Not everybody wants a motorcycle, and are quite happy with a little assistance when pedaling. Enter into the world of cycle motor drive units and attachments. They are small, lightweight and can return over 200 miles per gallon.
Some are clip-on units that sit on top of the rear mudguard under the carrier, some drive the front wheel (like the Solex) and some like BSA Winged Wheel are a complete replacement of the rear wheel unit having the wee petrol engine built into the centre of the hub. Just unbolt the existing wheel, slip in the new Winged Wheel, bolt on the replacement carrier-cum-fuel tank, connect up the control cables and away you go. Interestingly the more modern version of this unit would be the electric bicycles with the drive motor built into the rear wheel. Both old and new will require LPA (leg power assist) on some hills.
Direct drive like the Winged Wheel, are better than friction drive units which require the driven tyre to be in excellent condition and at correct tyre pressure, and forward propulsion can be effected when it rains.
The Winged Wheel was introduced in 1953 with production ceasing in 1957 having manufactured 29,000 units. Don’t see too many of them out there now.
This handy little leaflet that came from Garton and Day, a cycle and motorcycle dealer from Whangarei is 7 pages.
The exploded diagram of the complete engine and drive unit, including the wheel hub must be of value to those who have managed to pull their Winged Wheels apart and now find that they have a handful of parts left over. The engine has a capacity of 34cc, put out a whooping 1 horsepower and is equipped with a clutch if disconnection from the drive is required.
Surprisingly this is only a parts list, many may have assumed that the owners manual could have been included giving additional information like fuel mixture ratio and maintenance, it would have only been a couple of extra pages. Oh well.
It is a 1.6M PDF, click on the cover page below to be surprised on the information contained within (I will stop laughing soon). Oh all that power.
