Original Source: Reasons Why Bajaj Boxer 150 Did Not Succeed as Expected from BikeAdvice.in

What is the difference between doing things right (efficiency) and doing the right things (Effectiveness)? In order to launch a successful product or to make a successful company, effectiveness and efficiency are required to be out in place together. If you are effective but not efficient, there is a chance that efficient competitor will follow your strategy and will take on you. On the contrary if you’re efficient but not effective, the effective competitor will take on you. In Indian two wheeler industry, we have example of two such companies – Hero Moto Corp and Bajaj Auto. Bajaj Auto, a company which operates at 20% EBITDA margin is the highest so far in the industry. It is the most efficient company in the two wheeler space. Hero Moto Corp which sells half a million units every month, 6 million units in a year, highest in the two wheeler industry and it is world’s largest two wheeler company. It is one of the most effective companies in two wheeler industry.

Hero Motocorp has a strong foothold in the rural India. It commands very large pie of rural two wheeler sales. Nearly half of the company’s sale comes from rural part of the country. What more to say Hero MotoCorp.’s rural sale is more than Bajaj Auto’s total domestic sale. If you want to challenge Hero Motocorp., you need to have a strong rural motorcycle. Bajaj Auto realized this fact sometime ago and launched the Boxer 150cc (Bharat Motorcycle) on 26th August 2011.

A purpose built rural motorcycle which sports a 150cc engine, torque of 12 Nm, wider tyres, larger seat which can accommodate three people and a price tag of around INR 42,000 ex-showroom Delhi. The motorcycle fetched the company a business of 10,0000 units a month in the initial two months; however the volumes were down by almost 7,000 units for last two, three months. This is a very big disappointment considering the brand ‘Boxer’, which was leader in its segment before it was discontinued way back in the year 2004 for the Indian market. So what is wrong with Boxer 150cc (Bharat Motorcycle)? Why it is not able to clock sustainable larger amount of volumes? Let’s have a closer look at some of the reasons.

Soft Marketing

How many people are aware that Boxer 150cc is launched? Certainly, not a large number of people know that Boxer 150cc is in the market even after nearly 6 months of its launch. This is a reason of soft marketing. Boxer 150cc did not get the enough push on the marketing front. It is to be understood that this is a rural motorcycle and needs to be marketed in a different manner. However, Bajaj Auto did not do any effective rural marketing campaign to provide enough ground for Boxer 150cc to take on the competition. Even the Bajaj Auto website does not have Boxer displayed anywhere. If I’m not wrong, there is no such TV commercial featuring the Boxer 150cc and even if it is there I am not aware about it (Another example for too much of soft launch) I did search for a video and I got the below one which is enough to show the power of Boxer 150cc.

Bajaj Auto could have made a TV commercial highlighting the unique features of Boxer 150cc and could have shown it on Doordarshan which has largest reach even in remote villages. You can take example of Hero Motocorp.’s rural marketing campaign Har Gaon, Har aangon (Hindi for Every village, Every Home) under which Hero Honda dealers met Sarpanches, Headmasters, aanganwadi workers who influence buyer’s decision in rural segment to sell Hero Motocorp motorcycles. This is the campaign which has given Hero Motocorp a strong foothold in rural India. By far this is a marketing practice for rural India, which is more effective than the TV commercial as rural sales drive more through Word Of Mouth publicity than advertising.

Brand Positioning

Bajaj Auto re-launched the Boxer in 150cc avatar. This can also be a reason for lower sales. It would have been an easy job to start with a 100cc motorcycle in rural segment but Bajaj Auto chose 150cc to differentiate it from others. Now a 150cc can work inversely if the market is not prepared. The 100cc motorcycle accounts a very large pie or of total rural sales in India. Bajaj Auto could have gone with 100cc Boxer first which would have helped the product to establish itself. Once the brand establishes itself they could have launched 150cc version as a part of its brand extension.

We can also take an example of Discover brand which started with 100cc version and then extended to 150cc and 125cc. Today, around half of the Discover brand sales come from 125cc and 150cc versions. The brand would not have been that much successful, if it would have started with 150cc version first. Further, when you go for differentiation strategy you always need to have strong marketing practices highlighting the differentiation points. It helps the product or service to establish itself as differentiation strategy is mostly targeted to niche segment. As we can see Boxer had very soft launch which resulted in lower brand awareness to target market.

