Charwing - Doomsday GL1100 Build, Charcoal Powered

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Bootstrapper
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Charwing - Doomsday GL1100 Build, Charcoal Powered

#1

Post by Bootstrapper »

This is my first Goldwing, and first build. What follows is the ongoing saga of turning this into a Wing that will last beyond doomsday...

The rules are simple. Can't use gasoline for fuel, absolutely barebones, must be able to tow/carry some serious weight, and must have some way to take off mechanical power for running equipment.

Ever since my years in the Army (07-12), I've wanted to convert a vehicle to run on woodgas. Woodgas was a common fuel during WWI and WWII because of the petroleum shortages, particularly in Europe. Following the wars, they fell out of favor for more convenient gasoline vehicles. It's interesting to note that several vehicle manufacturers, particularly VW, built vehicles with gasifiers at the factory by the hundreds of thousands, though surviving examples are rare. For the uninitiated, by heating wood (or any biomass) in a reduced oxygen environment in a process known as pyrolysis followed by reduction of volatile tars in a bed of hot carbon coals, the flammable gasses that would otherwise combust into open flames (H2, CH4, and CO) are instead cooled, filtered, and then mixed with air and combusted inside of your engine. Wood gasifiers vary in size, but are typically two large cylinders approximately the size of 55 gallon drums (one for gasification and one for filtration), a large radiator to condense and remove any steam, and an air mixer.

When wanting to strap one of these to a motorcycle, the mass and volume of the system is difficult to manage without a sidecar, though there are examples of it being done. For motorcycles, the system is greatly simplified by opting to run on charcoal. Not charcoal briquettes, but charcoal made from wood, which is almost entirely carbon. When gasifying carbon, the fuel gas is almost entirely CO, carbon monoxide. There is little to no water if you made and stored the charcoal right, and thus no need for a condenser. There is little to no tar production if the charcoal was sufficiently heated, thus the gasifier can be smaller since it won't have to provide room for the other stages of pyrolysis (drying and reduction).

One reason I chose the Goldwing as a test bed was because it is commonly held by woodgassers that you will have a power reduction of ~30% by running on woodgas. The godfather of woodgas, Wayne Keith, has converted seven trucks at last count and prefers V10s for this reason. It remains to be seen how close chargas comes to this, again being almost entirely CO.

Now to the bike. I managed to acquire an 83 GL1100A for $200 right before Christmas. The PO said the engine turns over, but the battery was toast and I didn't know how to hand crank it at the time. We'll see...
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What it started as

I've spent the last month stripping it to the frame. I started by tossing almost everything except the drivetrain. Everything got pulled and is either being rebuilt, replaced, or modded except for the fuel system which is being tossed completely.
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Permanently lost: Carbs (kind of), fuel tank, fuel lines, airbox, faux tank, the compressor and pneumatic lines

Rebuilding/replacing: brakes, brake lines, throttle lines, rear shocks and front forks, speedo/tach, tires, bars

Modding:
I'm going to greatly simplify the wiring harness and run almost everything to a bank of switches where the faux tank was. i'm considering a few unusual things. Foregoing turn signals and just using hand signals (I think it's legal in my state - MI). Foregoing a keyed ignition and just using a switch on the starter circuit. If someone can figure out how to fire up the gasifier and start the bike, they're welcome to have it. The one exception to my rule for simplicity is running the engine temp thermocouple and an additional one I'll put in the radiator line to a small digital display so I can keep an eye on them as I work through testing the whole system.

Ignition. Going to switch to points.

Loud pipes save lives. Cutting the exhaust short and may add washers for back pressure.

The frame. Currently detabbing, and will simply be clearcoated after I blast it for a bare metal look.

The radiator. I am toying with the idea of building a custom radiator out of coiled twisted tubing, but will probably hold off until the whole system is functioning well since it's more of an aesthetic thing with a big downside if I'm not careful.

The throttle. Since I'm losing the carbs, I'll have to run the throttle to a new butterfly valve inside the intake manifold.

Adding:
The gasifier. The current short distance gasifier is a 6"x12" cylinder. This will provide enough room for ~7.5 lbs (3.4 kg). The bike should get approximately 11 miles per kilogram of charcoal, or 40 miles per fill. Yes I'll be bringing a small drum of fuel with me to fill up. I'm keeping the gasifier small to make experimenting with it cheaper until I settle on a final design.

