Re: Two broken BMW F800s, in Peru

 
Morton balancer. As used in the stillborn Triumph Diana 900cc vertical
twin of the early 1980s. Hasn't been used in any other motorcycle
engine I can think of, though there might be something esoteric, in
the dim and distant past.

In fact, the conceptual and even some visual similarities between the
Diana and the F800 are extraordinary. I've got a set of to-scale
engineer's drawings of the Diana in my files somewhere.

Very interesting engine and project, and the story behind it is one of
politcal shenanigans, self-interest and outright untruths. John Bloor
persisted with it for a short while after he bought Triumph and then
rightly gave it up as a bad job, and turned to Kawasaki for his
inspiration. Interesting the way big vertical twins have sort of come
into fashion again.

X-posted to reeky where there are some more big twin fiends, I think.
If anyone knows of a Morton balancer being used in any other
production engine, car or bike, I'd be interested to hear of it.

 TOG@Toil wrote:

I seem to remember reading a couple of articles about the F800 engine
and to the best of my recollection (which is shit at the best of times)
I don't remember any mention of Morton, and for sure no mention of
the Triumph Diana, so thanks for the info.

If they are balanced correctly, vertical twins are a nice package for
a bike engine.

 
<snip>


Not that many people were au fait with the Diana, that's why. I
managed to get a whole load of documentation on it after Meriden
collapsed, and it made a lucrative piece in early 1984. Then I just
stashed the paperwork away, and pulled it out a couple of years back,
after the F800 appeared. Suggested to Bike magazine that it might make
an interesting piece.

They jumped at it, and Simon, one of their guys managed to find some
extraordinary photos of the engine on the test bed. I remember seeing
it on display at a bike show in (IIRC) early 1983 and Si tracked down
a pic of that as well. The bike was a complete mock-up and was hoicked
right up in the air on a plinth so people couldn't see the joins, as
it were. I think the engine was in fact completely devoid of oily bits
inside, on that occasion. He also got some invaluable extra background
info - there were guys working on it at Meriden who are now working
for Hinckley, believe it or not.

I don't think they ever managed to make a complete rolling prototype
bike: they had the engine under development, and that was it. And then
Meriden ran out of funds. They'd managed to blag some cash from the
local council to develop the lump, on the back of one of the most
spurious technical reports[1] I've ever seen written.

The councillor who approved the cash became (somewhat inevitably) a
Member of the European Parliament and then lost his seat. he died in
the back of a taxi, choking to death on some anti-nicotine chewing
gum. You couldn't make it up.

To the best of my knowledge, that joint-effort article (two or three
years ago) was the only really, really comprehensive history and
analysis of the Diana project that's ever been published.


Oh Yuss.

[1] Still got a copy somewhere.

 
Indeed, my GS500 is as smooth as silk with negligable vibrations.
I rode another one that a neightbour was interested in buying at
the time and the bloody thing shook and vibed like a bloody rock
drill. The engine must have been opened by a useless spanner monkey
at some stage.

--
03 GS500K2
78 Honda 400/4 in black
98 Yamaha YP250 Majesty

 crn@NOSPAM.netunix.com wrote:

I had the same experience with the EX500 I bought for my son last
spring, it vibrated so bad that I am convinced it has been opened up
and put back together with the balancer shaft out of phase.  So I
did the only smart thing and bought an entire replacement lump.  :)
The old one ran perfectly except for the vibration- it's still
waiting to be torn down and inspected, I've already bought all the
gaskets, o-rings and whatnot, just haven't gotten round to
accumulating the tuits.