Bajaj Auto also has Platina in 100cc entry level segment, however this is an urban brand and Boxer is a rural brand. Hence, there were very lower chances of brand cannibalization (“When two brands in the same product line, offered by same player target same market segment and compete with each other by eating away the market share without adding any value to the marketer.”) here if Bajaj Auto could have launched 100cc Boxer. It is also to be noted that 100cc version of Boxer was successful in India and currently it is successful when it comes to the export market too.

High Price, Low Fuel Efficiency and Low Dealer Margins

Boxer is the cheapest 150cc motorcycle available in the Indian market. However it is still 20% more expensive compared to basic 100cc motorcycle like CD-Dawn. Further due to 150cc version it also has lower level of fuel efficiency. The rural India is extremely conscious about the fuel efficiency; hence it might be a cause of having lower sales. It also has lower dealer margins compared to other brands like Discover and Pulsar which makes the dealers more interested in selling Discover and Pulsar brand compared to the Boxer brand.

Corrective Actions

As far as the product is concerned, the 5-6 month old owners are well satisfied with the composition of power and fuel efficiency offered by Boxer 150cc, so there are no such major changes required when it comes to the product front. As far as marketing strategy is concerned, the company has now started a marketing campaign in around 16,000 villages. In the new campaign, the company is showcasing Boxer 150cc on demo van and offering customers a test ride thorough which one can have a ride experience of the Boxer 150cc. However, what have been missed is having large customer base in initial stage. If this would have been done in the initial stage, the company might have had more customers aware about the brand and its features which are capable of generating positive word of mouth publicity, thereby ensuring sustainable sales for the future.

Conclusion

Having the right marketing strategy is an equally important factor with having a right product. Boxer 150cc (Bharat motorcycle) might be the right product for rural India but it has not been backed by a right marketing strategy. Bajaj Auto considers Pulsar as its centre of gravity. However, it should not ignore the other market opportunities which come with Boxer brand. Rural India has lots of potential of growth and it is still in nascent stage. We may see rapid urbanization in the coming years but still Rural India’s growth will outpace urban India growth as far as two wheelers and more specifically motorcycle is concerned. Further, Boxer is also equally profitable (20% EBITDA) and commands brand premium in Africa despite the fact that it is an entry level motorcycle and operates in highly price sensitive market. Boxer has always helped Bajaj Auto be it the time from transformation of scooter manufacturer to
motorcycle manufacture since the year 2008-09 when Bajaj Auto’s sales tapered drastically. It is one of the fastest growing brands in export market. Hope the new marketing campaign will help Boxer 150cc to establish itself in the Indian market.

- Mahvair Kothari

Disclaimer for article: The Views or Opinions in the article are entirely mine unless explicitly stated. The Views and Opinions published in this article should in no way be related to any other person or organization associated directly or indirectly with me.

Original Source: Knock – A Hidden Peril For Engine from BikeAdvice.in

Generally, knock has been recognized as particular kind of sound comes out from engine at the time of sudden acceleration. But majority people don’t know about the exact particularity of this sound. Moreover, they are also unaware about the source from where this sound comes out in the engine. Another rumour about knock is its relation with sudden acceleration and sudden retardation. Knock is not at all a result of acceleration or retardation. One more blunder I heard from a mechanic was very shocking. He said “knocking does not take place in single cylinder engine”. It’s totally erroneous though accepted by many mechanics and never treated seriously in private as well as authorised service stations.

No doubt, “particular kind of sound from the engine” is the definition of knock but it’s not precise and complete. Strictly speaking, knocking is a phenomenon that can be defined as spontaneous ignition or autoignition of fresh charge in the cylinder at various pin-point locations. Autoignition is possible when any fuel reaches to its self ignition temperature by any means of heat.

Mechanism of Knock

Above diagram shows the normal combustion process. For easy understanding, let us assume that the spark plug is located in the centre of the cylinder. This is visible in both the views of combustion chamber in above diagram. A first flame front is generated with the help of spark. The flame front travels across the combustion chamber from top to bottom and from centre to cylinder walls. This pass through of flame front is shown by orange shades.

The advancing flame front compresses the unburned charges shown by blue colour. Simultaneously, temperature of this unburned fresh charge also increases because of compression as well as heat transfer from burned charge. If the temperature of this unburned charge had not reached its self ignition temperature, the charge would not autoignite and the flame will advance further. Finally all the charge will ignite and process converted in to normal complete combustion.

