the rather hefty weight the RE-5 had and the rather tall gearing. (It would go 50 mph in 1st gear, 80 in 2nd, and 115 mph in 3rd gear.) In highway riding at 55 mph with my friend on his 1200 cc Harley, I would challenge him to pick any gear, while I would stay in 5th gear as we simultaneously rolled on the throttles. I never failed to outpace him by a comfortable margin, despite my being in 5th gear, amounting to _second overdrive._ The only major downside of the RE-5, in my opinion, was the poor fuel economy. It got as little as 12 miles per gallon while riding it 3 miles to work, in the winter, with choke on the whole time because it took that long to warm up.
The RE5 is a 1,500cc when compared to reciprocating 2-Stroke engine and 1,000cc to 4-Strokes.
@@sandervanderkammen9230 You've just proved how little you really know of the concept. Since the rotor of a Wankel only turns at one third the speed of the main (eccentric) shaft, a 500cc Wankel displaces the same amount as a 500cc two-stroke for every turn of it's (two-stroke) crank. Also, how did you come up with notion of comparing a 1500cc two-stroke to a 1000cc four-stroke? Any questions, genius?
Having owned an RX3 from new I had a completely satisfactory experience with the engine. Small, well laid out. Easy to work on. Smooth. Very powerful.
Lacking in low end torque. Not efficient at low throttle settings but quite comparable with other powerful machines when the power was being used.
It had antipollution equipment fitted before it was normal on other cars. The manual warned against rapid warm up. Be gentle and let it reach operating temperature before getting to gung ho. A good idea with any motor I might add. The engine was heavier than it looked so I did have troubles with getting bogged. Too much weight up front and not enough at the rear.
Thank you for revealing that you know absolutely nothing about cars...
Engine weight was not the reason for the RX3s handling troubles, it was chassis design. The handling of the RX3 was so poor it made Mazda look back at chassis design and make it the core of every car they made after that.
@@lobsterbark Mazda has never been a high performance marque... it is still primarily a cheap entry-level car for young first time buyers.
Mazda no longer has any factory motorsports programs.
@@sandervanderkammen9230 That has nothing to do with it's chassis design though. Every car they make, they actually put time and effort into making them good to drive and handle well. Most manufacturers do not give a shit, they have zero respect for their customers and think they are too stupid to notice when their car drives like shit.
And they are hardly "entry level". Mazdas are noticeably more expensive and nicer than their competitors.
@@lobsterbark Yes, it does absolutely... as a rule, cheap cars have rudimentary chassis design.
Mazda has always been a cheap entry-level car.
Mazda's attempts to move into a up scale luxury cars have been complete and utter failures... Eunos, Amati and efini were all failures.
Yankee bikes are wild … and wildly rare.
Here in western massachusetts, two towns over from me exists a time capsule of a cycle shop named Hogan’s cycle shop where I first learned of yankee . The owner raced them in some on/off road class and still has several to this day
This is a wankel rotary, initial-d made me fall in love with engine, and i did some research about this engine, and according to my research, wankel failed to replace the conventional engine we use today for a couple of reasons, number-1 it has an insane fuel and oil Consumption, number-2 the seals are Not robust, and number-3 the heat that the engine generates, is Not equally being distributed in the combustion chamber causing metal to Not expand equally thus shortening its life
The fuel and oil consumption isn't really that high. Regular oil consumption for the 13B, an engine designed to burn oil, is sometimes even lower than the advertised oil consumption of some Audi's and BMW's. The fuel consumption isn't really that bad for a sports car that makes some power. The seals aren't robust, but then again, neither are timing belts. It's just something you've got to deal with after a 100k miles. If you buy a rotary that was abused by it's previous owner, you'll probably have to replace the seals. But even that's not so bad. Fixing a regular piston engine with bad compression takes some effort as well. You know the issue, and know how to fix it. Take the engine out, replace those seals, clean her up and put 'er back in. The engine heat is not a problem so long as you've got proper cooling. Yes, if the engine actually overheats you've got some issues, but so long as it doesn't, the lifetime is fine.
