zaterdag 30 oktober 2010

Eerste test CNC 3D

Donderdagavond deed ik in het Gentse TimeLab samen met Lieven (een oude schoolmakker van mij, en ontwerper van de Aeromodeller2 ) enkele testjes met de computergestuurde freesmachine.

Eerste testten we de schaalvastheid en snelheid met een blokje fake-plantenbak-schuim, en daarna lieten we diverse boorkoppen door een stukje aluminium ploegen.

Het resultaat was positief, en ik denk dat het me zal lukken om een setje rearsets en dogbones te frezen voor mijn Mz supermono, maar ik moet toch eerst nog wat aanpassingen doen aan het 3D-model. Ik zal ook een boekje moeten meenemen naar het labo, want reken toch maar op enkele uren freeswerk.

Dank u wel Lieven voor de amusante avond! :)





donderdag 28 oktober 2010

zondag 24 oktober 2010

Flashback naar 2006

3 Januari 2006...

de twee jannen vertrekken op de reis van hun leven: op 2 africa twins rijden ze in 't putteke van de winter van Belgiƫ naar Tanzania.

3 maand later, na 30 valpartijen, 15.000km, 2 sets banden, 2 kettingsets, 1 bedreiging met mitrailleur, 6 oases, 3 werelddelen en een land of 15 komen ze aan in Arusha, Tanzania, alwaar jankoko een nieuw leven begint.

Klik hier voor alle verhalen: http://www.mojomoto.be/tanzania/































vrijdag 22 oktober 2010

Electrische moto anders bekeken.

Hoi,

ik zat wat rond te surfen en te zoeken naar interessante nieuwigheden op't gebied van electrische moto's, en daar kwam ik toch een bijzonder apart model tegen: The Embrio! Het artikel zie je hieronder...

Een tailtidy erop, een MRA vario scherm om de wind af te buigen, en stalen remleidingen?

The EMBRIO Advanced Concept is a one-wheeled recreational and commuting vehicle for the year 2025, designed by the Canadian company Bombardier Recreational Products. Although the riding position is similar to that of a motorcycle, the vehicle uses sensors and gyroscopes to balance up to two passengers on a large single wheel whilst driving. Specifications and pictures of this weird motorcycle are showed below:

one wheeled motorcycle pictures

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

MODEL NAME: EMBRIO Advanced Concept
DEVELOPED BY:Bombardier Recreational Products
STATUS: Concept
YEAR: 2003
DRIVE SYSTEM: Fuel cell electric
FUEL: Hydrogen
LENGTH: 1,240 mm (48.8 in)
WIDTH: 700 mm (27.5 in)
HEIGHT: 1,200 mm (47.5 in)
WEIGHT: 164 kg (360 lbs)
SEATING CAPACITY: 2

one wheeled motorcycle pictures

one wheeled motorcycle pictures

Although the vehicle will also remain stable when motionless, with two small front wheels deployed at speeds below 20 kilometres per hour (12.5 mph). To move forward, the rider activates a trigger on the left handlebar. At a speed of 20 kilometres per hour (12.5 mph) the front wheels or “landing gear” retracts so the rider is balancing on the large single wheel. To turn the rider leans to the left or right. The brake is activated by a trigger on the right handlebar. Fuel cells running on hydrogen provide electricity for the electric motor which drives the single wheel.

zondag 17 oktober 2010

geen moto's maar ander speelgoed voor grote kinderen

Yup, nog speelgoed voor grote kinderen: gitaren. Ik ben vandaag langsgeweest bij Lieven van Gitaarreparatie.be. Ik had er mijn Dean Razorback DB (Dime series) binnengedaan om eventjes na te kijken.
't speelgoedje ziet er nog beter uit als voorheen, en speelt supermakkelijk. Thanks Lieven!
Naast gitaren afstellen en herstellen bouwt lieven ook zijn eigen gitaren. Dat is toch redelijk in de spirit van mojomoto. Ik ben dus eens gaan rondkijken op zijn website en kwam er toch wel een paar lekkere stukken tegen, zowel versgebouwde als herstelde (refurbished) gitaren:



best zelf eens een kijkje nemen op www.gitaarreparatie.be.

groetjes

Wouter

maandag 11 oktober 2010

Rijden met de Motoczysz E1pc



Winning races at the Isle of Man and Laguna Seca and reaching a top speed of 163mph at Bonneville, the 2010 MotoCzysz E1pc is the most advanced electric superbike ever made. Equipped with a liquid-cooled motor delivering 120bhp and 250lb/ft of torque, it also promises to be the first capable of performing like the gasoline-powered sportsbikes of today. We took it to Oregon Raceway Park to find out if the future is worth looking forward to.

Following an RC8-mounted Michael Czysz around Oregon Raceway Park, I’m having trouble keeping up. Not because the 2010 MotoCzysz E1pc can’t match the KTM through the off-camber corners or blind crests, but because all I can think about is what this one-off prototype costs. “$200 to $300,000,” Czysz told me before I climbed on board. More than ten times the cost of the bike he’s now riding.

