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Mechanical Art in Motion (Hope is a plan)

I am currently in the dreaming phase of taking my motorcycle art piece on a journey. My ultimate journey is to ride the Alaska Highway, but that would be a big step from where I'm at right now, experience-wise. So, step one will be to take a trip from the Midwest to Pikes Peak, CO. The motorcycle is upgrades with saddle bags already (I'll include some pictures soon), but they will not be able to store what I plan to bring on my 5 day journey from Omaha, NE to Pikes Peak, CO just outside of Colorado Springs, CO and back. That's why I am dreaming of motorcycle luggage, waterproof of course. We have to keep in mind that the final destination will be Alaska one day. I am also dreaming of ultra light camping gear (Tent, sleeping bag, sleeping pad), solar powered phone chargers and light weight camping stoves (JetBoil makes the perfect stove for my purposes). I'm planning on eating lunch on the road and dinner at my campsite with the help of a JetBoil stove and freeze dried dinners (lightweight and packable). Motorcycle camping on a minimalist scale is my goal, within reason. Of course I can't leave home without my iPhone, hence the Solar Powered USB charger. I have a weight limit of 11lbs per saddlebag, so I will be purchasing three Kriega USA waterproof bags to strap to the back seat. A Kriega US 20L for the back seat, and two US 10L bags (for the saddle bags), a Mountainsmith "lumbar pack" for any hiking I want to do (attached to the back on my sissy bar (8L), and one Triumph Tank Bag (12-20L). The only weight limit on the back seat and Tank Bag is the GVWR - (my weight + 22lbs (for saddle bags)). So that will give me a total of 60-68L total of storage for the following: Ultra light Tent Sleeping Bag Sleeping Pad Solar Charger iPhone Clothes for 5+1 days Extra riding gloves Waterproof riding pants Waterproof jacket liner Freeze dried Dinners for 5 days Breakfast for 5 days or I may stop each morning for a real breakfast in town (where ever that might be) Bear bag with rope to hang bag (Camping near Pikes Peak is Black Bear country) Extra tubes for front and rear tires (I may just pay for AAA to save space) Small air compressor (I may just pay for AAA to save space) Disk lock Motorcycle cover and alarm Chain lube 1 Quart Mobil 1 Motorcycle Oil 1 Camelbak Backpack with bladder (I'll be wearing while I ride) Tools for bike (Fit on the outside of my Mechanics Saddle Bags (Willie and Max) I'll post pictures when items on the packing list come in, or when my dreams get bigger. Enjoy the ride.

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MV AGUSTA... Self proclaimed mechanical art.

So, I finished watching an episode of "Twist the Throttle" on HD Theater about the MV Agusta motorcycle brand. It seemed like the type of motorcycle that I should talk about right here. It was designed not to make money, but more as works of mechanical art that you ride. And they are works of art. So stay tuned for a run down of the MV Agusta F4 and Brutale in the near future.

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My promised photos of the sissy bar install and other interesting things about my motorcycle. Enjoy.

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Now that's a fun shot.

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This is a beautiful specimen of 1930's motorcycle design. Compact and sleek, and utilitarian at the same time.

It came with a 2 cylinder (horizontally opposed just like the modern Bimmers) 735cc engine. It had a shaft drive which is impressive for a bike from 1930. The spring seat is my favorite artful touch. This bike was very different from the modern motorcycles, if you notice the gas tank is mounted inside the frame. So the frame is exposed. There isn't a bike on the market today that looks like this. The tank normally stradles a single tubular frame like a saddle on a horse. Now one feature this motorcycle does not offer is a rear suspension. So, this bike would be a rough ride on anything but the smoothest roads. And in 1930, 735cc would be more than enough power to get you from point A to B.

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And now for some manual labor...

Since my last post I've been battling the DMV and the Triumph dealer I bought my motorcycle from in order to get my registration and title squared away. I've also decided 100% that I will be conducting all maintenance on my 2010 Triumph Bonneville T100. To eliminate the possibility of the dealer's mechanics forgetting to install a vital or even non-vital component, I will be doing all the maintenance with the help of a Navy sponsored auto shop on base that will have all the tools required to correctly to most of the upkeep.

Last Friday afternoon I had the idea to install a sissy bar (a padded seat back for the passenger on a motorcycle) that the dealer failed to install before the delivered the bike. I had taken the sissy bar home and it had been sitting in the box for over a month. I decided I would tackle it and if I failed then I would just learn from my mistakes. Well, no failure was required and I learned a lot and the bar is installed. I'll post pictures soon.