Now suppose, somehow the unburned charge reaches to its self ignition temperature and also has sufficient time to ignite itself. The same case is illustrated in above diagram. The unburned blue coloured fresh charge starts self ignition because of temperature rise. At this moment, two different sparks take place in the cylinder but obviously at different instant. Because of this autoignition, another flame front starts travelling in the opposite direction to the main flame front. When the two flame fronts collide, a severe pressure pulse is generated. This instant but huge disturbance can force the walls of the combustion chamber to vibrate and produces direct blow on the engine structure. This blow is sufficient enough to generate a thudding sound which a human ear can detect. Only because of this thudding sound, it is known as “Knocking”.

Effect of Knocking

The impact of knock on the engine components and structure can cause engine failure. Below photo shows effect of knocking on piston structure.

In addition, the noise from engine vibration is always objectionable. The pressure difference in the combustion chamber causes the gas to vibrate and scrub the chamber walls causing increased loss of heat to the coolant. Fuel consumption of engine increases drastically as heat energy is lost during knocking. The same reason also affects the power output which is observable at the time of acceleration.

Factors Affecting Knock

From the above discussion on knock, it may be seen that four major factors are involved in either producing or preventing knock. These are the temperature, pressure, density of the unburned charge and the time factors.

Temperature factor includes inlet temperature of the mixture and temperature of the combustion chamber walls. Increase in inlet temperature of the mixture makes the charge more vaporized than the required at the end of compression. This increases the tendency of knocking. Temperature of the combustion chamber walls plays a predominant role in knocking. In order to prevent knocking the hot spot in the combustion chamber should be avoided. Since, the spark plug and exhaust valve are two hottest parts in the combustion chamber; they mostly converted in to sources of autoignition after a long run. Furthermore, most of the two wheelers use air cooling which is not at all efficient to cool these two hottest parts. This is the main reason because of which a single cylinder engine could also have knocking problem.

Pressure factor includes the final pressure of fresh charge that it can reach after completion of compression stroke. Obviously, high pressure again converted in to high temperature factor and boosts the knocking process. No doubt, pressure factor is not at possible to control externally. It depends only on design parameters of engine.

Density factor comprises mass of inducted charge and fuel-air ratio. A reduction in the mass of the inducted charge into the cylinder of an engine by throttling reduces both temperature and density of the charge at the time of ignition. This decreases the tendency of knocking.

The flame speeds are affected by fuel-air ratio. Also the flame temperature and reaction time are different for different fuel-air ratios. So tendency of fresh charge to reach up to its self ignition temperature directly depends on the composition of that charge. As the carburettor or injection systems are the only responsible components for fuel-air ratios, it is advisable to keep them cleaned and tuned to avoid knocking.

Time factors consist of engine speed and spark timing. An increase in engine speed increases the turbulence of the mixture considerably resulting in increased flame speed, and reduces the time available for preflame reactions. Hence knocking tendency is reduced at higher speed. Adversely, prolonged high speed increases working temperature of engine and increases amount of hot spots, so prolonged and constant high speed should be avoided to minimize the knocking. Wrong spark timing always leads to incomplete combustion. This incomplete combustion can be possible either as pre-ignition or post-ignition. Both these incomplete combustion increases knocking tendency.

Miscellaneous factors include location of spark plug and octane value of the fuel. In order to have a minimum flame travel, the spark plug is located at proper place in the combustion chamber. DTSI, DTS-SI and now three spark plugs (Pulsar 200) are few of the examples where efforts have been made to reduce flame travel by igniting the fresh charge from different locations, of course in proper manner. High octane fuel has the higher self ignition temperature and low preflame reactivity which reduces the tendency of knocking.

How to Recognize Knock

Following are some symptoms which can help to identify the knock.

• Metallic sound in harmony with engine firing
• Sound comes out after long running
• Sound disappears at idle speed
• Drastic drop in fuel efficiency
• Drop in power output
• Engine run with high temperature and noise

It is very true that one has to develop some skills to identify the particular sound of knock. Many videos are available on youtube where you can have idea about knock sound and you can save your engine by identifying the knock in preliminary stage. I hope this will be useful to you all in future. Waiting for your valuable comments.

