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G'day WCE and Mystyler
Brilliant!
These earliest of Imperials were the better mowers.
Note the larger clutch ...

Low idle RPM, and higher torque, and a larger clutch
made the 4-strokes the better machines - in my view.

The 2-stroke Imperials were ridiculously sensitive to
throttle inputs ...because of their 2-stroke engine.
They lacked low-down torque.

Clearly, Victa understood this, and made the throttle on
their 2-stroke Imperials act as an on-off switch.

Maybe I have said too much ...

Very good.
-------------------------
Jack

wce, I love a good Imperial. And Jack is right, that's an unreel (ha) example.

Jack, thank you for pointing that out, regarding the clutch! I had "noticed" there were clutch differences, but didn't put two and two together to work it out. As much as I hate to admit it, cylinder mowers are probably best left to electrics or 4 strokes. But I'd love one with a 125cc, because I'm a tragic. They tried to solve the problem by putting a spacer under the head to drop the compression didn't they? And these lower comp motors were the only two stroke Victas to use 50:1?

G'day Mystyler,
Yes and yes. They also used a 'special' un-governed version of the G3 carby on these.

G'day Mystyler and Gadge
Many thanks Gadge for a great summary of the Imperial 125cc.

In the modern era, the Ecotech Power Torques used 50:1.
Also, the Victa Jet outboards ran this mix. This was BP Outboard.

Gadge knows this area far better than me.

Cheers
-------------------
Jack

I suspect that these "special" G3s are even harder to get parts for. Why ungoverned?

G'day Mystyler

The answer for me is clear ... Victa saving money.

The Imperial 125cc acted as Victa commercial engines did ...
Off - Idle - On.

The G3 was designed for vertical shaft Victas.
Turning the motor 90 degrees required serious re-thinking - because the
air vane had to act within the air shroud (cowling).

How could you get an air-vane carby work when you rotated it 90 degrees?
Answer: too expensive. Forget governing altogether.

... No

All Victa did was bung the governor aperture. [item 7]

Hello Jack, and thanks. Victa saving money is a common theme. Can't really blame them though, I suspect other companies would have done similar things if needed.

What I don't fully understand with these ungoverned 125s is how Victa prevented home owners from ruining their motor from over revving. Was it simply a matter of the carby not being able to supply enough fuel? A hot, high revving and leaned out motor is not a recipe for success. I guess the G4 came too late for the Imperial in two stroke guise.

wce, I apologise for talking about the two stroke Imperials. I just have a massive soft sport for them as they're a bit unusual. I'd still have a Kirby powered one though. One has actually popped up not to far from me for $80. Little bit rough...and I need another project like a hole in the head.

To a degree, you probably could. But back then, when you paid a fair wack of your income for a quality machine, you were more inclined to look after it.

Plus, as they weren't seen as just an appliance back then, and people had probably grown up with ungoverned 2 stroke rotaries, which you could really get racing.

Of course in any generation there are either a**eholes or idiots who are too ignorant to know/care - just seems like the %age has increased exponentially haha. Another curve we need to flatten


Plus, with a reel mower, you have a relatively constant load - rev it up to engage the clutch and you are always have the reel spinning.

Unlike any of their rotaries - you aren't going from unloaded to plunge into 3ft high weeds. You are manicuring the lawn - its not a slasher. Plus, the engine is right up in the open air and not squished under a 1l tank of fuel with a big cowl crowding it like a rotary.

And remember, the full cranks allowable RPM was listed as up to 4200rpm (utility) - at which point, as you say, you would probably run out of fuel and maybe some ignition point bounce may be involved

G'day Jack,
BP Zoom Outboard, actually.
As far as I can recall, the Victa Jet outboard ran 'BP Zoom 25', same as the rotary mowers. We ran one of these on a 10' aluminium punt for a while in the 70s, and I don't recall having to mix special fuel for it.
Noisy bloody thing with the standard Victa muffler, it was. A straight-through stainless steel [90 deg bend + milking machine milk line tubing] underwater outlet exhaust pipe quieted it a lot.

The bulk BP Zoom 25 drum in my family's OPE shop supplied the fuel for our Victas, tho' we did mix up some 20:1 fuel, using Castrol Super Outboard 2-stroke oil [as that was what Mobilco specified], for our Mobilco Echo saws.

G'day Gadge
Many thanks for keeping me honest.

Yep, the Victa Jet does appear to run on a recommended BP ZOOM 25.




Cheers
Jack