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Stunning Engine Reliability (Via Idiot-Proof Test)!


tsiklonaut
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Well, me idiot forgot to connect the rectifier after I installed the stock exhaust (me old Termi needs some carbon fibre repair).

 

Basically I rode 2-3 hours without cooling and voltage control! ECU should be fryed (overload), engine should be seized (from excessive heat), but NO, the 2013 very-high compression headed OSSA TR280i thing kept going and going without blinking!

 

I thought it's running a bit strange, and after a very hard core section I noticed vapour fog coming from below the engine (coolant vent) and noticed there's no fan action. Then the shock came and I released my mistake.

 

The designer of OSSA TRi, mr. Xiu, put a lot of effort on getting the optimum thermodynamics and efficency out of this engine (and the reason why it came out with such a radical design - engine always gets cool air from the front and hot exits from the rear, not like with the flawed classical front-exhaust ported bikes where the hot air from the exhaust always falls into the engine).

 

In any case, I'm relatively sure any Sherco, GG or Beta would have piston seized into bore already after that kind of heat abuse :)

 

Of course I quickly I replaced the oil - to my surprise it looked very clean, almost half of the coolant was boiled away, I it topped up. Rode some additional 3 hours in different days to be sure it's fine - the thing keeps going strong like nothing has happened, so all looks to be set and fine. Top marks to OSSA designers and engineers!

 

 

This TRi platform has so much potential if they could keep this fantastic design going and improving!

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It's uneven heating that causes most damage, that's why most bikes put the hot side into the airflow. This isn't a case of ossa knowing better than everyone else. I'm glad to hear your bikes alright but the other bikes you list are theoretically slightly less likely to seize.

There's loads of articles on this relating to BMW boxers and how they were able to move the exhaust from front to bottom a few years ago, going back further there are articles on the foggy pertronas gp bike and the issues this layout caused.

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I've put over 300 000 klicks on clock meself with boxer BMWs - let me tell you, the changing of ports from rear-to-front to up-to-down wasn't the issue. It was about the aestethics coming from air cooling and going to liquid-cooling from the later models. The new ones are unproven, but the older air/oil cooled boxers are among the most reliable engine I've known. Hank, a friend of mine has his 1995 R1100GS stacked up to 500 000 miles (over 800 000 kms) with everything stock in the boxer engine! Boxer layout itself is by far the best air-cooled engine by nature, by far - cylinders are sticking fully out of the frame and getting all the air you need, no matter where you place the ports. It's no accident the piston engined airplane manufacturers (Cessna, Piper etc) prefer de-facto boxers for their effective cooling, accessibility, ease of maintenance and most of all: reliability.

 

Engines, that are stuck between the frame (singles, inline and V [minus transverse Guzzi]) that do not get a direct air are a worriy if you require air cooling, hot port(s) from the front add massive additional hot air to the already airflow lacking engine in the direaction of motorcycle movement (and why the liquid-cooling is very important for those type of engines). So in case of OSSA the front port's hot part doesn't add additional heat to the working cylinder behind, it get's cool intake air instead, I do believe this layout saved me from seizing it from overheating.

 

Anyways, just me 2c and I'm still amazed the thing keeps going strong! :)

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