Late 1970's Dohc Weslake

[twincamweslake 0]

LOL!

Only Genuine speedcars are allowed in the club... they are Legends.. just like the drivers.

http://www.historicspeedway.com/

Regards.

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Genuine???? Think you need a dictionary to look up the meaning....

[Iused2 1]

Hi to anyone interested in this subject.

Unfortunatly I cannot answer the question of "how many were made"as I have been told some were sold as complete engines and some as kits to put onto single

OHC bottem ends.Near the engine number on the DS crankcase the history of the bottem end can be found,with "DOHC" or "PLPS" appearing to relate to the twin cams.I may be wrong but the engine numbers seem to be continuous ,irrespective of type,as was the historic system used by so many manufacturers.

I am in the UK East Midlands,and I know of 3 DOHC Weslakes,all 500cc,one of which was used by Reg Wilson in a [Gordon May] Comet frame at Sheffield.These engines are terrible to work on,but Dave Jessup once said he had a works bike which was fantastic on the track until it went back for a service after which it was "ordinary".I suspect they lost the cam timings!

[twincamweslake 0]

Iused2, thanks for your input re the engine numbers. I just had a look at my two engines. The engine that John Titman rode is No: 3183 DOHC and another engine I bought blown up has No: 3373 TLPS.

 

I wonder what the difference is regarding the lettering?? I do remember seeing a picture of Reg Wilson on one many years ago in the Star, didn't know DJ rode one at some stage but....

 

Thanks for your interest....

[Iused2 1]

Re my earlier,I have found some engine numbers.For the ex Reg Wilson I only have the number ,which is 3225.The others are 3190 P DOHC and 3214 PLPS DOHC.You may be interested that an early sohc engine has 2081 QPLS,whilst another sohc says 3204 P DOHC! Probably this last one was altered and had a different top end.I never could sort out my Ps and Qs. I think the pushrod engines were TLPS or HLTP.Perhaps someone out there knows or understands these choises of letterings.

[MARK246 243]

The one I had was originaly sold to an American Mike Caruso (unsure on the spelling) who rode at Poole.I sold it to Broadside racing two years ago.

Richard Hellsen and Finn Thompsen also tried to use them,Thompsen wanted his for the world championship but didn't use it. When I owned mine I was lucky to know Bob Jones at Swindon, he had seen several used (Malc Holloway tried one ) but it was unsure whether it was the same one doing the rounds or not.

The SOHC flat top I have has a eng no,2267 T L P S.

The conversion from double to single cam was done on two engines ( I know off) that were used on grasstrack by Tig Perry at Antig.

I would think that if you contact either Chris or Dave at Antig they would be happy to supply the information you want. They should also have the records from the Weslake factory in Rye.

[rusky 113]

Richard Hellsen and Finn Thompsen also tried to use them,Thompsen wanted his for the world championship but didn't use it.

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Rickard Hellsen did indeed try the DOHC engine in both the UK and Sweden, with moderate success. He also tried the SOHC as well, but stuck with the pushrod variant - including his trusty magneto driven pushrod wessie.

[Ray Rocket 0]

Rickard Hellsen did indeed try the DOHC engine in both the UK and Sweden, with moderate success. He also tried the SOHC as well, but stuck with the pushrod variant - including his trusty magneto driven pushrod wessie.

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Hi Rusky

 

Was this a special conversion, or did the early Weslakes have magnetos?.

 

 

Regards.

[sandman 0]

if memory serves me the first Weslakes had batteries.

Edited August 17, 2007 by sandman

[BASIL 0]

If you look up Hesketh you will see that the cylinder heads and barrels from DOHC Weslake were you on a V twin road bike.

[rusky 113]

Hi Rusky

 

Was this a special conversion, or did the early Weslakes have magnetos?.

Regards.

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They were a conversion by a guy called Derek Hobson (I think) in Penistone Yorkshire. Reg Wilson, Pete Smith & Rickard were the only ones who I can remember using them.

They were around at the time that battery & coil were the major ignition source on the weslake, the magic boxes had just started to make an appearance but were hideously expensive (Derek made those as well). The magnetos used actually came from Concrete mixers, and produced a spark that was far stronger & consistent than either a box or battery/ coil setup. Derek used to re-wind his own magnetos in his garden shed ( I think he serviced all of Guy Allots mags, as well as mags from all of the speedway parts suppliers), and had all sorts of 'heath robinson' test equipment, as a youngster it was a fascinating place to visit

[sandman 0]

They were a conversion by a guy called Derek Hobson (I think) in Penistone Yorkshire. Reg Wilson, Pete Smith & Rickard were the only ones who I can remember using them.

They were around at the time that battery & coil were the major ignition source on the weslake, the magic boxes had just started to make an appearance but were hideously expensive (Derek made those as well). The magnetos used actually came from Concrete mixers, and produced a spark that was far stronger & consistent than either a box or battery/ coil setup. Derek used to re-wind his own magnetos in his garden shed ( I think he serviced all of Guy Allots mags, as well as mags from all of the speedway parts suppliers), and had all sorts of 'heath robinson'  test equipment, as a youngster it was a fascinating place to visit

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really interesting tid bit. i didnt think there was ever a magneto sparked Weslake so i learned something. I still believe England has some of the best back yard boffins in the world. it is amazing how many clever and brilliant people produce some really innovative products from garden sheds, even to this day.

[rusky 113]

really interesting tid bit. i didnt think there was ever a magneto sparked Weslake so i learned something. I still believe England has some of the best back yard boffins in the world. it is amazing how many clever and brilliant people produce some really innovative products from garden sheds, even to this day. 

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I think the numbers were very small, probably no more than a dozen or so. They were killed off by the magic boxes becoming more reliable and more importantly, affordable

[MARK246 243]

If you look up Hesketh you will see that the cylinder heads and barrels from DOHC Weslake were you on a V twin road bike.

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I thought the heads and barrels for this engine (Hesketh) were the same as the single they used in road racing. I was always under the impression they were 600cc. Not so sure now, but some one out there must know?

[sandman 0]

quite sure the Hesketh was a 1000 cc v twin. in all actual fact, a bit of a hunk of junk, although certainly collectible because of the rarity.

[marcusthepom 7]

really interesting tid bit. i didnt think there was ever a magneto sparked Weslake so i learned something. I still believe England has some of the best back yard boffins in the world. it is amazing how many clever and brilliant people produce some really innovative products from garden sheds, even to this day. 

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dont sell us ozzies to short my good man,perhaps the first ever maggie on a weslake was manufactured in townsville north queensland,im sure it came from a engineering place owned by neil fagustrom(R.I.P.)im sure the ex halifax gun merv janke rode this engine a great deal.im told by those who rode and worked on the engine that it pulled hard from the gate.the engine is still running and is in first class condition,its still in townsville.

 

i also have to say that i beleive the best back yard boffins would have to come from country australia,even back in 1980 if you stuffed your wessie up etc you had to either go with out,find another motorcycle engine part you could change and make fit or just make the dam thing,i have seen some weird s@@t riden on tracks up north queensland way.

 

so i think the poms have a long way to go,on and off the track