Posted by Richard fssnoc#4368(Ks) on August 05, 2003 at 22:24:55:
In Reply to: 1,2,4,or 6 posted by AL on August 03, 2003 at 15:00:30:
AL - You ain't ride'n home on a single for sure if one cylinder goes out, but I'll have to take exception to the blanket statement regarding twins, triples, and multi's. Can't say for sure on rotary's although i've had a Wankel and loved it, but then it didn't have a cylinder at all did it? I was 50 miles from home several years back when my right cylinder quit on a BMW R65. Rode it home with no damage - it was a carb problem. I had a Yamaha 650 Seca that the #3 carb gummed up over the winter and I rode it for quite some time before the local strip or seize could get it in to fix it. Didn't hurt the motor but the carb was never the same. And a friend of mine swears that this story is true. While on a ride 60 to 70 miles from home he and a friend were riding their Harleys when, according to him, a godawful sound came from the rear cylinder of his friends harley. They stopped along side a barren road and found the rear cylinder bolts had worked their way loose and had fallen off and the cylinder itself was jumping up and down with every stroke of the piston. My friend said that he found a piece of wood along side of the road, took his knife and a rock and split a piece off just enough to jam underneath the cylinder lip and over the case, wired it in place and he and his friend continued the trip home. Again on one cylinder. It was said he got new bolts when he arrived home and continued riding that same bike for years thereafter. Now as I said I didn't see this myself but it comes from a trusted friend who was there. These stories abound at thumper rallys. Harleys and other twins are accepted at all thumper functions by the way, for after all, the're just bikes with one cylinder to get you there and one to get you back!