Author Topic: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners  (Read 1438146 times)

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Offline wobblywalrus

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Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #585 on: November 06, 2011, 01:30:37 AM »
It took me forty years to learn this.  A racing fund fat with money is like a lone liberty ship crossing the Atlantic ocean at 5 mph.  There are U-boats everywhere and soon it will be no more.  All sorts of things, cars, stoves, etc. have been financed by my racing money.  Now I am smart.  I get what I need as soon as I get the money together.  The 994 cc billet big bore kit was ordered Friday along with an extra gasket set and gudgeon pin clips.  It was ordered with the special coating that extends its life.  I do not know if these coatings do anything and it was strictly an emotional decision.  I have a lot of money invested in these parts and I want them to last as long as possible.

Fuel makes a lot more sense than blowers or turbos for my budget.  I only race once a year so expensive fuel is no big deal.  This was one of the key factors in the decision to purchase the new jugs.  The new cylinder block is big and strong and there are two piston options, 11.5 to 1 and 14 to 1.  The lower compression ones were ordered.  This is my street bike and I need to be able to run it on pump gas.  The other ones would be suitable for an alcohol motor.

The fairing chin gave me a lot of trouble.  Usually the fairing sides converge to an open "V" at the chin.  This engine is wide down low and I could not make a V.  Also, I like to enclose the bottom of the engine compartment to keep the salt out.  A flat plate across the fairing bottom is not very aerodynamic.  The fairing nose will have a blunt rounded end and a teardrop shape.  I tried to copy that theme for the chin.  The photo shows what I built. 

   

Offline Koncretekid

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Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #586 on: November 06, 2011, 07:12:20 AM »
Bo,
Great looking metal work.  As I said in my post, I am considering using sheet aluminum for fabricating part of my fairing.  I have a friend, semi-retired, who has worked in sheet metal all his life, but mainly industrial, and some car parts. He has recently purchased an English wheel, so I may be spending some time in his shop.  The problem I see with using fiberglass, is that it first requires a mold of some kind to create it's shape.  Compound curves are of course the hardest to make. I consider myself a Jack of many trades, but bodywork is not one -- at least not yet!

Your view on the "budget" situation is interesting and shows that you have a very understanding partner there (and you do not abuse the privileges).  My situation is a little different.  It's more like that lone liberty ship crossing the Atlantic ocean, with a slow leak!  I sold my business 4 years ago, and retired 2-1/2 years ago.  Now I live off the income from my investments.  Got to keep that leak in check! 
Tom
We get too soon oldt, and too late schmart!
Life's uncertain - eat dessert first!

Offline wobblywalrus

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Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #587 on: November 07, 2011, 12:29:17 AM »
Tom, eventually a mold is needed for metal, too.

There are three types of aero drag that I know about.  Shape drag is influenced by the object's shape.  Interference drag is the subject of a future post.  Surface drag is caused by the surface texture.

Long term followers of this build will have seen three aluminum tail sections, two partial fairing rebuilds, and now a complete fairing makeover.  All are attempts to minimize shape and interference drag.  Eventually I will have the shape where I think it is good.  The mickey mouse aluminum plate method is great for this experimenting.  It is easy to build and modify the shapes.  I can make a fairing and tail with minimal shape and interference drag using this procedure.

Freehand shaping like I use for the plates has its limits.  It is hard to make complex forms with multiple curvatures.  To do this correctly, a hardwood buck is made and the metal is annealed and hammered to shape on the buck.  Then, the individual pieces are trimmed and welded together.  The bucks are a lot of work to make.  It makes sense to do this after the optimum shape is figured out.  The welded fairing will have less surface drag than the riveted one I am making now.

A common problem with a lot of fairings, mine included, is a lack of elbow room.  My arms are inside the original fairing to illustrate the issue.  In practice I had my arms outside of the fairing when I raced, like in the second photo.  This caused turbulence and drag.  The bar under my elbow with the half a pizza shaped aluminum piece on it will be the new fairing edge.  It will be much lower and all of me will fit behind the fairing.  No more arms sticking out.

The rules say the rider must be fully visible from the side while in racing position.  Let's say I do not pay attention to this and I set a record.  A person could file a protest after the race is done.  They probably would have a picture of me riding while partially hidden behind the fairing.  I would not have the time to correct the problem and make another record attempt.  I could lose the record.  I am very careful about following the rules so this does not happen.  These side view photos help me to do this.   

