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250 turbo sidecar?


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#1 chunder27

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Posted 12 February 2016 - 17:41

I was reading a piece about Swissauto and Rolf Biland in an old magazine a few nights ago and it mentions the 250 turbo sidecar engine Markus Bosiger rode in the 80's.

Does anyone have any info about this, any links?

Apparently it was a best of a thing and I think Biland regrets not riding it!!



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#2 Paul Collins

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Posted 12 February 2016 - 18:27

According to Mick Walkers book 'Japanese Racing Motocycles' in 1985 Honda experimented with a 250cc version of the NR500 oval piston engine fitted with twin turbos, and putting out a claimed 150bhp, they reckoned it would be capable of 175bhp with development, but it never made it past the test bench.

 

I think the story was that the FIM had hinted at allowing 250 turbo charged engines into the 500 class, so Honda started experimenting, but scrapped the project when the FIM went cold on the idea.

 

I haven't heard of the sidecar engine you mention, and surely it wouldn't have been eligible for GP's? but maybe someone somewhere managed to sneak the prototype out of HRC's queue for the crusher and continued to play with it?



#3 chunder27

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Posted 12 February 2016 - 18:58

It certainly raced in GP's as far as I am aware, it was allowed because it was a 250? It was built I think by Swissauto and driven by Markus Bosiger who no doubt had the funds to fund it!

 

I do recall Honda trying to run turbo engines, but obviously their characteristics would be very tricky on a bike.



#4 SeaDoubleYou

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Posted 18 March 2020 - 19:28

It was an incredibly noisy thing....

 

I had some pictures from the time but have struggled to locate them thus far, but do have these two which are from Mario Bottger's collection; looks like a plumbers nightmare!!!

 

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