First Photos of the Dan-Tec 8-23 SC - Supplying The Power For The World’s Fastest Motorbike

Here are the very first photos of the engine and drivetrain that will be powering the Angelic Bulldog motorcycle streamliner. With the finishing touches being performed by Dan Dole at the Footman James Classic Bike Show and arrival of the freshly machined bellhousing and rear engine covers, the specially made Elite gearbox was attached for the very first time.

So here it is, the offset square 8 configuration, originally based on two Honda Blackbird engines, feature counter-rotating crankshafts which link up to Elite gearbox via a specially made shaft traveling through the heart of the engine. All this is mounted onto a special baseplate to which will sit within the chassis. Its great to see at this stage, having been on the drawing board for over 18 months. The final assembly is huge and mightily impressive!

Theres some more photos below, and for any more info on the details of the engine, check out www.angelicbulldog.org.uk

Dan-Tec Engine Cover

We have some photos of the latest piece of Angelic Bulldog streamliner to come off the milling machine. This piece acts as a cover on the front of the Dan-Tec offset square-8 engine and bolts to the left-hand Blackbird crankcase. 

I believe this is the final piece for the engine to be machined, so we'll hand it over to Dan next weekend and will hopefully see a fully built engine very soon!

 

Its quite a substantial piece of aluminum, good job weight is not really an issue for us!

BMF Show - Peterborough May 14th - 15th

 

Moto-R Design has been invited to support the Angelic Bulldog Project on May 14th - 15th at the BMF Show in Peterborough. 

Apologies for the lack of recent updates with regard the SV project. There has been a bit of a push on that of late as we want to have it looking its best and on display next to the Norton M28 Concept bike at the BMF Show.

So if your making a trip to the event, be sure to come and check it out for the first time! (I dont know where we will be, so look out for the rather long stand with Angelic Bulldog mock-up on).

Blackbird Crankcases - Machining Log

 As promised many months ago, a bunch of images showing how the Honda Blackbird crankcases were machined. Two crankcases were machined this time round, allowing Dan to create one of the Dan-tec Square-8 engines he has designed. These images were taken as reference for when the time comes to machine another pair for the spare engine as it was quite a task to get positioned correctly on the milling machine to make multiple cuts without having to reposition. Below is how it went . . .

First cut to clean up the rough edges from when the gearbox was cut off on the bandsaw. Took the surface down roughly to within a few millimeters.

Took the material down to the required depth using a fly cutter, giving a more accurate and cleaner finish.

With the milling machine rotated through 90 degrees, the same process can be applied to the adjacent surface, a rough cut to remove the majority of the material before using a fly cutter.

As you can see here, we were at the very limit of the machines capability of handling the crankcase whilst having clearance in all planes to move the cutter.

Machining away part of the crankcase which needs clearance for one of the main shafts traveling between each crankcase half. This also highlights more problems we had with the machine size, as the cutter had to be operated at an angle to give it clearance to move up and down and not hit the crankcase.

Showing the final cut with clearance.

At this time, to perform the final cut, which was a radius between the 90 degree surfaces, the crankcases had to re-positioned and a cutter on a long shaft used.

Heres the final radius between both surfaces.

Whilst all this was going on, the aluminium base plate had been machined at Bosal and was delivered, ready for the freshly machined crankcases to be bolted on. 

Streamliner Parts

Had some down time in the workshop last friday, so took the oppourtunity to get some parts finished off for the Angelic Bulldog streamliner.

A pair of Inner Bearing Sleeves for the special one-off Dan Tec Square-8 Blackbird engine, machined from EN8.

These Swingarm Bobbins will be welded into the chassis (initially for the mock-up, though a second pair will be created for the final chassis) to mount the front swingarm from, for the hub center steering.

Red Bull Streamliner?

 

Here's a couple of Red Bull proposals which were created a few months back for the Angelic Bulldog motorcycle streamliner.

Cutting up Honda Crankcases

 As part of the team working on the Angelic Bulldog streamliner, I get asked to do a variety of different jobs, such as a Photoshop image for a potential sponsor, a bit of CAD work on the chassis design or even coming up with a design for a team logo. 

The latest task thats been undertaken is slightly more important! As we are building our own Square 8 "Dan-tec" engine to break 400mph, we need to make some substantial modifications to our donor Honda Blackbird engines.  Having had Dan (our engine man) rough cut the gearbox's off the Blackbird crankcases, the drawings were sent to me to get machining.

Nothing like this is going to be easy or straightforward. A week long job, on the limit of our machines capabilities (size wise), multiple special cutters made, many different machining angles and a fair bit of head scratching, we finally got there.

 One crankcase only forms half of the Square 8 configuration, so there is another crankcase awaiting to be machined (then the ones for the second engine). Ill try my best to photograph each step of the machining process for the next one!

Silverstone Classic

Had a fantastic weekend at the Silverstone Classic. Such a great event and so many cars and bikes, of all periods.

We were there supporting the Angelic Bulldog project and had the Norton M28 concept on display generating interest. So many enthusiastic comments from the public wanting to see it taken to the next stage and built into a working prototype. One day it will get built!

The Angelic Bulldog stand, fresh with the mock-up cockpit and canopy now in the team colours (have been working on this all week).

The special engine that Dan Dole has designed to provide us enough horsepower to push the 400mph barrier. Had to run over a few points on the drawings, in order to finish the machining on the crankcases in the next few weeks.

Now to get back on the SV project and make some progress!

Silverstone Classic

Moto-R Design will be at the Silverstone Classic event this coming weekend (23, 24, 25 July), along with the Angelic Bulldog motorcycle streamliner project.

We will have the Norton M28 concept bike on display with us, so come and check it out.

Fuchs - Silkolene Streamliner?

A promotional image we did for Gabriel and the guys at Angelic Bulldog for a Fuchs - Silkolene backed streamliner.

Virgin Sponsorship?

A selection of liveries for a Virgin sponsored streamliner.

Angelic Bulldog Streamliner

Just finished one of the promotional images for the Angelic Bulldog project. Trying to break the 400mph barrier on two wheels, so need all the support we can get.