Regards,
Dhruv Panchal

Original Source: Suzuki GSR 750 Preview from BikeAdvice.in

We already have gone through a showcase of one more street warrior during coverage of Autoexpo 2012. It’s a 750 cc macho machine from Japanese manufacturer SUZUKI.

GSR 750 was launched by the SUZUKI during mid of 2011 for the global market. Suzuki is mostly known for marvellous technologies used in GSX-R and Hayabusa. Few of technologies from GSX are now incorporated in new GSR 750 for better street performance. Let us have a brief journey through some changes those have included on new GSR.

Engine

Refined 750 cc engine used in GSR uses twin throttle valve for better charging efficiency and produces more power like GSX-R. Suzuki has now used exhaust tuning system in GSR which works with servo operated butter fly valve. This system helps to maintain scavenging efficiency of the engine in almost all operating conditions. Better scavenging as well as breathing efficiency improves sudden braking and acceleration, proving this bike perfect for city roads.

Suspensions

Front suspensions have been changed to inverted type telescopic as needed by high performance bikes. Rear mono-cross now comes with progressive linkage instead of simple mono-cross. This progressive linkage helps to increase damping ratio by absorbing small disturbances. It is important to mention here that the rear suspension is now 7 times adjustable which also helps to adjust driver’s seat height.

Frame

Frame has become much light weight with the help of advance integrative design instead of using single casted frame. Integrated design uses different materials with different properties at different sections to optimize the frame as and where required. The frame of GSR is basically a combination of compact tubular girders and twin spar type frame.

Aesthetics

Majority changes have been performed in aesthetics of GSR to provide new-edge glance.  This change starts from the front fender which is a carefully moulded with striking vent shapes.

Tank shape in now much more muscular with distinctive textured side panels. Company’s emblem is now located at radiator side panels assisted with aggressive front bodywork.

Head light is now much more refined and comes with dazzling and idiosyncratic shape. Head light shell is also provided with vented side panels just like front fender. It also uses integrated dual position lights with decorative blue lenses for astounding looks in gloomy surrounding.

Four exhaust pipes are now kept open to provide elegant look. Exhaust opening is now drawn by side of rear wheel which was located under the pillion seat. Triangle shaped exhaust muffler has been directly imitated from Hayabusa, looks stunning from the rear. Single straight seat is now replaced by outlined split seats in new GSR. Seats are also flanked with stylish frame side covers. Rear side panels are also made tricky and rear tail has become sharper towards the end. There are three colour options available in this street fighter: Glass sparkle black – GSR750 – YVB, Glass sparkle black/ Pearl mira red – GSR750 – JSP, Pearl glacier white – GSR750 –YWW.

As mentioned by Saad in his article, Suzuki has not declared anything about launching this street bike in India. You can enjoy its photos and video here.

Regards,

Dhruv Panchal

Original Source: Problems in Motorcycle Braking Systems – Possible Causes and Remedies from BikeAdvice.in

We all know that brakes are very vital components of any bike. The properties, characteristics and behavior of brakes do not always remain the same. These are influenced by temperature, operating habits, operating durations and effects of interconnected parts.

Just like clutch (you can read my article on clutch awareness here), we mostly get agree to replace our brake liners on just one note of vehicle inspector at service station. Many of the problems related to brakes can be resolved by adjustment or repairing of one or other component. Let us have some idea about common problem arise in brake system, their possible causes and remedies.

Brake Fade

Incidents in which the brakes fail to hold on the wheels on prolonged application is known as brake fade. The friction behaviour of the brake changes due to temperature and deteriorates with an increase in temperature caused on account of prolonged use.

Possible Causes and Remedies

Brake fade is caused due to repeated severe application of brakes which causes expansions of brake drum, or loss of frictional ability of brake lining, or both. If so, reduce speed/ load and use lower gears. The brake fade vanishes and the brake effectiveness is restored as soon as the brake lining cools down. Brake fluid may have deteriorated in this case. The same could be flushed out and fresh fluid of correct specifications required to be filled in. Poor contact between brake lining and the drum can also cause brake fade.  In this case, the shoes may be ground to correct radius and/or adjusted. Many of us are in the habit of riding the brake pedal, which causes the brakes to drag and thus became excessively hot, leading to brake fade. The driver should not keep his foot on the brake pedal or should not hold the brake lever pressed unless specifically required.

