Mechanical Facts and Falsities

[Huzband]

Originally Posted by pretbek

Mechanical myth:
Standing on the pegs lowers your center of mass.
.

Oh, no. Not this shit again.

[slartidbartfast]

Originally Posted by Huzband

Oh, no. Not this shit again.

I think this whole thread will be full of "this shit again". How about we agree to just post the mechanical myths, mis-facts and falsities with the understanding that, by the very nature of the thread, there will be things that others disagree with or do not understand. Try to refrain from name-calling and endless debate

BTW, I'd love to see the extract from the RC-30 manual (really.) 50C isn't that high but on all the occasions where I've seen any "warming up" advice in an operators manual it usually suggests riding/driving away immediately but avoiding high rpm/high throttle application until the engine is warmed.

[#46]

Myth: If 10W40 is recommended, then 20W50 should protect even better.
Fact: Engine manufacturers' recommendations for oil are usually the best ones.

[willis 2000]

"It only fits together one way, you can't do it wrong".

[H96669]

"In case of doubt just get a bigger hammer."

[markk53]

Originally Posted by Wuwei

It isn't a myth that there are different additives and differences between fuel brands. The base fuel picked up by the trucks may be the same, but different additive packages are put in for various brands. There is a minimum level of additives that all fuel must have, but the major brands put in more. You can read more about it here.

Ever talk to a gasoline delivery truck driver? Seems when one distributor is short of product they will get product from another distributor for their customers... Imagine that, they do what they need to do to keep in business.

[Wuwei]

"Easy assembly"

"Unbreakable"

"Fits all makes and models"

"Heavy duty"

"Professional grade"

"Cleans up with water"

"Lifetime warranty"

[markk53]

Originally Posted by Steve G.

This idea on 'not' warming up an engine should NOT be used over the wide spectrum of machines out there. There are, for example, clear warnings in the owners manual of my RC30 stating that the engine temp must cross 50degC before moving out, to prevent engine seizure. My Laverda owners manual specificly states very conservative operation for the first 5 minutes of engine operation. Both as stated earlier, have everything to do with metalic thermal expansion.

Steve

50 deg C = 122 deg F. thus the reason why it is no big deal to be moving within 30 seconds after starting. Just not thrashing things. The pistons are moving, so what is the big deal about pullling away under extremely light load. If the bike can pull away without stalling it's good to go.

[Huzband]

Loud pipes save lives.

[Wuwei]

Seems when one distributor is short of product they will get product from another distributor for their customers

Sure, the gas comes from the same places, but the additive packages make it Mobil, Shell, Texaco, etc. The off brand or cheapy places might have gas of varying quality, but from what I read the major Top Tier brands are very careful to make sure their stations are selling the right stuff. Read more about it here.

[Orygunner]

Originally Posted by RNYC

Couldn't turn well on a motorcycle tire, I see...

Kidding.

Sort of. All right, not really. Well, maybe a bit, I'm sure you're a fine rider.

Ooh. Guess I asked for that...

However, I really should clarify, it's a Vulcan 2000. A very heavy cruiser with extremely crappy cornering clearance.

Nowhere near the limits of traction while scraping floorboards with steady or slightly increasing throttle. With a car tire OR motorcycle tire.

However, even rolling on full throttle out of turns, while scraping hard, I'm still not nearing the limits of traction with my car tire. The bike just simply can't lean far enough and even when leaning hard, handles the torque of the big v-twin quite satisfactorily.

I don't think I'd want one on my Nighthawk, because I'm not that comfortable with leaning a car tire THAT far...

...Orygunner...

[fast4d]

ARCO is cheap because they don't take CC and they don't put much additives in the fuel.

I'll personally seen the valve deposits after several thousand miles using arco fuel only. switched to unocal/chevron and deposits are almost non-existent.

will arco gas kill your engine? not likely.

[Paddle007]

Ever measure the vacuum of an running engine? I bet you haven't

[Gooch]

Only sadists and masochists are going to get anything out of this thread -- but they'll have it in abundance.

[lethe]

Originally Posted by Gooch

Only sadists and masochists are going to get anything out of this thread -- but they'll have it in abundance.

but just like there being many ways to skin a cat, there are so many ways to beat dead horses

for example, you can beat one with a skinned cat and if your grip is low on the cat the center of gravity will be very low and you won't need to lay it down.

and always, AGATT, for easier clean up afterwards