Harley-Davidson Announces Electric Motorcycle
- Thread starter MarlaDesat
- Start date
I support anything that puts more pure electric vehicles on the road, even if it is a niche amount of them. It's another step in the right direction in my eyes.
Im not 100% but sound was due to a mechanical mistake, and they can fix the loud noise. But it sounded great so they left it. All these silent vehicles on the road isnt good, wonder if road deaths will sky rocket?Souplex said:
It's not a mechanical mistake, it's the very nature of the beast. The narrow (less than 90 degree) V-twin engine will, by the very nature of geometry, fight itself. Because the V is so narrow, the pistons will be fighting each other. The motion of the pistons are not always in unison, and there will be a point in the engine's 4-stroke cycle where the pistons are actually pulling on the crankshaft in different directions. It's this inefficiency that robs the engine of power and fuel efficiency, while also giving it the distinctive shake and exhaust note.SonOfVoorhees said:
Now by their nature, Harley's have to be like this. Other motorcycle companies have built cruisers with 90 degree V engines (such as the Honda Magna and the Yamaha Virago and V-Max) to gain greater power, efficiency, and reliability. Others motorcycles actually have better engines, but purposely alter the position of the pistons on the crankshaft to cause a slight amount of rumble on purpose. The most recent series of Triumph parallel-twin engines does this, they offset the crankshaft from a perfectly balanced 180, purposely sacrificing power and efficiency for the sake of sound.
But you don't need a terrible engine to make it loud, just listen to any sport-bike with an aftermarket exhaust. Nor should you rely on sound to save you. If the person isn't paying enough attention to see you, what are the chances they are paying enough attention to hear you? You're best defense as a rider is always your own awareness and maneuverability. Which is ironic, considering the 'loud pipes save lives' crowd always seem to be the ones most likely to not be wearing a helmet anyways...
Case in point, here is an animation of a narrow V-twin engine. As you can see, because both pistons are attacked to the same position on the crankshaft, the motion of the pistons is not in perfect unison. The don't work perfectly opposite of one another, rather both pistons are coming down and going up at almost the same time; and it's that slight offset that creates the excessive engine vibration and exhaust note that cruisers are known for.
Now compare that to an inline 4 cylinder, as seen in many sport-bikes and cars. The 4 pistons are in perfect unison, with 2 going down while the other 2 go up in perfect synchronization. Just looking at the motions of the pistons alone, it's like looking at the motion of someone skipping or trotting versus someone running.
