If a bike can be built with the turbine engine from a helicopter …
http://motorcyclecity.com/turbine.htm
I bet someone with enough determination could rob a '7 of its rotary and engineer something similar. Wonder if a 12A would fit in a 1200cc bike?
Not really, I mean, they are bolting Chevy 350’s to Harley’s, IIRC.
One of the advantages Wankels have over your standard ICE is that they have very few moving parts, so there’s less to go wrong with them.
http://www.osengines.com/engines/osmg1400.html
Probably a wee bit too small for a motorcycle, but still interesting. 
I came here to make a crack about wanking… but…
I’ve seen bikes with 600 cid V8’s… if they can do that… sure they can put a little mazda engine on one.
The only reason I want a wankle engine is so I can have the bumper sticker “Leave me alone! I’m playing with my wankle.”
I always thought the RX7 was a neat little car. RX8 should be a fun ride. Wish I could afford one.
Years ago, I bought a Mazda with a Wankel engine (RX-2, I think).
It was an absolute lemon. Not just that particular car; the entire design was a lemon.
I had constant repair problems with it. And no matter how bad the mechanical problems were, the service provided by the dealer was worse! (I should have realized what it meant when there were all kinds of financing options for buying the car, but the service dept. was cash-only; no checks (you could put a stop-pay on them, and no credit cards (you could dispute a charge on them) – only cash.) And it was never ready at the time they promised – often , when you arrived to pick it up, they had not yet started work on it. Plus the work they did usually didn’t fix the problem the first time or two.
Eventually, the entire engine had to be replaced on my car (and on most others of this model). I was without a car for about 6 weeks while it sat at the dealers (they said they couldn’t replace the engine until the factory rep saw it; apparently that rep was pretty busy). Then they tried to claim I should pay for it, because the warranty had expired during those 6 weeks. Finally they agreed that the warranty did cover it; but when I came to pick it up, I had to pay a bunch of money before they would give me my car. (Like they said replacing the engine was warranty work, but putting oil in that engine was an oil change, so I had to pay their inflated price for that. Connecting the replaced engine to the battery was ‘electrical system service’ so I had to pay for that. etc.)
Apparently, other buyers had similar problems, since eventually, there was a class-action lawsuit over this, and I eventually got a few hundred dollars out of it.
But I would never again try a Wankel engine.
And I will never, never, never buy any Mazda product ever again!
Damn, that sucks, t-bonham@scc.net! Sorry to hear about you experiences. To be fair, though, the RX-2 was one of Mazda’s earliest road cars with the rotary. It was basically an experiment. The engine design was refined through the years so that when the '7 debuted things had improved dramatically.
The dealers, however, continue to be PITA’s to this very day. :rolleyes: Most of them don’t have a true clue how to service the rotary … never had it, never will. I never, ever take my '7 to the dealer to be worked on. Thankfully there is a huge cult-of-the-rotary 'round here that we all help each other out.
[Monty Python]Shoe…Megaphone…Grunties[/Monty Python]
Well, nobody told me it was an experiment when they sold me the car! Instead, they said things like well-made, reliable, new technology, much improved over piston engines. I think that some statement about this ‘experiment’ should have been given, had they intended “to be fair”.
Mazda has had a reputation for years now as having the worst dealers in the US. That’s part of the reason why Fixorrepairdaily was able to take them over.
IIRC, the ‘X’ in RX-2, 3, 4, 7, and 8 is for ‘experiment’. As in Rotary eX*periment - #*. After all, we are talking about engine technology that was less than 30 years old at the time (in terms of NSU’s development and refinement of the engine, not Felix Wankel’s first ones). It was most certainly experimental and still is. I don’t doubt that the dealers hid that.
Yes, by all accounts you’ve given, it appears you got a lemon. And, yes, you dealt with an ass of a dealer. But I have, thankfully, had quite a different personal experience with rotaries than you did, t-bonham.
And, apparently, so did the thousands of other Mazda owners who were involved in the class action lawsuit.
Is it still called a lemon when all of them went bad?
What? I’ve tried to be nice about this.
Are you trying to convince me to leave Mazdas and rotaries behind too? Sorry. Won’t happen. I like the fact that my engine can never drop a valve and isn’t damaged by overrevving. I like the fact that my engine has so many fewer moving parts than the equivalent size piston engine. I like the fact that my engine is smooth as silk and produces gobs of power. Like I said, my experience has been totally different than yours. Sorry you had a bad one.
Que sera, sera.
Twenty- twenty- twenty-four hours to go
I wanna Wankel engine…
Sorry. That just came out.
“Piston engines go ‘boing, boing boing’ but the Mazda goes ‘hmmmm.’”
I recall there has been some experimentation with Wankel engines for aircraft. The [url=http://www.moller.com/skycar/]Skycar** is an experimental VTOL personal aircraft that uses an engine based on Wankel technology.
Uh, IP, I wouldn’t hold my breath on Moller getting his scheme off the ground.
Don’t worry, Tuckerfan, I’m not. IIRC, I remember hearing Moller announce on the radio that he was almost ready to start delivering product. This was two or three years ago. I just like the concept, that’s why I chose that site to link to.
According to a quick web search, there are real airplanes out there flying with Wankel engines.
I found a hilarious commercial from the '70s with a Mazda rotary Station Wagon. Email me if you want the link.
www.rotaryaviation.com may be a bit more reliable for Wankel-powered aircraft.