Why This 10

Rarely do you get to witness a DIY technical marvel that is two-stroke, supercharged, and has 10 ‘heads’. Then, let's take a look at the Bistella 500.

In today's world, technology has surpassed everyone's expectations. Things that were impossible to imagine some time ago are happening on a regular basis. And then comes along something that was made in someone's garage as a pet project that blows you away. We present to you the Bistella 500 – a motorcycle that has an engine only a dreamer could think of. The motorcycle's engine has got not one, not two, not four, but ten cylinders.

To make it even better, it is two-stroke. To take the oomph factor to the pro max gold level, it is super charged. One look at the motorcycle seems strange, and cramped but we do not mind one bit. When the answer to ‘Why’ is ‘Because we could’, magic is bound to happen more often than not. This time the one who said, "Because we could," was a Marek Foltis from Czech Republic who made this engine using ten Jawa 21 moped cylinder heads.

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Lots and lots of ambition to say the least. It's a different thing to think of making something like this, and it is a totally different thing to go ahead and make it. Some of you might remember the mighty John Britten from New Zealand who made the insane V1000 motorcycle almost single-handedly in his garage. Back to the Bistella 500, Marek wanted to make an engine that did not follow any of the given templates that the motorcycling world had ever used. He wanted to create something that was ‘on the edge of mechanical complexity’. The idea was to make an engine that would fit in the frame of the base motorcycle – a 1953 Jawa 18 – without making any changes to the frame.

After making enough permutations and combinations, he decided to go ahead with ten cylinder heads taken from ten Jawa 21 mopeds. Since those engines were all two-strokes, the final product was going to be one as well. To make the size as compact as possible, he decided to move ahead with a double-row radial engine layout. This is also the reason why the motorcycle is called Bistella. ‘Bi’ means two, and ‘stella’ means a star, hence Bistella – two stars. 500 is the capacity of the engine as every engine from the Jawa 21 moped had a capacity of 50cc. 50ccx10 = 500cc. Simple math.

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We still have to meet someone who loves motorcycles and doesn't miss the two-stroke motorcycles from yesteryears. Two-stroke motorcycles delivered more fun and adrenaline, and almost instantaneously. Another thing that makes this engine a piece of art is the inclusion of the five roots-type superchargers that are hidden ‘inside the engine’. Yes, you read that right. These superchargers are extremely small and very space effective. Next came the additional task of modifying the four-speed transmission of the original motorcycle to withstand the additional power. Then building the custom crankcase would not have been an easy task either.

According to the information Marek has shared on his website, the Bistella 500 has a calculated power output of a mammoth 120 HP @ 10,000 RPM. However, it has been restricted to 60 HP @ 6,500 RPM according to the last update on the website. Keeping its road-legal status in mind, it is usually restricted at a modest 12 HP. All the ten cylinders are fueled using a central fuel intake with a big carburetor. To ensure that the motorcycle doesn't seize even at higher revs, there is an additional pump inside the fuel tank to feed the carburetor. According to Marek's calculations, his bike can go up to 137mph, but he doesn't ‘recommend’ anyone trying it.

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This is the most shocking bit. Most of the crazy-ass machines that we see or hear about are rarely road legal due to various reasons. They are made purely to show the world what can be done instead of why it can be done. The base motorcycle of the Bistella 500 was made to deliver just 12 HP and weighed 264.5 lbs. If you consider the 60 HP figure (instead of the 120 HP avatar), it is still five times more than what it was meant to deliver. So, a smaller carburetor was put to restrict the power and comply with the safety norms.

The brakes and suspension of the original motorcycle had to be retained in order to make sure the bike was allowed on roads. That means the Bistella 500 still has drum brakes and friction silencers, and it has a top speed of 62mph in its road legal version. This is in compliance with norms where you can touch only one area of the motorcycle between the engine, chassis, or the brakes. Making the Bistella 500 took Marek 2.5 years, and the motorcycling world can't thank him enough for what he did in that time.

After spending many years in advertising as a copywriter, Divyanshu decided to club his passion for motorcycles and love for writing into a career as an automotive journalist. When not romanticizing the GP bikes from the two-stroke era, he likes to write about things with more than two wheels.