My fear of destroying a decent-sized suburban house’s worth of Lithium-Ion batteries, carbon fiber and liquid-cooled motor comes to rapid halt when we suddenly run out of juice. But not with the bike you’d think. After a full afternoon’s fast track riding — an estimated 55 miles’ worth — the KTM has run out of gas. The E1pc? It’s got 15 percent battery life left. After over three hours of hard, but not continuous, riding, the MotoCzysz has only travelled 85 percent of its maximum range, all for just a few cents extra on the track’s electricity bill. Still worried about the range of electric motorcycles?

I’m riding the same bike that soared to victory at the Isle of Man’s TT Zero race in June and won the FIM E-Power race at Laguna Seca in July. This same bike reached 163mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats last month.

Michael has no plans to produce any more E1pcs, but he says that if a well-healed customer really wants one, he could build a second for around $120,00, or about the same price as a Tesla Roadster. He’s not trying to do that though, work has already started on the 2011 model.





With a row of five exposed batteries highlighted by blue-glowing LEDs running down each side and a tiny tail section designed to allow the rider to slide back into a more aerodynamic riding position, the E1pc looks like no bike before it, but it does look like the future. Aside from the electrical components, including the oil-cooled motor hidden inside the swingarm, the E1pc makes use of other prototype components invented by Czysz. There’s the 6X-Flex forks that allow sideways flex suspension action at extreme lean angles and minimizes unsprung weight and complication with a single Ohlins monoshock mounted in front of the headstock. The “frameless” design includes an abbreviated carbon subframe that attaches the front suspension to the battery suitcase and serves as a duct to flow air from the front, through to the top of the rear wheel to break up the low pressure point there. Rather than the dual rear springs of the gasoline-powered C1, this E1pc uses a centrally-mounted rear monoshock because of that somehow tiny motor being positioned inside the swingarm. That motor makes 120bhp and 250lb/ft at the wheel, but is smaller than a single one of the three Agni motors Czysz ran last year thanks to its oil-cooling, which eliminates the need for significant added metal mass to serve as a heat sink. Oil cooling also allows the motor to operate continuously at a point close to its peak power. Those above figures can be delivered as long as the batteries hold out, not for mere fractions of a second as on air-cooled designs. The whole thing weighs just 525lbs, ready to ride.

To start the E1pc, you have to disable two safeties, switch the kill switch to “on,” then…nothing. No noise, no vibration, just a tiny green LED glowing in the otherwise incomprehensible instrument cluster. Starting needs to be this complex because there’s no other sign that the motor is on, but twisting the throttle now will deliver acceleration.





Accelerate it does, but not right away. Open the throttle, wait a second, and after a brief hesitation the E1pc will carefully pull away. Michael says the program that restricts torque delivery at low speeds needs more work, but that the system is calibrated for road racing anyways, not the stop/start of city riding.

Compact like a supersport 600, Michael’s tailored the riding position for his own 6’ 1” frame (he raced it himself at Laguna). At 6’ 6”, the pegs are impossibly high for me. Add in the very low handlebars and I can barely fit onboard.

Pass 20mph and the onboard computers start to allow more torque. As it actually starts to work, the motor also starts delivering its spaceship whoosh sound. I’ve ridden just about every other electric bike and this one sounds like nothing else on earth. With no vibration, no gearshifts and no clutch, the motor starts moving you forward like a giant invisible hand pushing you along.

At these speeds, the throttle is direct, clear and works without hesitation. The E1pc is, dare I say it, easy to ride; an especially good thing on a track this complex. It’s not until 60mph that the motor is free to deliver its full power and torque. Above that speed, acceleration feels at least as strong as an R6 at full throttle. Very fast, if not liter bike strong. Unlike the R6, there’s no 16,000 rpm scream or the punctuation of gear shifts, but that’s not to say there’s no aural sensations. The motor sounds like the Millennium Falcon kicking into warp drive.

Approaching turn 1, it’s not the futuristic powertrain that catches me out, it’s the race-quality brakes. A brush of the front level pushes the slick front tire into the track and I nearly come to a complete halt. There’s no doubting that this is indeed a racing motorcycle. It’s OK if you screw up the entrance of a turn though, the 250lb/ft allows you to make up time on the exit.

Exploring the limits of the E1pc’s chassis is made difficult both by my size — shifting side to side is particularly difficult, but it feels like the bike should steer reasonably fast — and my knowledge of how much it’d cost me if I make a mistake — but at these speeds I’m reminded most of a Hayabusa. Like that bike, the MotoCzysz carries its weight very low, but the comparison ends there as the wheelbase is much shorter and the forks raked far more steeply.

Unlike other electric bikes, the E1pc is equipped with regenerative braking, which feels just like engine braking as you roll off for a corner, but helps add some range to the batteries as it recovers kinetic energy. I don’t even miss the clutch.

As I pull back into the pits and pull of my helmet to tell Czysz what I think, we both detect the smell of burnt brake pads. My size 13 Sidis had been unintentionally dragging the rear brake all the way around the track. “I swear, it’s a lot faster when you let off the rear brake,” mocks Michael.

