Visit to Thunderdome

[Stainless1]

Dropped in on Max again today to see if he was still sitting around drinking coffee and smoking.   Don't light a match, he was painting parts and assembling the scooter.  He had installed the actuating cylinders and lines for the skids.  And that tach drive ignition coil.  The big purple cylinder is the fuel filter.  All this stuff gets covered up in the near future.  As it goes together the space starts to shrink. 

Since Max has made the suspension and ride height adjustable, the skids are adjustable also.  The 2 bolts are in a slot to adjust skid length.

And the other side, the forward puke tank spigot is easy to see from this view as well, remember, it is that frame member that curves around the top of the motors.  The big tank is fuel, it is also bolted in now. 

Most of you that know me know our car is small and everything is stuffed in a fairly compact space.  But I am constantly amazed at how much Max can put in a small space.    Everything has a spot, and is shoe-horned in its place.  I thought we were good at packaging, we have lots of unused space compared to Max's scooter, it is an engineering marvel. 

[Stainless1]

Sidecars must carry ballast.  I showed you the hack, the ballast is bolted on.  Max decided on on the final placement and the holes are ready to be placed.  Here is the setup to locate the holes.

And one of the small (12lb) ballast pieces after drilling. 

Attention to detail is evident throughout this bike.  If you get the chance to check it out at Bub, do it.  If not, also lots of pictures and updates on his website.  I'll keep you posted....  See ya on the salt

[bak189]

Max, certainly does outstanding work, the liner is a piece of art..........................................................
Regarding the ballast required for  FIM sidecar record (60kg=132lbs)..........the required ballast can be mounted any place on the outfit, however, it has to be removeable for weight check.... if asked.........................I would certainly mount most if not all the ballast in the sidecar, (just like Max is doing)..............but we have found in the past that depending on the outfits wheelbase and sidecar track.....the full 60kg in the chair might effect the handling, but as per FIM regs this is not a problem.......so some of the ballast can be mounted (for example) over the
 drive wheel for traction. 

[Stainless1]

Bak, I thought the weight was passenger simulation.  Not a FIM guy, so I don't have a clue, but I'll bet there will be enough in the hack.

[Stan Back]

Sounds like a reasonable rule for passenger simulation -- in fact a real passenger can and does redistribute his weight to various corners of the rig during some kinds of competition.

[bak189]

The 132lbs (60kg) is for passenger simulation....
FIM Regs. want the total weight of the outfit....
PLUS 60kg. (132lbs)
Back in the "old days" racing in Europe we had a 250c.c. rider on the team, who weight in race ready at 129lbs. they would have him step on the scale....race ready at 133lbs.......with a piece of chain in his helmet (holding the helmet under his arm)........worked 2 times......not the 3rd time
....we fed him lots of pasta.
I don't believe FIM 60kg rule is used anymore in MOTO-GP racing today..............................................

[Stainless1]

Dropped in on Max to see if he was doing anything, looks like the elves have been hard at work.

First the blower is in... lots going on here, top down, a Ron's toilet bowl, about a 1400 CFM (yep 1400) unit.  It sits on a Max built distribution block with 4 injectors.  These are on the "suck" side of the blower and are the atomizer type (they mix air with fuel) fan injectors.  They spray about 30% of the fuel into the blower, cools the charge and the blower.  Next comes the blower, massaged for about 25 PSI, Teflon wipers, clearanced, overdriven about 1.6 to 1.  The outlet is another Max design, all this is mounted on top the tranny, notice it is also connected to the frame to prevent twisting.

Hard to believe the 1400?  That thing will swallow your head.  You can see the 4 injectors with little air filters on them in the front as well as the injector above the rotors in the blower.  To the right is the distribution block for the individual cylinder injectors.  As I said, there is a lot going on here.  The injectors in the blower get 3 lbs of pressure for starting, the cylinder injectors don't get any until fuel pressure exceeds 8 lbs, part of Max's flood control project.   

Here is a shot from the front.  Of course you can't get a shot from the back, that is already hidden.  The four hoses on the left go to the cylinder injectors.  When you are building the smallest vehicle possible packaging is everything.  Max's engineering leaves very little wasted space.

Hopefully I pointed out everything, if you see something you wonder about, ask, I'm sure Max will chime in and explain things a little better than I can.  Of course, he might be a little busy with assembly.

[Stainless1]

Since Max has made the suspension and ride height adjustable, the skids are adjustable also.  The 2 bolts are in a slot to adjust skid length.
 

The skid pivots are mounted to the frame and cylinders, when retracted, fit flush with the body.  The actual skids are stainless steel and pivot to stay flat on the surface.

