# Motorcycles with gasifiers
**URL:** http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/motorcycles-with-gasifiers/6332
**Category:** History
**Created:** [February 2, 2022, 3:38pm UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/motorcycles-with-gasifiers/6332 "2022-02-02T15:38:31Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 5
### Author:  [@Woodrunner](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/Woodrunner)
#### Post date: [April 22, 2022, 5:27pm UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/motorcycles-with-gasifiers/6332/81 "2022-04-22T17:27:17Z")
Hi Giorgio, sorry to say i have no dimensions on the Sperco, just by comparing from pic’s i’ll guess around 180mm outside diameter. I really want to find a Sperco gasifier or some drawings of one, anyway there is a car museum not long from where i live, they got a light-weight motorcycle with Sperco gasifier on display, im going to visit this summer and sneak a tape measure with me. 🙂
Pic’s from Sperco user manual, from magazine.
Bonus-picture, winner of Gothenburg’s first woodgas race 1940.
Henry Karlsson, Winner of class: charcoal, side-car motorcycles.
Harley Davidson with MB gasifier (Malte Blohm, engineer)
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### Author:  [@giorgio](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/giorgio)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2022, 8:03am UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/motorcycles-with-gasifiers/6332/82 "2022-04-23T08:03:39Z")
thanks göran for answer and nice historic fotos…we are also lovers of gasifying history, all fotos and history in this thread, please, so all is compact collected and easy to find!!
ciao giorgio
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### Author:  [@giorgio](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/giorgio)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2022, 8:06am UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/motorcycles-with-gasifiers/6332/83 "2022-04-23T08:06:09Z")
cody, thanks for the film also, i have it seen once, but not could find more…nice you have had it behind…if you have more material here is a good place for it
ciao giorgio
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### Author:  [@Woodrunner](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/Woodrunner)
#### Post date: [April 30, 2022, 9:25am UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/motorcycles-with-gasifiers/6332/84 "2022-04-30T09:25:09Z")
Found some more, Swedish 98cc lightweight motorcycle with homemade gasifier.
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### Author:  [@giorgio](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/giorgio)
#### Post date: [May 15, 2022, 2:47pm UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/motorcycles-with-gasifiers/6332/85 "2022-05-15T14:47:19Z")
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### Author:  [@giorgio](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/giorgio)
#### Post date: [August 23, 2022, 2:15pm UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/motorcycles-with-gasifiers/6332/86 "2022-08-23T14:15:04Z")
[http://zhumoristenouveau.eklablog.com/l-album-de-famille-des-francais-1940-1970-4-a118093042](http://zhumoristenouveau.eklablog.com/l-album-de-famille-des-francais-1940-1970-4-a118093042)
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### Author:  [@giorgio](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/giorgio)
#### Post date: [August 23, 2022, 2:22pm UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/motorcycles-with-gasifiers/6332/87 "2022-08-23T14:22:51Z")
[http://agbib.fr/monteux/page8.html](http://agbib.fr/monteux/page8.html)
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### Author:  [@MikeR](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/MikeR)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2022, 12:14am UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/motorcycles-with-gasifiers/6332/88 "2022-08-26T00:14:15Z")
Very good material! Thank you Giorgio! 😄
Edit: That very first link is a treasure trove, and many browsers will translate from French to English (or?) your preference.
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### Author:  [@giorgio](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/giorgio)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2023, 1:59pm UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/motorcycles-with-gasifiers/6332/89 "2023-07-08T13:59:20Z")
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### Author:  [@Woodrunner](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/Woodrunner)
#### Post date: [December 17, 2023, 12:26pm UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/motorcycles-with-gasifiers/6332/90 "2023-12-17T12:26:58Z")
Found some pictures 🙂
In 1987 the man on the pic’s wanted to attend a nostalgic motorcycle run on woodgas, he managed to borrow and get help from the old man that originally built the gasifier on the pic’s: master blacksmith Gottfrid S.
Norton, during the war the gasifier was mounted on a Sarolea.
Please notice the blower mounted on a hinge on the air intake, clever solution i think?
Gas/air mixer and carburetor.
This Norton on charcoal was capable of 80-85 km/h.
The Sarolea during war was capable of: “faster than the cop’s” due to the constructors saying.
