Reading for March 10, 2015: Article in email to be sent by Professor Littman describing combustion.
What happened in lab last class?
1) Marked the screw locations on one of the gaskets and prepared to use a CAD program to create a replacement.
2) Cleaned out the fork tubes (stanchions).
3) Cleaned the transmission parts.
4) Sandblasted the oil tank, frame, and fender.
5) Checked how round the flywheel was by putting it on the lathe and using the dial indicator. The two sides were not aligned and so Glen realigned the flywheel.
6) Rebuilt the carb.
7) Put an insert to fix a broken tap in the engine bock.
8) Replaced the light in the headlight.
9) Removed brake shoes and removed all the grease from the brakes, which are now ready to be sandblasted.
10) Assembled the points system.
Class Demonstration:
Transformer has a ratio of 100:1. Primary inductance=4.4m(H) Turns Ratio: x100 (Steps the voltage up by factor of 100).
Ohm’s Law V=I*R
When the points disengage and open there is a spike of current, which creates a spark.
In the second demo: An iron core creates a much stronger magnetic field, which creates a higher voltage.
Key Ideas: Allows you to convert mechanical work to electricity through magnetism. A moving magnet and a coil produce a voltage. If you put a current in a coil it can turn an armature, which is an electric motor.
Why do we like motorcycles as engineers?
Motorcycles are a structure (frame), a machine (gears/engine), a network (electrical sparking system), and a process (combustion).
Class Discussion:
Ch4 Part 2
Defines and describes the term “idiot.” This creates an interesting dilemma, how is one classified as an idiot? The class comes to a conclusion that an idiot is someone who is self absorbed. For example, in Zen, the mechanics were too absorbed with themselves and the radio rather than applying the necessary attention to the motorcycle.
Ch 5 Part 1
The author leaves his job in a think tank, which he strongly dislikes. He opens up a motorcycle shop with his friend. This entire idea stems from a passion, which was found while repairing a carb on his 1975 Cb 360. He had repaired the carb but found that soon after, he had disassembled and reassembled the entire motorcycle.
Café racer- a style of motorcycle made popular in the 1970s, a more racing style bike, which was only meant to “race” between bars.
Ch5 Part 2
Starts with the author talking to a prospective customer and telling him that he should get rid of his bike, the owner does not listen and the author now spends hours trying to fix the bike. He starts with the valves and then moves to the cams and rockers. This brings him to his real dilemma on how to charge his clients. Does he charge for time on problems that he created? The author tries to cope with the equilibrium of charging his customers but also taking his time and doing exceptional work. He finally finds the problem with the bike and it is with an oil seal. He eventually has to disassemble a large portion of the bike to replace this seal. He believes he is spending too much time on the bike, but he still strives to do good work.
M.B.