stevecook172001 wrote:And I built a diesel motorbike a few years back
Diesel water pump engine by any chance? Did the same with an old BSA Bantam and a bit of lateral thinking. Started it on parafin that went in an oil tank off a Royal Enfield then diesel when warm.
I rebuilt a Honda 100 motorcycle (2-stroke) when a teenager which was fun, and I'm generally good at fixing things if following instructions. The internet makes this much easier.
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The problem with modern stuff is it's not designed to be fixed. Apples's new Mac Pro for instance, or sealed mobile phones. What's needed is a law favoring easy-repairability.
Maybe though, as cash gets tighter new repair shops will open, and people will prefer items which can be more easily fixed and/or upgraded.
stevecook172001 wrote:And I built a diesel motorbike a few years back
Diesel water pump engine by any chance? Did the same with an old BSA Bantam and a bit of lateral thinking. Started it on parafin that went in an oil tank off a Royal Enfield then diesel when warm.
Fantastic fuel consumption but slow!
Standard air-cooled Yanmar Chinese clone 6hp stationary engine of the type typically found in concrete mixers etc. I used a CVT lashed on the side of it for an automatic transmission. It was a bit interesting "accelerating" using such a transmission system. But it was fine one you got used to it. What it excelled at was maintaining a given speed under any change in angle of terrain. This was where the CVT really came into its own. Top-end of only about 45mph, but it did about 180 mpg and it could, as mentioned maintain 45 mph up a bloody wall if necessary. I could have lifted the top-end with some sprocket changes, but it would have no doubt pulled the mpg down, which was the main purpose of the exercise. I used an Enfield bullet as the host bike.
For fuel, I used diesel in the winter and a mix of diesel and veg oil in the summer. At the height of summer, it was mostly veg oil. Truth was, though, you could stick just about anything in it (such as old engine oil) and it would fire as long a it was mixed with a bit of diesel.
Does PS do meetups? I thought of a hilarious idea of everyone playing a zombie roleplaying game called All Flesh Must Be Eaten, as themselves, set in the UK. My money, given a zombie apocalypse, would be that Steve Cook, Adam2 or Lord Beria would be the last man standing from the PS board. Lord Beria is Russian so probably has black-market access to some decent weaponry, but is a bit soft from his desk job. Adam2 has the killer instinct but is only armed with a crossbow and double barreled shotgun. Steve Cook, armed with his axe and built like a thug, can still compete vs zombies in melee, and can McGuyver himself out of problems involving supply scarcities.
Atman wrote:Does PS do meetups? I thought of a hilarious idea of everyone playing a zombie roleplaying game called All Flesh Must Be Eaten, as themselves, set in the UK. My money, given a zombie apocalypse, would be that Steve Cook, Adam2 or Lord Beria would be the last man standing from the PS board. Lord Beria is Russian so probably has black-market access to some decent weaponry, but is a bit soft from his desk job. Adam2 has the killer instinct but is only armed with a crossbow and double barreled shotgun. Steve Cook, armed with his axe and built like a thug, can still compete vs zombies in melee, and can McGuyver himself out of problems involving supply scarcities.
I once built a pipe gun when I was lad hunting with my mate. It worked as well. Surprisingly simple to make.......
Mine would have won no beauty prizes either. You beat me on fuel consumption as I went for a (bit) more speed. Did the paraffin start because I'm lazy and it had a left side kick-start, I just had to remember to switch it over a couple of minutes before stopping.
Fantastic fun, it was still on the go until a couple of years ago as my mate's farm runabout when the frame started rusting through and it was reduced for spares
I experience pleasure and pains, and pursue goals in service of them, so I cannot reasonably deny the right of other sentient agents to do the same - Steven Pinker
