NGC Hit and Miss Motorcycle

[Canuck750]

My friend George is a very talented retired welder, he spent decades inside refineries carrying out specialty welding and is pretty damn fine machinist as well. Last year George put the call out for a hit and miss motor he wanted to build a motorcycle around. A local friend oi the vintage bike family donated a IHC hit and miss that has been in his family for over 100 years and not run in at least 50. Another local rebuilt the magneto, another supplied a Norton Commando frame, wheels and more folks contributed parts and skills to get this beauty running!



<a href='https://postimg.cc/s1Y0rCpk' target='_blank'><img src='https://i.postimg.cc/59Tc8xj2/08-BE6569-6-AF9-49-DE-9-CDF-9-B0749-C6806-A.jpg' border='0' alt='08-BE6569-6-AF9-49-DE-9-CDF-9-B0749-C6806-A'/>[/url]

George stretched the frame, made the engine mounts and the front end, got the motor running and figured out the drive system. Another friend provided the revers mechanism from a vintage snow mobile.



total loss drip oil feed through the cylinder top the piston,



Push rod operated exhaust valve, atmospheric intake, the gas is stored in the base of the engine casting, the 'tank' is for show



no rear brake, exhaust is gas pipe, ignition cut out is a residential light switch on the triple tree



He takes it up to around 15 mph, its a bit unwieldly but its getting tuned for perfection. George has Bonneville record for his 1953 BSA Golden Flash and is considering taking this to the salt flats next year for a record attempt, in what class who can guess, but he wants to get there before he turns 80

[cliffrod]

I/we have a throttle control single (often mistakenly described as an actual hit & miss engine) up at the shop.   Don't even remember what manufacturer it is.  Magneto was rebuilt after I bought it and it runs great on its little 4 wheeled cart.  When we had a friend's Nuovo Falcone up there on the bench, We mused about sticking that engine on a motorcycle frame and the absolute wreckage & destruction that would likely ensue should the pavement come up to meet the rider. 

We just kept drinking beer instead...

[rtbickel]

Forgive my ignorance but I have never heard of a hit an miss engine.  How does it work and what was its original application?

[cliffrod]

Forgive my ignorance but I have never heard of a hit an miss engine.  How does it work and what was its original application?

Both hit & miss (governor or flywheel control) and throttle control engines are simply early internal combustion power plants, meaning they were meant to provide usable hp but not usually locomotion.  They were used from everything from agricultural use to industrial applications where water or steam power was not available.  Even if they were mounted on wheels to move between locations, they were typically used in a stationary postion.

The actual single cylinder is usually located within a large vertical or horizontal stationary tank of water to provide cooling, with water being replaced as it evaporates.  Regular hit & miss have a large flywheel or pair of flywheels that provide store inertia and regulate operation. A governor monitors speed of flywheel and controls engine ignition/fuel functions.  A later throttle control design proves the same function, but with more consistent operation with the throttle being set as a given position.

These engines typically have a large flat pulley to drive a flat belt, that in turn drives another single machine or line shaft to power multiple machines.

[John A]

They are called hit&miss because they don’t fire regularly unless under load.  Throttle control was something that had to be invented

[Chuck in Indiana]

^^^^ yes. As the flywheel speed slows down, it fires often enough to bring the rpm back to normal.

[RinkRat II]

    Thanks for that, Jim. Brings a whole new meaning to " Agricultural".  I love the fabricated front end with pillow block neck no less!

      Paul B

[Murray]

Those motors are typically stupidly heavy, people concern themselves about getting caught in the exposed flywheel of a bacon slicer, this is at a whole other level. Typically there so some kind of governor that runs the motor at the engineered speed weights on the fly wheel lift a valve and interrupt the ignition until it slows down a bit. For the extra frugal (guzzi content) they had a setup where you would start them on petrol and once up to temp switch them over to kerosene/power kerosene.