Recently we, Marjorie and I, visited friends in Michigan. Friends long lost but not parted if that makes sense - I probably have that backwards. Anyway, we missed them sorely and they took some time from their busy schedules to be together. Rich was able to find a nice Suzuki DR350 for me to try and keep up with his Yamaha XT600. The DR is a hard beast to start while the XT is electric so we kicked, and kicked, some more, ditto until we held our breaths just so, hovered our centers of mass even closer and like magic, an amazingly refined engineering process keeps beast running. Gasoline helps too. And oil.
A mere moment later, the XT purrs, nay thumps, to life. I'm sweating, he's laughing but no complaints from me, I get to ride with my best friend.
My critical eye notes a front tire on the last millimeter of rubber and the front washes out frequently when I push the beast even slightly. My forearms are sore just thinking about muscling beast through the sandy turns while keeping up.
It seems that Michigan is one big sand dune and it's everywhere!
Rich is justifiably proud of his XT, as well he should, it's in fine shape and as civilized as a bike can be, tracing back to rallye racing in Dakar. It suits him.
Running through the turns, the nimble little beast can throw a roost and a feeling of such freedom settles over me that I know I'm blessed to be in this moment. I know time is short and time limited but the feeling persists. I even pass Rich, once, playing wannabe racers. He's heavy on the gas, that one!
We stop for lunch, talk some, laugh, poke fun and are friends, too long apart and time quickly passes and so it's time to ride.
"Care to ride the XT?" "Why sure, does the electric start work....?" and off we go!
I feel the mass of the heavier bike and a different technique keeps me farther back on the seat, steering with the throttle. It's also more comfortable back there too so I get lazy and work the throttle harder. The bike is designed to handle that style rider but soon, I feel a hitch in the thumping smoothness and the chain comes off. In the middle of nowhere.
I look at the rear sprocket and the teeth are worn completely off, nothing is left. It seems that all the sand in Michigan got stuck to the chain and in an insidiously accelerated chain (no pun intended) of events, sandpapered the sprocket to oblivion...so I think anyway.
We were able to keep the chain on by judicious use of throttle, clutch and gears, and limp home slowly. But we did make it and lived to tell the tale. Not that we were in any danger but we like the drama!
All that sand is an eternally fun playground for motorcycles to romp and roost around in and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
No, sand is not a recommended lubricant for chains, sprockets and the like, little DR350 beasts are hard to start and bigger bikes take a different riding style...electric start is still very nice! And, best friends are special.
Weeks after our ride, I miss it sorely.
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Friday, September 6, 2013
An Explanation of Gears
To get power out of the engine, a series of reduction gears are used in a variety of ratios--five are used, to be somewhat exact. They slide and mesh and intermingle with each other in a selective dance designed to allow the engine to always operate at its most efficient.
I think the ancient Chinese first used a wooden form of "gear" in a toy (something like the 27th century BC, and in the 4th century BC Aristotle described them) that evolved and refined into hardened, precision ground steel and 98% efficiency.
Honda's version is smooth but I think the previous owner was a bit of a hot rodder and jammed the transmission into gear, hard, and bent a shift fork. In its turn, the gear that fork moved did not engage its mate properly. So under power, it jumped in, then out, then in, repeatedly, until the engagement pawls rounded.
They're the shiny worn portions in the picture: ugh and double ugh.
The work never ends.
The good news is: rummaging around in my boxes of spares, I had them all! So five hours of a Saturday later, I'm back to 62mpg.
And, smiles all around.
I think the ancient Chinese first used a wooden form of "gear" in a toy (something like the 27th century BC, and in the 4th century BC Aristotle described them) that evolved and refined into hardened, precision ground steel and 98% efficiency.
Honda's version is smooth but I think the previous owner was a bit of a hot rodder and jammed the transmission into gear, hard, and bent a shift fork. In its turn, the gear that fork moved did not engage its mate properly. So under power, it jumped in, then out, then in, repeatedly, until the engagement pawls rounded.
They're the shiny worn portions in the picture: ugh and double ugh.
The work never ends.
The good news is: rummaging around in my boxes of spares, I had them all! So five hours of a Saturday later, I'm back to 62mpg.
And, smiles all around.
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Innovations and Updates
When I started the street tracker project, I had definite changes in mind, concrete changes with the hardware identified and ready to go into service. I think that calling them updates is apropos even if those updates aren't commonly seen in the street tracker, well, scene.
Take the front suspension for instance, it came from a Ducati Monster, is fully adjustable and sweet to its Italian core. The rear suspension is an innovation as it was designed and components sourced from various and sundry places. Swap meets included. Raw metal/machined/welded also included - that's innovation. The risk is it's not necessarily developed and may not work, or if it does work, may not work well.
My latest problem, the electrical system, is somewhere in-between the two. The original system was analog and horribly inefficient, heavy, reasonably reliable. A 35 year old bike is not always the best but this one is standing the test of time and finding a good one, or bad one for that matter, commands premium dollars to acquire. Even one dollar is too much for that electrical system by comparison to the new ones.