This was taken during the auto retraction test, Yes, it is hard to see movement in a still picture, but since my u-tube skills are limited, you are stuck with what you see, use a little imagination, see it moving up into the retracted position.... (look back at pic 1 real fast if it helps) 

Max built a couple of down locks for the skids.  Since it is impossible to keep pressure on them all the time, the locks keep the scooter on its "kickstand"  The auto retract springs are easier to see in this view.

As Paul Harvey might say, now you know the rest of the story (of the skids in pictures) 

Don't despair, I will continue to visit Mad Max to check on his progress. 

[Kansas Bad Man]

The Kansas Bad Man has to say thanks to Mr. Stainless for sharing my scooter with ya'all.
However, now the pressure's on to get something done every three or four days for his updates.  Also I put all warm bodies to work who pass my threshold, and he's no exception.  Stainless moved some holes around on the ballast plates.  I goofed.  He fixed.

                                              Max

[Stainless1]

Well it was Friday yesterday and that meant it was time to check on Max.  For those that were expecting me to post yesterday, I had friends in town, so after we visited Max, we had a few beers, so the update is running a little late.

Max has the parachute doors installed and solenoids for his various air tank pressures and parachutes are plumbed.  I'll pop in a few door pictures in a minute, there are other things going on here.  The little compressor behind the water tank is for pressurizing the tanks that spray water mist on the heads, clutch and chain. 

Can you see the little stacked V thing in front of the parachute tubes, OK here is a better picture, that is the tip-over switch that kills everything automatically deploys the chutes if the bike is on its side.  This one was built by one of Max's fellow Vincent Club members Dan Smith.  Nice mercury switch, looks pretty good, works great.

The cylinders above and below the parachute tubes are the drogue chute ejectors, they work in conjunction with the doors and are fired by the solenoid pack on the other side that is identical to the one you see.  As I told you before, that is part of the C02 pressure system.

In the next installment, I'll show you the doors and how that works.

[Peter Jack]

Thanks Stainless. This documentation is great. I'm a car guy but I also appreciate fine craftsmanship and this project is the epitome of that. I've put a lot of miles on street bikes but have never competed on less than four wheels intentionally.

Pete

[Stainless1]

As threatened, the parachute doors...
Of course, the best way to finish the passage through the air is a smooth exit.  Looking back at Max's previous 7 streamliners you see the constant change to improve the mechanical issues and also consistent attention to aero.  The doors on #8 are a lesson in KISS.

The doors are held closed with the spring, you cant see the floor because the bottom is closed to follow the body form as is the top, when the body is on. 
 
Here is the inside of the door

Now comes the deployment of the drogue chutes, press the upper chute button, the solenoid fires the C02 into the cylinder, the drogue chute is fired back in its holder which opens the doors as it slides down the channel ejecting the drogue in the airstream.

The lower is the same mechanics except Max had an issue during initial tests of the system, the drogue hung up occasionally on the lower curved door, so the lower cradles the drogue through deployment.  Either one will open the door, chures follow the drogues through the open door,  Like I said, after it is designed, it seems so simple, doesn't it. 

[Stainless1]

Hey all, I made a correction a few posts back.  The Dan Smith tip-over doesn't kill it, it launches the chutes.  So there ya go, now everyone knows I finally made a mistake, of course it is the second one I made in my life. The other one was when I thought I was wrong... 

Back to topic, Max is still working on the scooter, starts before dawn almost every morning, sometimes he sleeps in until 6.  The drive line is coming together.  The outboard bearing support for the drive side of the tranny is installed, the sprockets, chain and wheel are in.

Here is a little closer look at Max's bearing support.  Since the design of an automotive transmission does not allow for running sprockets off the ends, it requires some external support.  By the time everything gets installed, the transmission input/output shaft will be supported by 7 internal and external bearings.  The support on this side is connected to the transmission and the frame. Behind there is a 22 tooth sprocket driving a 630 chain.  As I mentioned before, the chain gets a cooling water mist on it.

The rear sprocket is a 24 tooth.  All this drives a 3 piece steel rimmed Taylor wheel and Firestone Bonneville Tire.  More on this in a few minutes.

[sabat]

Drool. Hope I get a chance to see this machine in action someday. Thanks again for the pics and words SS. -Dean

[isiahstites]

Stainless,

              Please pass on to Max that he does awesome work and thanks for sharing! It is amazing to watch this machine come together and I thank you for taking the time to post it all for us to watch.

I have a question regarding the chain cooling. Why water instead of oil? I don't crap about chain cooling, but I thought that maybe oil would lubricate as well as cool. Please educate me!

Scott