Paging Oldbloke

this is a Spyball. Who knows?

 

didn't work.

didn't work.

Which button - the normal one or the recessed one?

When the ignition is turned on, the LED flashes about 5hz, but no
amount of pressing of the buttons on the fob gets the indicators to
flash, and trying the starter just gets a click.

And yes, the kill switch is set to "run".

 

But since the two are directly related, it's a bit irrelevent. Personally,
I thought that the amount of torque generated was almost entirely
dependent on the engine capacity. More cyclinders just lets you do it at
higher revs, so more power.

From my own experience, I'd say that fewer, bigger cylinders give you more
power at low revs than more, smaller cylinders. But really, it's a bit
irrelevent. What are gear boxes for, after all?

 

Turbine engines do too, I believe. (I recall somebody saying just that
about that bike with the small turbine engine from a helicopter.)

 

Not if you're following.

 

" "

I'm not nearly as bad on the 7R - you free for a ride this weekend?

 

That's a new 'Bike'. My definition of an old 'Bike' has Mark Williams
reviewing the latest Jethro Tull album.

....and adverts for "Dunstall Decibels" - send 10p in stamps for a
catalogue.

 

I never understood why people say the Guzzi is torquey bike - I have to
rev the nuts off it to get it to do anything.

I'm not helping here am I?

 

Working - unfortunately.

 

oh well.

 

Well... turbine engines give you the maximum torque at 'stall' i.e.
when the stator (the bit that connects to the drive wheels) isn't
moving in the airflow generated by the compressor part of the turbine.

Turboshaft engines like those used for helicopters will have two
separate 'fans' inside - one at the front, which sucks air into the
engine to burn (the compressor) and one at the back, which is driven
by the airflow and is connected to the gearbox/drive wheels by a shaft
(the rotor/stator.) In a turbofan engine as found on a more typical
airplane, those units are permanently connected.

Anyway, the upshot of that is that the actual amount of torque
generated is proportional to the difference in revolution speed of the
compressor and the stator. This makes turbine engines a pig to use in
cars and bikes, etc, because the only way to get any grunt off the
starting line is to hold the rear wheel brake on (locking up the
stator,) pin the throttle wide open, wait for the engine to spool up
and let the brake off when the engine is at full speed. Turbine
engines store a lot more energy than the equivalent flywheel in a
piston engine, so from idle (a leisurely 18krpm) they'll take about
5-10 seconds to come up to full power (50krpm, ish.) Then, if you
overcook it and the back wheel breaks loose, letting the throttle off
won't actually do anything for a second or two, because you've got all
that energy stored in the spinning compressor...

 

Sir would like an Oxford digital clock, as featured here:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=25643&item=7913
362301

Works for me, with a strip of Velcro (from any good haberdashers) on
the back. I paid ?9.99.

 

Wouldn't the same effect be achieved with a 99p digital watch and a bit
of velcro?

 

I did consider this, and came to the completely uninformed conclusion
that the Oxford product was more likely to be functional after 3 days
on a bike.

I saw little point in acquiring any actual objective data, as I had
already decided what I was going to do, and simply needed an
opinionated stance unsullied by rational rigor to provide the necessary
self-justification.

Perhaps one of your MZs would make a suitable test-bed for the
scientific evaluation of various bicycular chronometers?

HTH

 

sweller says...

Cheap watches aren't waterproof. Bike clocks are, at least mine is.
Oxford clocks look a bit pikey and are pricey, I have a HG one that cost
a fiver with the casing sprayed matt black.

 

Alright, get the £2.99 one - waterproof to 10m.

 

sweller says...

Still pikey looking.

 

Oh and something costing £9.99 with the word 'Oxford' on isn't?

If you need to know the time that fucking badly buy a BMW.

 

sweller says...

I didn't buy the Oxford one, I bought the 5 quid Gericke one because the
readout is bigger and it was half the price. I couldn't read the Oxford
one that came with a bike I bought when on the move. It broke fairly
quickly too. I don't need to know the time when I'm on my bike now, but
when I was commuting 50 miles to work a clock came in handy.

 

It was somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the

That's not much good if you want to go past the corner shop.

--

Dave

GS 850 x2 / SE 6a
SbS#6 DIAABTCOD#16 APOSTLE#6 FUB#3
FUB KotL OSOS#12? UKRMMA#19 COSOC#10