Warbird 191

This isn’t one of those little Rotec radials used by Jesse James or JRL Cycles, these pieces are from a full size aero engine. The 2 cylinders, with a bore of 5.125″ and stroke of 4.625″ yield 191 cubic inches (3130cc) and mate to a crankcase designed by Ian himself. He designed the patterns, a local foundry made the casting.

Everything was built by Ian in his garden shed. He designed and built the boardtrack style hardtail frame with sufficient size to hold the engine while keeping it proportioned so someone can actually ride it. I like the aero touches like the nose art, applied by local artist, Jennie Persak and if you look closely, you’ll even see a pitot tube for the airspeed indicator. How cool is that?

The bike looks pretty neat but it’s the engine that catches your eye, I think the heads, especially, look great. Is the bike practical? Not really, though it certainly looks rideable, it’s just one of those projects that starts when a builder comes up with an idea and sees it through. Anything with an engine that looks that good gets a thumbs up from me.