3 replies to this topic

[Andy!]

So after having a chat with my mate who is really into his bikes, i stumbled across an old fiat 126 with an R1 engine in it on ebay, we got talking and i joked around saying he should buy it since he's just passed his car test. He made a good point though and it's got me wondering, he said he has a mate who races in the side-car bike races (im not into bikes, so i dont know any technical terms :L) he said something about the side cars needing special oil sumps as they do not lean so going round long corners, the engines would not get any oil going to them, So when people fit bike engines into cars, which obviously do not pivot, how is this problem overcome? is it the same way the side car bikes do it? with special sumps? Sorry if this doesn't make much sense, idk how to explain it very well :) just interested.

[cal844]

yeah, with a 'baffled sump' basically a standard bike sump with a few vertical plates welded in to stop the oil sloshing from side to side 

[ibrooks]

I'd expect sidecar racers to be running dry sumps rather than arseing about baffling standard ones.

 

When you put a motorbike engine into a car you should consider baffling the sump to prevent oil surge.

 

Some of the installations turn the engine through 90 degrees and most bike sumps are baffled front to rear as they can suffer from oil surge under acceleration or braking so it's already taken care of.

 

Some people will simply not bother (or realise it's a potential problem) and get away with it for years. How often does a road car find itself subjected to the sort of cornering forces an out and out competition machine does? even if it's used for the odd trackday.

 

Iain

[Andy!]

I'd expect sidecar racers to be running dry sumps rather than arseing about baffling standard ones.

 

When you put a motorbike engine into a car you should consider baffling the sump to prevent oil surge.

 

Some of the installations turn the engine through 90 degrees and most bike sumps are baffled front to rear as they can suffer from oil surge under acceleration or braking so it's already taken care of.

 

Some people will simply not bother (or realise it's a potential problem) and get away with it for years. How often does a road car find itself subjected to the sort of cornering forces an out and out competition machine does? even if it's used for the odd trackday.

 

Iain

Well, i wouldn't take my word for what they use, they may use a dry sump, we had this conversation back in Snetterton a few weeks back so i'm just going by memory

And well there's a corner coming onto the A14 near me and it's a long sweeping corner, you nearly go back in the direction you started in, most people do 50-60 around it, and you can definitely feel yourself being dragged to the outside of the car But i know what you mean, It probably isn't that much of a problem for road cars.