Recumbent Honda 90

[godscountry]

Decopods,built by Randy Grubb out in Oregon,USA Randy Grubb - The Blastolene Indy Special, Jay Leno Tank Car, Decopods and Decoliner

[Ironside]

Hi everyone, just returned from a trip to Belgium and France on the 'Dreamliner'.
The bike went well, although fuel consumption was a little disappointing, more of that later.
Stability with the storm strip was better than expected, no worse than conventional fairings see :-
:-http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/introduction-cross-wind-solutions-motorcycle-streamliners-28298-14.html?nojs=1#links

Comfort is good enough for 200 miles without stopping, and top speed is in excess of 70 mph. (downhill), just a little short of 70 on the flat but will cruise at 60 – 65 all day.

I had one little ‘off’ at 20mph. on an oil covered roundabout, no real damage apart from a scratched fairing and grazed elbow. I attribute this to the low seat height (less distance to fall), and a certain amount of protection offered by the fairing.



Getting back to the fuel consumption, I filled up on the way home having covered 1050 miles and used 8.5 gallons, giving a shade over 123 mpg. , nowhere near my personal best of 160 mpg. I believe this is partly due to carb settings. I was reluctant to use the alternative carb needle and jetting for such a long trip as I had no time to tune and test properly before setting off, the most economical setting caused a ‘flat spot’ at quarter throttle. More work to be done in this area.

Ironside.

[sendler]

Originally Posted by Ironside

giving a shade over 123 mpg.

Imperial gallons? 102.5 mpgUS. Just a shade better than a stock PCX150.
.

[renault_megane_dci]

None.

FI would boost power over an utterly small carb which would have been there in the first place to enhance low speed operation, something bike engine don't seem to worry too any extent ...

A 125 idles around 1500 rpm as a reminder ...

[Ironside]

Imperial gallons? 102.5 mpgUS. Just a shade better than a stock PCX150.

Yup, as I said, disappointing. In my defence I will say that the motor is probably past its best, it is now 30 years old with an unknown history and by the looks of it has never been apart. Also I doubt whether the PCX would have kept up the speeds I was maintaining for much of the journey (the Honda 200 couldn't).

In retrospect, the Innova with FI would have been a better donor vehicle in many ways, and if the right donor shows up I may start again. A lot of hours have been put into achieving a comfortable and very useable tourer on a very small budget, with little effort as yet in making it economical.
For me, improving the economy would be the icing on the cake.

I'm not finished yet, after much searching, another motor has been located, and is being delivered this Friday. The plan is to rebuild it, and look into the feasability of fitting an Innova or similar fuel injector. At first glance it would seem to be fairly straightforward, as the all the electronic gubbings are incorporated into the unit, a fuel pump, lambda sensor, oil temparature and ignition input are the only external components needed (I think).

If anyone has any experience in this field, a little advice or guidance would be appreciated.

Onwards and upwards !
Ironside.

[PeterS]

Fuel efficiency will do, I suppose a slightly larger capacity engine will be required for more power.

[PeterS]

Ironside, could you keep us posted about your FI adventures ? It could prove very helpful.

[P-hack]

Originally Posted by Ironside

the Innova with FI would have been a better donor vehicle in many ways, ...

Well there is a small engine fuel injection kit for like $400:
Small Engine Fuel Injection Kit - Small Engine EFI conversion kit

Don't know if anyone has experimented with it or if it is in the budget.

Edit: well some folks are having success w/it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6UrFiyuTRE

[renault_megane_dci]

Ironside, I understand your bike redlines downhill somewhere around 75mph and probably around 9K and that you were usually around 65 which sounds very much like 8K so the engine might have been used in waste mode.
My point is that streamlining works better if at all with a big gear reduction to cruise a little below peak torque with the throttle at 75% and basically no potential for extra acceleration unless dropping a gear.

But hey, my bike is on hold with a seized rod so what do I know ?

[PeterS]

At this point it would be good to see a power curve for a CT110, I've looked but haven't found one. It would be a good idea to match the horse power required at a particular speed to the power produced so changing down would result in sufficient power for acceleration.