To install the bar I had to remove the seat which only required me to loosen two bolts at the back end of the seat. That was easy enough. After removing the seat I noticed that there was a rubber strap that was resting in one of the voids under seat not attached to anything. Turns out this strap is meant to hold down the battery (also under the seat) and ensure it doesn't bounce around which can damage a battery if the vibration is too violent. Luckily my trips so far have been relatively short and on paved roads. So I reattached the strap, and thought to myself that this was just another thing the dealer neglected. And that's why I've taken on this challenge. But I digress...

...I removed the rear fender and a wiring harness and installed the base of the sissy bar to the rear part of the frame. Why do they use allen bolts and Torx bolts?Because this installation required both types of wrenches. Torx won't round like allen bolts will, I found that out. The hard way. luckily I was close enough with the torque specification before I rounded to allen bolt and it shouldn't therefore matter. And yes I did use a metric allen wrench and not english. 

A couple quick allen bolts and the back pillow of the sissy bar was installed. I reinstalled the seat and my wife and I tried out the new bar. Tested SAT. 

Not only is it functional, but it works well with the existing lines of the bike and isn't an eyesore, like most sissy bars. 

Now, I'm just waiting for some cooler weather (somewhere below 100 degress) and my motorcycle registration so I can ride legally with my amazing wife.

She's amazing, because she was the one who brought the Torx wrenches over and helped me install the sissy bar and cut the installation time in half. We were done in 45 minutes. 

This install was done in my "garage" aka my storage unit, but the upcoming oil change and chain lubing and mirror replacement will occur in that auto shop I mentioned. Stay tuned for more manual labor and more mechanical art.

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Since my last time out

I was able to make it out on Saturday for a 50 mile trip around Southeastern CT starting here in Groton. It was a little warm, but overall a lot of fun. There are a lot of twisty and hilly roads and the Triumph held up well. Some things I noticed about my mechanical piece of art: The seat, as classic as it looks is kind of hard on the butt but I finally broke it in, I think. The seating position is much more aggressive than my former Harley Davidson Dyna Superglide FXDI, and the handling is lighter. Of course that's easy when the Triumph weighs 170 lbs less. The 495 lbs wet weight fits me a lot better since I'm only 160 lbs wet as well. The handling in the corners are more real. What does that mean? I can feel the road and the grip of the tires, or lack thereof. I feel the suspension buckle down on the corners and the tires really grip the road, it's a fun feeling. It's a refreshing feeling coming from the lumbering suspension and weight of the Harley. The power to weight ratio is sufficient for me, and I would say equivalent to the Dyna which had a 1450cc engine, which is almost twice the size of the Triumph's 865cc. The braking is solid, precise and confidence inspiring. The shifting is precise and the lighter weight makes the transition between gears a little rough since the transmission doesn't have as much bike to move and I'm used to the larger lumbering Hog. Now, this is just something I have to get used to. In some cases the handling and shifting are less forgiving because it's such a light bike and the little moves translate into more bike movement. Do I still love it? Yes, and yes. My next post will focus on some of the art of engine design. The Triumph has a parallel twin with a 360 degree firing order. A very cool look and beautiful design. Until next time.

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Where my partiality lies

I am partial to any Chevrolet Corvette from any year. The Corvette has gone through 6 changes since the 1950s when the C1 body style was introduced. My favorite body styles were the C1, C2, C3, C5, and C6. As you may have noticed the mid to late 1980s are left off my list. I wouldn't turn away a car from this era if it were a gift, but my money wouldn't go to this era of Vette. 

In the early and mid 1950s these cars were not the insanely fast machines they are today, but rather cruising cars for Sunday drives in the country. They came with a 265 cu in engine originally and in the mid 1950s upgraded the engine to a 283 cu in engine which was powerful enough, but by no means a race car. By 1962, the end of the C1 era, the Corvette was upgraded to a 327 cu in 5.4L small block that put out 340 HP. Now this car was fast, and it only came as a convertible. Talk about a beautiful car to cruise around in on a lazy Sunday afternoon. 

The C2 era started in 1963 and ended in 1967 and these were the years of the Corvette Sting Ray. Flip up headlights and split rear window were the obvious design clues for this era. Though the C2 era is a favorite it cannot compare with the C3 era and the "Coke bottle" style vette, which is my absolute favorite classic style.

1968-1982, the C3 Corvette changed very little over these 14 years. The unfortunate reality when ogling over these cars for me is that from 1971-1974/75 any classic car has the awkward problem of having to have dealt with stricter federal pollution laws and the introduction of unleaded gasoline. During these years the Corvette suffered from a tragic drop in HP due to pollution mitigating devices required on these cars, such as the catalytic converter introduced in 1975 and other restrictions based on reducing pollution. Sounds like a problem we have today as well, but that's a post for another time. The peak horsepower for the biggest engine in 1982 (L82) was just over 200 HP.