Brake Binding

This is a condition in which the brake gets a tendency of binding the liner to the brake drum and remains in applied state without pressing the brake lever. It is also known as brake dragging.

Possible Causes and Remedies

One of the key reasons of brake binding is defective springs. The brake shoe retracting springs or the pedal return spring may be weak or broken, which should be replaced immediately. Another reason includes jammed brake shoes over the anchor pins. Brake binding can be eliminated by lubricating this anchor pin. In the case of disc brake, the fluid level in the reservoir might be kept excessive which should be rectified to remove brake binding.

Brake Overheating

The overheating of the brakes is most likely due to the same reasons as for brakes binding. Overheating tends to decrease the friction properties and increases binding.

Possible Causes and Remedies

Apart from above said reasons, they may occur also after prolonged use of brakes while descending a slope. In case of disc brakes apart from the above, the piston in the calliper may be seized. As remedy of this, the calliper has to be rebored and the piston should be replaced.

Brake Judder

It is an experience in which a ringing noise radiates from the brakes.

Possible Causes and Remedies

Brake judder may be either due to wrong brake adjustment, which may be corrected, or due to the brake lining rivets being loose, in which case the lining has to be attached again with new rivets. In most cases, the lining also needs to be replaced.

Grabbing Brakes

It is a state in which the brakes are either seized or have a propensity towards seize.

Possible Causes and Remedies

In the case of drum brakes, very usual reason for grabbing is greasy linings. Sometimes worker forgets to clean the liners before assembling which leads to grabbing after some use. Brake grabbing could be reason of wrong adjustment of shoes. Scoured brake drum also causes grabbing of brakes. The same can be eliminated by grounding the drum within limits. It is also possible that dirt or dust may have entered the brake shoe assembly. It should be cleaned to remove the brake grabbing. A very unusual reason of grabbing is interchanged shoes. Primary and secondary shoes may have been reversed by mistake. Grabbing disappears if shoes are reinstalled correctly.

Excessive Loss of Brake Fluid

As name suggests, it is related with oil leakage form disc brake system. This leakage could be possible from joints, benzo bolts, calliper side, plunger assembly, or reservoir. Brake oil leakage reduces braking effectiveness and includes high maintenance cost if remains uncontrolled.

Possible Causes and Remedies

Major leakages happen at reservoir and calliper, which can be inspected and repaired or replaced as necessary. Another frequent reason of brake fluid loss is loose connections at various joints. Connecting pipe or hose damage should be checked, which has to be replaced soon to avoid further fluid loss.

Presence of Air in the Brake Line

This defect arise particular in disc brake assembly because disc brake works with incompressible brake oil. This incompressible oil acts as a linkage between brake lever and calliper piston. It is a way by which brake lever force gets magnified and applied to the calliper piston. For this purpose, brake oil should have high viscosity. This whole system fails even if a small amount of air enters into the brake line because air is a compressible fluid. Air remains in the form of bubble and compresses itself at the time of braking, resulting in reduced braking effect.

Possible Causes and Remedies

Only leakage can produce air bubble in brake line. Reservoir or calliper may have some defects causing the leak of air inside the system. This leakage should be repaired or replaced if required. Any loose connection can be tightened properly to avoid any air bubble to form. The very safe remedy for air bubble is bleeding of brakes. It is advisable to perform this maintenance process at genuine service station.

I hope you all have enjoyed reading this article and will be helpful to you in future. Leave your valuable experiences and comments.

Regards,
Dhruv Panchal

Original Source: How Bike Becomes Everything From Nothing – Part Three from BikeAdvice.in

A bike, which company wants to introduce in market, gets its specifications determined after completing market survey. This process is further extended by converting different concepts in to sketches. At the end of these two processes, a clear-cut machine gets ready with tentative specifications, dimensions, and appearance. At the end of sketching process, these all manuscripts are handed over to engineers for further built up. Engineers’ job is to generate precise, efficient, optimum and economic parts within the stipulated overall dimensions. We can consider engineers’ responsibilities as core fortification of this whole bike producing process.

As we had discussed in previous part, a complete surface model of bike is prepared to get idea about boundaries. Engineers are supposed to mould each and every part within these boundaries. No doubt, they can enlarge or slim down some dimensions if required, but these alterations always remain in small limits. Truly speaking, some enlargements or slimming downs in dimensions always exist because of engineering requirements.

