Bama Rides

Will Power Motorcycle, a creation of William B. VonGal was engineered by Andy Wendt and built by Chris Self of Miracle Machine Works.
Will Power is a radical prototype concept motorcycle. What makes it so unique? The motorcycle is powered by a Yanmar air cooled diesel engine. It has two wheel drive and is hydraulically propelled by a pressure compensated, variable displacement Bondioli & Pavesi pump driving two Parker hydraulic wheel motors in the center of the wheels. Instead of clutches, gears, chains, sprockets, drive shafts, universal joints and differentials, all power is delivered to the wheels via flexible hydraulic hoses. With an incredible efficiency rate of 93% from the engine crankshaft to the wheel hubs, the “closed loop” hydraulic system can deliver up to 450 ft*lbs of torque to each wheel.

The suspension uses air adjustable tandem air shocks that allows the frame to be raised or lowered using two onboard air compressors to allow riding like a “low-rider”, or with up to 20 inches of ground clearance. And, the single sided swing-arms make tire changes a snap on the 300 lb vehicle. The tires are military non-directional tread to comply with the concept of being like a “half of a Humvee.” Twisting the throttle on the right grip controls engine rpm. The clutch lever on the left isn’t actually a clutch, it changes the hydraulic pump displacement to control the oil volume delivered to the wheel motors. With the lever held in, the pump delivers no oil, but oil flow increases as the lever is let out. As the lever’s position varies oil flow the wheel motors, it provides the equivalent of an infinitely variable transmission gear ratio that can propel the bike to 25 mph when the two wheel motors are operated in a parallel circuit and to 55 mph when operated in a series circuit.

Another benefit of this type of drive is dynamic braking: As the control lever is pulled in the bike stops as the oil in the lines stops moving. We believe this type of propel system has a real place in the future of driven vehicles. Whether for heavy machinery, automobiles or some radical racing motorcycle, the weight reduction, component elimination and the high efficiency make it superior to currently used systems. We hope this prototype may inspire people to try and think of a better way and lead to the development of new concepts.

Will Power Motorcycle – Diesel powered hydrostatic, 2 wheel drive motorcycle built in Alabama

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