Harley 105th! - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

bennelson · 08-29-2008, 07:48 PM

As you may or may not know, this weekend is the Harley-Davidson 105th anniversary party.

Where I live on the far western outskirts of the greater Milwaukee area, it's pretty hard NOT to notice. Lots of rumbling engines everywhere these last couple days.

The is a pretty big Harley dealership about 6 miles from my house. So, I took my non-engine, not-loud, not a Harley over there for some fun.

The best part was getting the cycle up on the dynometer (and NOT getting charged for it!)

Hundreds of motorcycles there, and only one electric. Every person I talked to thought it was a great project, keep up the good work, etc.

Maybe I can stop out there again tommorow and have the "Bar-Stool Racing Girls" pose with my cycle.

How about you? Anyone else see any alternative motorcycles at a Harley event?

More photos at:
http://gallery.me.com/benhdvideoguy#100274

In case you were wondering, the dyno said that I have a 12HP engine. The print-out didn't list torque. The guy said that I can do some math to calculate it, but I think he is referring to math that applies to gas engines, not DC motors.

dcb · 08-29-2008, 08:33 PM

That looks like fun

Quote:

Originally Posted by bennelson

the dyno said that I have a 12HP engine. The print-out didn't list torque.

Did it give the mph at 12hp?

bennelson · 08-29-2008, 08:54 PM

12 HP was right from the start. Then it did a long downward slope, while slowing down.

I think that with the gas cycles, they rev up the engine before they start reading data. If not, their horsepower charts must start down low, then spike up as the engine is revved. I have seen charts of gas vs electric torque, and they are opposites of each other.

The chart reads HP from bottom to top, and time, from left to right.

The time units goes from zero to 12. I think it may have been a 12 second test.

The guy ran the speed up really fast, and then progressively slowed down. Then he did the whole thing again.

When other cycles ran on there, they were LOUD!!! When mine ran on there, it just sounded like a big cordless drill. One guy was on a cell phone, he said "hey listen to this" and held the phone pointed towards my cycle for the guy on the other end to hear.

bgd73 · 08-29-2008, 09:35 PM

I like seeing the trikes with a boxer. vw and old subes (the "little" 3 main boxers). they are 106 this year coincidentally...

1902 nesselsdorf: 5.9 liter

I like your electric bike. I believed in true engineering and despise the harleys and stereotypes.

jamesqf · 09-02-2008, 01:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bennelson

As you may or may not know, this weekend is the Harley-Davidson 105th anniversary party.

A hundred and five years now, and they STILL haven't figured out how to make a muffler :-(

dcb · 09-02-2008, 06:35 AM

It is a strange claim to fame, and the dementedly excessive noise on some of the bikes is possibly going to bring the boom down on ALL aftermarket exhaust systems.

Law enforcement has to do something, but I don't think everyone is going to be happy with what they come up with.

PhotoEnforced.com: "sound cameras"

Daox · 09-02-2008, 03:15 PM

Do you have the dyno chart Ben? I'd be interested in seeing it. The calculation for HP is universal. Horsepower = torque * rpm / 5252.

bennelson · 09-02-2008, 07:57 PM

Here are images of the chart.

Can we figure more information off this? It doesn't state speed.

I can tell you that the operator always took the cycle up to top speed, then slowly brought the speed back down.

The red and the blue lines each indicate a different run. They do the test twice. I guess just to compare the two, make sure nothing was an odd fluke.