More than 1000 parts are assembled together to build a bike. These 1000 parts include large parts like fuel tank and very small parts like nut-bolt. Each and every part requires tremendous consideration and importance. This special treatment has been taken as much more vital factor since last 15-20 years. Earlier parts were designed with extra strength which obviously resulted in high production costs, wastage of material and high fuel consumptions. Optimization of each part became mainstay objective of automotive industry after realization of extra cost and wastage. This optimization resulted in enormous technological revolution in the automotive industry. Today’s high performance bikes are the best examples of this technological revolution of optimization.

Coming back to the point, we can distinguish this whole process of modelling into five distinct phases.

Team Categorization

It is not at all possible for one engineer to generate models of all parts within specified time limit. Here, team work comes into picture when entire machine has to be assembled on computer screen within specified period of time. Teams are decided according to the systems. That means, one team works on engine, other works on transmission, next works on frame etc. Each team has specified work to do with determined inputs. Each and every team starts working with all the essential data required to generate 3D models.

Many reputed entrepreneurs have developed their economy as a result of outsourcing done during this modelling process. Core companies prefer outsourcing for 3D modelling rather than establishing huge computer set-ups along with the costly softwares. In addition, they have to appoint efficient employs to defend their software investment. So core companies use to have their few teams who monitor all the matters related to 3D modelling with vendor companies.

Material Selection

Today’s modelling software allows engineers to have smooth process of material selection. Material selection is very significant step in bike designing process as manufacturability, production cost, weight distribution of bike, bike’s performance, bike’s appearance etc depends on materials only.  Engineers use to select the material with the help of on hand data, derived from past results. In engineering, it is known as design data. Material selection process for a particular component includes various considerations related with it like, its function, loading cycle, properties required, maximum cost for raw material a company can bear, manufacturing quantity, manufacturing cost, maximum life span, availability of material itself etc.

Almost all the modelling software comes along with material selection database. This helps to generate components with original physical properties. Engineer instantly gets the idea about weight, CG, mass distribution and appearance etc. Today’s softwares have become so much advanced that one can generate a single component with different material compositions along with exact physical properties. It also helps to avoid extra cost required to generate specimen components.

Modelling

It has become easy for engineers to produce 3D models of standard components with the help of readymade libraries. All the modelling softwares come along with definite readymade libraries. One has to just import the model and has to change its dimensions as and where required. Parametric modelling also helps engineers to save their valuable time. Parametric facility offers a stunning advantage of dimensional change within fraction of time. Engineers have to change only one dimension of the component and other related dimensions got changed accordingly and automatically.

It is obvious that engineers need to have few data to make a decision about component’s dimensions. This data starts from predicted engine capacity, power output and torque output. Engineers can calculate tentative dimensions for engine components with the help of these three digits. Then sequence flows as transmission, wheels, fuel supply system, frame, lubrication system, seats, electricals, all rubber parts, suspensions and brakes. Suspension dimensions are decided after deciding total sprung and unsprung masses. Brake dimensions are decided at last after deciding total weight to be stopped from highest speed.

Engineers have to generate new models for those parts which don’t lie under the category of standard parts. So many operations and tools are available with modelling softwares which makes the things very easy and fast. No doubt, it requires lot of training and practice to identify correct and easiest paths for fussy modelling.

CAM

It is an aspect of 3D modelling related to manufacturing ease. In today’s manufacturing industry, it is possible to manufacture almost all kind of components with the help of NC and CNC machines but it doesn’t possible to generate each and every kind of shape, particularly in castings because casting is a very brittle material. Let’s say for example, an engineer generates six holes on the component’s surface in 3D model. Afterwards, he comes to know that it’s not possible physically to drill those locations. In that case, he has to repeat his exercises which obviously consumes time and cost.

Engineers are using computer aided manufacturing facilities to avoid these kinds of misinterpretations. CAM is an interface between computer and CNC machine. It provides the facility to convert co-ordinates of 3D models into various programming languages of NC or CNC machines. It also facilitates engineers to check manufacturing aspects of any component without its physical built-up. So it becomes possible for engineers to adjust wrong attributes of any component which could be problematic in manufacturing process.

Assembling

There are two different phases come under this tag. First is system assembly in which different components are assembled together on computer screen to form a system. Second is complete assembly in which different systems are assembled to form a complete bike. As mentioned earlier, different teams or different vendor companies work on different systems simultaneously.  So at the end of the modelling process, each team or vendor company comes out with total assembly of different systems. Monitoring team of Core Company collects all these system models in which all the individual component models are also made available.

