An Average Indian Biker!

Hi Guys,

In the western countries, cars are part of everyday living and motor bikes are highly powerful and they are part of luxurious living. But in India and some of the Asian countries, cars are luxury (which is changing over the past few years) and bikes form a part of everyday living.

This has led to the fact that most of the leading bike manufacturers in the world are Indians. Whether it maybe Hero Motocorp or TVS motors or Bajaj Auto, the understanding of Indian market and delivering affordable products for the mass middle income group has led India to the leading users of motor bikes in the world.

So, what defines an average Indian Biker? Some of the youngsters may prefer zipping past in the highways and accelerating heavily in the narrow lanes of their city. But an average Indian biker has lot of preferences and it is ultimately reflected in the bike market.

One important factor an average Indian biker will look forward is the mileage that the bike will provide. With the increasing fuel rate, the money that one needs to spend on the fuel keeps increasing. Advertise that your bike has got a good mileage and next day and surely people will start enquiring about your bike. This is one big factor why the 100 CC bikes like Splendor plus and Discover are the fastest moving ones.

Most of the 100 CC bikes are classified as starting segment bikes. Apart from mileage the other factors that lead to the increase in bike sales are the lower cost factor, less weight and value for money. As the bikes have lower power engine, obviously they will be the lower costing bikes too and the less power leads to lower weight and all the factors will lead to a observation that ‘This bike is worth the money I spend’

As I said earlier, people who buy bikes for fun and thrill are less compared to the people who buy bikes to travel to offices, shops and other daily routines. So, most of the travel occurs within the city. Any Indian would know what an average Indian Road would give its riders. Narrow lanes, cross roads, potholes and heavy traffic. So, virtually buying a higher power bike for the standard Indian roads will lead to excessive braking and reduce the mileage. It will also lead to a state where you will have very good features but you will not be able to use it. Places where heavy traffic occurs and movement occurs inch-by-inch, bikes offer you a luxury that cars won’t. You can zip past the cars in a narrow place available. You will be able to escape the signal more easily.

Of late, a change in trend has been setting in slowly. The average Indian road conditions have improved. At least the main roads have got better infrastructure and we need not brake as frequently as we did earlier. This has lead to the freedom of accelerating as per our wish to a certain extent. This has resulted in an increase in creation and sales of sportier bikes like Pulsars, Apaches and Fazers. The higher spending power and the thought of thrill among the younger people have also boosted the sales of these bikes despite the higher cost and lower mileage factors.

Choose a college and enquire the guys about the bikes they have got and you will be able to find that most of the guys will own the more than 150 CC bikes. They have the nerves for thrill and also most of the colleges are located on highways which have led to the freedom of zipping past the other vehicles.

The mindset of an average Indian biker is changing slowly. Cars are no longer a thing of luxury and thus people who think of the safety factor and have higher spending capacity have moved to cars. So, the number of people who have started to get sportier bikes are also on an increase. In my view it won’t be a big surprise if the power of engines keeps increasing and if 125 CC or 150 CC becomes a standard sometime in the future.

My biggest worry is the safety of the riders. Some of the youngsters consider the thrill, but forget the dangers. Many of the accidents occur due to the higher speed and absence of helmet. The ethics of the Indian riders must improve. Considering the thrill in riding bikes is not a problem, but the reluctance to obey road rules and wear helmet are serious problems. Hope the average Indian biker becomes more mature in the future ahead!

Happy Reading!!!

P.S: This post is written for ‘The Power 1 Biker Code of India’ contest sponsored by Castrol Biking. Indibloggers who like my post can vote by visiting my post at thecontest page.

Bike lovers and enthusiasts can visit the Castrol Biking page on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/CastrolBiking

Interesting Info on Petrol and Diesel engines

Hi Guys,

I have been thinking of writing a post based on multiple topics, but I have been largely hit by the vast power cuts that have decreased the time I spend in front of computer.

Recently I have been discussing topics related to petrol (gasoline) and diesel engine with my friends. So, I thought of sharing some common questions and answers that may arise.

Please note that this post is not for mechanical or automobile engineering guys. Still, you may find some interesting info here.

1. What is the difference between a petrol and diesel engine?

Basically Petrol engines are spark ignition engines, whereas Diesel engines are Compression Ignition engines.

Petrol engines have carburetors to suck the fuel. The fuel is atomized (or vaporized) and is mixed with air. The air helps the fuel to burn. The air fuel mixture is let inside the cylinder, where it is burned by introducing a spark by means of spark igniter or spark plug. Thus they get the name Spark Ignition or SI engines.

