The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. The radial configuration was commonly used for aircraft engines at turn of previous century.

If you want to know how the radial engines work, have a look at this video:

Radial engines have been used not only in aeroplaces but also in tanks, combat cars, self propelled howitzers so it was quite natural progression that someone would come up with an idea of using these engines in Motorcycles.

Megola

The Megola was a German motorcycle produced between 1921 and 1925. a rotary engine mounted within the front wheel. The engine contained five cylinders with side-mounted valves, each of which displaced 128 cubic centimetres with a bore/stroke of 52 by 60 millimetres providing total displacement of 640 cc.  The cylinders rotated around the front axle at six times the wheel speed; thus while the cylinders were at maximum of 3600 rpm the front wheel was turning at 600 rpm, or roughly 60 miles per hour (97 km/h) 

Here is a short video:

Verdel 1912 Radial Engine Motorcycle

You always thought that the Rocket III had the biggest engine? Or maybe the Boss Hoss was the only motorcycle with mad engine? Wrong. Here is our list of some madder engine motorcycles:

Dodge Tomahawk

The Dodge Tomahawk was a non–street legal concept vehicle introduced by Dodge at the 2003 North American International Auto Show. It had 507PS 8.3-litre V10 motor from the Dodge Viper. The engine was encased in an aluminium housing with a swingarm mounted at both sides. Tomahawk was produced and sold in very small numbers (not as street legal motorcycles).

And if you see closely, this has 4 tyres. This really was a mad mad design.

Alfabeast

You must have read our article about common motorcycle engine types. If not, click here to read it. In this article, we are going to explore some one-off or offbeat motorcycle engines.

Here is a list of some Offbeat Motorcycle Engines:

1. V8 engine
2. Square Four Engine
3. Oval-Piston V4 Engine
4. V5 engine
5. Wankel/Rotary  engine

1. V8 engine :

V8 is a common engine configuration found in high capacity cars, trucks, and SUV’s. The V8 engine is like a V-Twin or a V4, but with a total of eight-cylinder (four cylinders on both sides of the V). Because of their big size and weight, these engines are rarely used in motorcycles. One such example is BossHoss motorcycles.

2. Square Four Engine :

Designed by the legendary Edward Turner, square-four engines can most easily be described as a pair of parallel-twins that are joined together. This engine was made famous by the 500cc Ariel Square Four. These engines l