Remember these?

[Propellor]

http://silodrome.com/munch-mammoth/

Look at the power/weight!

When they say 140mph I'm guessing they mean 140 kph?

[SteveC#222]

Certainly do!  Hell of a beast!  I think the 140mph was probably ( if a little optimistically) right, I seem to remember they could shift in an Elephant down a ski slope sort of way ( lots of speed not much control).
I seem to remember they made a 'Sport' version with a bigger 1200cc engine and they had a racer.

Just found this on their web page, apparently they also made a bike with a 2000cc Cosworth engine and 260bhp!!!!



https://rideapart.com/articles/history-munch-motorcycles

Anyone remember the Moto Shifty? similar idea using a complete Fiat 127 engine including gearbox which made gear changes 'interesting' as you had to go up down and in and out!



http://www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/model/Classic/moto_shifty_900.htm

[Moto63]

Remember it??  He'll yes, ( clearly showing ones age) one thing I do remember was it was THEE card ya wanted in ya hand when playing "top trumps or ace trumps" against ya mates, that or the van veen kriedler 50cc racer. You were guaranteed a win. Hee hee, those were the daze.

[manxie]

Don`t remember the "Shifty" but certainly remember the Munch!! Never new how to pronounce it though ..... Munic? 
From memory I`m certain they were quoted for 140 MPH?? Very expensive to buy these days!!!!

[tigcraft]

http://silodrome.com/munch-mammoth/

Look at the power/weight!

When they say 140mph I'm guessing they mean 140 kph?

Yes I remember them. They had a cast rear wheel because they used to destroy the lace ones (can you believe that??). As a kid I used to have a pack of 'top trumps' on world super bikes in the seventies and that's when I first saw a Munch   

[Propellor]

My cb550k3 was quoted as 55hp but it wouldn't reach 140mph under any circumstances, let alone cheerfully and hold it all day long. It was considerably lighter than the muench to boot. Aerodynamically the muench won't be any better than the cb550k3 Im guessing. So, if the claims are true, how did they do it?

[Moto63]

Maybe but I,d av still trumped ya in the school yard in a certain game of cards. Cb550 way down the pecking order in top trump terms. SORRY

[Dave#22]

If you're ever in Germany, it's well worth going here....
 
    http://sinsheim.technik-museum.de/en/

They have a Munch Mammoth, and two NSU Bison, the biggest single cylinder bike engine.
It's an incredible place, I spent all day there...amazing.
Dave.

[manxie]

REMEMER THESE?? The Quasar!! I remember them being doctor`s bikes for the TT many moons ago but for only one year. So I thought I`d do a search for a picture and found one!! Looks like the photo was taken on Douglas prom 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jorvikiwi/5133817731

[Moto63]

Ha ha, yeah nice one manxie. Oh and yes I do remember them, although never realised they,d used them as medic bikes at the TT, learn something new everyday, when ya look at what's available now (bmw c1 for example) they were way ahead of their time. Were,nt they a tony foale creation???. Cheers michae

[Propellor]

The quasar was designed by Malcolm newell I believe. Whether tony foale had involvement in the front suspension/steering .... That's possible.

Google here we come!

The mystery of how they got the muench mammoth up to 140mph on the 55hp stated in the silodrome article is solved. They didn't! I dug out an article on the 1197cc version and it has the bike at 90hp. If that is true then I can believe the speed figure. Maybe the first, lower cc version only had 55hp, but it wouldn't have got to 140mph!

[Propellor]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quasar_(motorcycle)

Can't see Tony foale mentioned there, but if you read between the lines....

http://www.tonyfoale.com/Articles/Steer/STEER.htm

[Propellor]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Münch_(motorcycles)#Early_Mammoths

Check out "early mammoths". 55hp and 115mph. Sounds absolutely right to me.

[timbo]

Fascinating thread guys. I had never heard of the Fiat engined bike, though we used to have a mechanic in work who had built his own NSU engine bike. Saw it once. I wonder where it is now? The german museum looks amazing, and I thought the Lightening hung vertically at Cosford was amazing, but a Concorde and a Tupelov on the roof 

[iansoady]

The one I always fancied was a Hillman Imp engine in a Featherbed. There was one running around East Brum in the 1970s but I never got to speak to the rider.

Those Imp engines were based on a Coventry Climax fire pump power unit and were apparently very tunable if you could avoid the cooling problems many suffered from.