J.A.P. two stroke engine.

GoldenMotor.com

Intrepid Wheelwoman

New Member
Oct 29, 2011
2,830
61
0
Hauraki District, New Zealand
Here's a little engine that isn't seen so often these days; - the little J.A.P. two stroke engines that were in many ways similar to a Villiers engine. I owned one back in my thirty somethings and I wish I still did.
This one is presently on our local on-line auction site, but with my pocket money all spent for this week I don't think I will be buying it :(
 

Attachments

bluegoatwoods

Active Member
Jul 29, 2012
1,581
6
38
Central Illinois
It sure does look like the right engine for a 'retro' type motored bike, doesn't it?

There was a time when I would have bought it anyway, figuring that living on saltine crackers and macaroni and cheese for the next month wouldn't be all that bad.

Go ahead! Live a little! You know you want it.......:)




Forgive me. I'm just being a bit mischievous. And also having a laugh at my own irresponsibility.
 

Ludwig II

Well-Known Member
Jul 17, 2012
5,071
783
113
UK
If you run aross a Teagle cycemotor in your travels......

Actually, Teagle made and exported thousands of 50cce agri motors, with a convenient belt drive pulley, and they were the parent engine for the cyclemotor. They turn up in Britain, and such was the quality, they are still running happily on original consumables.
 

snorks

Member
Jan 16, 2009
41
8
8
Africa
I had the exact same engine! Actually two. One was in cylindrical mower. It ran O.K. I made one out of the two. The three bolt head wasnt too convincing. From memory it had a wipac ignition and I think the carb was a bing or a tiny amal. Tank was orange. About 100 cc i think.

I had alot of cool old motors through the years. The Villiers with the slanted fins. A great little Trojan with vertical radial cooling fins, also a Victa 125cc etc. I sold everything when I moved country.

Sometimes I think it would be fun to own them again... the truth is though that the villiers ran in phospher bronze sealing bushes...the Victa had a crappy ignition the Trojan had a cute but Loud exhaust and all of them love 16:1!!!
So very oily and smelly and lots of fun but not quite as reliable as what we have come to expect these days.

Cheers
Simon
 

snorks

Member
Jan 16, 2009
41
8
8
Africa
The old villiers two strokes had no rubber crankshaft seals. Inside the crankcase the crankshaft was fitted with phosper bronze bushes with a lip on it as a way to make the bottom end gas tight. They changed the design in later years.
The villiers had a wonderful big brass flywheel with an automatic puller(!) a brilliant design. Sadly some engines had no keyway machined on the crank to time the ignition. So you just lined up the timing marks and tighted the flywheel.

Cheers
Simon
 

silverbear

The Boy Who Never Grew Up
Jul 9, 2009
8,325
670
113
northeastern Minnesota
The old villiers two strokes had no rubber crankshaft seals. Inside the crankcase the crankshaft was fitted with phosper bronze bushes with a lip on it as a way to make the bottom end gas tight. They changed the design in later years.
The villiers had a wonderful big brass flywheel with an automatic puller(!) a brilliant design. Sadly some engines had no keyway machined on the crank to time the ignition. So you just lined up the timing marks and tighted the flywheel.

Cheers
Simon
Thank you for clarifying, Simon.
SB
 

Intrepid Wheelwoman

New Member
Oct 29, 2011
2,830
61
0
Hauraki District, New Zealand
And to my mind that was the beauty of the old Villiers engines, those long bronze bushes worked just fine as a way to seal the crankcase once there was a good oil film running between the crankshaft and the bushings. I have a number of old Villiers single engines that have plainly seen a good deal of use, but not one of them has wear in their bronze bushings.

As for the flywheel with no key on the taper I always considered that to be a plus as it meant that timing could be set very accurately instead of being stuck with a one-size-does-all keyway system. Something I would do when I was refitting a flywheel was wipe the tapered end of the crankshaft over with lacquer thinners to make sure no oil was present. That way I could be sure the timing wasn't going to creep once the engine was fired up.

True enough that smelly and oily 16:1 mixtures are out of fashion these days, but I still prefer the simplicity of a Villiers engine. Over the years I've owned plenty of more modern two stroke bikes most of which could easily out perform a Villiers powered bike, but it's the Villiers engine that has 'stuck' to me and the others have all gone gone gone every one of them.