Interesting Roadster on facebook

[martinclan56]

There an interesting Roadster on Facebook market place. I hope this link works:

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1487817688844957?ref=search&referral_code=null&referral_story_type=post&tracking=browse_serp%3Ac472b11a-6c6f-480e-ba83-1b697f2ec9f8

It has a Honda motorbike engine and - err - no reverse...

The fact it has no reverse intrigued me a bit so I did a bit of digging.
I found an article on Pistoheads discussing something similar and it seems that, according to the Construction and Use regulations, any vehicle over 410Kgs must have a mechanical reverse (pushing doesn't count!).
So it could well be a case that the car is illegal for road use, although I don't know how that would ever be spotted. But definitely a case of buyer beware....

[rhysnolan]

A friend of mine, ex F1 mechanic for Surtees (as in John) built an amazing 7 look alike car with a bike engine. His comment was that it was a great tack car but awful on the road for lack of torque. Given that his car weighed just under 390 kg and well sorted, I can't see it being a great option to have a bike engine in a Marlin!

[martinclan56]

What I am curious about, as well as the lack of reverse, is how the drive from the engine reaches the road? The Honda bikes from which this engine comes were all chain driven - not exactly compatible with a propshaft and live rear axle. There must be some clever engineering that is not obvious from the pictures...

[memphis twin]

What I am curious about, as well as the lack of reverse, is how the drive from the engine reaches the road? The Honda bikes from which this engine comes were all chain driven - not exactly compatible with a propshaft and live rear axle. There must be some clever engineering that is not obvious from the pictures...

Thew transverse engine is turned 90 degrees so that the output sprocket of the gearbox is in line with the differential. An adaptor for the sprocket attaches to a propshaft to the rear diff. All been done before thousands of times. I did it myself to a Mallock mk14 Hillclimb/sprint car way back in 2002, using an ex-Sidecar Grand Prix 1200 Suzuki engine. It weighed 360kgs and was a missile.