How do you write about Harley - Davidson ? When someone cite the watchword " Harley - Davidson " several thing add up to mind :
And , there ’s something else , too – the aureole of Harley - Davidson . Some call itHarley manic disorder . Others refer to it asHarley cultivation . If you ’re having a hard clock time sympathise this concept , just believe this : Every class , hundred of thou of Harley - Davidson enthusiasts meet on towns like Sturgis , S.D. ( August ) , Myrtle Beach , S.C. ( May ) and Daytona Beach , Fla. ( March ) for an entire calendar week of partying and vendor demos . These folks ride their bikes century if not thousands of mile just to participate .
Unlike any other major make of cycle , there ’s a sure something that Harley - Davidsons carry with them . It could simply be the sound of a gravid pentad - similitude engine through unbowed pipes at full throttle valve – this has sure been glamorized in dozens of pic . But we think it ’s more than that . Call itmystiqueif you like . There is definitely something to it .
In this article , you will have a chance to memorize about the Zen of the Harley - Davidson from a HowStuffWorks linear perspective . We will cover the evolution of the locomotive , the current product line and the customization unconscious process . The next time you pull up alongside a Harley - Davidson , you’llseeit in a completely dissimilar manner .
Before you may set about to see the Harley mystique , you ’ll need to have a basic understanding of how motorcycles work .
ÂAt its very simplest , a motorcycle is abicyclewith an railway locomotive . If you go all the way back to the origin of Harley - Davidson Motorcycles in 1903 , a bike is exactly that . The first product Harley - Davidson was a bicycle with a slightly modified physique to make the railway locomotive easier to put on . A leather belt carried the superpower from the locomotive to the rearward wheel . This motorcycle had foot lever , so you could pedal it like a bicycle if you need to . It also had a normal coaster pasture brake in the rearward hub that you could employ with the pedals ( by pedaling rearward ) , just like you would on a normal one - speed cycle today .
That original Harley - Davidson bike had a 24.75 cubic in ( 405 cc ) , single - piston chamber , air - cooled locomotive with an F - question valve form . The engine librate 49 pound .
Today a motorcycle does not really look at all like a bicycle . Both vehicle have two wheels , but that is where the similarity ends . Read on to see about today ’s motorcycle .
A Basic Motorcycle Today
This motorcycle is not a Harley – it is a Harley - like custom bike that ransack a mod motorcycle down to its bare necessity . For example , this motorcycle has an engine and a transmission :
In this case the engine is an 88 cubic - inch ( 1,450 milliliter ) , two - cylinder locomotive engine . The cylinder are arranged in a V configuration with a 45 - grade angle to the V. The railway locomotive usesdry cesspool lubrication , and the outside tank for the oil mounts above the transmission . Exhaust is simply a pair of stainless sword pipes connected to the exhaust porthole of each cylinder . There is nomufflerorcatalytic converterof any kind .
The transmittal model just behind the engine . It is a 6 - speedsequential manual gear box . The engine air its power from the crankshaft to the transmission through aprimary thrust . The powerfulness then moves from the transmission to the rear roulette wheel through thefinal drive , which in this case is a chain as seen in this photo :
All the engine ’s power ends up going to the back wheel .
you could also see the rear disk bracken , as well as the back portion of the frame . In the above photo , as well as the photo below , it ’s obvious that bike frame can be extremely uncomplicated .
The frame is just a few steel tubes bend and welded together . Seethis pagefor pic of several unlike frames . This motorcycle has no rearward hiatus and is therefore call ahard tail .
Thefront fork , the only suspension system constituent on this bike , is located at the front destruction of the motorcycle .
you may see that the front roulette wheel is much smaller than the rear . There is a singledisc brakeat the front . The front fork can squeeze to absorb blow . At the top of the front fork are the handlebars and headlight .
sure as shooting this bike is not as mere as the first Harley - Davidson in 1903 , but it is not super - complicated either . This is minimalist gas - powered transportation . So , how does a Harley compare to this basic - motorcycle ? Let ’s take a look .
What is a Harley?
Here are some of the distinguish characteristics of the locomotive engine :
In 2001 , Harley made what was for it a radical move . A new engine call in theRevolution ™ enginewas introduced , to be used in the upcoming 2002 VSRC . The Revolution is still a Little Phoebe - twin but it has a 60 - arcdegree V , is water - cooled , has 4 overhead camshaft and is high up - revving ( 9,000 rev redline ) .
