If sitting and idling was a problem, wouldn't all air cooled engine motorcycles have the same problem? Seems like it has worked on lots of different bikes from the old longitudinal Henderson fours up to modern Harleys and a whole lot of stuff in between.
I have a friend that after he got out of the service in the early 70's built a VW bike. He was a former Navy Seal and full of pis and vinegar. He used a 1952 Indian Warrior TT frame, and a BMW transmission. He machined all the parts to mate the VW engine to the BMW transmission. He bolted a Honda front end on and used a Harley gas tank. The rear end was BMW, but years later was changed to a Honda Goldwing. When he finished the bike to did the usual shake down run and then sent the bike to Ireland. He and a group started at the top of Ireland and over a year made there way South to the tip of South Africa. The only part of the trip they didn't ride there bikes was when they by ship crossed the English Channel. To this day he can still name every town or village for thousands of miles down the Western coast of places like France, Spain, Portugal, and all the country's of Africa. He has some interesting stories about the people and places he visited. Today he has over 500,000 miles on the bike. Pappy was in his twenty's when he built the bike and today he's an old man like myself. For years I've been trying to get him to write the story about his grand adventure. As I write this he's out in his sail boat somewhere around Belize. He should be back in the Spring.
The point is that those engines were DESIGNED with sitting and idling with no air flow in mind, so they should idle for long periods without problems. The VW flat four was designed with a fan to continually create air flow around the cylinders even at idle. I have to agree though -- with the engine sitting out in the open it SHOULD be okay at idle with no load. Covering it with body work is probably the only reason it needed forced air even at idle. Plus it would be doing a good bit of work at low speeds pulling a heavy load and would overheat then without forced air flow.
Out in the open works, Johnny Sweet's post shows how well it can. I've known several people who had VW conversions in BMW bikes, (had a stock '55 R69 myself) and never heard of any problems with heat.
I love that diversely-assembled quality; the mismatched gauges, the various switchgear; and especially the way everything hangs together despite the miscellaneousness.
this is Citroen's 1015 cc GS motor/transaxle/inboard disc unit as raced in MEP X27s; no sign of the fan / shrouds (or trick suspension ...)
So how did the midget guys keep their VW motors cool? They were putting out some good power. What were they using for a trans? In/out box, or powerglide maybe?
Cool: It seems that the design was developed around a Panhard flat-twin and the GS engine substituted later, which explains why there seems to be no sign of any part of the hydropneumatic suspension.
I just did a google search on fabric bodies, of course the best info came up right here on the HAMB! The Minerva at the end of the post has a very effective looking body. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=183868&highlight=fabric+bodies Which led to: http://www.polyfiber.com/ It looks like a simple construction method, and Poly-Fiber seems easy to use. I'm a body man myself and could construct something out of aluminum, however the fabric bodies look like a simpler and faster way to go, paticularly for those less adept at body work. It also fits in much better with the cyclecar era.
Here's a certain little Chater Lea, built by a HAMBer (UKade???), posted on here a couple of times already. Link to his album: http://rides.webshots.com/album/556627612QlGIQC
I've done a lot of aircraft fabric work, (A&P Mechanic by trade, vintage aircraft restoration by choice). The Poly Fiber stuff is a joy to work with and if you follow the directions in their manual, it's pretty hard to screw it up. The main thing you need for the work is patience, a good iron for the shrinking that will hold the proper temperatures and a good thermometer to set the temperatures. Fun stuff to work with and magic how the stuff smooths out as you work with it. Planning on building a Morgan style trike with a fabric body in a year or so.
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