Haden Green New-Comet Motorcycles

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Regal Green

A Brief History of the British Marque

Regal Green

A comienzos del siglo XX hubo pocos motores de motocicletas refrigerados por agua, y muy pocos con válvulas en cabeza. Pero hasta donde pude investigar, sólo hubo uno que combinaba estas dos características: el Green Precision.

Las motocicletas Regal (1912 -1915) fueron fabricadas en Birmingham por Ernest Smith y J. Woodhouse. Al igual que muchos otros pequeños fabricantes, utilizaban motores propietarios Precision, monocilíndricos de 350 y 500 cc. y bicilíndricos de 602 cc.

Unos años antes, el londinense Gustavus Green, que había contribuido en el diseño de los primeros motores aeronáuticos, patenta en 1906 un método de refrigeración por agua que mejoraba su diseño del año anterior y consistía en una camisa de agua de cobre que rodeaba al cilindro y a la tapa y tenía directamente unidos en ambos laterales dos radiadores tipo “panal de abeja”.
Sobre la base del motor Precision construido por F.E. Baker, el Green Precision de 3 ½ HP (85 x 88 cc, 499 cc) se utiliza por primera vez en una Regal que participa en el TT Senior de 1912 y unos meses después bate el record de monocilíndricas con sidecar en Brooklands siempre piloteada por S. F. Garret.

El Regal Green TT tenía un depósito de agua adicional situado con el depósito de combustible que mantenía los radiadores llenos y actuaban como cámara de expansión, pero no contribuía a mejorar al enfriamiento. La transmisión era a correa con un engranaje variable Brampton, lubricación semi automática Best & Lloyd, carburador Amac y magneto Bosch.
Para la temporada siguiente, otros fabricantes como Zenith y Calthorpe ofrecerían un modelo con el motor Green Precisión. También lo haría New Comet en 1914 pero aparentemente este motor refrigerado por agua sería discontinuado por la fábrica de F. E. Baker pocos años mas tarde.

Sergio Scalerandi


Regal Green

At the beginning of the twentieth century there were few motorcycles with watercooled engines, and fewer still with overhead valves. As far as the author of the Spanish version of this article could discern from fairly extensive research, there was just the one which combined both of those factors: the Green Precision. With a nod to Leon

Regal Motorcycles (1912-1915) were manufactured in Birmingham by Ernest Smith and J. Woodhouse. Like many other small manufacturers, they used single cylinder Precision engines of 350 and 500 cc, and 602 cc twins.

In 1906 Gustavus Green of London, who had contributed in the design of the first aircraft engines, patented a method of water cooling that improved the design by adding a coolant tank of copper which surrounded the barrel and cylinder head linked to a pair of radiators with a honeycomb appearance.

Based on F.E. Baker's popular engine, the 3½ hp Green Precision (85 x 88 cc, 499 cc) was used for the first time in a Regal that participated in the Senior TT of 1912, and a few months later beat the record for a single-cylinder motorcycle combination at Brooklands, ridden by S. F. Garrett.

The Regal Green TT had a water reservoir which kept the radiators full and acted as an expansion chamber, but apparently did not greatly improve the cooling. The machine had a variable gear Brampton transmission with belt drive, semi-automatic lubrication by Best & Lloyd, an Amac carburettor and Bosch magneto. Road models had the water tank mounted out of sight below the fuel tank.

The following season other manufacturers including Zenith and Calthorpe offered models with Green Precision engines. There was also a New Comet running this engine in 1914.

The engine was discontinued by the F. E. Baker factory a few years later.

Notes:
earlymotor.com mentions a fine photograph in the Keig Collection published in the Bruce Main-Smith book (ISBN 0904365050) and that the Lewis motorcycle company of Adelaide used the Green engine in 1914.

Sources: Sergio Scalerandi, earlymotor.com



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