“The 2011 model is scheduled for January,” says Michael back at his Portland HQ. “It will be lighter, more powerful and have even more component integration. For example, there’ll be a single cooling system instead of the three it now has.”

“If you compare the 2009 version — the one that failed at the Isle of Man — there were too many wires and too many chances of a problem. And the Lithium Phosphate batteries were wider and heavier. On this 2010 version, there is a single engine delivering the same power and just one controller.”

“We are refining the programming of the regenerative braking to try to stick as closely as possible to an ICE engine brake. The software can be customized based on the tastes and needs of the rider.”

As we talk, Terry Czysz, MotoCzysz mechanic and Michael’s dad, is re-installing the 10 1.25kWh battery packs back on the bike. It only took three hours and 40 minutes to charge them fully on standard 110v/10amp outlets. At his pace, Terry takes, at most, five minutes to reinstall all 10 battery packs.

“See, in race conditions with two guys, one on each side, we can change the batteries in less than a minute,” says Michael. “We are ready for Endurance!”



Specifications:

Chassis
Frame- “Frame-less” Carbon Fiber
Wheelbase- 1455mm (57.3in)
Rake- 22.5 degrees
Trail- adjustable from 87.5mm-100mm (3.5-4in)
Head Angle- 22.5 degrees
Front suspension- Proprietary 6X-Flex custom Ohlins shock
Front wheel travel- 114.3mm (4.5in)
Front wheel- Marchesini 10-spoke magnesium 3.50 x 17
Front Tire- Pirelli Diablo Superbike 120/70 R17
Rear suspension- Concentric swingarm with linked, fully adjustable custom Ohlins TTX monoshock
Rear wheel travel- 127mm (5in)
Rear wheel- Marchesini 10-spoke Magnesium 6.00 x 17
Rear tire- Pirelli Diablo Superbike 190/55 R17
Front brake- 2 x 320mm full-floating discs, radially mounted Brembo Monobloc calipers 4-piston, 2-pad
Rear brake- 220mm disc, 2-piston caliper
Weight- 238kg (525lbs)
Seat height- 800mm (31.5in)

Batteries
Energy-12.5kWh
Voltage- 330V+

Motor
Type- Proprietary Liquid Cooled, Permanent Magnet, Brushless DC (IPM)
Power- 95+kW / 125+hp
Torque- 338 Nm / 250-lb-ft
Motor Controller- 100kW Liquid Cooled

Transmission
Single Speed Chain Drive

David Folch is the tallest San Francisco-based, French motorcycle journalist in the world. He rode the E1pc at Oregon Raceway Park and took these pictures of Michael riding it at Laguna Seca and in Oregon.

zondag 10 oktober 2010

klantpics: sw hawk lights

We hebben dit weekend de Hawk verstralers geleverd aan een van onze klanten. Hij had al een beugeltje gemaakt om ze op te monteren en ging meteen aan de slag met de lampjes. Hier zijn een paar fotootjes van het resultaat: en dat ziet er toch wel lekker uit!
Philippe wist ons trouwens te vertellen dat het knap en stevig materiaal is en dat er een complete kabelboom bij zit "om u tegen te zeggen", "alles zit erbij om het zeer veilig te monteren, en de handleiding is erg duidelijk, dus geen kopzorgen".
Bedankt Philippe!




woensdag 6 oktober 2010

3D CNC

Afkortingen zeggen niet zoveel...

fotokes zeggen veel meer :)













Een klein woordje uitleg: ik heb de standaard voetsteunen en dogbones van de MojoMono opgemeten en een lichtere, herwerkte versie uitgetekend in een 3D-computerprogramma.

Deze zullen full automatic worden uitgefreesd (CNC, computergestuurd dus) uit een blok aluminium. Een oude klasmakker gaat me hierbij helpen: hij bouwde zelf zijn 3D-printer, en een computergestuurde freesmachine. Hopelijk volgende maand een update. :)

dinsdag 5 oktober 2010

einde circuitseizoen 2010

Yup, voor mij zit het er weer op. Gisteren de laatste dag van't jaar op Croix. Maar we klagen niet, half dagje druilerig, half dagje zon en warmte. Ik ben zowaar wat verbrand, en dat op 4 oktober! 't Zit er weer op voor een lange donkere winter, maar langs de andere kant hebben we terug iets om naar toe te leven. Tijd om die kilokes eraf te trainen, tijd om hier en daar wat kuipwerk te herstellen, onderhoudjes te doen, wat te knutselen, het hoort er immers allemaal bij. En dan reikhalzend uitkijken naar Maart-april 2011, wanneer we terug kunnen gaan testen, met een warm truike onder't leer, en een grote portie voorzichtigheid op de koude baan, maar met een groot hart, en veel enthousiasme. Bedankt aan alle circuitmannen die er een tof seizoen van hebben gemaakt, we zien mekaar volgend jaar terug! Of wat vroeger natuurlijk, als't even kan. ;-)