Products that never made it.

[yz250roost]

I just saw a picture of a bike yesterday from the early 90's that had a red colored chain, remember those? So that prompted me to think of products that never made it, here's only a few that I came up with.
1.colored chains (you could get them in red,blue,green,yellow)
2. Pivoting footpegs (although I think they are coming back)
3. Roost boost :)
4. Exhaust pipe paint

 

[MXFastGuy]

-Split sprockets for quick gear changes
-BASS (mid-80's Yamaha Brake Actuated Suspension System)
-Boyesen pivoting levers (funny how the ARC design made it)

 

[dirt bike dave]

Countershaft mounted rear brake disc

ATK/Boyesen chain torque eliminator thingy - the one with the little sprockets mounted to the frame above and below the swingarm.

RIBI front suspension

 

[Rich Rohrich]

One of Eric Gorr's inventions that was a technical success but never a commercial one.

Click here.

 

[Rich Rohrich]

To see another one of Eric's :Click here

 

[Highbeam]

Rotary valve induction for 2-strokes. Think kawasaki KE125 with the carb on the side.

 

[jaction125]

I had a 91 yz125 with one of those Roost Boost dealies on it. What did it do?
(If anything at all)

 

[Rich Rohrich]

Originally posted by Highbeam
Rotary valve induction for 2-strokes. Think kawasaki KE125 with the carb on the side.

Rotary valve induction was a huge success, and is still in use on some very successful racing engines. Reed valves just proved to be a better and cheaper solution for the majority of applications.

 

[High Lord Gomer]

Originally posted by Rich Rohrich
To see another one of Eric's :Click here

How well did those work?

 

[JasonJ]

Cannondale dirt bikes :) .
Two wheel drive dirt bikes, although Yamaha has a new WR prototype.
Two spark plug heads, remember those?
Two carb intakes and exhaust 1 cyl 4 strokes, they ran ok though.
Can-AM used to store the 2 stroke oil in the frame,,, oh wait, thats back in favor with 4 strokes and Buells :) .
Can-AM
2 stroke auto injectors. There still around, but I wonder why they are not used more, its nice to adjust your mixture on the trail with out dumping all your gas....

 

[JasonJ]

Oh and remember when I think it was YZs that had a sticker on the side that said POWER BAND. And all the kids would say, dose your bike have power bands? Or when their bike was running bad they would say, I think the power bands are broken

 

[Rich Rohrich]

Originally posted by High Lord Gomer


How well did those work?

Good enough for a few japanese factory teams to quietly run them in national races. ;)

The accumulated knowledge we've gained in the last 20 years could probably be used to make them work even better. They just aren't very marketable .

 

[Y2Z]

my friend has an old honda(i think) that had 2 spark plug heads, how did these work anyways?

 

[dirt bike dave]

Another idea that never caught on was having a single cylinder two stroke with a rotary valve carb AND a a conventional carb.  This was done on the Puch 250 which Harry Everts rode to the 250 GP championship.  I'll bet it made great power but was just too expensive. 

 

[bclapham]

what about them full fairing MX bikes?????

 

[dirt bike dave]

Originally posted by Y2Z
my friend has an old honda(i think) that had 2 spark plug heads, how did these work anyways?

 

On most bikes with the dual plug heads, one was a 'spare'.  If you fouled the first plug, you just moved the plug wire to the second plug. 

 

[JasonJ]

"On most bikes with the dual plug heads, one was a 'spare'. If you fouled the first plug, you just moved the plug wire to the second plug. "

Yup, and how sweet it was, no stopping and messing with tools ect. Many times the fouled plug would burn clean then too unless it was cracked. Problem was when you packed up for the day and forgot to change the bad plug, then next time you fouled a plug,,,,,, Dooooh!!!!!

 

[biglou]

Cool history lessons here! Rich-I can't see any of the pictures for Eric's patents. Are they there or is it my browser? Can't see them work or home.

 

[Treejumper]

Metal gas tanks! I liked the way my knees produced a nice dent in them. It make it very easy to hang on to the bike. :)

 

[XRpredator]

Originally posted by Tree jumper
Metal gas tanks! I liked the way my knees produced a nice dent in them.

Your knees put a dent in them? I remember dents in the metal tanks, two of 'em for that matter, kinda close to the gas cap, and for dang sure my knees didn't make 'em. :ugg:

 

[BEEF706]

Plastic guards for open faced helmets, (for that matter open faced MX helmets), Whoop de chews, (MX vitamins), Air springs, (forks and shocks) 20 (and for that matter 23) inch front wheels, and a wierd form of hybrid racing called "super bikers" wonder what ever happened to that? ;)

 

[BEEF706]

Oh yeah, after reading Preds post again, remember the first generation plastic "peanut tanks" that had a hump right in front of the seat? And people wonder why I don't have kids................

 

[dirt bike dave]

Fiberglass tanks and fenders!  Good riddance!

Bultaco Fronteras had a tool pouch attached to the tank - don't know of any other bikes with that feature.

 

[Psalm31.24]

In the 70's Yamaha made a full suspension BMX bike. Too heavy & too bouncy. But it was that cool yellow (I think . . . I tend to remember in black and white)

 

[KiwiBird]

Skunk Works linkages for twin shock bikes.

Ossa shock linkage by the airbox - Suzuki copied it and then got fried by the original designer?