Showing posts with label a. Show all posts
Showing posts with label a. Show all posts

Monday, May 20, 2013

Muffler for a big motor Smooth Talking from Yoshimura

Yoshimura of Japans accessories manufacturer launched a new exhaust for motorcycles. Her voice was smooth, but able to boost performance. Disposal system is compliant with pollution and noise levels specified United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and available for selection big bike like the Suzuki GSX-R600, 2011 BMW R 1200 GS (2010-2011) and Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R.

Yoshimura offers several material options, ie, ranging from stainless steel, titanium and carbon fiber. All models are compatible according to the model created a motorcycle, so stay "plug and play" without special modification.

Like the R-77 model for Suzuki GSX R600 and Kawasaki ZX-10R is offered starting price of 459 to 629 U.S. dollars (Rp3, million-5, 3 million). while the RS-3 for the BMW R 1200GS priced 389-509 dollars (Rp3, 3 million-4, 3 million).
Source:
autoevolution

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Stoner Pedrosa Lorenzo a serious threat

Casey Stoner admitted that his team mate at Repsol Honda, Dani Pedrosa and Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo, became a serious threat in the hunt for the MotoGP World Championship 2011. Spanish duo performance in three series this season premiere a reference Stoner.
Indeed, Pedrosa and Lorenzo have shown their potential since the start of the season. Although in the series opener in Qatar, they lost from Stoner, in the next two series, in Jerez and Estoril, Lorenzo and Pedrosa can not be matched by Stoner. Thats because when they compete (Lorenzo and Pedrosa at Jerez champion champion at Estoril), even Stoner slumped with a wide gap.

Currently mastering the Spanish duo standings. Lorenzo is still on top with a total of 65 points, followed by Pedrosa with four differences. While Stoner was third on 41 points achievement.

Seeing that there is competition, Stoner admitted that Lorenzo and Pedrosa became champion favorite. However, the 2007 world champion, said that it is difficult to predict who will become the strongest competitor.

Stoner, who finished third in the Portuguese Grand Prix last weekend, saying, "You can not say which one is more dangerous than others. Jorge is a world champion and world champion whoever the previous year clearly has a target on him and he is leading standings. "

"On paper you could say that he is the strongest, but Dani could race through some barriers and have a great race. They are both very strong so you can not say that one is more powerful than others at this time."
Source: MCN (http://otomotif.kompas.com)

Thursday, May 16, 2013

TRITON A Cult Classic Cafe Racer

Of all the legendary hybrid bikes, Norwin, Tribsa and Triton probably are the best known merged bikes. Hybrid bikes, back in the 60s meant best of both worlds. A superior frame to suit the ride and do the corners complimented by an excellent power driven machine.
These are motorcycles of the highest order. These are not Look-at-me or Touch-me-not types, these are solely to be driven hard, very hard.
The TRITON as the name suggest is a hybrid of TRIumph & NorTON. The Norton frame is of course hallowed, doing its wonder in the NORVIN too and the Triumph is known for its engines allround capabilities. The chasis is from the Norton Featherbed and the engine usually comes from the Triumph T110 or the twin carb T120.
Lets get to the basics first, there are no two similar Tritons because all were customized. So even looks wise, there is bound to be differences between two tritons. The specifications mentioned are in general.
Looks wise, there is still no Cafe Racer which can beat the Triton. The 650cc & 750cc (usually these were the engines used) air cooled twin engine naked cafe racer weighs around 180kg and belts up roughly 45 bhp and above according to the engine capacity and tuning timings, which can reach speeds in excess of 170 kmph. Of course you will need to kick start to hear the engine warming up and of course the exhaust sound is legendary. The wheelbase of the featherbed is rather long, but it gels perfectly with the beautiful Triumph engine and the aluminum tank and those beautiful exhausts. Drum brakes does the duty on both the wheels, all in all, its an art!
The wheelbase helps in the incredible stability that the Featherbed offers, the legendary engine with leap forward no matter how low your rpm meter reads, its fast, itslethal, just the Perfect way motorcycles are meant to be! But of course you will be recieving a fair ammount of vibrations anytime the needle shoots north of 120 kmph. But then, you do expect it and thats the *feel* of a Cafe Racer. Perfect! It will attract attention with the loud exhausts yelling here I am!. This motorcycle is really made for an enthusiast.
The Triumph twin-cylinder engines besides giving good performance and reliability, could be easily tuned for greater power by the addition of high-profile camshafts, high compression pistons, twin carburettors or fuel injectors which were amongst the more common power contributing modifications. There was also a Weslake 8 valve head available for the Triumph.
Among the three names of Norton, Triumph and BSA, the Triumph engine was the most dependable. For the Norton, over 7000 rpm the pistons were incapable of handling the heatand vivrations, the BSA 650 had a bronze bush main bearing on the right hand side, doubling as the crank oil feed, with a lack of effective crankshaft end play control, that all had difficulty staying together when thrashed, while the Triumph vertical twin used a ball on the timing side, and a roller on the other, with the oil feeding through a separate bronze bush in the outer right hand engine side cover. It gave the Triumph the edge over the other two. There was also the Quaife five speed.
While many motorcycle dealers made equipment for Triton conversions like readymade kits, some would sell complete built up Tritons. The most important part required are the engine mounting plates and several different designs exist that can affect the engine placement and therefore the handling. The lower the engine is mounted the better the handling achieved from the Norton frame. Probably no two Tritons are the same. It was basically of course the same but with add ons, tunings and timings, the end result would be - a beast produced but with different configurations, because there was no official Triton, they were all customized according to the rider. Of course there has to be similarities, I mean, its a Cafe Racer, right? So clip ons had to come, a stripped engine had to come, rear-sets had to come, must be a single seat and stuff like that. More than a classic, it was acult motorcycle. Not a classic because as mentioned, there was no official Triton, but the combination proved so deadly, that everyone was rushing to have his own Triton. But along with fame, came the down bits too. People were so obsessed with the beauty, that some enthusiasts would just beautify their Tritons and it would be more for show than for go. People are still building their own Tritons from scrap. You can find a Featherbed from a dealer, the T120 is still widely available in the e-bay kind of markets, so all you need is the desire. There are many clubs around the world who will help you build your Triton and you can start by asking the Triton Owners Club where you can also learn from other owners experience. Then there is Dave Degens Dresda and Unity Equipe, who also specializes in Tritons. FYI, British builder Dave Degens won the Barcelona 24-hour race in 1965 and 1970 on bikes he had constructed himself. The Bike Shed has a beautiful 1955 Triton featured. Some good reads can be found here and here.
Although later, Tritons started becoming a Show Bike, the original idea behind the Triton was simple. A powerful Triumph engine into a Norton "Featherbed" frame and you had a fast, affordable and reliable bike, with looks to kill and die for. The general triton would have the frame, gearbox, clutch, suspension and brakes fron the Norton. A set of specialized alloy engine plates enabled the Triumph engine to mate with the Norton frame. The tank would usually come from a Manx Norton and so would the seat. Hand made clip-on handlebars, chromed headlamp and rear-set footrests to complete the Cafe Racer motto along with those swept-back beautiful exhaust pipes which were by far from what they were also supposed to do -reducing noise, that is. The tank could be chromed or single coloured as featured in the bikes here. So the end result could vary from a basic to exotic. Some of the Tritons easily clocked a genuine 210 kmph. To take home the main points, although the Tritons differed from each other, the original concept of tritons were machines which were genuine, fast, relaible racer having the best frame and engine the market had to offer during the period. What more can a bike demand to become a Cult Classic?

