audio-talk

pre65 wrote: ↑Fri Sep 25, 2020 2:49 pm

steve s wrote: ↑Fri Sep 25, 2020 2:15 pm only hope I can cope with the orange paint.

Orange paint eh ?

Probably not a KTM, wild guess would be a Royal Enfield 650 Interceptor with Orange crush paint.

Ktm was a good guess Phil , it's a 790 duke. I was really impressed by the test ride, even 2 up it felt very good, and powerfull, all for the same weight as a 70s 250 honda superdream.
Looking forwards to getting it.

steve s wrote: ↑Fri Sep 25, 2020 7:35 pm

Nick wrote: ↑Fri Sep 25, 2020 3:18 pm Wasn't your Laverda orange?

Still got that nick, the 1st 1200's where blue or red, mines a blue one. I could do to get it back on the road as it now tax and mot free

Ok, It was the Jota that was orange if I remember?

Nick wrote: ↑Fri Sep 25, 2020 9:07 pm

steve s wrote: ↑Fri Sep 25, 2020 7:35 pm

Nick wrote: ↑Fri Sep 25, 2020 3:18 pm Wasn't your Laverda orange?

Still got that nick, the 1st 1200's where blue or red, mines a blue one. I could do to get it back on the road as it now tax and mot free

Ok, It was the Jota that was orange if I remember?

That's spot on Nick, mines a mirage, the first few where mixed red & blue, after a few months they decided the mirage's would all be green. It's a big lump with close to 130mph on tap, not bad in the 70s

Yep, Laverda 130mph capability but never reached by the user because of vibration so I am given to understand. It was a dream machine for me back in the 70’s. Before that I wanted a Commando but after these both I discovered Ducati. Shame I couldn’t afford one of those either.

KTM Duke 790 looks and I expect performs really cool. The agility of an old but good 250 is significant. However, the future is electric.

Something like this but probably better and a bit cheaper. Give it time. https://www.zeromotorcycles.com/model/zero-srf

I once had a 650 ariel huntmaster,( bsa gold flash), that did vibrate quite badly greg, as did a honda superdream I had in the 90s, but the laverda is quite a bike, its tall, heavy and a handful. But I've revved it through the gears way past the redline where it pulls like a train. 10k and had it up to 95 ish and it still very comfortable and ive not noticed any intrusive vibes, I've always thought of it as a vintage bike with modern performance, which is no bad thing,
I've always been puzzled about the reports of 1200 vibes I read about
Maybe I've got a realitive realitive smoothy ?

I think your right the future looks to be electric, but in my view not the present as far as bikes and me are concerned, the ktm's a weekend toy, paying nearly 3 times the price to save £100 a year in fuel is not something I'd do at present, but who knows in a few years how things will change, an average day out on a bike was 90 to 120 miles so I'm in the right 'place' for electric ownership, a sidecar full of batteries would increase range.. mike ?
3 or 4 years ago diesel cars looked to be on the way out according to the press, But theres still plenty being registered and seen on the roads.i think most of us are awaiting better technology with regard to battery and charging, and prices more in line with ic powered vehicles.
For me at least the immediate future is bright... and orange... and petrol powered

In preparation for a full winter of commuting on the cheap Chinese 125....


Phwooooaaarrrr, nice warm digits.


That 'intelligent controller' is a surprise. The last set of Hot Grips I installed on an Indian built 125cc Honda back in 2011 used 3 wires, + and - across the battery and a separate ignition derived +12V to turn the controller on so you didn't accidentally leave them on when you're parked up. I sold that bike a few years ago thinking "bah, I'm never working up in London again and don't need a commuter bike anymore ....".

FF to 2020, Doh!

This new type of controller only uses 2 wires, just a direct (fused) connection across the battery. It senses when the voltage across the battery is varying (like in normal use being charged) and the grips will function normally and heat up.

When you park up, you don't have to turn them they off, the controller goes into 'Battery Saving Mode' (BSM) and when it senses no noise/charging pulses across the battery automatically shuts the current off to the grips. Clever. It really does work. On 'BSM' standby mode current draw is 71uA, yup, 71 micro not milli Amps.

Cor! Modern electronics are ace.

Dave the bass wrote: ↑Sun Sep 27, 2020 8:16 pm In preparation for a full winter of commuting...

Ya big wus...

Ray P wrote: ↑Mon Sep 28, 2020 6:26 pm

Dave the bass wrote: ↑Sun Sep 27, 2020 8:16 pm In preparation for a full winter of commuting...

Ya big wus...

Big warm wus....

Dont blame you Dave, I've got them on my new bike, not that I'll be doing any winter comuting on it..
Being retired and all that
My brother has the oxford ones on his bike, says they are great.

I never got round to heated grips, i just had summer and winter gloves. Although the winter gloves made it somewhat difficult to feel the clutch and brake levers. Or turn off the ignition. Or use the lights and indicators. They were a pain in the arse at night because they were so thick that they used to catch the headlight switch on the honda when going for the dip beam and id inadvertently plunge myself into darkness. Usually on a fast unlit country road. Had some brown trouser moments doing that.....

Dave the bass wrote: ↑Mon Sep 28, 2020 7:26 pm

Ray P wrote: ↑Mon Sep 28, 2020 6:26 pm

Dave the bass wrote: ↑Sun Sep 27, 2020 8:16 pm In preparation for a full winter of commuting...

Ya big wus...

Big warm wus....

I got cheap plastic handguards on the Ural, they do help, I was surprised. Ditto the legshields, just take the edge off the icy blast, but best of all cut down the spray if wet, which if really bad can be like having 2 people one on each side, holding a hosepipe each spraying your feet and legs

Just watching motorcycle racing from Olivers Mount in Scarborough. (ITV4 +1)

Talk about hair raising.

Must go there one day.

This is (and has been) an ongoing project, a rectifier and regulator combo for the Bantam. I had boards made thinking others might be able to use it too. But I'm still umming and ahrring over the circuit – this one is more like the original, I'm trying to get more gain. The regulator is a simple shunt type, it just loads the output of the generator to keep the Voltage down to sensible levels. The Wipac generator output Voltage is typically stupidly high without enough load (it's just coils on a stator), hence it's fairly common knowledge that Bantam's have a reputation for keep blowing bulbs. Ideally leave the headlamp on all the time, however even then when the dipswitch is thrown the rear bulb can blow during that brief instant that neither headlamp filament is in circuit. This is common knowledge too! The battery lighting variation isn't too bad as there's a separate low-power charging coil, then the high power coils which are only switched in for the headlight; the low-power winding is connected all the time and the battery can have some control over the Voltage. The AC lighting only version however (no battery) can be a nightmare, as it's only got the 2 higher power lighting coils. One common tactic is to use a 12V bulb for the rear light, which has a better chance of surviving.

The first board I put together is very simple, a MOSFET with a resistor divider, it works but I'd like a sharper 'knee' at the point where it begins conducting if possible.

The video is mildly interesting, if nothing else it show how I typically work these days. The soldering gun is a Weller Expert 8200D that I bought while still at school, and it still works. Pretty much 99% of everything I've ever soldered, over the decades, has been with this.

This board isn't tested yet, was going to do that today but feeling too rough.

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Why not use a series reg? Does it matter how high the input voltage goes if the device can stand it?