But I wanted to update the elec. system with some innovative ideas without going off the cost deep end. I was able to find an ignition/charging system that would be a "sort of" bolt on with some slight modifications, that would fit my requirements for not a lot of money, would be new, not used. Famous last words, right?
The new system bolted onto the engine but the ignition exciter, or pickup coil, wouldn't fit under the engine case cover so I separated it from the stator and moved it up to where the old points system formerly was. I made the requisite changes to the rotor to excite the exciter coil, thought I was good and moved on to the next problem, thinking I now had a superior digital system with electronic advance, etc.
Wrong move. When I turned the engine over, there wasn't any spark. All my troubleshooting so far hasn't revealed any problems anywhere so I'm stuck until that's solved. I have a plan forward to use those pieces that I think is good. But in the interests of time, I am going to change it back over to the mechanical advance system and try for something completely different that I know for positively sure works. This is where my wife would look me right in the eye and with one hand on her hip would say "pinky swear?"
Perhaps I'm making another mistake but I am determined to have this thing running by spring, determined.
I'll keep you posted on my progress and have been working diligently to get this far, whew! There has been a tremendous amount of work to get this far.
My next installment should have a fully assembled, fully functional motorcycle.
And, no swearing, pinky or otherwise, allowed.
Here's wishing all of you all the blessings the new year can bring.
Take the front suspension for instance, it came from a Ducati Monster, is fully adjustable and sweet to its Italian core. The rear suspension is an innovation as it was designed and components sourced from various and sundry places. Swap meets included. Raw metal/machined/welded also included - that's innovation. The risk is it's not necessarily developed and may not work, or if it does work, may not work well.
My latest problem, the electrical system, is somewhere in-between the two. The original system was analog and horribly inefficient, heavy, reasonably reliable. A 35 year old bike is not always the best but this one is standing the test of time and finding a good one, or bad one for that matter, commands premium dollars to acquire. Even one dollar is too much for that electrical system by comparison to the new ones.
But I wanted to update the elec. system with some innovative ideas without going off the cost deep end. I was able to find an ignition/charging system that would be a "sort of" bolt on with some slight modifications, that would fit my requirements for not a lot of money, would be new, not used. Famous last words, right?
The new system bolted onto the engine but the ignition exciter, or pickup coil, wouldn't fit under the engine case cover so I separated it from the stator and moved it up to where the old points system formerly was. I made the requisite changes to the rotor to excite the exciter coil, thought I was good and moved on to the next problem, thinking I now had a superior digital system with electronic advance, etc.
Wrong move. When I turned the engine over, there wasn't any spark. All my troubleshooting so far hasn't revealed any problems anywhere so I'm stuck until that's solved. I have a plan forward to use those pieces that I think is good. But in the interests of time, I am going to change it back over to the mechanical advance system and try for something completely different that I know for positively sure works. This is where my wife would look me right in the eye and with one hand on her hip would say "pinky swear?"
Perhaps I'm making another mistake but I am determined to have this thing running by spring, determined.
I'll keep you posted on my progress and have been working diligently to get this far, whew! There has been a tremendous amount of work to get this far.
My next installment should have a fully assembled, fully functional motorcycle.
And, no swearing, pinky or otherwise, allowed.
Here's wishing all of you all the blessings the new year can bring.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Cool...Like Me...For A First Bike
My wife will straight-off say that it's "...Like I" but that doesn't roll off the tongue the same way, right?
Many have asked my advice on the right starter bike and I've evolved over the years to assume that you have some two-wheeled experience, like riding your multi-speed bicycle for instance.
"But it's not a motorcycle", you say. I reply, "True, but you have to use the controls, while you're rolling, to make the thing go, and go faster, to stop and so on." Really, you're learning to use all your limbs in concert with balance to ride safely. The principles are similar even if the actual control form is different. For instance, on a bicycle, the right handlebar lever engages the rear brake while the same lever on a motorcycle engages the front brake, and so on.
What's evolved is the motorcycle I'd recommend.
The old thinking was that a small displacement motorcycle like a 250cc size would be perfect to learn on, it's small, light, cheap, etc. and so that a small mistake that drops the bike, won't result in something valuable being damaged.
The new thinking is to find a more upscale, larger bike, say a 600cc-ish size but is de-tuned so the engine is easy to manage and the frame and brakes are more top-of-the-line performers.
I think that many times newer riders get into trouble by the bike having handling quirks that teach uncertainty in feedback such that rider inputs, don't have the desired output (in direction, or stopping, or whatever is needed) response. Therefore, finding an affordable bike that has all the performance components is the way to go.
They are out there and available and inexpensive! A case in point is the Ducati Monster 620 or, M620.
What I like about it is wider handlebars so steering inputs are low, it has an upright riding position so comfort isn't an issue, the brakes are Brembo, Yeah Baby!, the suspension bits are tunable for rider preferences such as a harder or softer ride.....all the things that inspire confidence in a newish rider.
And, it's a Ducati so its cool factor is off the charts!
The engine is a L-twin meaning it has two cylinders but its arrangement is such that it makes its power low down in its rpm, or engine speed, range. It doesn't make a thrilling amount of power but it makes an adequate amount that is comfortably usable.
