Karl Braun and Erwin Radsching winning the 1937 European Sidecar championship on a 600cc twin DKW. this was a doubled-up split-single with bottom-mounted pumping piston for each side.
So, like, uh, the large-diameter third piston would have pressurized, a.k.a. supercharged, the crankcase (which is where the pistons/combustion chambers get their fuel charge from. Cool.
I kind of think that DKW made another version, a vertical parallel twin, 360° firing order (?), with a VERY big dia./short stroke, horizontally disposed third piston (front-facing cylinder) for a mid-1930s race bike. Did the FIM outlaw crankcase chargers after just a few years? Again, I think that's true, but I think lots of things that turn out to be hopelessy, depressingly incorrect.
Thanks, Mr. G, for posting this; I'd forgotten such little as I ever (think I) knew about DKW's blown two-strokes. They sure built some cool, fiercely innovative bikes.
Thanks for your comment, supercharging was banned for all bikes after the war. I found more info on the DKW two strokes, please see http://progress-is-fine.blogspot.com/2020/06/dkw-two-stroke-development.html.
So, like, uh, the large-diameter third piston would have pressurized, a.k.a. supercharged, the crankcase (which is where the pistons/combustion chambers get their fuel charge from. Cool.
ReplyDeleteI kind of think that DKW made another version, a vertical parallel twin, 360° firing order (?), with a VERY big dia./short stroke, horizontally disposed third piston (front-facing cylinder) for a mid-1930s race bike. Did the FIM outlaw crankcase chargers after just a few years? Again, I think that's true, but I think lots of things that turn out to be hopelessy, depressingly incorrect.
Thanks, Mr. G, for posting this; I'd forgotten such little as I ever (think I) knew about DKW's blown two-strokes. They sure built some cool, fiercely innovative bikes.
Thanks for your comment, supercharging was banned for all bikes after the war. I found more info on the DKW two strokes, please see http://progress-is-fine.blogspot.com/2020/06/dkw-two-stroke-development.html.
ReplyDelete