Beyond the engine , Harley bike themselves have their own flavour and feel . Because of the big engines , Harleys tend to be handsome bikes . The biggest Harleys matter close to a thousand pounds ( 453.6 kilogram ) and tend to incorporateretro styling . We ’ll discuss the new engine in more detail a little later on in this article .
Next , we ’ll learn about the Harley mystique and its distinctive sound .
The Harley Mystique and the Distinctive Sound
In the case of Harley - Davidsons , although some amount of advertising is done , far more of the brand image add up about in other elbow room :
There is no deny that a Harley - Davidsonmotorcyclehas a unequalled sound , especially if themufflershave been remove . The phone is part of the mystique . The reason for the sound has to do with the way the engine is designed .
If you have read the HowStuffWorks articleHow Car Engines Work , then you get it on how a introductory four - strokegasolineengine operates . A piston go through the intake , contraction , combustion and exhaust strokes every two revolutions of the crankshaft . When your lawn mower is tick over , you’re able to hear thepop - papa - papa - popsound of the individual strokes . What you are in reality hear is the audio of the pack together gases in the piston chamber escaping when the exhaust valve open . Eachpopis the sound of theexhaust valve openingone time , and it find on every second revolution of the crankshaft .
In atwo - piston chamber , horizontally contradict engine , the plunger are timed so that one fires on one gyration of the crankshaft and the other fires on the next rotation – so one of the two pistons attack on every revolution of the crankshaft . This seems logical and gives the engine a balanced tone . To create this case of locomotive , the crankshaft has two freestanding pins for the connecting rods from the pistons . The pins are 180 degrees apart from one another .
A Harley engine hastwo Piston . The difference in the Harley locomotive engine is that the crankshaft has onlyone pin , and both plunger rod link to it . This design , flux with the V arrangement of the cylinders , imply that the Walter Piston can not fire at even intervals . Instead of one plunger firing every 360 degrees , a Harley locomotive goes like this :
At idle , you’re able to pick up thepop - popsound follow by a interruption . So the sound of a Harley ispop - pop … pop - dada … pop - soda pop . That is the unique phone of a Harley - Davidson motorcycle .
concord to the Harley - Davidson Archives , Harley ’s name amount first because " it was his drafting , designing and examination that made the first motorcycles ever produced by the young companionship a possibleness . " The men included the hyphen in the name so that it would be clear that the company had two constitute Father , not just one .
Harley Engines
Harley - Davidson seems to work on a all unlike clock , with new locomotive designs arriving every 15 years or so . Between 1936 and 2003 , engine innovation relinquish by Harley represent a unvarying tweaking of the same canonic V - twin , 45 - level , air - cool engine design . In 2001 , Harley liberate its first rightfully new design in a commercial bike , yet it was still a quintuplet - counterpart . If you ignore the first few geezerhood of the society ’s history as a period of experimentation , there really have been only seven major engine revisions during the troupe ’s 100 year being :
The Harley Product Line
Customizing and Aftermarket
Just like people enjoy customizing theircars , citizenry enjoy customize their Harley - Davidson motorcycle . The customizations can be simple , like putting on a dissimilar exhaust system , or they can be radical , like putting on chopper - style forks .
The supplying of parts for customization is called theaftermarket . There are thousands of companies producing aftermarket Harley - Davidson parts .
Over clock time , the Harley aftermarket has grown . Harley - Davidson has help this process by being dense to exchange . The aftermarket now create every exclusive part on a Harley motorcycle in multiple forms : engines , transmissions , frames , forks , brakes , wheels , gas army tank and so on can all be buy in the aftermarket .
What this means is that you may now go to provider , buy all the part you need and forgather , wholly from scratch , your own custom Harley - corresponding machine using off - the - ledge parts . You buy an aftermarket frame , an aftermarket railway locomotive , an aftermarket transmission , and so on . Once you have it all together , you have a something that looks a lot like a " Harley , " but it does not include a single Harley - Davidson part .
An aftermarket supplier likeCyborg Cyclesis typical of the variety of company that can deal you all the parts . Cyborg caters to the build - your - own market . you’re able to also buy completemotorcycle kitsincluding every part you need to assemble a Harley - alike clone yourself . If you have never built a usage motorcycle before , a outfit can take a wad of the guesswork out of the process and improve your chances of succeeder .
you may literally do anything you require in the Harley aftermarket . you’re able to spend anywhere from $ 10,000 to $ 100,000 on a bicycle that has the exact characteristic and " appear " that you want .
To learn more about Harley - Davidson bike and the Harley aftermarket , see the links on the next page .
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