To keep up with other bikes of its size, the rider will have to work harder, ride smarter, in short, learn how its done. But the lessons learned on the Ducati will not have to be undone, relearned, to fit another bike.
That's my kind of learning!
Many have asked my advice on the right starter bike and I've evolved over the years to assume that you have some two-wheeled experience, like riding your multi-speed bicycle for instance.
"But it's not a motorcycle", you say. I reply, "True, but you have to use the controls, while you're rolling, to make the thing go, and go faster, to stop and so on." Really, you're learning to use all your limbs in concert with balance to ride safely. The principles are similar even if the actual control form is different. For instance, on a bicycle, the right handlebar lever engages the rear brake while the same lever on a motorcycle engages the front brake, and so on.
What's evolved is the motorcycle I'd recommend.
The old thinking was that a small displacement motorcycle like a 250cc size would be perfect to learn on, it's small, light, cheap, etc. and so that a small mistake that drops the bike, won't result in something valuable being damaged.
The new thinking is to find a more upscale, larger bike, say a 600cc-ish size but is de-tuned so the engine is easy to manage and the frame and brakes are more top-of-the-line performers.
I think that many times newer riders get into trouble by the bike having handling quirks that teach uncertainty in feedback such that rider inputs, don't have the desired output (in direction, or stopping, or whatever is needed) response. Therefore, finding an affordable bike that has all the performance components is the way to go.
They are out there and available and inexpensive! A case in point is the Ducati Monster 620 or, M620.
What I like about it is wider handlebars so steering inputs are low, it has an upright riding position so comfort isn't an issue, the brakes are Brembo, Yeah Baby!, the suspension bits are tunable for rider preferences such as a harder or softer ride.....all the things that inspire confidence in a newish rider.
And, it's a Ducati so its cool factor is off the charts!
The engine is a L-twin meaning it has two cylinders but its arrangement is such that it makes its power low down in its rpm, or engine speed, range. It doesn't make a thrilling amount of power but it makes an adequate amount that is comfortably usable.
To keep up with other bikes of its size, the rider will have to work harder, ride smarter, in short, learn how its done. But the lessons learned on the Ducati will not have to be undone, relearned, to fit another bike.
That's my kind of learning!
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Honesty in Mods
I've sung the praises of Honda much here on this project CL450, that their engineering has been pretty thorough and even excellent up front. Not to say the bike is perfect but its uniqueness stands today. But if we don't talk about its failings, we sure whisper about them!
Case in point is carburetion. Honda started using CV (Constant Velocity) carbs on this bike and all other manufacturers followed suit with similar designs. For the most part they work well. Here's the problem with these though, they're sensitive to air filters...which are not available any more.
If the filters are replaced with something aftermarket, the stock carbs need to be modified so the bike runs properly. Further, it only has one "float" to regulate fuel into the bowl from where the bike draws and runs, etc. That float is prone to leaks due to age, which mess with its runability something fierce.
A good thing though, is these carburetors aren't very sensitive to changes in elevation so that a setting that works in Los Angeles, will also work in Billings, and so on across the country, great for 1968.
My carburetors have all the worst problems, a faulty float, no air filters and to find replacement OEM stuff is simply too expensive, so I took them off and found my verson of an aftermarket conversion.
These carburetors happened to be from a Suzuki T500 Titan that have most of the proper jetting already there. I had to add a spacer so things clear fittings and covers, etc. but the new carbs have dual floats so that's an improvement. They also perform a bit better and for roughly 1/2 the cost of new old crappy carbs from Honda. They're a bit more sensitive to altitude but that's easily compensated, just shift to a different gear! And, they work with aftermarket filters, shown.
I have to work on the side cover mounts now and it'll be finished.
My long suffering wife rolls her eyes every time I say I have an improvement, a modification but it's the only one it needs....she knows me too well I think.
It starts on the 3rd kick after sitting for a week and gets about 52 mpg, it's an honest bike.
Not bad for 44 years old.
Case in point is carburetion. Honda started using CV (Constant Velocity) carbs on this bike and all other manufacturers followed suit with similar designs. For the most part they work well. Here's the problem with these though, they're sensitive to air filters...which are not available any more.
If the filters are replaced with something aftermarket, the stock carbs need to be modified so the bike runs properly. Further, it only has one "float" to regulate fuel into the bowl from where the bike draws and runs, etc. That float is prone to leaks due to age, which mess with its runability something fierce.
A good thing though, is these carburetors aren't very sensitive to changes in elevation so that a setting that works in Los Angeles, will also work in Billings, and so on across the country, great for 1968.
My carburetors have all the worst problems, a faulty float, no air filters and to find replacement OEM stuff is simply too expensive, so I took them off and found my verson of an aftermarket conversion.
I have to work on the side cover mounts now and it'll be finished.
My long suffering wife rolls her eyes every time I say I have an improvement, a modification but it's the only one it needs....she knows me too well I think.
It starts on the 3rd kick after sitting for a week and gets about 52 mpg, it's an honest bike.
Not bad for 44 years old.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)