The filter is two stage. There is a small cyclone filter (3"x8") off the side of the gasifier, and a final filter cylinder of 4"x2". The 1" fuel line will run under the frame to a manifold where the carbs used to be and into the engine. The air intake will be controlled with a manual butterfly valve at the manifold and will effectively be my new carb. The PO spent 800 to have the carbs rebuilt. Almost feel bad for not using them. Almost.

Down the Road:
Add a PTO. I want to use the bike to run other accessories (generator, hydraulic chainsaw, welder, etc) and the only way I can conceive of doing this is replacing the driveshaft with a hydraulic pump that runs both to another pump on the final drive, but also to a pump with a pto on the rear of the bike. This will also enable me to pull small farm implements.

A trailer hitch for pulling serious weight.

A sidecar for cargo. On longer trips, I'll bring both drums of charcoal, and a small retort (oven to turn wood into charcoal) for processing wood while on the road.

Questions
1. What do I do with the engine? There's a small amount of rust in one of the top valve recesses, and maybe in the cylinder. I am going to rebuild one with a full gasket set eventually, but the focus now is primarily on getting the gasifier to work. Think I should just replace the belts and plugs, and do Randakks starting procedure? Something else entirely?
2. How would you check for corrosion inside the frame and fix it if it's there?
3. Can I simply remove the fuel pump and somehow cap the recess?
4. Anything to consider when switching the ignition to a set of points?
5. Is anyone aware of someone who has built a custom radiator before?
6. What am I missing? Want y'all to get as much out of this as I do. What else should I be thinking about?

My hope is to eventually make the designs freely available for the community, and potentially provide a kit for anyone interested. Looking forward to working through this with y'all.

Edit: Added the photos
Last edited by Bootstrapper on Sun Jan 28, 2018 12:59 am, edited 6 times in total.
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Re: Charwing - Charcoal Powered GL1100

#2

Post by duke182 »

I have seen a couple of trucks converted. They have a distinct cargo advantage.your plans sound ambitious.
Im looking forward to seeing it happen.
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Re: Charwing - Charcoal Powered GL1100

#3

Post by ericheath »

First thought: you’re crazy.
Second thought: we could get along.

Some have removed the fuel pump and tachometer gear. The protruding piece of the cam can be cut off or as some have done, a good rap from a hammer. It breaks off easily. Then make a cover. Wingrider has a few pics as have a few others.

If the carbs are shot, you could just gut them, fill holes with JB and add a throttle to the top, where the air cleaner goes.

Switching to points will be fun with 1100 cams, but a set of 1000 cams will drop right in and with a slight alteration the points assembly from any 75-79 can be used. The 75-77 cams had longer duration, for your application, the 78-79’s might be better??
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You will probably need some ballast resistance if you use the 83 coils.
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Re: Charwing - Doomsday GL1100 Build, Charcoal Powered

#4

Post by Sundance »

Okay?? If not pictures, I could really dig some graphic design, or even a shot of sketched details...can't believe all of that is tucked away in your head...but then, maybe so! (Why do I keep thinking Steam?).... :flamer
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Re: Charwing - Doomsday GL1100 Build, Charcoal Powered

#5

Post by Track T 2411 »

Wow! Quite an interesting undertaking. I don't have anything to add (at the moment) but I'm looking forward to more!
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Re: Charwing - Doomsday GL1100 Build, Charcoal Powered

#6

Post by 5speed »

wow..
can't wait to follow your build..
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Re: Charwing - Doomsday GL1100 Build, Charcoal Powered

#7

Post by desertrefugee »

Jiminy Cricket this could be interesting.

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Re: Charwing - Doomsday GL1100 Build, Charcoal Powered

#8

Post by 77Gowing »

Charwing! what a name, reminds me of Monty Python's Char woman. Could she ride it?
very interesting but efficiency is not your obvious goal.
Gonna need a railroad fireman riding in your side car to shovel coal.

Honestly, it sounds interesting for sure but sounds like more effort going in than actual useful work coming out.
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Re: Charwing - Doomsday GL1100 Build, Charcoal Powered

#9

Post by Bootstrapper »

I appreciate the thoughts Eric. I've decided to just build an expedient manifold out of flex tubing and mount where the stock boots went and lose the carb altogether. The flipside is I now have to rig up a throttle body, and Randakks criticisms of a 4 to 1 carb all apply, since that's effectively what I'm doing.