The mid to late 1980s...well they happened.

Then there was the C5 and C6 body styles. The biggest complaint that the Corvette designers have received about the corvette since the C3 design, is that the interiors have not changed. Even the nearly $100K, 2011 Corvette Z06 with every option, has an interior that leaves much to be desired and looks very similar to the interior of the C4 model years. Would I still buy one. Of course, it's the engineering under the hood and the style of the body that really resonate with me. The body style to me hasn't changed much between the C5 and C6, except now the C6 does not have flip up headlights, as Corvette reverted back to the 1950s, which was the last time the Vette had exposed headlights. The lines of the C6 models harken back to the C3 Coke bottle style, of course with a modern precision in the edges and lines. That's probably why the C6 is my favorite modern sport cars. There's just something about a modern classic. It's all the style of the C3 without all the horsepower robbing pollution controls, or at least now they figured out how to design around them.  

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"The truth, of course, is that creativity is a by-product of mastery of the sort that is cultivated through long practice. It seems to be built up through submission (think a musician practicing scales, or Einstein learning tensor algebra)."

Shop Class As Soulcraft - An inquiry into the value of work

By Matthew B. Crawford

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"In the real world problems do not present themselves unambiguously. Piston slap may indeed sound like loose tappets, so to be a good mechanic you have to be constantly attentive to the possibility that you may be mistaken"

Shop Class As Soulcraft - An inquiry into the value of work

By Matthew B. Crawford

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I'd like to start this post off with the fact that my wife and I own a 2007 MINI Cooper S in Lightning Blue with White racing stripes, white roof and mirrors. This was my gift to her last summer (2009).

So what's the difference between these two cars, except a couple cubic feet? For those who don't know MINI is owned and supplied by BMW for a lot of the engine components on the MINI Cooper. But to answer the question, not much when it comes to under the hood engine-wise. Both cars have 4 cylinder engines that put out around 170 HP. The MINI is by far the more classic of the two. With it's modern classic look it's hard to resist. The 1 series, though, is probably a little roomier and cushier than the classic MINI. I would like to applaud BMW for making a 1 series and letting the 3 series grow in size along with it's popularity in the BMW lineup. The 1 series is the perfect size car for 2, much like the MINI. So, really what is the standout difference? It's the 7 speed double clutch transmission available on the inline 6 cylinder BMW 135i that gives it that wow factor. Double clutch transmissions are a work of art if you ask me. Now that is mechanical art in motion. 

I first heard about the double clutch technology when I watched a documentary on HD theater about the Bugatti Veyron and I was blown away. It's fun to think of the creativity needed in the engineering world to come up with such a simple yet powerful design. 

 The BMW website explains it this way:

"The double-clutch switches between the two separate drivetrains, one for the even gears and one for the odd gears. This means that if you accelerate in third gear for example, the fourth gear is already engaged. This produces extremely fast shift times with the resulting acceleration figures approaching sports car level."

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2010 Triumph Bonneville T100. 1960 Anniversary Edition #154 of 650 made. Art on two wheels. I'll let you know what I think about my rolling work of art as I ride it on the weekends to explore New England this summer. And just a reminder that the art is not only in the lines and colors, but also in the mechanical design. More to follow after my next ride.

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(2010 Triumph Bonneville T100 - 1960 Anniversary Edition)

This was a gift from my wife (Thank you sweetheart) that I really love. A recreation of the classic 1960 Triumph Bonneville. Why is modern art reaching back 50 years? I'm not complaining, but it's a good question to ponder.

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My Automotive Art

I have created this blog to criticize and praise the art of automotive design from the dawn of automotive travel to the future of who knows what's to come. My favorite era for automotive art is the 1950s and 1960s. Automobiles from this era are pieces of art. All you need to do is see how much people will pay for certain "classics" at auctions and you'll agree. This isn't to say that the art of automobile and motorcycle design is dead or did not exist before or after this time. I'm just partial. We all know it's still alive and well, though it may cost an arm and a leg to get your hands on one of these modern pieces of art.

I will explore the highlights and lowlights of this genre, and there are a lot of both. And, since I am an engineer, my perspective will include anything and everything especially under the hood. The art isn't always in the sleek lines, but also in the ingenious design of a transmission or a headlight. Art is all around us, you just have to find what resonates with you. 

Enjoy!