Custom Cylinder = CAST!!

So yesterday was a pretty big day for Team Nerdspeed. I went ahead and cast my first cylinder. The mold has been sitting around forever, waiting on me to build another furnace and iron out the kinks in the process. Every time I do this I learn something. Yesterday's lesson was: Don't stop pouring until the mold is full. When I poured, there was an exceptional amount of flame coming out of the mouth of the mold, also enough steam & smoke so that I couldn't see the mold's gate even though I was standing right over it. I backed off for a second and starting pouring again. Mistake! The mold filled really well during the first pour, had I just continued pouring the quality of my custom cylinder would have likely been much better. Even so, my cylinder is usable, after some clean up and machining. I'm really happy about it, I've been waiting a long time to do this one. If this is the first you've heard of this, check out some older posts: The Prestige, Step by Step, Vulcan God of Fire & Metal, Updates 5/14
gilardoni 75cc

Daelim-ish intake

Per RJ's suggestion, I'm working on a daelim-style intake manifold. It should fit a variety of applications, anything with the tomos, puch polini, or peugeot style reed intake. It's designed for a Dell'orto PHBG clamp-style carb and should flow from 16-20mm. If this casts well enough, I may have to make a few to share. This one is different than some of my previous molds, as it's almost entirely wax.

Aluminate my life

Ok, so I still haven't worked out my aluminum casting process enough to trust trying to pour my cylinder yet. I made these test shapes to try out different temperatures and chemical combos to get it all sorted. These definitely came out better than my manifold, but my gate design had problems and the styrofoam created problems. The aluminum was definitely higher quality. I scooped out the dross twice and used the full chemical arsenal. I also poured it at a higher temperature, around 1,500, which may have contributed to the gate problems. Anyhoo, I'll pour another test and if it goes well, then the cylinder(!)

The other night, Naz and I worked on the Plan B engine cases. Naz ended up welding alot of beef onto the vespa motor.

Finally, Liz has purchased a 4-spd 110cc motor for her Super Cub. 12V lighting, electronic ignition, and TORQUE! without SLUDGE! (inside joke)

Plan B updates

So, I've been scratching at Plan B here and there, but with the Polini Cup Round 3 several days away, I've kicked it up a notch. I still need to do some fab work with the Naz. The paint job is a ridiculous Malossi Racer style one. 'Louder than God' is what I'm going for. Does anyone have sticker making technology? I would love a 'Mosquito Fleet' or 'HRY Racing' sticker done in a the malossi font style. The chunks of the case induction manifold are ready to be "welded" with "aluminum" as opposed to glued together like most of the 12yr. olds on the performance tuning section like to show off. I also need to fab a bushing for the handlebar stem and figure out the exhaust pipe situation. and make a seat! wow. this bike has aways to go. Tally-ho!

Maximum Overdrive

So the truth is that my Puch Newport II has lost a step or two. The pipe mods I did are part of that, going from a 19mm PHBG to a 16mm also had a hand, and of course regearing the bike to deal with the Seattle hills knocks down the top speed a bit. In Columbus, the streets are pretty flat and allows you to get away with a much peakier set-up. Last year, I was really interested in the 'race to end all races' in K-zoo. Which is one reason I tried to step up development of the case-inducted ZA50, etc... Trying to compete with lots of 70 & 80cc kitted machines put my 50cc at a marked disadvantage. -And the nature of the race meant my 50cc motor would have to howl over 12,000rpm for many miles, obviously pretty risky. I had to gear tall. Really Tall. Unfortunately, there are physical limitations to sprocket configurations, which is why I schemed up this ZA50 primary drive gear. (obviously missing it's countershaft opposite) There are Up-gear kits available for lots of machines, but I've yet to see one for a puch. The idea was that I'd have a batch made, destroy the competition, then sell off the rest after the race. But that, alas, was not to be. I shopped around some local machine shops and tried a few online sources, but the start-up cost was more than I could afford at the time, and the production minimums dwarfed the realistic market. Anyways it didn't happen, and alls I gots is a blueprint and a dream, friends...

If you're curious, because this gear is for the 2nd speed only, it still allows for clutch stalling to get the bike into a rev-range where the 2nd speed can engage without killing the motor. Preferably on a long flat surface, such as Summit Av. or Kenny Rd. ... Because the primary drive & countershaft are in front of the reduction gear and sprockets, it has a exponential effect on the other gear trains.

Example: Puch ZA50 with a kit, capable of 11,000rpm
with standard 18:45 sprocket gearing =42.8mph

same set-up but with the T.Nspd. Upgear =60.23mph

or regear for more torque 18:64 and still go =42.8mph

Super Cub: ROAR!

Yep. Liz got a 1962 Honda SuperCub 50. This is the most highly manufactured vehicle EVER. 60 million units in like 50 years. It's also acknowledged as the best motorcycle ever by some magazine or something. I'll say this, it's pretty durn cute. They were sold in the US for a very brief period, and then much later the Passport 70 came along, just in time to give overweight retirees a lift from one end of the campsite to the store in town. I think Liz is probably the most attractive thing to ever grace one of these machines, ever. Somehow small hondas = gross fat old dude magnet. Worse than Maxi-scooters. It's a bit of a mutant, it's 50cc, 17" wheels and pretty lightweight like a moped, but has a legshield like a scooter and 3 spd. semi-automatic foot shifting like a motorcycle. The Honda Super Cub Website is Awesome. seriously check it out. We're having compression issues, so Liz has an 2nd over piston on the way. I'm still looking for a machine shop to do the bore job on the little jug. This means that the 1979 Vespa P200 is going to be for sale soon, FYI...

Updates 5/14

So a bunch of things have been happening lately, obviously the most important being my acceptance into an elitist sect of Yale graduates, with far-reaching tentacles of power, known as the Mosquito Fleet!

I've also been working on the Polini Cup 'Plan B' Racer. Most of the principal parts are there & I've done the bulk of the frame and part modifications. There's a considerable amount of work remaining before it will be ready for Polini Cup round #3. Brony of the MF has bet me $150 that when his Gilardoni Puch-Rigid is built and Plan B is complete, he will beat me in a road race. It may be premature, but I'd like to Thank Brony for his generous pledge of sponsorship to Team HRY!




The bike so far is a 1980 Vespa Si with:
-Stock rear monoshock
-Polini 63cc top end w' secret sauce
-Custom Induction (ala Simonini 100cc)
-20mm carb
-Polini variator system
-17" rims w' Michelin M29S
-4-petal reed off a minarelli scooter engine
-Random expansion chamber we found laying around
-?? CDI w' internal rotor ?? still working on that



Anyhoo, should be fun. and fast. I need to get this guy into paint so I can start building it up.

I've also got the furnace finally built. I lugged its ass to to the roof of my building and stole some of the propane for the grill to test it out. Thankfully it works. It's much quieter than my previous set-up, and much cleaner. I was able to sort out all the kinks in it's operation and melt a small amount of aluminum. I wasn't able to stop myself from pouring it into my manifold mold I made. It didn't pour very well, I didn't use my fancy chemicals or clean out the dross very well. I'm going to do a much more calculated pour on some test shapes before I pour my cylinder.