HOMEMADE Bike that WON 500cc Grand Prix! How an OUTBOARD Engine Became a WORLD-BEATING Motorcycle?

[Music] in the late 60s the New Zealand phenomenon built a racing motorcycle with his own hands for the prestigious Grand Prix 500 class using a powerful two-stroke boat engine he defeated the factory teams of miy austa Yamaha and their races participating in races on his own and fixing his motorcycle with his own hands during the breaks between races his creation was cutting edge for its time and his Technical Solutions would later become a staple of two-stroke engineering they called him friendly keyw his name is Kim [Music] [Music] Nukem [Music] Kim Nukem was born in Nelson New Zealand in 44 and grew up in ockland where he met the love of his life Janine after marrying Kim and Janine moved to Australia in 63 to fulfill Kim's passion for motorcycle racing in a better country Kim was a natural-born racer who possessed an Unstoppable passion for motorcycles and demonstrated outstanding Talent on dirt tracks to the surprise of their more experienced opponents soon Kim got into water racing which had a big impact on his life as a ship engine mechanic in Melbourne in the late' 60s yukim first encountered the kic outboard motor compact two-stroke engine with a volume of 494 cubic cm Kimo was blown away by this simple and Powerful engine and he wanted to meet the person behind its [Music] creation in the year 1968 Kim meets di kernik who offered Kim a position at his factory located in Germany so Kim and Janine packed their bags again and set off halfway around the globe shortly after beginning work at kerig Kim was given a captivating chance to merge the kig engine with a motorbike German racer wolf Brown was developing a motorcycle chassis based on the kig engine but soon had to give up on the project D asked Kaa to take on the development without thinking twice I fully dedicated myself to this business but despite Kim's enthusiasm and Brown's experiments kig was still a boat engine putting him on a motorcycle was no easy feat it took a ton of work just to get him up and running let alone winning races because the kerig initially lacked a transmission Kim had to install one this connected it to the clutches of a six-speed Norton gearbox in order to ensure proper functioning of the vehicle to create space for the Box we needed to raise the lengthy engine slightly from the rear resulting in a unique and unconventional look another issue was cooling because similar to most outboard motors kunig cools using water in which it is directly positioned this engine simply wasn't designed for use in other conditions through some tinkering we've come up with a kickass radiator and a one-of-a-kind crank case cooling system about the quirks of a two-stroke engine power decreases when the crank case overheats problem cleverly solved with a tubular magnesium tray with its own water cooling this skid plate obstructed placing the exhaust underneath so the cind were flipped and the exhaust was directed upwards next to the intake this led to a problem with packaging as the carburetors took up space between the exhaust manifolds the fully vertical intake holes with downward draft also caused problems since most motorcycle carburetors had side draft this required the use of the American tilletson diaphragm designed for multi-position use this was utilized on Harley-Davidson's and snowmobiles but not in road racing which indicated restricted tuning potential in comparison to carburetors of other models despite the flaws in the already built prototypes the kig 500 turned out to be a Cutting Edge machine for that time it was a kick-ass design packed with a bunch of innovations that later became the gold standard for two-stroke Racing Engines swing valves are operated by a rotating disc that separates the carburetor from the crank case opening the crankshaft rotates the disc opening and closing the holes and accurately determining the intake time in kernig a disc was used moved by a toothed belt rot rotating 90° on the right side of the engine above the crank [Applause] [Music] case the expansion chamber exhaust is essential for properly tuning a two-stroke engine and kerig was one of the pioneering motorcycles to use massive Chambers which later became a common and widely adopted feature on two-stroke motorcycles in the industry the objective is to redirect the exhaust gas pulses back as the intake and exhaust ports on a two stroke engine are open simultaneously allowing cross flow and resulting in inevitable fuel mixture leakage into the exhaust system the ideal two-stroke mixture occurs when the chamber is filled completely without turbulence or any unburned mixture leaking through the exhaust ports expansion Chambers reflect the pulses of the exhaust gas flow back to push the fuel mixture back into the cylinder thereby increasing pressure increased efficiency leads to greater power in 1969 when the initial prototype was constructed it was producing 68 horsepower and boasted a number of impressive specifications despite its sturdy construction the