Offline Koncretekid

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Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #588 on: November 07, 2011, 07:54:19 AM »
Bo,
You are, of course, running under the FIM rules which are slightly different from the AMA rules.  FIM has no "pushrod" class as such, so a single cylinder 500cc can be overhead cam, 4 valve, etcetera, maybe even 2-stroke.  I did a quick read of the rules and that was my interpretation.  Running an old pushrod motor under these rules seems a little tough, although I can't find all the current records.  Interestingly, the version you gave me said that Tad Meadows has the 500cc non-streamlined record at 108 mph on an old Gold Star (I think).  I am, however, building my bike by the SCTA current rules, which allows more streamlining at the back than the AMA rules, but rumor has it that that will change for 2012.  The current AMA rules allow the following: "With the rider in the racing position, the rider must be able to be seen (hands and arms excluded) entirely from either side."  I interpret this to mean my hands and forearms can be fully faired.

Thanks for the info.

Tom
We get too soon oldt, and too late schmart!
Life's uncertain - eat dessert first!

Offline wobblywalrus

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Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #589 on: November 07, 2011, 09:25:48 PM »
That is the critical thing, knowing the rules.

The pros and cons of running a front fender are always a subject of debate.  There are very fast bikes out there with no front fenders.  Occasionally, like at 2007 BUB, the salt can be wet enough to stick to tires.  This can cause a visibility problem when it flies up and attaches to the face shield.  A front fender is a good idea based on safety, alone.  Front fenders are required on FIM partial streamliners.

Another advantage of a front fender is, with a well designed fairing behind it, it keeps the salt out of the cooling fins on the engine or radiator and it minimizes flying loose salt around the air intake and electrics.  The half moon shape with side panels is especially good at containing the salt and the white stuff is the enemy of reliability.  The critical design point is the bottom of the air hole in the front of the fairing should be above the salt spray zone behind the front wheel.     

The very fast bikes like Warner's Suzuki runway racer use the front fender to an aerodynamic advantage.  It has a wedge shape and it splits the air before it hits the fairing.

The half moon fender will stay on after the front fairing is done.     

Offline wobblywalrus

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Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #590 on: November 10, 2011, 01:20:57 AM »
Recently Joe Frazier, the boxer, died.  One of his bouts was broadcast on the telly.  There was a short piece before one of his fights where the boxers were shown in their everyday lives.  Joe had a nice full dress Harley and a camera was mounted on the front.  The producers showed him riding around the countryside.  The view was taken from the bike and one could see the countryside pass by.

That short film made an impression on young me.  The Triumph is not a race bike all of the year.  It has saddlebags and a windshield and I ride it like Joe did.  Just putting around the countryside and nothing fancy, like I have done since I was young.  I have Joe Frazier to thank for showing me how to enjoy a leisurely ride.       
 

   

Offline wobblywalrus

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Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #591 on: November 14, 2011, 12:10:37 AM »
The bottom left side on the fairing was the weekend's project.  This is a good photo of construction using guide bars.  The vertical bar alongside the skin is the guide bar for shape in the vertical plane.  The thinner horizontal guide bars help me to line up the rows.  I tried to make one big piece instead of the little plates.  It took me all Friday morning to get nowhere.  There are a lot of curves on this fairing and I could not get all of them correct.  I was getting frustrated and I almost drove myself sane.  This fairing will use plates like the old one.

There was a BMW at Cooks Shootout.  It was raced with and without a passenger and the speeds were almost identical.  My guess is the wedge shaped front end made an enormous turbulence pocket around the motorcycle and the passenger was inside this turbulence envelope.  A bike with decent aerodynamics would have attached flow with much less or no turbulence around it.  The passenger would disrupt the the attached flow this would slow it down quite a bit.

The picture also shows how the wider part of the fairing is in front and it tapers toward the rear.  The goal is to have the air attached and flowing parallel to the direction of travel when it passes over the trailing edge of the fairing.  Hopefully it will reattach itself to the tail section.  This is a completely different concept than the BMW's wedge shaped front end.

