The First Automobile

The H-16 - and other highly unusual engine designs (msn.com)

Single-cylinder gasoline engine automobile in 1885. Single-cylinder internal combustion engines date back to first identifiable car, the 1885 Benz Patent-Motorwagen. A 954cc four-stroke motor mounted underneath the passenger’s bench seat, generating less than 1 hp.

Simple to produce and work on, and it quickly grew in power to 2 hp. Single-cylinder engines have been used ever since in a variety of lightweight scooters, motorcycles, lawn & garden equipment, backup generators & similar devices with between 1-50 KW of engine power, like a super flow tuned 125cc single cylinder shifter kart engines, & even some very slow low powered early  carbureted hand crank started economy cars. The fuel efficient low mass design now in a renaissance due to its suitability as a range-extender generator powering unit for electric cars with smaller 50kWh battery packs, or as a road trip range extension power source for long range use in vehicles like the rotary energy generator 2023-24 MY Mazda MX30 Plug-in Hybrid automobile :) 

I had a 2019 Honda Grom SF with a single 124.9cc fuel injected engine, that I upgraded with water cooling, a wideband O2 sensor into the full stainless aftermarket exhaust, a power commander fuel tune with O2 meter, and was able to get HP with some internal engine tuning to over 12 HP up from 9.7 stock, while it was also able to rev faster & to higher RPM in 4th gear on the highway :) In the end, it needed 5 gears for American freeway speeds, so we traded it in on a 2020 Yamaha MT-03 that I absolutely adore, with its fuel injected 37 HP to the real wheel offset twin cylinder engine refined in the R3 track bike for many years & many refinement generations, it's an exceptionally fuel efficient machine with a mechanically precise 6 speed sequential transmission that sings at all speeds in 4th gear, while 5 & 6 are like highway overdrive to lower the RPM's for a less buzzy long duration ride / motorcycle road trip / day trip excursion. Flogged hard it gives 45 MPG, ridden normally smooth & legal its ~60 MPG & gentle hypermiling to keep the RPM low, shift early, keep inertia, predictive smooth & steady Wayne Gerde's inspired ride I can milk it for 80-90 MPG, so 3.5 US gallons of fuel gives impressive range per fill-up. Also using my grocery store fuel discounts, I get fuel for under $4 per gallon near Seattle, which is like a $1 less than the regular pump price for 87 Octane E10 regular unleaded gasoline from a retail fuel pump nearby where most of the stations of selling it for $4.50+ or around $1.35 per liter if you are into that Liter's per 100 km fuel economy rating used around the world outside of the USA. 

I have emotionally spiritual experiences riding the MT03, as its the most refined motorcycle I have ever ridden. It sounds absolutely amazing, with just enough tasty exhaust volume so that you can hear the intake, valves, pistons, & the exhaust, while only a little buzzy above 80 MPH as the RPM hovering near 8,000 by then, it redlines at 11,000 & can go a little more before the rev limiter kicks in. I did a rear tail delete kit & wrapped the OEM cat enhanced exhaust system with black ceramic glass exhaust wrap to enable the catalytic converter to light off & achieve full operating temperature faster. The mass optimized 18.5 lb exhaust system only gained 6 stainless steel zip ties & a maybe 1 lb of glass ceramic black exhaust wrap. I sprayed on about 6 oz of high temp silicon exhaust black paint onto the wrap, having fully removed the entire exhaust system from the MT-03 for this upgrade. I then used a heat gun & propane fueled blowtorch to help cure the exhaust paint, since the entire bike is black, I wanted the wrap to be a deep black color. After curing the paint & remounting the exhaust, the entire bike now smells of burnt marshmallow after riding it for 30+ minutes, as some of the exhaust wrap paint still "cooking" or "coking" off, with the solvent longer molecules polymers pyrolyzing with exhaust full heat soak cycle, the smell has progressively diminished as the remainder of these substances are depleted with eating full hot cycle. I also added a quick electrical connector to the battery, that hangs out where I can access it without taking anything apart, so I can float charge or top charge the battery periodically with my smart AGM PBA charger with the same connector type. That way during the wet cold winter, while this bike is parked, I can use a voltmeter to check the battery voltage & if its goes below 12.5vdc, I connect the smart automatic battery maintainer charger in AGM mode unit it says the battery is full. I try to take out the MT-03 on dry days at least once per month, even in the bitter cold of winter, using heated gloves, layers of warm clothing, two pairs of socks in leather boots water proofed, and go for a full 30+ min heat soak ride to warm everything up. I use stabilized gasoline E0 or ethanol free with fuel stabilizer added to enhance its shelf life, but swap out that gas can with fresh gas every 3 months into my car, so that its fresh gasoline, since gasoline can go stale by oxidizing & waxes can form threads that gum up fuel systems.