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### Author:  [@Bobmac](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/Bobmac)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2023, 12:04am UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/motorcycles-with-gasifiers/6332/91 "2023-12-18T00:04:42Z")
The person riding on the back seat would sure keep their butt warm. I just had to say that, because I know Tom was going to. Simle.
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### Author:  [@giorgio](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/giorgio)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2023, 4:21pm UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/motorcycles-with-gasifiers/6332/92 "2023-12-19T16:21:50Z")
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### Author:  [@giorgio](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/giorgio)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2023, 4:46pm UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/motorcycles-with-gasifiers/6332/93 "2023-12-19T16:46:07Z")
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### Author:  [@BlueflameBobby](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/BlueflameBobby)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2023, 5:35pm UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/motorcycles-with-gasifiers/6332/94 "2023-12-19T17:35:28Z")
Ive seen those balloon storage bags like in one of the last pictures posted, were those notoriously a safety hazard?
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### Author:  [@d100f](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/d100f)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2023, 10:18am UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/motorcycles-with-gasifiers/6332/95 "2023-12-20T10:18:54Z")
My dad had a gas filled balloon on one of his old cars , i don’t remember him ever telling stories of Kaboom to us kids but maybe people were a lot more carful throwing the ciggy buts out the windows .
PS we lived in the UK
Dave
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### Author:  [@Woodrunner](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/Woodrunner)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2024, 3:58pm UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/motorcycles-with-gasifiers/6332/96 "2024-01-28T15:58:29Z")
Some pic’s
Light-weight motorcycle with Sperco gasifier.
Light-weight motorcycle with calcium-carbide acetylene generator.
Principal drawing of the acetylene gas generator.
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### Author:  [@giorgio](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/giorgio)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2025, 3:59pm UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/motorcycles-with-gasifiers/6332/97 "2025-01-02T15:59:50Z")
travelling environment friendly and low cost with street view…no travel stress and sometimes interesting finds…seems a small motorcycle with gasifier…??
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### Author:  [@Woodrunner](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/Woodrunner)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2025, 5:26pm UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/motorcycles-with-gasifiers/6332/98 "2025-01-02T17:26:39Z")
Thanks for the visit Giorgio 😃
I didn’t know it was possible to get that good wiew 😲
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### Author:  [@tcholton717](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/tcholton717)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2025, 6:31pm UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/motorcycles-with-gasifiers/6332/99 "2025-01-02T18:31:32Z")
My experience with acetylene would make me pretty leery of using it as motor fuel. We used to turn paper cups upside down, fill them with acetylene and light them. Quite a bang. When I was a Ironworker apprentice I was once working in the yard gang for a steel mill project. Load the trucks and wait until what was on them got erected and rinse and repeat. A lot of sitting around time in between. I made a cannon out 2 inch sch 80 pipe. Filled the barrel with Acetylene and rammed pieces of coal with paper wadding down the barrel. Declared war on Canada because the mill was on the Detroit River with Ontario on the other side. Never saw any splash so I know that coal traveled farther than i could see, Maybe works different in an engine. The other thing you can use acetylene for is custom paint jobs on motorcycles. Used to paint tanks and fenders with pearlescent paint. Turn on the acetylene on a torch just enough to get the black stuff to come out in strands and let it settle on the fresh paint. After the base coat dried, clear coat the parts. Occasionally some really interesting effects.
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### Author:  [@Woodrunner](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/Woodrunner)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2025, 10:53pm UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/motorcycles-with-gasifiers/6332/100 "2025-01-02T22:53:16Z")
Hi Tom, they ran engines on acetylene super lean, to not risk to blow the engine, acetylene have a very “wide” range of burning mixture.
The systems had a lot of flame traps, water bubblers and like, even often explosion relief valves up engine.
The gas producers was made so one could attach a vent hose when parking in a garage, or lift out the carbide box from the gas producer to leave outdoors.
We also have to keep in mind this was acetylene/air mix which is a little less explosive than acetylene/oxygen. But only little…
On welding class in auto-shop school we was told to NOT play by our angry welding teacher at the introduction.
When i sat there in the glass rain from the broken fluorescent tubes just over me, the teacher laughed and shout: i haven’t left you alone more than 10 minutes?
That was only a small paper “box” containing tobacco (snus)…
Worse was the bread-bag, or the 6,6 gallon plastic jug… the worst was the 52 gallon garbage bag, which blowed the door of a shipping container… 🫢
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