Various rumors & bits of information
There is very little information on the weslake conversion, but here is a few rumors and snips of information i have found.
B44 fitted with a Weslake designed stroker crank which pumps it out to 490cc. The head is a 2 valve design that differs quite a bit from the Weslake speedway head. It wasn't the most successful of Harry Weslakes designs but he later made up for it with the 4 valve speedway engine and the 8 valve Triumph head. Because they weren't that good, they only made a few of the B44 conversions
(Only availble through Rickman for a limited period and obsolite when the B50 came out, hence limited numbers)
(Only availble through Rickman for a limited period and obsolite when the B50 came out, hence limited numbers)
The combustion chamber and straight up valve angle and all of the specs are based on the head Weslake designed for the Ford Zephyr in the early sixties. Apparently that head is the holy grail for six cylinder Ford Zephyr freaks but the design didn't translate over to a single cylinder motorcycle engine.
(I have been told it's based on the Morris 1000 head so not sure about this one)
(I have been told it's based on the Morris 1000 head so not sure about this one)
It kind of looks like the original idea for the head was diesel. I have heard stories from that time that the MOD were trying to develop a diesel bike
Need more input!