Obviously scope for minor changes always takes place as different systems have been modelled by different teams. Several minor mismatches come up when all systems and all components are assembled on one screen. It is an easy job for engineers to eliminate these mismatches, thanks to parametric modelling. We can consider it as a final step towards completion of modelling process.

Engineers can have all the necessary data of bike after completion of total assembly. This data includes all geometries, all dimensions, CG point, weight distribution, total weight, and all the specifications. Bike model is ready to get analyzed. I request you all to wait for few weeks and don’t forget to leave your valuable comments.

Regards,

Dhruv Panchal

Source: Images taken from various sources for educational purposes under the Fair Use Policy.

Original Source: Yamaha Motors to Expand Production Capacity in 2012 from BikeAdvice.in

Hi Readers! To start with here is wishing all the readers a very happy and prosperous new year. Now for the news; two wheeler maker Yamaha Motors is aiming to expand its production capacity in 2012. Yamaha announced on Saturday that they are planning to expand their production capacity to as much as one million units in 2012 (guess this is not their New Year’s resolution which eventually gets stale by timeJ). All in all, Yamaha India is aiming to sky rocket their production capacity to a million units by the end of 2012.

Yamaha Motors was silent about the investment part but they said that the sales figures have really improved.  The company said that the sales for the past month stood at 44976 units (domestic- 33290 and exports- 11686) as against 34896 units (domestic 26567 and exports 8272 units) in the same period of 2010. The last month witnessed a 29% growth in sales figures. Yamaha has decided to continue with their plans of increasing production capacity because the aims at attaining the top spot in the Indian two wheeler market. Earlier in November 2011, Mr. Suzuki (CEO, Yamaha Motors) said that the company was in a severe condition and would break even by 2013 as they are planning to increase their production capacity. Keeping in mind the great demand for Yamaha products, Suzuki said that the company aims to sell at least 10 lakh vehicles in domestic market by 2014.

Yamaha motors did not reveal either the investment required or their plan as to how are they going to achieve their goal of producing as much as a million units. All in all, we can just assume that Yamaha is still planning and the true picture as to the execution of this humongous task will come out a bit later. We hope and pray that Yamaha gets what they wish for in this new year of success. Finally I would like to wish each one of the Bike Advice readers a “Very Happy New Year” and all the “Success”.

Original Source: Super Bike and MotoGP Bike – What’s The Difference? from BikeAdvice.in

Many bikers don’t know the difference between production super bikes and MotoGP versions because of which they always have a same kind of image in their mind for these two completely different bike species. Others, who know this difference, give explanation for GP bikes as more performance oriented machines than super bikes. They are very right, but they don’t know the exact importance of “performance”.

This “performance” includes acceleration, speed and retardation, nothing else. Every effort made in GP bike is just to increase and maintain these three parameters. Each crew tries to have greatest acceleration, sufficient retardation and greatest speed on track. They do many alteration and exploration to generate the difference; difference from other crews and production bikes. These dissimilarities exist right the way through their designing, manufacturing, assembling and testing.

Engine

It is but obvious that very first difference exists in the power producing heart of these two bikes. As a whole, both these bikes make use of high capacity powerful engines. But MotoGP bike incorporates much lightweight engine which produces more power than a production super bike.

Designers always try to decrease weight of the engine as much as possible which results as a use of V-Twins or V-fours in MotoGP instead of multi cylinder inline used in production super bikes. This V produces 20%-30% more power than a multi cylinder inline engine, even with less capacity. Power output can reach up to 200 HP.

Each and every part in the engine of MotoGP bike gets a special considerations and treatments from designers. Much lighter alloy castings have been used instead of common aluminium alloy casting to match up with weight requirements. Steel parts get replaced by much lighter titanium parts. Many GP bikes also make use of carbon fibre parts in engine as a solution of weight reduction.

Production cost for GP engines also stays higher than a production bike engines. Production bike parts got benefited by their quantity and interchange ability where GP bike parts are specially produced with more precise methods and without any liberation. This results in more production cost, no space for any supposition and no room for any blunder.