I took some measurements today to see if it's possible to mount a hydraulic pump directly to the output shaft on the engine. It might require moving the crossbar up a few inches, or using a gearbox to send it out 90* then put the pump there. We'll see shortly if I can find one that'll fit.
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Re: Charwing - Doomsday GL1100 Build, Charcoal Powered

#10

Post by 77Gowing »

Bootstrapper,
I am very intrigued even though I be a skeptic but am not holding any malice against you or your ideas. Not that it won't work but it's efficacy. I'll be watching and learning thank you very much.
I do have a few questions.
1. What wood will you be gasifying? (different woods have different specific energy ratios, btu/lb, or kWhr/kg)
2. So I presume you must partially burn the wood to a charcoal state at less than unity energy balance, then re-burn it at less than energy unity to deliver how much efficiency starting an energy conversion from your source...wood to charcoal and then an energy conversion from charcoal to gass and from gas to combustion in the engine from combustion from your gas to mechanical work. There are a lot of energy conversions in your process and each one always delivers less energy than was put in (just a fact of physics as no process of conversion can attain unity).
"Less is More" Anonymous

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1977 GL1000 "O'le Blue." (sold :crying)
2014 Yamaha 950 V Star (sold)
2017 Indian Scout Std w/ABS (sold)
2009 Honda VTX1300R "Me Brudder's" (sold)
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Re: Charwing - Doomsday GL1100 Build, Charcoal Powered

#11

Post by robin1731 »

How much power can an engine make using this compared to the same engine using gasoline?

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Re: Charwing - Doomsday GL1100 Build, Charcoal Powered

#12

Post by 77Gowing »

You can get more power and still have less efficiency.
If you race a Prius against a top fuel dragster from NY to LA, the top fuel dragster will win, but the prius will do it with less energy expended. Of course your TF dragster would not survive the journey. :lol: :lol: :lol:

In fact if you want to compare efficiencys, the modern direct injected turbo charged diesel is the planet's most efficient heat engine, well to wheels.
"Less is More" Anonymous

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1977 GL1000 "O'le Blue." (sold :crying)
2014 Yamaha 950 V Star (sold)
2017 Indian Scout Std w/ABS (sold)
2009 Honda VTX1300R "Me Brudder's" (sold)
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Re: Charwing - Doomsday GL1100 Build, Charcoal Powered

#13

Post by robin1731 »

I asked a simple question. Power at the rear wheel. Compared to what the same engine makes with gasoline. :IDTS:

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1976 Goldwing Super Sport
1985 Honda Elite
1976 KZ900 Dragbike
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Re: Charwing - Doomsday GL1100 Build, Charcoal Powered

#14

Post by 77Gowing »

robin1731 wrote:I asked a simple question. Power at the rear wheel. Compared to what the same engine makes with gasoline. :IDTS:

.
Sir, this is not a simple question, but could be answered accurately with proper testing. I suggest this wood fired contraption be run on a dyne and compared to an identical bike powered via gasoline. Several variables will need to be held constant for a clean comparison like, inlet restrictions need to be held to the same like 30"H20 action1 , Exhaust restrictions need to be the same in some value of "hg, ambient air T the same, Tires and tire pressure the same (effects rolling resistance), vehicle weight the same (effects rolling resistance), coolant temps the same, oil temps held the same etc.
I know this sounds crazy but we do it in dyno labs all over the country.

:IDTS: :IDTS: Indeed

You are not playing nice sir. :)
"Less is More" Anonymous

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1977 GL1000 "O'le Blue." (sold :crying)
2014 Yamaha 950 V Star (sold)
2017 Indian Scout Std w/ABS (sold)
2009 Honda VTX1300R "Me Brudder's" (sold)
1984 Honda Interstate "84' 2outa4." Gone
1982 Honda GL1100 "After thought." Gone
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Re: Charwing - Doomsday GL1100 Build, Charcoal Powered

#15

Post by ericheath »

It’s called Doomsday. If they’re a no gas available, it will be better.

There are quasi-successful setups but they are large. The interesting ones to me were set up to create electricity via a generator. Rather complicated if you intend for the motor to last. Makes for good winter reading.
Whatever I suggest here should be given ample time for a moderator to delicately correct. I apologize in advance.
77 WING, 1200 engine with 77 heads, cams, gl1100 foot pegs, Magna V65 front end, 764A carbs, [-gone Suzuki M109 monoshock--, replaced with gl1100 shocks] gl 1200 swing arm, gl1500 final drive, wheel and rear brakes Valkyrie seat, Meanstreak tank, Sportster pipes, Power Arc ignition off crank.
77 Wing. black
83 Wing, in pieces
"Continuing education is important even if the subject matter is fairly useless (as in this case)."---Greg Foresi
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