Saturday, April 8, 2023

Seems Complicated

 


10 comments:

  1. Well, one thing is for certain, you don't have to worry about the timing belt breaking!

    Probably noisy as hell and a lot of parasitic power losses, though. But once the timing is set, it is fricking set!

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    1. Well lubricated gears with minimal backlash can have less parasitic power loss than a drive chain.

      Desmodromic valves prevent valve float, and thus maintain power output, at high rpm's.

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    2. I don't think Benelli ever used a desmodromic valve setup. Ducati is the most famous user of desmodromic valves and the Mercedes racers of the mid-50s used them as well.

      The Ferrari Enzo V12 uses gears to drive the cams as have Honda racing engines for both motorcycles and F1 cars. Straight cut gears are much noisier than a chain but more reliable at high speeds. A chain or belt is pulled off the sprockets by centrifugal force (which increases as a square of velocity) so there must be a robust tensioner system.
      Al_in_Ottawa

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  2. Really? That's better than a timing chain? Do all those gears act like a bunch of mini fly wheels? Did they die early, violently?
    Hell. they may have been great motors, just complicated, noisy and maintenance heavy, or not.
    It's fascinating.

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  3. Well, it IS an Italian Bike :-)

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    1. and even Tony must labor to fix it again!

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  4. Gear shifter on the right, . . .the way it should be, . . .

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  5. Would be cool if the cover was clear so you could watch.

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  6. All you need is a centrifugal clutch like on an old school mini bike.

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