|
|
| Author |
Message |
| Teflon-Mike |
This post is not being displayed .
|
Teflon-Mike
tl;dr
Joined: 01 Jun 2010
Karma :  
|
 Posted: 22:12 - 14 Feb 2012  Post subject: NYLON Sprockets |
 |
|
Was looking at a couple posts asking about C&S kits; reminded me of a magazine article I read, PROBABLY thirty years ago, vaunting a new innovation; NYLON SPROCKETS.
Article vaunted that the complient nylon, offered advantages over a steel sprocket, acting like a cush drive, eliminating some drive line harshness and snatch. Went on that they lasted longer than steel too, as although they weren't as hard as steel, the complience in them meant that as the chain wore and stretched, the rollers didn't grind the teeth as much, as they could deform to take up the changing clerance. It went on singing their praises, including being lighter than aluminium, and the benefits to unsprung mass, and predicting that they would soon be adopted by all the major manufacturers, etc etc etc.....
I NEVER heard of them again!
Never saw one in real life, or spoke to any-one who had even had a bike with one fitted....
So, idle curiocity........ WHAT HAPPENED to them?
Any one know?
And what of any other interesting or novel innovations that have come and gone without note? Any-one got any similar stories?
____________________
My Webby'Tef's-tQ, loads of stuff about my bikes, my Land-Rovers, and the stuff I do with them!
Current Bikes:'Honda VF1000F' ;'CB750F2N' ;'CB125TD ( 6 3 of em!)'; 'Montesa Cota 248'. Learner FAQ's:= 'U want to Ride a Motorbike! Where Do U start?' |
|
| Back to top |
   |
You must be logged in to rate posts |
|
 |
| Suntan Sid |
This post is not being displayed .
|
Suntan Sid
World Chat Champion
Joined: 07 May 2009
Karma : 
|
| Posted: 22:24 - 14 Feb 2012 Post subject: |
|
|
The only thing that springs to mind is the "Sidewinder" sidecar. 
Basically a beer tray with a wheel attached to it, at the time, (must have been the 80's), it was supposed to allow you to circumvent the learner laws.
They seemed to be quite popular in the bike magazines of the time, but I never actually saw one in the flesh. For some reason a photo of one attached to an LC sticks in my mind, probably a pic in MCN or BIKE.
____________________
"Everybody needs money, that's why they call it money!"  |
|
| Back to top |
 |
You must be logged in to rate posts |
|
|
| Nick 50 |
This post is not being displayed .
|
Nick 50
World Chat Champion
Joined: 24 Jul 2011
Karma :
|
| Posted: 22:31 - 14 Feb 2012 Post subject: |
|
|
I can well imagine that Nylon Sprockets failed the public perception test, especially decades ago.
I could envisage a day when sprockets and chains are made from ultra-strong composites.
Found the Patent for it though:
https://www.freepatentsonline.com/4078445.pdf
Not sure what happened to it though............
____________________
Current Bikes: ZX7r 97 (Black Beauty), VFR400 NC24 (The banana)
Previous Bikes: Aprilia Tuono 03 (The Beast), CBR600f (97)
First bike: A GZ125 Lemon....... |
|
| Back to top |
| |
You must be logged in to rate posts |
|
|
| Fisty |
This post is not being displayed .
|
Fisty
Super Spammer
Joined: 11 Apr 2007
Karma : 
|
| Posted: 22:34 - 14 Feb 2012 Post subject: |
|
|
I one saw an R1 with 4 discs on the front 2 side by side on each side, huge calipers with 3 sets of pads in each. I think it was on test for Fast bikes or similar. Looked stupid and heavy.
Never saw or heard of it again.
Like this.
https://bestmotoreview.info/images/beringer4disc.jpg
____________________
Quietly and consistently taking the piss.