The A C and Fuel Management Dilemma Part I









I settled on a new air cleaner after much of internal debate - Joker Machine (http://www.jokermachine.com/itemstreet2004.asp?ItemID=615&CategoryID=6&Placeholder=0). Not really an original thought and seems to be pretty standard issue on Sportsters, but its well-made, small and I like the anodized silver finish. If I hate it after I put it on there, then you might see it on eBay next week.









The bigger problem was deciding what to do about fuel management. I decided not to go the route of the Power Commander, FuelPak etc. because I didnt want to have to have another thing installed on the bike - more wires to hide, box to hide, etc. That pretty much left the HD tuner boxes that reprogram the ECM. I bought the HD Street Performance Tuner (http://www.harley-davidson.com/gma/gma_product.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524448775874&default=none). This thing just provides the dealer a way to download new maps from the MoCo. Apparently MoCo is doing away with the Stage 1 ECM map downloads with all new models, and now the only way to do that is with this thing. It doesnt allow me (or a third party tuner) to make any adjustments.





What I thought I was buying was the HD Super Tuner, which does allow the end user to make adjustments.



Of course I couldnt return mine because I opened the box and these things are not returnable if the box has been tampered with. These modules are married to the machine - once they have been linked to a certain bike, they cannot be transferred. So be wary if buying either of these on eBay.



Since I dont plan on doing anything to the motor, Im sure itll run "good enough" with whatever factory map for higher air flow and exhaust I get from the MoCo. I just need it to run a little less hot and lean is all. Im going to dyno it after the reprogram so Ill post the results when I get them...




UPDATE 8/12/2011: So the Street Performance Tuner is crap, and that is basically a direct quote from the tuner whose shop I am sitting in now. Classics such as, "eBay it," and "return this thing," were some other comments I received from the staff at Battley Cycles. Do yourself a favor and avoid buying this. If you are compelled to buy something from the MoCo, then get the Race Tuner. But really the best thing to do is buy whatever the person tuning your bike likes to work with. Bottom line.


Tuesday, May 14, 2013

New Rear Wheel with a Cush Drive Rear Hub


The new hub. Make sure the rubber blocks go on as pictured and grease up.
New hub, new rim.

As the Berg will be doing a fair amount of road duty in its lifetime, I thought it might be best for long-term durability to fit a cush-drive rear hub. Though there is a dampened clutch basket, and Im told a solidly built transmission that can take the hit, theres no denying that this torque-monster deserves a little cushion for the inevitable drive-line shock when the power is applied to the unforgiving macadam. 

There are several ways to go about it, but the simplest method it seemed was to get this well-made hub laced to an Excel rim from Rad Mfg. It is not cheap, but it does feel well made, and the fit and finish are top-notch. 

A couple words of instruction from the manufacturer - grease the rubber cushions, and make sure you put them on correctly. There is at least one person who screwed that up and killed the hub and cushions, and probably the rest of the wheel in the process. And the wheel will be snug, really snug, like it wont fit back in the swingarm. But it does.

The ride seems maybe a little smoother, and I feel better about laying on the throttle on the pavement.