Agenda
Discuss Chapter 1 and 2 from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Assign motorcycle tasks
Begin disassembling
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Chapter 1 (Motorcycle references and Storyline)
- engine flooding: excess of fuel in the engine; you smell gas when the engine floods because the engine can’t burn all the raw gas; remove plugs to quickly dry out engine, or just let it sit
- choke: a valve in the carburetor of a gasoline engine that is used to reduce the amount of air in the fuel mixture when the engine is started; hot engine doesn’t need choke
- spark plug: a device for delivering electric current from an ignition system to the combustion chamber of a spark-ignition engine to ignite the compressed fuel/air mixture by an electric spark
- points: a switch that when opened, ignites the spark plug; can get greasy (pitted) and then can’t connect
- ignition coil: a transformer that triggers the spark plug
- tuning: to make high performance; to put into spec
- adjusting: correcting clearances (points, spark plugs, tappets)
Do we control technology, or does technology control us? Does knowledge of technology give us control?
Chapter 2
- stopcock: valve on gas tank; gas should come out when opened — otherwise tank is empty
- carburetor: consists of a bowl that contains a quantity of fuel and a tube that allows air and fuel into the engine through intake valve (when air is blown over the top of the tube)
- piston: transfers force from expanding gas in the cylinder to the crankshaft
- seizure: can be caused by overheating; pistons expand from too much heat, become too big for the walls of the cylinders, and lock the engine and rear wheel
- tappets (cam follower): adjusted to allow intake and exhaust valves to close fully
Do we rush? If so, why? What is the distinction between efficiency and efficacy?
The Shop
- Motorcycle tasks assigned (bottom end, clutch, electrical, fasteners, fork, frame, top end, wheels)
- Parts of bottom end, fork, frame, top end, and wheels disassembled
Reading Assignment