TOOLMAKER special

Thousands of hours went into building a motorcycle around a 1908 V8 aircraft engine …

- NIGEL PATERSON

Using one of only three surviving J.A. Prestwich V8 aircraft engines to power a motorcycle is a crazy idea, but Czech toolmaker Pavel Malaník has done it.

At 4400cc and nearly two and a half metres long, the rider's feet almost touch the vibrating valve rockers as it's being ridden at speeds up to 130 km/h.

It's a beast of a bike.

"This engine has maximum power already at 1000 revolutions per minute, Pavel told Retrobike.

"Therefore, it is not necessary to use first gear. I can start without problems in second gear and reach a maximum speed of 130 kilometres per hour.

"It is a completely different style of driving compared to modern-day motorcycles where a lot of actions are automated. Here everything is manual and needs to be constantly adjusted. For example, mixing how rich the fuel needs to be, the amount of air going to the carburettor, limiting pre-ignition etc. You can bet that no one can just sit on this motorcycle and ride it away because, without a lot of training, you can't really operate it.

"The engine puts up a lot of resistance during startup; therefore, it is necessary to use an external starting device. There were also issues caused by enormous torque, namely the connecting piece between the starter and the engine has torn many times. I spent a great deal of time fine-tuning and now everything works like clockwork.

"Chains also fell victim to the power of the engine and started to stretch after a few hours of use.

"The motorcycle is completely manufactured as an unrepeatable original. Only the spark plugs and ball bearings are from regular production."

Pavel would call on his experience building a range of bikes from Jawa, CZ and BMW as well as his toolmaker background to complete the four-year job.

THE ENGINE

Things were done differently in 1908.