Diesel engines don’t have carburetors, instead they have fuel injectors. Fuel Injectors inject fuel and supply it directly to the cylinder where burning occurs. Diesel Engines don’t have spark plugs. The compression ratio of diesel engine is more and also the auto ignition temperature of diesel is less than that of petrol. So, due to the compression, high pressure and temperature is created which burns the fuel. This is the principle of working of diesel engines and hence they have got the name Compression Ignition or CI engines.

2. Why do motor bikes have petrol engines and not diesel engines?

Some of the older model bikes had diesel engines. Diesel engines are bulky in nature. Carburetors are small, whereas fuel injectors are large and they have to be more accurate for proper functioning. Moreover higher compression ratio means higher vibration. Starting CI engines is quite difficult and particularly it’s hard during cold weather. So, diesel engines are not used in bikes.

3. What happens when diesel is used in petrol engines and vice versa?

Petrol has higher auto ignition temperature and it won’t burn at the compression ratio of a diesel engine without external help. So, the engine won’t run. Whereas when you use diesel in petrol engine, it’s dangerous. Diesel burns with more power and it may damage the engine partly or completely.

4. Why are diesel engine cars more expensive than petrol engine cars? Which is better to buy?

The components of diesel engine are expensive. As said earlier, they have to be manufactured with higher accuracy. Diesel engines have more components compared to petrol engines. This increases the total cost of the vehicle. The taxes imposed on diesel engine cars are also high.

On a long run and continuous usage diesel engine cars end up being cheap. This also depends on a lot of factors like the initial price difference the cars, cost of the fuel (currently petrol prices are increasing, but diesel prices are flat due to the extensive usage), cost of maintenance (diesel engines have higher maintenance costs), mileage, resale value and usage.

Also petrol engine cars are smoother to drive. You may have experienced it earlier. Bikes or petrol engine vehicles have lesser vibration whereas diesel engine vehicles such as buses have more vibration. This is due to the higher compression ratio of diesel engine. Hence the parts will be worn out soon too. With today’s technology the vibration effects are decreasing day by day.

5. Why is petrol red in color, whereas diesel yellowish in color?

Interestingly both the fuels have nearly the same color, except that petrol is dyed red in order to differentiate it from diesel. The color depends on countries, though it is mostly red. In some countries like South Africa, green color is used for unleaded petrol whereas red is used for leaded petrol.

That’s what I remember right now. If you have questions related to this or any other suggestions, please post in the comment section below.

Happy Reading!!!

Working of Turbochargers!

Hi Guys,

After a long time, I’m going to write a technical article. It is going to be a long series of articles related with Mechanical Engineering. My aim is that by reading these posts, common people should be able to learn something. So, let me write about Turbochargers today.

PC Game Freaks must have come across this word, while playing race games such as Need for Speed. Well, what is Turbocharger? Turbocharger is a device used to boost up the engine performance. It was earlier used in race cars, but these days it has become too common.

Before looking into Turbochargers, let us see the basics of a four stroke engine. It is the engine used in almost all automobiles today. It has got the name as the working consists of 4 strokes namely Intake, Compression, Power and Exhaust.

In Intake Stroke compressed air and gasoline are in taken (only compressed air in case of diesel engines). In Compression stroke, this mixture is compressed and during compression spark plug is ignited (in case of diesel engines, diesel is sucked in and the high pressure is enough for auto ignition). In Power stroke, due to the blast power is produced and the gases expand. In the Exhaust stroke, the waste gases are sent out.

Generally the efficiency of a gasoline engine is around 35-40%. One of the easy ways of increasing the efficiency is by increasing the air flow. All of us know about the candle light experiment. Burn a candle and place it inside a close container. It will blow off when there is no oxygen. Imagine a bigger container. It will glow for some more time. Similarly if there is no air, then some fuel will be left unburned. So, by increasing the air in taken or by increasing the air pressure, we can increase the efficiency.

Schematic Diagram of a Turbocharger

The technique is simple. Keep a turbine in the exhaust of the engine. So the exhaust gases hit the turbine. The turbine shaft is connected to the intake compressor shaft. So the exhaust air forces the compressor to spin faster and thus the pressure of the intake air is increased. Thus the power produced is increased. The increase in efficiency depends on lot of factors like size of turbochargers, though an increase of 30-40% can be expected.

Let us see another interesting topic next time.


Reference: 
Turbochargers - How Stuff Works
Forced Air and the Future - The Auto Rules

Happy Reading!!!

Automobile Videos - 3

Hi Guys,

(preceded by Automobile Videos -2)

This week was a wonderful one for me. I was having nearly no academic works and was hence able to concentrate on lot of other things. It was a great learning week for me. Can’t believe it is Saturday already.

Correction

In the Automobile Videos -2 post, I mentioned that steering work by using the rack and pinion arrangement. It is one of the types of steering. There are many type of steering. Another major type of steering is ‘Recirculating ball steering’. Click the below links to know more about Steering.

