April 20, 2015

            Today was fun. We have officially created two functional motorized bicycles. I cannot express the feeling of success and accomplishment after riding the two bikes next to each other. We had another full day, but the research done today could not have been ore fun. Patrick has helped us out a ton during this project and it felt sad to leave his garage knowing that I will not be there the next morning to work on a bike or help him out with a car.

            Our day began at Patrick’s garage to mix the fuel and oil and to get the gas bike running. The process took a little longer than I anticipated. I was expecting us to poor in the oil and gas, turn it on, and then leave for Piedmont Park. Campbell and I did fill up the tank and have the oil, but that was not our only step to the process. After we finally poured in the mixture, we fired her up. I took the first ride. It was rough. I peddled the bike up to the appropriate speed and released the clutch. It jolted, but I am not sure if the motor was on. I peddled faster to help out the engine and it began working. The throttle was not giving it more gas so we had to adjust the idle speed. The second run done by Campbell was much smoother. We were able to adjust the carburetor and adjusted everything we needed to. It kicks.

            Campbell and I made our way over to the park to learn that the bikes cannot be ridden in the park. The electric could get away with it, but the gas powered motor is simply too loud.  We decided to ride on the sidewalk, street, and in some neighborhoods. It was a ton of fun. I was riding the gas-powered motor and it flew. The bike vibrates intensely, but does not throw me off. As fun as it is, it is hard to handle the clutch, being able to react when you should pull it in, lock it, and/or release it. This makes it a little bit dangerous. Our effort, blood, sweat, and tears have all paid off. They purr. Tomorrow we will be running more test, trying to clock speeds and running other efficiency tests. Hopefully it will be as fun as today was.