Posted on 08/16/2005 7:17:57 AM PDT by yankeedame
There is no denying that a Harley-Davidson motorcycle has a unique sound, especially if the mufflers have been removed! Even with the mufflers on, however, it sounds different from other motorcycles. The reason for the sound has to do with the way the engine is designed. If you have read the HowStuffWorks article How Car Engines Work, then you know how a basic four-stroke gasoline engine operates. A piston goes through the intake, compression, combustion and exhaust strokes every two revolutions of the crankshaft. When your lawn mower is idling, you can hear the pop-pop-pop-pop sound of the individual strokes. What you are actually hearing is the sound of the compressed gases in the cylinder escaping when the exhaust valve opens. Each pop is the sound of the exhaust valve opening one time, and it happens on every second revolution of the crankshaft.
In a two-cylinder, horizontally opposed engine, the pistons are timed so that one fires on one revolution of the crankshaft and the other fires on the next revolution -- so one of the two pistons fires on every revolution of the crankshaft. This seems logical and gives the engine a balanced feeling. To create this type of engine, the crankshaft has two separate pins for the connecting rods from the pistons. The pins are 180 degrees apart from one another.
A Harley engine has two pistons. The difference in the Harley engine is that the crankshaft has only one pin, and both pistons connect to it. This design, combined with the V arrangement of the cylinders, means that the pistons cannot fire at even intervals. Instead of one piston firing every 360 degrees, a Harley engine goes like this:
A piston fires.
The next piston fires at 315 degrees.
There is a 405-degree gap.
A piston fires.
The next piston fires at 315 degrees.
There is a 405-degree gap.
And the cycle continues.
At idle, you can hear the pop-pop sound followed by a pause. So its sound is pop-pop...pop-pop...pop-pop. That is the unique sound you hear!
I'm still having trouble getting used to the clutch and the rev. sweet spot.
Oh yeah!
kutarump! Kutarump! Kutarump!
The Monster 620 has to be the polar opposite of the Concours. Did you keep the Kawi or send it down the road?
I've been told the rocking couple vibration can get fairly strong on the Desmo with the revs up. Any truth to that?
No shared parts with SV1000.
The new SV650 is 10mm longer, 5mm narrower, wheelbase is 10mm shorter, ground clearance is 10mm higher, seat height is 5mm lower, weight is the same, fuel capacity is the same, tire size is the same, as my '01 SV650.
The new SV650 come with better suspension: Front: Telescopic, coil spring, oil damped, fully adjustable preload, Rear: Link-type, 7-way adjustable spring preload, the new SV has Fuel Injection, as opposed to twin Mikuni BDSR39 carbs on my bike.
I've installed a Works Performance rear shock and Gold Seal emulators in the front forks, also a G-Pack ignition module, after mkt aluminum handlebars and a Renegade muffler, rear tire skin and bobbed the licence plate holder, shortened the turn signal stalks, etc. ;)
Everyone should have a motorcycle!
LOL!!
Sold the Concours, I was tired of hossing it around on my gravel drive and my ride is mostly commuting.
Yeah Blackie but you never got it. :).
Just kidding, but you'll be interested to know that I ride with now 3 guys in a Dallas XL group that have traded their SV's in on Sportsters.
Blah blah blah blah....
Hello, I am a dual firing coil. I fire both plugs at the same time becaue I'm stupid. I have a sybling who fires each plug independtly and nobody can notice the difference.
I sold my hopped up 1200cc Sportster and purchased the SV650, it meets my needs better; it's quicker, handles better, stops better and sounds better.
I've owned 22+ motorcycles since I got out of the Navy in '48 and the SV650 is the most fun bike of all of them.
Tell you three buddies to enjoy their new Sportsters, they're good rides.
Ain't it great that there are so many different motorcycles to choose from ~ life is good! ;)
Yep, it's a quick little machine, I kind of like it. I'm still considering a Kawasaki Nomad as an addition to my sportster. The Nomad is just a much, much better touring machine than the Sportster. It just happens that the Nomad, egonomically, fits me better than the comparable Harley, the Road King.
The Sportster is still the king of the commuter bikes in my opinion. As a jack of all trades, daily ride, none better.
Yea I'm a desmo gear head :)
Yea your sled would be like an RV driving around a go-cart track. Entertaining, but not quite the way you want to be entertained.
:)
It's a combination of the single-pin crank, the angle of the V, and the single carb.
Ducs and Guzzis have a 90 degree V and a carb for each cylinder, and sound very different.
Of course, you're a biker and already knew that. :-P
See post #34.
Weirdest sounding and fastest motorcycle ever.
Turbine-like whine up to 7k rpm and then it sounds like a formula 1 car. I kinda like it.
Even though I'm addicted to Desmo twins, there's a bike based on a Harley that I'd LOVE...
Mert Lawwill builds these beauties that he calls "Street Trackers." He starts with the bottom end of a Sportster 1200, and that's about all he keeps! The only twin I'd take over this one would be a mid-70's Ducati 900 Super Sport.
Mark
You should check out "Harley Day" at Keith Code's California Superbike School! No kidding, he has them! It's wild to watch...
Mark
However, I wish to bury the hatchet, and push rod, with you.
Two weeks ago I met a scrawny old guy in Lancaster, CA (wretched place). He was made out of beef jerky, oil and denim.
He rolled up to the Chevron on an old black knuckle-head chopper, suicide shifter and all. Flat black, primer and a bit of a 'rat-bike'.
He held the door open for me. I asked him where he was heading and he said "Pismo Beach, It's too damned hot here!" we chuckled and I wished him well on his ride.
As he was filling up, I started worrying about the old boy--like if he broke down on that old ride out there. Then I spotted his tool roll and assorted parts....
At that moment, I 'got it': The ol' boy would fix the old bike on the side of the road like he always has. It was a part of the adventure. Total self-sufficiency.
So, I hope some of that spirit lives on amidst the accountants and lawyers trailering their Road Kings to Sturgis.
Hell, my new bike doesn't start up so much as boot up--and I dearly love it.
For my own part, I can't bust on Harley riders after that. Well, maybe some of them... ;)
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