engine turned out to be fragile after being adapted for use on a motorcycle kenig earned a reputation as a fast motorcycle when it didn't blow up and didn't eat gears to make kenig competitive subst substantial enhancements testing and adjustments were necessary which Kim literally carried out [Music] spontaneously in 1970 the power was increased to 75 horsepower which was a serious feat for a motorcycle weighing just over3 kg later versions had a power of about 90 horsepower knowing kig better than anyone else Kim wanted to fix its flaws and make it reliable it was inevitable that Kim would become the primary driver however Kim was not a racer on the highway as he did not possess an fim racing license he never raced on asphalt but his performances defied the rules and his Feats became legendary challenging the established Norms of the [Music] sport he started racking up victories at an astonishing Pace rumors about the german-made motorcycle dominating the roads quickly spread the fans in the area went wild Kim became a highly regarded racer rapidly obtaining an fim license and demonstrating his expertise in road racing as well and this was on a motorcycle that he actually constructed himself that he maintained himself and repaired himself as a greenhorn with no experience Kim had to work with a tight budget while participating in the 572 Grand Prix he worked solo fixing his motorcycle between races despite Factory brigade's difficulties with less than ideal funding Kim achieved noticeable success he took third place in the grueling Grand Prix of West Germany held at the nurburging during his first performance on the legendary challenging track kerig was a real speed demon able to leave the champion mvy austa in the dust on the straightaways unfortunately Kim's season was cut short due to the crash at the Dutch Grand Prix which resulted in him suffering a serious back injury he secured 10th place at the end of the season which is an impressive result for a rookie racer who didn't complete a full race schedule fully recovered Kim came back from for the 73rd season he was constantly getting on the podium after winning the Grand Prix of Yugoslavia the New Zealand Underdog with a kiwi bird on his helmet became the championship leader in points an unknown racer who built his own motorcycle based on a boat engine turned the racing world upside [Music] down by the end of the season Kim and his kerig were invited to in series in Great Britain at the Silverstone track there were rumors that John player Norton's team was planning to take on kig on their home turf and they offered Kim a pretty good amount for it the race wasn't anything serious but she gave Kim the opportunity to earn extra money until the end of the season and he was just thrilled to be [Music] invited a 680 cubic version of kig was prepared and kig and Kim crossed lonch with their family to participate in the event The Day Before the Race Kim took a Stoll to familiarize himself with the track he noticed that one specific section of the slope had a dangerous dip right before a sharp turn surrounded by a wall made of wooden beams worried about safety he reached out to Vernon cpor the track manager with a request to put the hay in front of the wall Cooper was pissed off he angrily rejected Kim and threatened to bite him off if he dares to complain again the next day on August 11th Kim was leading the race for six laps before making a mistake at the Stow flying off the track and crashing into the wall they took him to the local hospital while he was unconscious Kim never regained Consciousness and on August 14th his brain was declared dead he was 29 years old and postumus placed second in the 1973 500 Grand Prix defeating agustini and finishing behind Phil Reed after Kim's death di Kik didn't want anything to do with the damn motorcycle project anymore he was really freaked out by this event and never pursued it [Music] further Kim newm an underdog in the Grand Prix races yet a bold and talented driver Who challenged class differences and surprised the World by threatening mvy Augusta's dominance with Incredible machines defied expectations and shook the racing world with his remarkable skills no one expected that a friendly quiet New Zealander would challenge the racing hierarchy let alone lead the 500 class World Championship working almost entirely independently and performing at the highest level of sports back in the day he was a legend Gone Too Soon in the prime of his life in the most unfortunate circumstances a fateful accident that he foresaw and tried to [Music] prevent

Channel: WierdBike

Views: 304,214

Keywords: homemade race winnig motorcycle, homemade racebike, homemade champion motorcycle, world beating homemade racing motorcycle, homemade bike with outboard engine, outboard 2 stroke engine, Konig 500 GP, Kim Newcombe, Dieter Konig, Friendly Kiwi, weird bike, wierdbike, unusual motorcycle, rare motorcycles, unique motorcycles, interesting motorcycles

Id: ERVnARABzrM

Length: 10min 42sec (642 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 26 2024