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/steering.htm

http://www.indiacar.com/infobank/skg_articles/sept05/fundamentals.asp

Turbochargers

Turbochargers are devices used to upsurge the efficiency of an automobile engine. To increase the efficiency, the amount of fuel burnt or the amount of air in taken must be increased. Enlarging the cylinder size is one option, but it is not feasible in most of the cases. So we use turbochargers. They are kept in the exhaust manifold of the engine. Turbochargers use a turbine, which is spun by the exhaust gases. So the turbine generates wind and is supplied to the cylinders. This is the principle of turbocharger.

It is particularly very useful in case of hilly regions as the amount of oxygen reduces with altitude (so does the pressure). At these places, the turbochargers make sure that the engine functions properly. The video will explain the things more clearly.

Mercedes Benz 4matic Technology

When you think of Mercedes Benz, you will be just awestruck. Generally, the power generated in an engine will be transmitted to the rear axle (back wheels) through the differential. Certain vehicles transmit a little amount of power to the front axle (using another differential known as auxiliary differential).

Mercedes Benz has introduced a concept called 4matic technology. They use an electronic chip in the differential and this pre-programmed chip governs the power transmitted to all the four wheels. Generally 60% power is transmitted to the rear axle and the remaining 40% is transmitted to the front axle. If the road is bumpy at a certain place, then the chip locks the particular wheel alone. This means there will be a lot of safety to the passengers. Watch the video and you will be mesmerized.

With this I finish the Automobile Videos sequence temporarily.

Happy Reading!!!

Automobile Videos - 2

Hi Guys,

This is the continuation of Automobile Videos -1 post.

Working of Catalytic Converter

First, what is catalytic converter? Catalytic converter is a device kept in the exhaust pipe of Automobiles. Basically automobile exhaust consists of gases like Sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide and oxides of nitrogen along with some unburned fuel. If these gases are let out into the atmosphere, pollution will increase enormously. So, we use catalytic converters to control the emission. They basically consist of minute matrix shaped structures made of platinum and rhodium or platinum and palladium. They act as catalysts and convert the harmful gases into nearly harmless gases. One drawback is that they work only at high temperatures and hence, they are activated only after traveling for 6 miles.

Check the video to know more detailed information and a superb animation of the process.

Working of Power Steering

Rack and Pinion

In the earlier days, it used to be hard for the drivers to steer a vehicle. Even for a small turn, they needed to apply a lot of effort. But, driving has become very comfortable after the advent to power steering. Steering is generally based on a rack and pinion arrangement. Whenever the steering wheel is turned the pinion moves on the rack and the wheel is turned. The difference between a normal steering and a power steering is that, in normal steering driver has to apply all the force required to turn, but in a power steering he is helped by the hydraulic force.  Refer the video for getting a clear cut view. A car racer explains the principle of power steering.

(To be continued…)

Happy Reading!!!

Automobile Videos - 1

Hi Guys,

I was just seeing some videos about various technologies used in automobiles. Started with things in my syllabus and later went into things. They were just wonderful. I will post the videos in the next couple of posts along with explanations.

Note: The 1^st video is more technical and the 2^nd video is more general. But both the videos are suitable for all.

How Differential Works?

First, differential is a device used in automobiles to control the speed of the rear wheels particularly during turning. Power generated in the engine is transmitted through clutch, gearbox and propeller shaft. From propeller shaft, the differential divides the power equally to both the wheels. When the vehicle turns left, the left wheel should turn a shorter distance and right wheel should cover a larger distance. Differential takes care of it.

The concept is difficult to understand. Chevrolet has released a wonderful video explaining the working of differential using steel bars. This 1930 video is still used to explain the working of differential. See the video and you will understand.

Aerodynamics of Aeroplanes, Cars

I’ve heard of Aerodynamic effects on automobiles, but never in such a way. The effect of Aerodynamics is same, but the way it is used in Aeroplanes, cars and racing cars are different. In Aeroplanes, it is used for the flight. In cars, Aerodynamics needs to be controlled to keep the car on land and in racing cars, to speed the cars. Can’t explain the things in words, the 10 minute video from Audi will explain better. If you play car racing games, you will know the use of Spoilers.

(To be continued…)

Happy Reading!!!

Interesting Automobile Videos from YouTube

Hi Guys,

In this post, I'll be attaching some interesting videos related with automobile.
I came across these videos in YouTube last week.

Henry Ford's Assembly Line concept

How an Engine Works- A video from How Stuff Works

Ford Engine's Animation

How clutches work- A video from Howstuff works

Manufacturing of a Marine Engine at Caterpillar

Happy Viewing!!!