Offline gearheadeh

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Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #592 on: November 14, 2011, 09:15:17 AM »
Wobbly,
Keep up the good work, This new fairing ....is it gonna allow for the must see the lower portion of the front tire rule?Do you have an Air power rivet gun? or forearms like Popeye? I like the "Drive yourself sane" Bit! :-D
40 is the old age of Youth, 50 is the young age of the Senior years.

Offline wobblywalrus

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Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #593 on: November 15, 2011, 12:49:52 AM »
Thanks for mentioning this.  There are so many rules.  It is hard to remember them all and I forgot about that one.  Yes, I am lucky, half of the tire is visible.  I do not need to redo anything.  Right now I am using a hand riveter.  I will buy a power one after the family forgets about the $2,324 I spent for the big bore kit.  I am keeping a low profile now and not buying anything other than food or beer.

Offline wobblywalrus

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Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #594 on: November 22, 2011, 01:04:25 AM »
This year it looks like the handling problem is fixed and no more weaves or wobbles.  This gives me the green light to start buying the parts for the big motor.  It made no sense to do this until the chassis was sorted.  The big bore cylinders and pistons are on order and I am saving money for the cams, lifters, machine work, gaskets, seals, airfare to Australia, etc.  Target date is 2014 BUB for the big engine debut.

Meanwhile, I am getting the chassis ready for the motor.  The old fairing had a simple rectangular hole cut in the front of it for cooling.  Enough air went through the hole to cool the mildly tuned engines I am running.  The big motor will put out a lot more power, hopefully, and a lot more heat.  This has me worried.  The cylinder head is ported and I do not have a lot of metal between the valves to dissipate heat.  The head might crack between the valve seats if it gets too hot.

There is jumbo size shark that cruises through the water with its huge mouth open and everything in front of it goes in.  This gave me the idea.  The front of the fairing around the cylinder head is shaped to catch air and direct it onto the oil radiator and cylinder head.  The fairing is not done yet, but this first panel shows the idea.  There will be more panels on the front just like it.

 

Offline Koncretekid

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Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #595 on: November 22, 2011, 06:20:42 AM »
Bo,
Don't forget about rule # 6548 section Z, "The maximum number of pop rivets allowed is 500."

By the way, your favorite author, John Bradley, on page 226 of volume one states "...I made up a simple duct to ensure that the air reached the fins.  As a result the bike would barely run because it would not stay hot enough." 

Tom
We get too soon oldt, and too late schmart!
Life's uncertain - eat dessert first!

Offline Peter Jack

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Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #596 on: November 22, 2011, 09:48:11 AM »
Just remember that any air you direct inside creates drag, offsetting all the work you've done building the fairing. That's why race cars in all classes of road and oval racing have some way of controlling air flow through the cooling system whether it be tape or panel inserts. Make an easy to resize opening and test like you always do.

Forget the shark! KISS!

Looks to me like the trees got in the way of the forest.

Pete

P.S. - Sorry if it sounds harsh, but I'd hate to see you head off in a tangent that created a lot of work that could be invested more constructively elsewhere.

P

Offline wobblywalrus

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Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #597 on: November 23, 2011, 12:26:53 AM »
I clicked on the sox on cox attachment from Australia and picked up a virus.  It trashed the computer hard drive.  The only thing that works now is Firefox.  This virus got through a Webroot virus protection system.  Youall wont be reading anything I type for awhile.  I need to get my hard drive replaced.

Offline Dr Goggles

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Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #598 on: November 23, 2011, 04:08:14 PM »
I clicked on the sox on cox attachment from Australia and picked up a virus.  It trashed the computer hard drive.  The only thing that works now is Firefox.  This virus got through a Webroot virus protection system.  Youall wont be reading anything I type for awhile.  I need to get my hard drive replaced.

Not sure how to apologise adequately for posting that link Bo. I just googled "Chillipeppers socks" and got that, I opened it at work...on a Citrix system.Our system usually shuts down access on risk pages or throws up a virus warning but there was no alert there. Once again I'm very very sorry if that was the cause.
Few understand what I'm trying to do but they vastly outnumber those who understand why...................

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Offline Peter Jack

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Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #599 on: November 23, 2011, 06:26:19 PM »
I think some of those viruses work on a random basis and while it may have come from there it also may have come from somewhere else and just triggered at that time. I opened it with no unintended consequences.

Pete
« Last Edit: November 23, 2011, 06:28:34 PM by Peter Jack »