RV Fuel Issues & Prices - Post 'Em Here!

LindsayRichards wrote:
A 660 cc vehicle (less than half of a motorcycle) is considered a toy car by most of us. My toad (midsize truck has 4,000 cc). If somebody is going to drive something quite a bit smaller than a Smart Car, they are going to have to get used to some ribbing by regular folks. The notion that this type of thing is going to be accepted by the general public is pure folly in my opinion. What is the cost of this 3 phase charger anyway?

I bought a 125cc Honda Scrambler moto in the late 50s that would rev to 14,820 rpm and went like a bat out of hades! After WW2 there were many cars from Europe that had small (typically 600cc) engines. Some were VERY fast, like the Fiat Zagato, a gorgeous 2 seat sportscar with body by Zagato featuring a double-bubble over the seats that would just barely work for a 6'2" driver. Built on the Fiat 600. The smallest I ever drove was a Lloydwagen from Germany that used a glider engine (that's right, a glider engine, which powered a glider to get it aloft, whereupon the power pylon would hinge back to rest on the fuselage). I don't remember the displacement, but with needle bearings in all the right places it revved easily and was a thrill to drive. There were a lot of those glider engines around because Hitler trained his pilots in gliders since the Versailles Treaty forbade regular airplanes in Germany.

The Mazda RX-7 has an 1100cc rotary engine, and the road racing 939 blasted everything off the tracks until it was banned by an American racing rule that required engines to have pistons (boo hiss).

In the modern era, it turns out that in most states a bicycle with an engine under 49cc doesn't require a moto license, so the Italians (of course!) make a Moroni bicycle motor at 49cc that is highly tuned and goes like a streak! If I were 20 years younger I'd have one (and probably kill myself). You can see and hear some fabulous Moroni bikes, built in SoCal, on youtube.

Small engines are a kick. Besides, the girls think they're cute!