information

[KilroyCD]

I've had troubles with Chinese suppliers both properly hardening parts and using the wrong materials (not to mention shipping parts that only vaguely resemble the prints). If you're going to use Chinese suppliers you must have a very strong quality assurance process in place.

As Quenton pointed out in his subsequent post, the clutches are made in either the USA or Taiwan. I'd like to further point out that the bike as a whole is not made in China, but Taiwan. To some, that means little difference. To me that means a world of difference when it comes to quality.

 

[fsprandy]

I'm very surprised as several of the components look unmistakeably Chinese. Take a good look at the carb or the front hub castings. Also suspicious is that there is no country of origin cast in to either of these assemblies (typical with China). Maybe they're assembled in Taiwan from Chinese components? I can't remember ever seeing Taiwan made castings at this quality level.

 

[Don Brown]

Hi Quenton, I just wanted to add my 2cts. After 7yrs. of using the slip clutch on my whizzer, using the auto clutch for a year now is great. I must have the new version because it works just as you say. It does wind up a little getting started but it sure runs smooth at slow speeds. And keep on posting your info. is great!

 

[Quenton Guenther]

Hi fsprandy,
Thanks for the info. I think I know why he used the camshaft to start it, because at 12 to 1 it would be hard to start with the regular belt setup. If I remember correctly he had a chain from the pedal crank up to the end of the camshaft as the starter system the camshaft is 2 to 1, so it would be easier to use. I do remember when I rode it the brake was a disc setup mounted on a jackshaft with the chain going to a large sproket attached to the rear hub. I just located a picture of the bike if anyone wants to see it, very wild, and quick too! I would post it here, but not exactly sure of the rules and file size.

Just another quick comment to add fun to the post, it appears the "flat head" Whizzers are knocking on the door of the OHV versions, and in a few recent cases the ol' flat head Whizzers crossed the finish line ahead of the state of the art OHV motors.
As you can tell, I like the 4 stroke flat head motor, mainly because of the simplicity, and the old time power band.
Have fun,
Whizzer OuterBanks LTD
A North Carolina Corporation
Quenton

 

[fsprandy]

Quenton,

I think there is a photo of that bike in the pictures section. It has a torque converter style clutch on it. Ironic it has a huge disk on the jackshaft for braking the rear wheel but no front brake??

I like the flatheads too. They make a-lot of sense when the engine has to be compact like a Whizzer should be. Can't beat the simplicity either. The flathead should also cool much better than an overhead valve setup.

If you're racing against Whizzer's with overhead valves and torque converters you're going to have to be much better at tuning than the competition in order to beat them!

 

[Quenton Guenther]

Hi fsprandy,

The only bike that would have been competitive was Kenny Thomas's Whizzer, but Kenny had me ride it for him, and I couldn't find a way to ride both at the same time. None of the OHV entered were able to offer any competition to my flat head, in fact none of the Whizzers could. Guess you are right about the tuning I must have done something right.

Whizzer OuterBanks LTD
A North Carolina Corporation
Quenton

 

[n8ygn]

Torque Converter Question

Has anyone experimented with a torque converter like those sold by Northern Tool + Equipment I saw they come in 3/4" and 1" bore size I'm not sure what the whizzer would take just thinking out loud. The 1" is rated to 8hp somewhat sounds like the cvt on my Ambassador the way they describe it. Another question I have notice diecast models of whizzers on ebay are they new are from the 40's wouldn't mind having one of those. I can't find anything on the web about 1:6 whizzers diecast models. Dane

 

[WZ507]

Die cast model Whizzers

The die cast model Whizzers are new (in the last decade or so) and made overseas.

 

[WZ507]

Compression ratio and cranking compression

Regarding the earlier compression ratio discussion in this thread, one thing that has been neglected in the discussion is whether the subject is static compression ratio (determined by measuring head and bore volume) or cranking compression (the number obtained when motoring the engine). The actual static compression ratio can be easily determined by measuring the amount of light oil, introduced through the spark plug hole, required to fill the bore/head area of the assembled engine, with the piston at TDC and at BDC. Knowing these two volumes allows you to calculate the static compression ratio (CR = TDC volume / BDC volume).

The cranking (dynamic) compression (CC) is another story all together, and is dominated by the timing of the IN valve closing (the earlier the closing the higher the CC, the later the closing the lower the CC), but is also affected by several other factors (see link below). You can get widely different results from the same engine depending on the cam duration and the IN valve closing event. As an example a friend of mine had a motorcycle engine having about 11.5:1 static CR. Depending on which of two cams he put in the bike (one shorter and one longer duration) it had either 190 psi or 240 psi cranking compression respectively.

In my experience, I have not observed cranking compression numbers higher than about 240 psi, and this goes for engines having static compression ratio in the range of 14-17:1. Such high compression ratio engines typically employ very long duration cams, thus have relatively late IN valve closing, which in turn serves to lower the CC.

To read more than you'd likely ever want to know about CR and all the factors affecting it, check out the following link.

http://victorylibrary.com/mopar/cam-tech-c.htm

 

[Quenton Guenther]

Hi Dane, I have several of the models. They were a limited production of the 1948 Whizzer motor kit installed on a Shwinnn WZ/S4 bicycle. Schwinn and several other companies [Huffy & Roadmaster] made a special bicycle and was painted using the Whizzer maroon color.
Have fun,