I have also thought about the idea of putting a motorcycle engine in a
small car such as a Spitfire. The two main drawbacks that I have seen would
be the lack of a reverse gear and the reliability factor of the transmission.
While the tranny in the Goldwing is very reliable when used in a bike, I
would wonder how long it would last having to move much more weight than was
ever intended. The clutch would probably also suffer. But since the Goldwing
is a very heavy bike it might work just fine. I also seem to remember that
some had some sort of reversing capability.
One thing I just thought of is width of the Honda engine. Would it fit
between the motor mounts in a Spit? If I were to do this swap I would take a
look at the Honda
Valkerie. It's the same engine as the Goldwing but has been hot-rodded to
put out around 100HP and a considerable amount of torque. If the reversing
feature could be added to it would make one heck of a quick car. I'm guessing
here, but I bet the Honda engine is probably half the weight of just the
stock Triumph engine.
Brad Wolfe
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