Day 2—Grace
Reading for next week:
Due Tuesday: ZAMM chapters 3, 4, and 5
Due Thursday: ZAMM chapters 6, 7, and 8
Assignments:
Scribes:
- Grace
- Emily
- Noelle
- Eric
- Brendan
- Charlie
- Alex K
- Hannah
- David
- Jake
- Sarah
Quartermasters:
- Julianne
- Ricky
Photographers:
- Jordan (weeks 1-4)
- Connor
- Alex D
Groups:
Bottom end: Connor, Grace
Clutch and transmission: Alex K, David
Top end: Charlie, Julianne
Fork: Brendan, Jake
Electrical: Ricky, Sarah
Cosmetics: Emily, Jordan
Frame: Alex D, Noelle
Wheels: Eric, Hannah
ZAMM Chapter 1: (Alex K as discussion leader)
Motorcycle terms:
- John chose to buy a BMW for its durability (14)
- “Choke”: gets gas into the chamber; related to the carburetor; use only in the winter
- “Flooding”: When you use the choke in the summer, you “flood” the engine with gas, causing the plugs to get wet so there can’t be a spark
- How to fix this? Take the plugs out so the gas evaporates
- Hint: if you smell gas, there is gas in the chamber
- “Plugs”: spark plugs, they are burnt out if they can’t produce a spark
- If burnt out, re-gap the plug to make the gap the right size
- “Points”: electrical contacts that get opened and control the spark, if the gap is corroded the spark is lost
- “Dead reckoning”: navigating with a compass and stopwatch rather than a map
Plot content:
- Setting: on a bike trip heading West, with son Chris (roughly age 13) and friends Sylvia and John
- Disagreement with John over principles of learning to repair own motorcycle
- Technology vs. anti-technology, classical (scientific) vs. romantic (artistic) theme
- “Chautauqua”: an old-fashioned form of radio talk show that was replaced by faster-paced radio and TV; similar to comparison between narrator and John
- “What is best?” as a theme is introduced
ZAMM Chapter 2:
Motorcycle terms:
- “Seizure”: when the cylinder overheats, expands, and melts to the sides of the piston wall in air-cooled engines
- How to fix this? Let it cool off, open up and clear the bearing
- “Mechanic breaking cooling fins”
- “Tappet”: the part of the push rod that rides on the cam, moves push rods; having proper clearance is important to properly open and close valves
- “Overhead-cam chain tensioner bolt”: *our bike is gear driven by cam, not chain* to keep the chain taut so it doesn’t get too loose and skip
- A 25-cent pin stopped oil from reaching the head
- Gas tank:
- Narrator checked the gas tank incorrectly and didn’t use the reserve tank
- DO NOT get water in the gas tank because you won’t know how much gas you have and because it contaminates the fuel and reacts badly with ethanol
- “Stopcock”: an on/off valve to drain the tank
Plot content:
- Story with Chris in the storm, bike breaks down, didn’t check gas tank, gave up, inspired him to learn more about bikes
- Storm coming
- John and Sylvia interactions: lack of do-it-yourself attitude is their problem
- Story with bad mechanics: attitude, must care about your work as a lifestyle, not just as a job (mechanics worked sloppily, listened to the radio, clearly did not care at all)
Work in the shop:
Finished safety survey
Split into groups to continue disassembly and labelling parts; took apart the engine, wheels