Advice Page on how to get the most from Diesel Biking
Royal Enfield Indicators: How to switch over to using LED lights and Flasher unit. I had a problem with bulbs continually breaking. I don't mean blowing here, but the filaments just seemed to drop off. I don't know whether it was poor bulb quality or just vibration but I switched to an all LED setup. But not without some trouble. Firstly I fitted an Combined Rear and Stop LED. No problems. Then I made 4 indicators from many high bright LEDs. When these were fitted the flash rate was all wrong because the internal resistance of the bulbs were different to the old ones. The bi-metalic strip in the flasher needs to have current drawn through it so it will operate properly. I sorted this by fitting large resistors to the backs of my bulbs. But this defeats the object really. Ok so the bulbs didn't blow but I want to save power as well, right? Next I buy an purpose built LED flasher. I fitted this and the indicators worked well. I then removed all those big resistors thinking 'Hey, no bi-metalic strip, no need for these things.' How wrong can I be? I switched on the indicators only to find they came on like Hazzard lights. They all flashed! Hmmm. I studied the wiring scematic and asked a few friends (Nick actually) who pointed me in the right direction. The 2 watt Indicator bulb in the speedo is joined across both sides on the indicator wiring and pulling its earth through the opposite bulb. This doesn't light up the old filiment bulbs as they are unable to get enough current. But. BUT! The LED's don't need much current and will work on this little amount. I removed the speedo and pulled out the 2 watt bulb and Hey Presto! The indicators worked like a dream. This 2 watt bulb was never bright enough for me anyway and I have since added another LED to do this job for me (with diode protection). Hopefully that will help you if you decide to go the same way I did. I'm told many older bikes use this kind of circuit. Unfortunately, it is too old fashioned for the LED! Note: I made the LED indicators because they were expensive to buy. Each one has roughly 14-16 LED's wired as follows. One small current limiting resistor in line with 2 LED's.
1: A Diesel Turbo, unlike it's petrol counterpart, simply forces air into the intake ports increasing performance. Some cars have intercoolers to freeze this air which improves things even better. Something to do with increased Oxygen all round. Diesels love this and because you are getting a bigger bang courtesy of the oxygen you can put less fuel in and still run with the same if not more efficiency. Chipping a modern common rail diesel does this to good effect. 1b: A company from Ireland called Rynhart have come up with a Supercharging device for Hatz Diesels. Of the two types of supercharger, non-positive and positive (displacement), theirs is the latter. Details are hard to come by at the moment. It increases HP from 8 to 14. So worth investigating. Rynhartnow no longer in business :-( 2a: Surprisingly, some non turbo diesels come fitted with air hoses the internal diameter of which is not very wide. Fit some wider pipe so the engine can at least breath easier and while your there, sling out that paper air filter and fit a performance one in its place. Replacement of the filter in my car made a small improvement but changing the pipe was almost a revelation! 2b: Fitting a corrogated air pipe will make a big difference to fuel economy and the resulting effects will not go unnoticed in the power department either. This is a must!! FIT ONE NOW! 3: After much digging on the net and experimentation I have come to the conclusion that Diesel fuel passed through a magnetic field burns far more efficiently than fuel not subjected to magnetic flux. We can argue about this one until the cows come home so I'm just gonna point you to a great site where you can get strong cheap magnets and experiment for yourselves. Fit as many pairs as you can. Look around here for details on how to make your own unit. In my view South pole to South pole works best . Wondermagnet.com 4: If you've fitted magnets and have noticed you now have a few extra horses to hand why not step up the compression by fitting a slightly thinner head gasket? Be warned though, diesels have closer tolerances than their petrol counterparts and we don't want valves slamming into pistons do we? Ouch! 5: I'm told by an oil engineer that Petrol Companies pass oil through tin pipes to put the Cetane level up in diesel and Octane level in petrol. I made a device to duplicate this and hung it in my tank for 8 months. I did this at a time when I was messing with other things - not sensible- and having tried it again can honestly say there does seem to be an improvement. The engine does seem a might better and MPG is better. You can get them here. |
|
|
|
| Tyre
Info: Buying Different Sized Tyres. This information added and made available to all as per the instructions of its originator, Al Crosby. **WARNING** THIS IS
A FIRST DRAFT (THERE MAY BE ERRORS) BUYING DIFFERENT SIZED
TYRES. 80= Aspect Ratio (Height / cross sectional width)*100 An aspect ratio of 70 means the height of the tyre is 70% as high as it is wide. The aspect ratio is related to the Load Carrying capability which is in the next example. The Load Carrying capability is related to the amount of air in the tyre too. H= Speed Rated Code
(H means it is rated for speeds up to 240 Km/hr or KPH for short periods
of time. The Michelin brochure adds that the tires must be normally loaded
and properly inflated as well.) There is also a new
code being used. eg. 205/60R15 82S 205= 205 sectional width in millimetres There are also other coding conventions I did not figure out. Maybe someone from the UK or Germany can add info here. eg. European Metric 155HR13 (Looks the same to me) Alpha Numeric BR80-13 (The B translates to a load capacity) Each Company also
puts on it's own codes such as 4S or +4 for all season or M+S for Mud
and Snow. Easy to get confused here. The air chamber determines
the load capacity and there is a load index associated with the load capacity.
The second number is the load capacity shown in "pounds" below.
The first number is the "index" on the tire using the new code.
