Bacon | Hogs can be other bikes too! Here’s a perfectly well engineered custom machine which has an adapted 3 cylinder Diesel engine that can be run on bacon grease. This was commissioned by Hormel Foods who make Spam.
Watch it in action here: Black Label Bacon Motorcycle
On Reflection | all photography releases by NASA shows how beautiful the ventures into space truly are. The LM Eagle reflecting the cratered surface is like a delicate Faberge egg balanced over a rugged plain.
Moonship Cutaway | beautiful technical illustration of the Command Module. The three astronauts traveled to the moon and back in the claustrophobic confines of this vessel. Though in zero-g it became very slightly more voluminous. They also had the Lunar Module which was docked to the nose of the LM for more elbow room. The CM is the only piece of hardware that made it back to earth.
LEM | Lunar (Excursion) Module. Three days after embarking on the Trans Lunar Injection the Apollo spacecraft entered orbit around the Moon. Separating from the Command Service Module the LM descended to the surface with the Commander and Pilot standing at these controls in their full spacesuits. The descent and landing is well documented as one of the coolest pieces of flying by anyone anywhere. Like landing a telephone box, using the computing power of a Casio scientific calculator, onto a grey dust surface under a black sky…. with diminishing fuel and alarms going off.
Command Module | Fifty Years ago this month three intrepid explorers headed off into a lunar rendezvous with destiny. Backed by countless engineers, scientists, mathematicians, computers (women who crunches the complex equations for orbital mechanics), skilled laborers, wives, budget analysts, lingerie manufacturers (the space suits required impeccable needlework); they headed beyond the surly bonds of earth atop the mighty Saturn V rocket. The cramped confines of the Command Module ‘Columbia’ took them the quarter million miles to our closest neighbor in the skies.
Specifications
Engine Type Liquid-cooled, 12 valve, DOHC, in-line 3-cylinder
Capacity 800cc
Bore Stroke 74.1 mm / 61.9 mm
Compression 11.3:1
Max Power EC 95 PS/94 BHP (70 kW) @ 9,250 rpm
Max Torque EC 79 Nm @ 7,850 rpm
System Multipoint sequential electronic fuel injection
Exhaust Stainless steel 3 into 1, high level stainless steel silencer
Final drive O ring chain
Clutch Wet, multi-plate
Gearbox 6 speed
Frame Tubular steel trellis frame
Swingarm Twin-sided, cast aluminium alloy
Front Wheels 36-spoke 21 x 2.5 in, aluminium rim
Rear Wheels 32-spoke 17 x 4.25 in, aluminium rim
Front Tyres 90/90-21
Rear Tyres 150/70 R17
Front Suspension WP 43 mm upside down forks, adjustable rebound and compression damping, 220 mm travel.
Rear Suspension WP monoshock with remote oil reservoir, hydraulically adjustable preload, rebound damping adjustment, 215 mm rear wheel travel
Brakes Front Twin 308 mm floating discs, Nissin 2-piston sliding calipers, Switchable ABS
Brakes Rear Single 255 mm disc, Nissin single piston sliding caliper, Switchable ABS
Instrument Display and Functions TFT multifunctional instrument pack with digital speedometer, trip computer, analogue tachometer, gear position indicator, fuel gauge, service indicator, ambient temperature, rider modes (Road/Sport/Rain/Offroad/Rider configurable) and clock.
Width Handlebars 845 mm
Height Without Mirror 1390 mm
Seat Height 840 – 860 mm
Wheelbase 1545 mm
Rake 24.3 º
Trail 95.3 mm
Dry Weight 204 Kg
Tank Capacity 19 L
Constant Speed 56mph 90kph 77.4 MPG
Constant Speed 75mph 120kph 53.6 MPG
Lightning | The evening sun gave a stark outline to this brat-Bob Yamaha spied in a Home Depot parking lot. Somebody is obviously having fun out there! I bet it grunts like a mongrel straining at the leash.
Helmet | Job Done! Wearing suitable safety gear is of prime importance when selecting your riding garb. And the bonce is your main body part that needs the best protection. I never skimp on this component. The Bell full face lid I got a couple of years ago took last weekend’s spill in workmanlike form; with scrapes, scratches and no doubt a thumping from the road. It’s retired now, as a helmet should be after a crash, and will be replaced.
Nessun Dorma | The aria from Puccini’s opera Turandot was famously used for the BBC coverage of the World Cup in ’90. Sung in true maestro style by Pavarotti it was also used by Pirelli tire manufacturer in their late 80’s advertising campaign. Direct translation from the Italian is “None shall sleep” so using it for a tire seems appropriate. So, back to the matter at hand: these are the two tires I got for the Tiger from old new stock at Motoworks yesterday. Knobbly treads for a bit better traction on gravel. I need to go look for some back roads now! Heidenau K60 Scout up front and Continental TKC 80’s in back. This combination is meant to be a good balance for compromise between asphalt and loose dirt.
Oily hands and a 10mm socket – just read about the passing of the creator of the global mechanics phenomenon, known as the Haynes Workshop Manual, John Haynes (1938-2019) aged 80. The step-by-step photographic and illustrative descriptions of dismantling and reassembly was conceived whilst he was a public schoolboy recording the renovation of an Austin Seven into an Austin Seven ‘Special’. The first published book in ’66 was for an Austin Healey Sprite. Hundreds of manuals for cars and motorcycles later the library stretched from the Solo’s Millennium Falcon, Kirk’s Enterprise to NASA’s Space Shuttle, and Apollo.
D-I-Y Sometimes you need some ken to be familiar with your interest. A ubiquitous Haynes Service & Repair Manual is an essential reference tome for any self respecting biker.
Winter Fun – I need one of these! Chopper Triumph with street sign plow blade. I’d take the Chevy truck too! We have icy conditions here in the Midwest and expect even colder weather next week… minus 15°F
Pops – The post-war period in Japan saw a push in engine tuning to wring out any available additional horsepower to not just be faster but the fastest. This would eventually lead to the superbikes of the seventies and eighties and the current flock of hyper sports.
Leading this evolution of power and speed was Hideo ‘Pops’ Yoshimuro (1922-1995). After maintaining aircraft for the Japanese Empire during WW2 he redirected his masterful talents to the British bikes being brought to the land of the rising sun by American servicemen. This photo shows our man astride a fettled BSA preunit drag bike readying for a speed run.
Later he shifted his works and racing team to California where big reliable Japanese superbikes like the Kawasaki KZ and Suzuki GS’s went on to dominate the burgeoning AMA road racing circuit.
I, Robot – in 2017 Yamaha displayed their autonomous riding motorcycle being hurled around a racetrack at speed. Today is the 99th birthday of science writer Isaac Asimov who created the three rules of robotics:
An Eye on the Universe – today’s destination for a Fall ride was the 120 year old Yorkers Observatory, which houses the world’s largest refracting telescope. A 40″ diameter lens that provided important findings in the early years of 20th Century astrophysics. It is located at Williams Bay on Lake Geneva in Wisconsin. As of October 1st is is no longer under the management of the University of Chicago and is not open to the general public.
