An Amazing Story

[Mark75H]

I have a picture that shows part of it, if you know what to look for

I had thought of trying the concept on my McCulloch rotary valve set up, but never went beyond the idea and some sketches ... that is why I knew what I was looking at when I saw the picture, but I have no idea where the picture is now or what it is called

[Master Oil Racing Team]

If you ever find the picture, E mail me a copy. I can receive, but not send except by routing through Debbie's E mail. It would be interesting to see which version you saw.

I just got a pm from a racer that came across one he got in old parts from another old racer I knew. It was welded to where it wouldn't work anymore. Was probably one of the earlier versions that was erratic. After reading about it on this thread he went to his old parts stash to look at it. He reverse engineered it mostly, but not completely. But we still got our secret going (if I can get his address).

I don't know how Bill and Bill Van had theirs set up, but there were various rotary valve cuts and timing combinations you could use. And we didn't always run one at every race. Depended on the course. The D Konigs were plenty fast anyway if you had the rotary valve timing set right. We generally set ours for intermediate acceleration. After you come off the corner and while bringing pipes back up, the device could help you get back to top speed quicker. I don't ever recall being able to go faster with one. Just get to FAST quickly. Maybe some of the others had different set ups.

[Mark75H]

I think that is most of what it would do ... it might also let top end timing that was hard to fire off, start and leave the pits with less stalling

[Tim Chance]

That's right Bill. I even kind of hesitated to mention it, but unless you or I or someone else puts up a photo or drawing, the secret is still good. Funny thing is, you could look right past it. But, you're right about Ray wanting it that way and that's why we all kept it quiet. RIP Ray--the secret remains

Sadly, Ray had some other inventions that would have been money makers because it was something the mass population could have used and some unscrupulous company lawyers cheated and stole his ideas.

I guess the statute of limitations has expired. I never had one, but I knew about and and saw it and was sworn to secrecy.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

....every now and then I think about what if the secret got out and Dieter got one. I loved Dieter and we worked together a lot. He always did a lot of talking with Jack Chance and we never held anything back. except this. Many of the U.S drivers made modifications on the standard Konig and every trip over here Dieter checked every thing out as much as he could. Including what was going on with Yamato and Merc Quincy's. As Dieter knew, good ideas could pop up anywhere. That's one reason why we never strayed from Pro. We could play around with whatever we wanted.

If Dieter got one of the Do-Fram-Us as Bill calls it, I can envision some different engine guts to widen the power spectrum. Could be RPM's, different torque events, I don't know? But I do think Dieter would have had a wonderful time playing around with it, and I'll bet there may have been some different 2 cycle scenarios today.

[David Weaver]

For the few that know this secret, why keep it a secret? What purpose does it serve to suppress what is apparently a novel approach? There are probably a hundred or more 350 Konigs that could need a little "something-something" to compete with the VRP's and Rossi's today. Could this device help them and bring these good engines back into competition? For that matter, the 500 Konigs could use the boost as well.

As mentioned above and else where the PRO division's longevity is based on creativity and ingunuity. It also based on a willingness across the boars to help fellow racers to succeed.

Just consider this.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

I don't know what a Rossi or VRP look like or how they are configured. Do they have internal or external rotary valves or are they ported with carbs on each cylinder? In other words what have they done differently to be superior to the old Konigs? As I mentioned a little earlier, they will not increase your top speed, with the exception of if you were to try some trick kilo stuff and set up props and timing , etc. to reach toward the top end of the scale. I guess you could increase your top speed over what your current set up is by using a prop that would have been too big otherwise, but most finish lines are near or just a little beyond half way down the front straight. So to win in most cases you have to be ahead the first half the course, not the last half. The bottom line is that if the Rossi and VRP are so dominant, then the device may help if you're running a 1 mile 5 lap course. Otherwise, I don't know. I just don't know how far off the Konigs are currently. And as you know, anything mechanical is subject to failure, so there is one more part to keep up with. I will say though that the last generation was a lot more forgiving and consistent.


As you know, Dieter constantly played around with things. There's no telling what he tried and discarded that no one has ever seen. But, he was always able to get more and more out of a given displacement. After his death there was apparently no one else in the organization that could envision the internals of a two cycle racing engine the way he could. I would love for Peter to translate some of the historical findings in his book that he kept.

Part of me wants to turn this out to the public just for historical reasons if not for any other, and the other part of me wants to leave it be. When I mentioned it earlier, I had no idea the interest it would generate. It came about after I talked to Tim about a month ago and he was remembering how well it was working for him at Springfield and Dayton. Since it was a part of the history, I brought it to light and found out how many others had known about it. It has been an interesting sideline to this thread. And it was amusing to find one BRF member that doesn't even have a Konig run down to his basement and figure out what that thing actually was that he got in a motor deal. We may have sold a motor or two that got away with one also, but I still have the one that came off Marshall's D.

So, who knows David---we'll certainly consider your request.

[David Weaver]

Certainly the Rossi's and VRP's have pushed up top-end for 250's and 350's. But it is the acceleration of these engines that has really out-dated the 350 Konigs. The two and three cylinder engines pack a ton of punch. These engines are not rotary-valved configuratons. They are a joy to drive!!

[Master Oil Racing Team]

Does the 350 come in both two and three cylinder packages, or is the 2 cylinder only 250. When I first started racing the Konig 350 was 2 cylinder and it had an internal rotary valve. It had good acceleration and it could pop you if you weren't ready when you cranked it. It was a great and durable motor, but could shake some. Not as bad as the 2 cylinder 500 though. The 4 cylinder Konig with the rotary valve that hit over here in 1968 really caused a buzz with that smooth, high rpm feel. With the external rotary valve, it had so much power that it made the two cylinder Konigs obsolete overnight. The Merc Quincy's were the dominant 350 at that time.

The Do-Fram-Us deal, doesn't add punch out of a turn. It would be more like a turbocharger on the intermediate acceleration rather than like a supercharger that is alway pumping air. In fact, what we found on our 350 was that there was a very slight lag time when you come off the turn. The 700 had such brute power the lag time really wasn't very apparent. On the 350 when you feel it coming on, it would just come on quicker and quicker until you reach the top end timing. By then the pipes would be up.

The last 350 Konig we had was by far the most powerful we ever had, but we only ran it during the 1978 season and sold boat, motor, props and all to Neil Bauknight. That rig was almost impossible to drive until Guiseppe Landini put a 3 blade Rolla on it and then it was a fantastic racing machine. I sometimes wish we would have stayed in 350 for another couple of years. I don't know though at what point after that the Konigs quit progressing.

But these devices aren't necessarily a magic fix all. In spite of all you could do, there is always something that can happen in a race, and one little goof will negate all the positive. We still had a number of competitors that I don't think ran them, that won lots of races. When Dan Kirts comes blowing through a hole in turn one with sponsons dancing like crazy and a death grip on the throttle, the transom skating, then remarkably catches the lip of a hole just right, then blasts through the roostertails to get clean water, there's not much anybody can bolt on to overcome that.

[David Mason]

Balls and skill can add a few MPH's to any rig, especially in the E.T. department. Dan Kirts was certainly one of those who did not lack in either department. I always looked up to Dan, still do. I hope he is at some of the races I am planningon this year with the USTS, as I can certainly use some help with the 350CCH.