A rotary will run fine and reliably so long as you keep up with maintenance. You can slam the accelerate all you want as long as it's gotten up to temperature without reducing it's lifetime, in fact it'll extend it by removing carbon buildup. Maintain her well, like you would with any sports car, and the engine will treat you nicely. An LS7 isn't going to have a great time either if you slack on maintenance.
@@joost1120 i think the reason why mazda even bothered to make a wankel rotary sports cars despite the fact that the current conventional engine that we all use is already doing a good job on racing, is because they want a car with a really good "power-to-weight-ratio" to clear race track corners really fast and could withstand more abuses than the conventional engine we all use, and unfortunately they didn't do a good job achieving this, the best i could rate them for doing this is 5/10
@@joost1120 That is completely false and misleading.
Wankel engines are horribly unreliable and much less durable than reciprocating engines.
Bullshit, if they were cheap and easy to repair we would see alot of Wankel engines still running.
Wankel engines are obsolete technology today because they cannot compete with reciprocating engines.
@@zackrider3708 Not really true, Toyo Kogyo Cork ltd (now Mazda) was a bottle cap and cork maker before it made motorized scooters using engines bought from other manufacturers.
When they became a Wankel-NSU licensee they had no engine technology of its own, Mazda was betting on the Wankel to give them a competitive edge in sales without having to develop its own new engines in-house.
Unfortunately in 1970s with the OPEC Oil Crisis Mazda has no fuel efficient engines and went bankrupt,
Ford Motor Company bought Mazda from a Japanese bankruptcy court auction and began selling Ford designed reciprocating engines in Japan and for export.
You have the skills of a movie director, the wit of a stand-up comedian, the editing skills of Stanley Kubrick and the looks of Marlon Brando...
Definitely a fun engine design. I think a lot of people are drawn to it simply because it is different and unique.
I had a couple of first generation rx7s. Actually they were relatively reliable. Never had any significant problems with him and both of them went past 150,000 miles.
I think the 13B with fuel injection was probably the sweet spot on the engine. Fuel injection made it run a lot better, but yet was still early enough that emissions regulations weren't causing problems. Not long after that I think it just became a lost cause. There was no way you were going to get that thing to pass stricter emissions regulations. Without significantly increasing the complexity which kind of defeats the purpose.
At the same time reciprocating piston designs got better and better forced induction increase the power to displacement ratio. And it kind of became pointless.
I do think there is a definite place for rotaries. People have mentioned possible generators for hybrids. They do work very well for stationary power and constant RPM.
i reackon the carbon footprint of these engines might have an angle (pardon the pun) due to far lower manufacturing costs and components? you could get around the emission issue by using castor bean oil (a couple of oil manufacturers make some good products) there is a big rotary pop culture here in Australasia.
I feel like rotaries get a bad rap because people dont leave them stock....
As for use as generator in series hybrid cars, 2 stroke Free Piston Linear Generators are promising. They have a common problem with the wankle. Oil needs to be premixed. Toyota might even be trying to run this engine on hydrogen.
@@GbMuthu
You can have an oil tank and do direct oil injection.. many 2 strokes and the previous Mazda rotary's worked this way.. you can have low oil warnings for refilling the tank.
I think the Mazdas had a reservoir built into the engine.. so when you did an oil change.. and poured in the oil.. it first filled that section... Then overflowed into the crankcase... And had a warning light for low oil. Been a while since I worked on one..
@@kens97sto171 pre mix or direct fuel injection, oil was always left to burn with the fuel. Not sure about wankle but recon might have been the case too.
Broo!! you are setting a bar for free contents available on yt.. it's too good to be free ! Mesmerising ❤️
I once went to Poland in September, you just can't get carried away, he says. 🤣🤣🤣
The history and complexity you present on your channel is nothing short of amazing. Thanks for your constant digging and hard work to bring us all of these gems.