The automobile industry, especially the two wheeler segment will never change. Typical indian mentality - the first thing they ask on seeing a bike is “what’s the mileage?” it’s the standard question for every bike from the bajaj CT 100 (wow… that gives 110 km per litre) to the honda 954 CBR (wow…we don’t even have the proper roads for this baby to ride on). Mileage scores in our land and thus the big companies (with their wonderful bikes) - honda (Shine - Shines in what? mileage) , yamaha (gladiator - haha…who ever came up with that name for a 125 cc?), Kawasaki /bajaj ( LOL don’t even ask!!) are shying away from bringing the best of the lot. a 250 cc bike would be a perfect fit for the commute here… Anyways, times are slowly changing and the 250 cc bikes are here…The honda 250 CBX seems to be pretty promising…!!<
well…why the rant? ‘cos I want to get a new bike and the yamaha YZF 600 costs 6.5 lakhs…!!
With the fuel prices soaring, how can you have the best of both the worlds? efficient use of fuel, plus having a super bike. Well - auto makers…here’s my two cents on this…take it and please do something with it!!
- Four cylinders
Do we need all of them every time? take my fav 600 CC bike - the honda 599. It has an inline 4 cylinder engine. What it means is that you don’t have a massive 600 cc engine block sitting under the tank but a smaller 4x125 cc block. the point is…do we need to fire all the four cylinders at the same time? Take the typical city commute - lots of stops and starts - low speeds. Use only one c ylinder in the 4. The torque generated will be sufficient for the low speeds. use two if you have the need for speed…or how about a speed sensitive ignition system - uses the appropriate number of cylinders as required by the driving conditions. Getting the idea? Well… back to our ‘indian’ question - What’s the mileage? the answer’s staring right at your face - what you get out of your typical 125cc bikes; around 60 km / lit (perhaps a lot more less if you are sane enough to realize that sports bikes are not meant to be driven at 20 kph)
- Press the turbo button
When I looked at the skoda octavia, I was completely floored by the car. I went “what the ??” when I heard that it gave a milage of around 22 km/ lit in city conditions. a 1800cc engine running that efficiently? Well, the magic lies in between the air intake and the engine cylinder. The turbo charger (with an intercooler) is what does the magic. In simple terms, a turbo charger is a small compressor that compresses the air coming thru the intake and then forces it into the cylinder. When the fuel is injected, it burns a lot more efficiently than when you don’t have a turbo. A turbo with an intercooler is even better… the air is cooled before it is pushed into a cylinder. Fuel burns a lot more efficiently. the best part is that the Turbo is totally powered by the exhaust. To look at it from another angle, you would need a smaller engine for the same amount of output power. Now, how difficult would it be to turbo charge a bike? Hmm?? Hell, a turbo charged bajaj platina would beat a pulsar on a drag…and give you a 108 km to a liter to boot…!! (LOL… I know it’s a pathetic example…but that’s how much a difference it would make)…!!- “It’s like the hand of god pushing on your back…”
What would probably be one of the most efficient ways to burn fuel? the answer is up in the air…turbines, which power almost all off the flights today(…yes… including that cheap air deccan flight I took). The amount of power you get out of a turbine is maximum for a given amount fo fuel when compared to any other type of a conventional engine. now, you’re thinking….a turbine…on a bike…?? Well wake up…we’ve been having it for six years now.Check out the Y2k, the first and only turbine powered bike in the world. best part is that it runs on anything combustible. I could use petrol or diesel or even kerosene for that matter… another advantage is that since combustion happens at a very high temperature, the burn is very clean and hence there’s a drastic drop in the pollution levels.
agreed, we don’t need such a powerful turbine ( the turbine in the Y2K produces 320 BHP with around 425 ft-lb of torque, max speed = 227 mph / 365 kph), but something smaller would defininitely work… and be pretty exciting as well :)
So, that was my wish for the night…when would people think of stuff like this here…!
Heck!! I should have studied mechanical engg, been doing something like this. Instead, I’m here, in front of the comp, at the break of dawn (3:52 AM if you please), waiting for a go ahead from another team to do what I’m supposed to do. Don’t even ask ;-)!!!