WAW used the camshaft rather thanthe crankshaft for the final drive in order to obtain a welcome gear reduction. A camshaft is normally geared 2:1 from the crankshaft, but on the WAW this was geared down 4:1 and the camshaft therefore had two lobes at 180 degrees to each other.The final drive sprocket was on the end of the camshaft, and the gear ratio was further reduced by chain drive to the driven wheel at about 2:1 giving an overall reduction of 8:1 between engine crankshaft and driven wheel.
Several other makers used this system before and after the Great War including the Ericsson and the ABC Skootermota.