TL1000R | Hayabusa | ZXR400 | TL1000S | Bandit 400 V
Fatter and faster than Fret |
|
| Back to top |
| |
You must be logged in to rate posts |
|
|
| sickpup |
This post is not being displayed .
|
sickpup
Old Timer
Joined: 21 Apr 2004
Karma : 
|
|
| Back to top |
| |
You must be logged in to rate posts |
|
|
| Kickstart |
This post is not being displayed .
|
Kickstart
The Oracle
Joined: 04 Feb 2002
Karma : 
|
|
| Back to top |
| |
You must be logged in to rate posts |
|
|
| jimspeed |
This post is not being displayed .
|
jimspeed
World Chat Champion
Joined: 05 Mar 2010
Karma :
|
| Posted: 00:03 - 15 Feb 2012 Post subject: |
|
|
In fairness lots of engine parts are now a form of nylon, I stripped my generator engine down to repair it and found that the cam lobes were nylon along with the oil pump but I just don't think nylon sprockets would like the shockloading of decent power bike for long.
LDV vans sometimes had plastic leaf springs too 
I remember at collage 14 years ago they were telling us that the japs had already made a plastic engine and that spark plugs would be built as part of the piston and head by now 
____________________
Hyosung cruise 125(passed test on, sold) Kawasaki el 252 (better than expected but sold on) Kawasaki GPZ500S first "big"bike.(sold) ZZR600 E5..Z750 2007,ER5, currently on a 2008 Enfield bullet electra x and loving it..
,"Alpha-9: Is there any correlation between dyno rod and dyno kits?" |
|
| Back to top |
| |
You must be logged in to rate posts |
|
|
| Teflon-Mike |
This post is not being displayed .
|
Teflon-Mike
tl;dr
Joined: 01 Jun 2010
Karma :
|
| Posted: 00:27 - 15 Feb 2012 Post subject: |
|
|
| Suntan Sid wrote: | The only thing that springs to mind is the "Sidewinder" sidecar. |
THAT I do remember seeing!
There was a lad in Stratford, had one on a CB900FII, on L's, back in 1983!
| Kickstart wrote: | Carbon crankcases? Virtually no expansion with heat. And no sign of anyone talking about them in decades.
And a fair few things that have only managed to make production in tiny quantities. Hub centre steering. Rim mounted brake disks. Direct fuel injection 2 strokes. |
Hub Centre steering is one of those memorable ones that has come and gone, come back, gone away again, and 'sort' of made it into seriel production in the Tesi
Remember about the same time as the nylon sprocket, vaunting of rim-discs by AP-Lockeed. Had cause to pay attention to them.
Had a friend who was an apprentice technician at AP in Leamington at the time, & raced a TZ2/350 in clubby.... yes, the days when we would be swapping barrels in the paddock between races so he could compete in both classes! (after scrutineers had made a ho-ha about people 'forgetting' to swap them for the 250 heats!)
They were playing around with carbon-fibre both for discs and pads; must have been as early as 82/83 - ish.... And I recall that they were tried on the Heron Suzuki's....
Heron, as in the oil company that Sponsored team that Barry Sheene raced for, was actually based in Stratford.... Middle of the medieval, half timbered tudor town, swarming with American Tourists all wanting to look at Shakespear's birthplace and see 'olde-english' architecture...... they had a 1960's concrete 'block'..... on stilts!?! Caused quite a controversy, selling the Harry Weslake 'High Efficiency' twin swirl combustion chanber licence to both Suzuki (TSCC) and Morini (the 'Heron' head)...but i detract!
Steve managed to sneak some of the experimental pads past security and fitted them to his TZ.... the experiment was NOT a great success!
But I dont recall any of the teams taking them up for GP, and they weren't seen again until Beull 're-invented' them.
A LOT of innovation of that era was 'lost' when the 'Big-Four' got all corporate and 'NIVING'... 'if Its Not InVented here - It's No Good"...
And where they HAD been getting lots of chassis and braking technology and inspiration from european racers and specials builders... about 1984 just KILLED all of it over night!
