Making a Cushier Cush Drive

[Guest ratchethack]

Cool!

I really want to get a durometer reading on the pucks.

Hydraulic damping could surely result in a great ride, if only if it could be done easily...

We'll research and talk

If only. . .If only. . .

 

"If wishes were horses, then beggars would ride."

 

-- traditional wisdom (O' course, you won't be having any o' that. Fully understood). . .

 

Yes indeed. Hydraulically damped silicone V11 cush drive from a CLASSIC California "garage startup"!

 

Well, look wot happened to those 2 guys Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard who started mucking about in their garage in Palo Alto. Oh yeah, (more traditional wisdom, sorry). . . It took them a couple of years of relentless hard 24/7/365 effort, they were highly trained, highly disciplined engineers from Standford and MIT to start with, and had $538 working capital -- In 1938 that was enough for a whole garage full o' R&D gear. . .

 

Can you FEEEEEEEEL IT, Dave?? A truly collaborative effort is taking shape here -- sparked off by none other than Yours Truly!*

 

 

No rocket science needed here! -- it would appear that helicopter science is now being brought to bear!

 

Never let it be said that I didn't back my most sincere encouragement with ACTION and EFFORT!

 

GREAT BALLS AFIRE! -- leave us get on with it already!!

 

*I refer, of course, to my still open and as yet untapped offer to ACTUALLY GET YOU STARTED on wot you've been whinging on about for 16 pages now -- never having as much as SEEN your own cush drive, by removing those button-head screws for you that you've been "afraid" (your word) to tackle.

 

Again, to summarize THE BENEFITS OF STARTING YOUR JUNK SCIENCE PROJECT TODAY:

 

1. Motorcycle dispatched on-site bolt removal service, transported via smooth, soft-as-a-cloud, reliable and trouble-free, properly maintained with lubrication, decades proven, zero-cost, virtually instant time-to-value, "ventilated" rubber cush drive propulsion!

 

2. Service dispatch made available via reliable (but possibly somewhat subject to scheduling conflicts) on fairly short notice -- AT NO RISK OR OBLIGATION! -- FREE OF CHARGE! -- satisfaction fully guaranteed!

 

I simply LOVE a rousing Junk Science experiment -- especially when it's going to be conducted in someone else's laboratory!

 

D'you have access to film crew coverage? Where's Mel Brooks?!

[dlaing]

D'you have access to film crew coverage? Where's Mel Brooks?!

He is busy arranging for silicone experts for the documentary

We told Mel that he could be executive producer, but we did not tell him that BFG would be the producer and director. I hope Mel is not upset

[Guest ratchethack]

Dave! It would appear that OPPORTUNITY is KNOCKIN' in the bodacious form of a superb pair o' silicone damping technology KNOCKERS, as installed on a "test mule" for startup R&D purposes!

 

My my! Wot many an industrial researcher would give to bring THOSE kind of assets to bear in the development phase. . .

We'll research and talk

Now d'you think ol' Bill and Dave (the aforementioned Garage Entrepeneurs who became "The Sages of Palo Alto") would've generated 16 pages worth of raw speculation with no action?!

 

There's only ONE man who appears poised to make it all happen here and now, Dave.

 

That man is YOU!

 

Countless "chrome-moly-hard" cush drives call out in the wilderness for YOU, Dave! It would seem that many have owners who b'lieve that drilling them, while well-proven for decades, effective, no cost, relatively convenient, and quick -- is an act of barbarism!

 

Will there be a sophisticated, elegant, postmodern solution worthy of the V11 from you??

 

If so, when?!

 

Enquiring minds (well, you know).

[dlaing]

 

That man is YOU!

 

Me? the chronic procrastinator?

I think not, but H8chains is a man of action.

He hates chains you know, and if there is a flaw with the drive system, he has the passion and resolve to remedy it

Pierre and I will be sure to keep him motivated.

But you better take a chill pill because it may be months before I wear out my rear tire.

And I doubt I'll find the ambition before then.

Although tiny particles of rubber do seem to be spinning their way out of the wheel.

Could this be the that indestructible rubber breaking down?

[Guest ratchethack]

Although tiny particles of rubber do seem to be spinning their way out of the wheel.

Could this be the that indestructible rubber breaking down?

Errr, no. That would be more of the same baseless, silly, chaotic, raw speculation that we've seen for 16 pages from someone who's never seen the inside of a V11 cush drive. As far as this Forum is concerned (or any other for that matter), I b'lieve rubber blocks breaking down would be a "first" in recorded V11 cush drive history. You're probably looking at brake dust. If it's rubber, this is garden variety tire wear. [. . .sigh. . .]

