What parts should be created or improved? Need ideas for design project!

Wow. This thread has evolved from DR bbq racks to aftermarket final drive systems and novel side/centerstand ideas.


May need to stick with this one.

The recapturing of heat from the engine is probably too complex of an issue...if it was a team project then that would be a possibility but I have to do this by myself.

I don't get any funding from the school...as long as it is my idea and my work and I'm not working under a professor then it is my intellectual property.

Another thing I have thought about is reducing lift forces...a lot of manufacturers concentrate on reducing drag but reducing lift could significantly increase the effective area of the front wheel that is in contact with the ground. This would provide better traction at high speeds...any input on that idea?

I see why the emissions control isn't appealing...I am interested in environmental engineering (possibly doing a grad program for that) so that is how I got that idea but I don't think motorcycles and the green movement cross paths very often =p

Also, I like the centerstand/kickstand idea. I am going to maybe sketch some stuff out for that...if I get anything good I'll post a sketch.

A camp chair
With four legs that packs nearly as small as a alight monarch but is a more normal height and configuration.
Think Kermit but a quarter of the weight and half the packed size.

An adjustable windshield mount that doesn't suck.

A bike cover with an integrated fan that keeps it dry when parked outside in areas with high humidity.

OK, how about two side stands and change the angle. Each has a beefy foot for soft ground and the foot is pivoted so it can assume two different angles to the stand. Make the pivot sloppy to avoid problems in sand.

Stands pivot to the rear and are fairly long.

Each has a spring that goes over center, holding the stand both up and making it flip down when you kick it. Standard stuff.

The stands have a right angle on the pivot end and the pivot tube is angled so they splay outwards when used as side stands.

However the pivots are on a rotating plate that has two positions. Locks with a pin. In one position the legs splay outward, in the other they drop strait down (in a plane parallel to the wheels).


Side stand use on either side is as usual.

For center stand you deploy one side stand, get off and pivot the plate on the other side and flip the stand to the ground. Lock the plate. The spring is now pulling the stand down.

Then go to the side on the side stand, Tip the bike up vertical, fold the leg, pull that pin, pivot the plate and flip the stand down, replace pin.

Then with a foot on the near side pick the bike up onto the near center stand leg. Rock the bike towards you so the spring on the far side flips that leg into position. Then rock the bike onto both legs. Legs will be angled forwards and are over center so they don't fold.

If the legs have a short cross tube welded on just above the foot, you can fit a cross tube/bar that sticks out both sides to make it rock solid. Or you could fit the tube when you drop the legs (but they may be landing in back of the rear tire.

Now why didn't I think of that?

Old bikes -Vincent for one - had two side stands.

They didn't connect to form a center stand, but you could put them both down, then lower a rear stand IIRC, and lift the bike off the ground.

I may just have to make up a right hand side stand for my bike, and make up a custom bracket for it. Then it could lean either way, at least.

Hmmmmmmm.

I think there is a way to do it with less steps...like having kickstands on both sides that are pretty much how they usually are. Then there could be a bracket that when pushed down it pulls the side stands together. So you would put one side stand down, get off the bike, lean the bike upright and push a small pedal/extrusion that would pull the other side stand down and would latch onto both side stands in order to create a sturdy center stand.

There would just need to be some mechanism that when you rocked the bike back or forward onto the center stand it would extend more to become taller.

This is turning out to be a fun brainstorming session along a very similar line of thought to the above, have normal sidestands each side but these are on either end of an shaft which is fixed in sidestand mode. Then what is needed is a simple way to lock the sidestand pivots & unlock the shaft, ideally with just one knob or lever doing everything from one side. Then both the stand legs would swing down vertically. The pivoting feet would be a key part of making this work nicely too

A challenge would be making a nice simple lock/unlock mechanism that can ideally be operated with a booted foot, is compact & is damage & dirt resistant given its position under the bike. Something going through the centre of the shaft would be my first thought.

For extra points make it so when in centrestand mode so it can be switched over to lift the front wheel off the ground rather than the back, have the legs extend further forward somehow.

Cheers
Clint

From a marketing standpoint a two speed tear hub would be easier to make available as a bolt on cross platform product than any Venezuelans. Even of you come up with a cool innovative stand idea that only needs a mount system specific to each bike out will still involve an engineered solution fit each bike with specific fabricated parts. A two speed hub might only need different shims put spacers to be adapted to each bike.

Also with a stand, chair, put track you already have other products on the market and even of your design of superior the the price point will some what be set by the existing products. A product that doesn't exist in the market place won't have that problem.

Don't get me wing I like a good center stand or a well designed rack, my comments are meant as a possible easy for you to stand out from the crowd. Good luck what ever direction you go in.

The way to play that would be to use the sidestands themselves as the lock. So you have a pivoting shaft running in one set of bushings. On each end there is a bushing for the side stand at an angle that splays the side stands. When the side stands are up they are parallel to the frame and if you pivot the shaft they descend vertically. As each side stand begins to move to side stand position, it locks to the shaft. because the other side stand remains unlocked you don't notice. But deploy one a small amount (perhaps have a detent) and then the other the same amount, they are both locked to the shaft and then can only move vertically on the shaft pivots.