Heron Suzuki had been experimenting with aluminium honey-comb frames, and Galini-Suzuki had gone one further and were skinning Ali-Comb in Carbon, but after a decade of making the square four RG motor available to privateers, they decided to keep the RGV-4 all 'in-house', and created a conventional aluminium spar frame round it for the GP Campaign headed by Kevin Schwantz.
Rumor has it, that Galini had been given a prototype RGV engine and built a CF-Frame around it, before Suzuki pulled the plug on them, and from that frame and a pair of RGV crank-cases Suzuki had not demanded back, or simply not been given, the Carbon Cagiva GP bike Mamola show-boated was created!
On the topic of Carbon Crank Cases: Read a trade article about 1988 on the 'all ceramic engine'... I think it was Dihatsu that built an entirely 'non-metalic' engine, & recall it was a three cylinder turbo-charged engine, that blurb claimed had not a single metal part; not a nut, bolt, or ball bearing!
Seen ceramic coatings become common, and heard of entirely ceramic manifolds on Turbo's engines, but adoption of 'advanced' materials in engines doesn't seem to have got much further than Aluminium, does it?!
ANYWAY... so my memory ISN'T playin tricks on me, the Nylon Sprockets DID exist! It wasn't an April fools Joke, or an illusion of my ailing memory then! Going to follow links and see!
____________________
My Webby'Tef's-tQ, loads of stuff about my bikes, my Land-Rovers, and the stuff I do with them!
Current Bikes:'Honda VF1000F' ;'CB750F2N' ;'CB125TD ( 6 3 of em!)'; 'Montesa Cota 248'. Learner FAQ's:= 'U want to Ride a Motorbike! Where Do U start?' |
|
| Back to top |
| |
You must be logged in to rate posts |
|
|
| Kickstart |
This post is not being displayed .
|
Kickstart
The Oracle
Joined: 04 Feb 2002
Karma :
|
|
| Back to top |
| |
You must be logged in to rate posts |
|
|
| Pete. |
This post is not being displayed .
|
Pete.
Super Spammer
Joined: 22 Aug 2006
Karma : 
|
| Posted: 00:58 - 15 Feb 2012 Post subject: |
|
|
My dad built a sidewinder for a lad with a GPz900 I think, had it on L-plates.
Re: Nylon sprockets - I can't see the teeth being strong enough. Added to that is the fact that it's hygroscopic and draws moisture in from the atmosphere, which plasticises it and reduces the strength.
Acetal would be better for the application but still not nearly strong enough. Here is a gear I made from acetal last year.
____________________
a.k.a 'Geri'
132.9mph off and walked away. Gear is good, gear is good, gear is very very good  |
|
| Back to top |
| |
You must be logged in to rate posts |
|
|
| Fizzer Thou |
This post is not being displayed .
|
Fizzer Thou
World Chat Champion
Joined: 06 Aug 2011
Karma :
|
| Posted: 01:26 - 15 Feb 2012 Post subject: |
|
|
I had 'Zytel' nylon sprockets on my 750/836 special back in the 1980s.I bought four over from the USA - two for my bike and two for my brothers GS1000S.All were standard and -3 sizes.I used my ones for the Isle of Man TT in 1983 and 1990,went to Assen for the Dutch TT in 1982 and 1984 with absolutely no issues whatsoever.
But my brother had a big problem when he used a worn and stretched chain and wondered why the teeth were torn from the main part.
As long as the rear wheel was kept properly aligned there was no problem with them.
They just did not take too kindly to extreme heat 
____________________
Just talk bikes.What else is there?
Always have a 'Plan B' |
|
| Back to top |
| |
You must be logged in to rate posts |
|
|
| Frost |
This post is not being displayed .
|
Frost
World Chat Champion
Joined: 26 May 2004
Karma :
|
|
| Back to top |
| |
You must be logged in to rate posts |
|
 |
Old Thread Alert!
The last post was made 14 years, 227 days ago. Instead of replying here, would creating a new thread be more useful? |
 |
|
|
Help & FAQs
Search BCF
Members
Groups
Events Calendar
rating
rating