 

As has been properly pointed out several times earlier by GuzziJack (who's quite obviously also seen the inside of a big block Guzzi cush drive a time or 2) -- after 7 years of neglect, having never had yours apart for as much as an inspection, let alone proper lubrication, your cush drive may very well be rusted up solid by now, Dave -- having already wreaked years of accumulated unmerciful havoc upon your drive splines (as pointed out by Greg), as well as upon the entire driveline -- to a vastly higher degree of damage than even the undrilled stock rubber blocks would have -- IF they'd been properly maintained by greasing the drive plate collar, that is . . .

 

If this is the case, and it has frozen up with rust (as so very many have), it wouldn't make any difference if there were rubber blocks in there, chrome moly billet blocks, titanium springs with 4-way adjustable viscous damped compression and rebound, silicone hydraulics, sorbothane, urethane with Sil-Cel microballoons, silly putty, Aunt Matilda's peach pudding, or nothing at all -- because it wouldn't be getting any flex movement wotsoever, regardless!!!!

[docc]

 

Although tiny particles of rubber do seem to be spinning their way out of the wheel.

Could this be the that indestructible rubber breaking down?

Mine had that same appearance. It looks to be balled up dirty grease since the rubber was unmarred on the inside.

[Greg Field]

Sixteen pages! Nice work, fellas!

[dlaing]

You're probably looking at brake dust. If it's rubber, this is garden variety tire wear. [. . .sigh. . .]

Yah, following the garden variety reverse centrifugal force

I suppose it could be grease as Docc suggested.

I switched to Mobil Synthetic grease recently.

I guess it could turn from ruby red to coal black and dry out a bit.

Maybe it has graphite of molybdenum in it and it spins its way out.

It is somewhat greasy and looks an almost like mixture of graphite powder and oil.

Could also be the thin oil of the grease separating out with centrifugal force and then picking up tire(as you suggested), brake and road dust

[OldButNotDead]

Sixteen pages! Nice work, fellas!

 

Proud papa!

 

I well may have missed it, but I don't recall any references in all those pages to the fact that this is a documented "Guzziology" procedure. Odd no?

[Greg Field]

Not so odd. Not all that's in Guzziology began there . . .

[belfastguzzi]

Proud papa!

 

I well may have missed it, but I don't recall any references in all those pages to the fact that this is a documented "Guzziology" procedure. Odd no?

The G-ology reference was extensively discussed in (at least) one of the previous threads on this subject. I think there's mention of that somewhere in the first one or two pages in this thread here(?). Don't be having the idea that there are ONLY 16 pages on the Forum, debating this. No, no, fascinatingly no.

[OldButNotDead]

The G-ology reference was extensively discussed in (at least) one of the previous threads on this subject. I think there's mention of that somewhere in the first one or two pages in this thread here(?). Don't be having the idea that there are ONLY 16 pages on the Forum, debating this. No, no, fascinatingly no.

 

Thank you for pointing this out BlfstGzi. I unfortunately have a full-time job, which keeps me occupied more than I'd like, and often prevents me from appreciating the full scope, depth, and tone of board content, particular for the back end of these technical topics. I'm just pleased to be able to nip in now and then - to help keep a battered and bruised thread going. Now it's back to the Hooters for me.

[belfastguzzi]

I unfortunately have a full-time job

Well, I don't know if this is a lame excuse or just excessive boasting. Either way, you need to give yourself a good talking to, pull your socks up and seriously consider how to re-align your priorities.

 

Job or no job: these threads march relentlessly on. Can you afford to be left behind?

[Guest h8chains]

Cool!

I really want to get a durometer reading on the pucks.

Hydraulic damping could surely result in a great ride, if only if it could be done easily...

We'll research and talk

 

Next time someone has one sitting around, send it over. I can check the hardness and chart the force/deflection property. If we know the force it sees at hard acceleration, I can get our compounder to give me the right rubber and mold them as prototypes. We have everything but the mold. There's plenty of uncured but catalyzed rubber that we throw away daily. Maybe, just for the heck of it, I can ask one of the engineers to do a stress and simulation analysis.

 

An aluminum mold is cheap and easy to make, no reason we can't produce the right stuff.

[dlaing]

I suppose we could pull half the accelleration and half the deceleration pucks out, replace them with plasticene and see how much they compress.

We can then determine how much force they must endure and design something that will compress optimally within the given range.