If you substitute,
you must find the aspect ratio that matches or exceeds the load capacity
recommended. So here is an example for P215/75R15 to P215/70R15: 6" 6" /]---rim-----[\-------------------
1742 lbs max 1620 lbs max (Diagram not to scale, but you get the idea) Obviously, the air chamber is less and you can not substitute these tyres. If you change the width of the tyre, then the aspect ratiowill also have to change to provide the same amount of air space. In my case, going
from 155/80R13 to 165/75R13 or 175/70R13 does not alter the air space
in the air chamber and these substitutions would be okay. I could not
find a 165/75 tire so this one was out of the running. I also asked the
Toyota dealer on the recommended substitutions. This was a real shock.
I was shown an 1984 list of tires. Remember, I have a 1987 car. I was
also told that "SR" in P155/80SR13 stood for Speed Rating, and
that the 155 was the width of the tread, not the cross section. Do not
believe Point 2: Does it change
the speedometer reading? Yes it does. You calculate the diameter of a
P155/80R13 tyre by: {2 (top & bottom)*[.8*155] + (13"*25.4"/mm)}
= 578.2 mm The circumference of the tyre: Pi*D = 1817.2 mm Changing to
a P175/70R13 means a diameter of 575.2 mm and a circumference of 1807.8
mm Point 3: Will it fit
in the wheel well? In my case the 175/70R13 was recommended by the dealer
and there is still lots of room. I checked the wheel movement full left
and right and I probably could have gone even Point 4: Will I have
to change the rims? In one posting, I was told that you can change +/-
10 mm from the width recommended without changing the rims. I disagree
with this, and +/- 20 mm seems perfectly safe. Remember that my Toyota
dealer even listed the 175 as a substitute. I really do not know at what
increase in cross section is maximum to justify a change of rims.Point
5: This one was generated by me and only one person gave me an answer.
I will now have 175 mm wide tyres on the front and 155mm wide on If you were wondering, I finally bought 175/70R13 82S Michelin X's at $69.99 apiece + GSTax $9.80 + PSTax $11.20 (We have a lot of taxes in Canada!) With $5.00 (+.35 tax) apiece for installation and balancing, plus $1.00 apiece to environmentally dispose of the old tires, the final sum was $173.68 Cdn (93$) Notice I did not talk about tread pattern or Manufacturer at all. Once you figure out what you want, you normally shop around for the best deal. I certainly did not go looking for a particular tread pattern either. (Read the Tire Survey for recommendations) As far as the no. of plys were concerned, I took what they had for the price. I also thought going
wider would stop them from squeeling around corners. They still squeel
but a little less. Maybe it's my driving technique, or maybe it is a Michelin
trademark (??) :-) :-) Ron Bense says: Depending
on which car you have, you can, conceivably,put on 205/50 R15s, with the
proper rims and offset, but you'll chew through front suspension parts
at a faster rate. These are Dennis Henderson says:
Be wary of simple statement such as "higher speed rating means a
better handling tire". H-rated Dunlop Qualifiers HR4s handle *worse*
on dry pavement than T-rated Eagle GTs on my '85 Pontiac 6000STE. H-rated
BF Goodrich Comp-TA HR4s handle *similar* on dry pavement than T-rated
for my'84 Z28. Yes..the Comp is M+S and the Eagle was not. Thus all H-rated
tires are not created Eddie Renoux says: The theory behind narrow tires in the snow is that they will have a higher loading and thus the snow will more easily be spun away sideways as easily. I believe it as my CJ5 has 15" wide tires and is bad in the snow and my wife's Pathfinder has much narrower tires with the same pattern and it is pretty good. I have 185x13 on the front of my Honda and 155x13 on the back. It does not track well on dished pavement (where the tires run in a little gully) as exists between Broomfield and Sheridan on US36. I usually run 165x13 on the front with 155x13 on the back without noticing any bad results (got a great deal on the 185x13s). Eric Lutkin says: Skinny tires work better in the snow because you have more weight per unit area of contact patch with the ground. This factor better enables the tread to push through the snow (assuming a reasonable tread for snow) and actually reach the pavement underneath. Wider tires will tend to snowplane above the pavement. If you'll be driving a lot in snow get a set of narrower rims and skinner tires with slightly higher profile. Steve Romanski says:
The difference (in width) is similiar to an ice skate and a toboggon?
on snow a skate cuts through the snow to the road (thin tire) the sled
rides on top (wide tire). The formula for tire diameter is : ((width)x(aspect
ratio)x(sidewalls))/(mm per inch)+(wheel diameter) Therefore 235/60 14s:
(235mm) x (.6) x The following is my 2 cents on tire classification. Performance tires
are - wide (thicker patch better in corners) - soft (stick to road whether
wet or dry but wear fast) - close tread (more road contact) Snow tires
are - narrow (better to cut through snow) Big Stubbs says: If
you can find versions of your car (P155/80R13) with 175/70, I think they
should work on yours. It's not that drastic of a change (20mm wider).
The 65 series tires are not as standard as 70 or 80, but I think 75 are
pretty common. You might try another dealer. Of course, you might find
that 155/80 are ok, they are cheaper, more efficient, and some say they
give a little better traction on slick surfaces because the weight of
your car is concentrated onto a smaller area. Bigger ones might last a
little longer, and give better Al Crosby All you ever wanted to know about Motor Oil here. The engine Oil Bible here too.
|
|
