380 QUB Barrel - Square vs flared wider fins

[Kim275]

Hi,
Does anybody know the history and differences in QUB barrels?.

My QUB 380 has wider flared fins (at the front of the barrel compared with the rear section of the barrel) - whereas some other 380 QUB's I have seen do bot have this flaring - with effectively square fins - i.e no wider at front than back. Are these just the same casting with the fins squared/cut off? - any view on why and differences in cooling performance or why this was done?
Cheers Kim

[riflegreen]

I think I am to blame for the shaved barrels .

Arthur Browning being a long legged swine complained tha he kept hitting his knees on the barrel fins , easy way round this , apart from chopping Arthur's legs off , was to take the barrel down to the foundry and use their bandsaw to narrow the barrel .

The amount of finning removed didn't make any difference to the coolig of the engine .

This was on the 360 works bikes and later on the 380 Griffons . It appears that eventually the production bikes were done the same .

I also chopped the fins down on the Pathfinder Puch engines to make the run a bit hotter , the riders complained of them cooling of too quickly when waiting to go into a section .

I expect the production barrels on 380 barrels were cast like it .

Chris

[Kim275]

Hi Chris, thanks for clarifying this one - and also for sharing an interesting piece of Greeves history !........mind you clearly Arthur Browning had an interesting riding style and very long legs for those fins to get in the way !!.........I have never had a problem and I am 6ft 2"!!......clearly there is something I am not doing right !

Good to know that there is no impact on cooling - and presumably some small weight saving as well!
Thanks again
Regards Kim

[riflegreen]

If you look at photos of AKB you will notice he always rode with his knees bent , almost like on trials bike .

Chris

[Kim275]

Thanks for the explanation Chris -
For any Scrambles enthusiasts following this thread the attached picture of AKB - I think Illustrates why Chris squared off the barrel fins !!
Cheers Kim