Air Suction and Throttle

Air ducting in both types of bikes plays   imperative responsibility in deciding bike’s performance. After all, it is the only means by which bike engine breaths sufficiently and efficiently. GP bike slots in a straight and simplest ducting to provide adequate amount of fresh air and helps to increase volumetric efficiency. While in super bikes, ducting is done to provide good elucidation for aesthetic requirements also.

Throttle response in GP bike remains much more advanced with respect to butterfly opening position. Just a small twist of accelerator can open the butterfly wide which amplifies bike’s acceleration tremendously. This also helps to avoid more twisting of rider’s wrist and reduces his fatigue. No doubt, super bikes also come along with throttle response mechanism but stay slightly less responsive than a GP bikes.

Exhaust

This is one of my favourite parts fitted on GP bikes. Free flow exhaust tune has always attracted me a lot and I am also using it as my SMS ringtone. Simplest but highly engineered and precisely manufactured exhaust contributes a lot to gain and retain desired performance by increasing scavenging efficiency of the engine. Though it is a free flow exhaust, sensors are integrated in the system to read out the amount of gas temperature, oxygen and carbon dioxide. This data is used to increase power output as per requirements. This is done with the help of with the help of ECU and other electronics.

Super bikes don’t come with tuned exhaust. We are required to install tuned exhaust if want to generate that performance melody. Emission norms also need to be fulfilled in super bikes as they are also used on normal roads.

Clutch and Gearbox

Most of the GP as well as super bikes employ slipper type clutch. We can consider it as a multi plate clutch which allows driver to avoid clutching at the time of cornering. It also assists to shift up or down within a small fraction of time. You can refer “Knowledge base” section for more details about slipper type clutch. Here again, difference exists in materials used to manufacture this clutch. GP clutches remain 10%-15% lighter than super bike clutches and can transmit 20%-25% more power.

Transmission box always acts as a deciding factor for bike’s acceleration. No one can have greatest acceleration even with high speed engine if transmission chosen is erroneous. In GP world, acceleration of the bike is only deciding factor of victory. Each crew tries hard to have accurate gear box that provides highest acceleration and also helps to save time during shifting up or down. Zeroshift and Xtrac are the best examples of optimized gear box for GP bikes.  Zeroshift incorporates constant mesh gear box with newly designed tab locks instead of dogs allowing rider to shift the gear without killing time as well as power. Super bikes use sequential gear box in which few of the gears are used as dogs also. This arrangement always disconnects the power from rear wheel while shifting up or down. It is not at all desirable, adaptable and acceptable in GP world because of which they spend too much for gear box designing.

Frame

Frame is the second part on which designers always concentrate to have much possible weight reduction. Many types of frames have been used in GP world which include aluminium frames consisting mixture of cast, extruded and forged pieces. Pipe frames are also incorporated along with engine based frames. Nowadays, designers are inclined toward carbon fibre chassis which offers greatest weight reduction with enough stiffness.

Super bikes till date utilize aluminium alloy frames with cast and forged members. Super bike frames are also kept stiff enough to absorb shocks. Super bike frame stays 30%-35% weighty than GP bike frame.

Brakes

Carbon discs are now almost universally used on GP bikes which offer less expansion under heating and greater heat dissipation. These discs also serve the purpose of weight reduction considerably. Nowadays, ABS is now essential in super bikes as they are also used on normal roads and controlling high speed becomes easier with ABS. ABS seems worthless in GP bikes as braking is not frequent operation during and on race track but brakes are efficient enough to stop the bike from 200+ kmph speed.

Brake pads in both types of bikes are heavy duty and long-lasting. Composite materials are used together to manufacture brake pads and callipers. Composite materials provide highest resistance to heat which helps to avoid any changes in braking properties under thermal stresses.

Suspensions

Just like braking, road cavities are also remains at negligible level on GP tracks.  At the same time, at the time of acceleration, weight transfer from front to rear needs to be evaded. Suspension has to absorb various forces at the time of turning. For these reasons, rear suspension of GP bike kept little stiffer than a production super bike. Same situations are also applicable to front suspensions. As a result, Yamaha uses two different damping characteristics for two front forks. One fork is used to damp elongation and other fork is used to damp compression. This helps to customize the design of springs and damping valves which serves much well than a normal suspension does.

Production super bikes also use damping control devices to avoid any disaster. Additional components are also favourable as weight has not that much of importance in super bikes.

Wheels and Tyres

Both the bikes have a feature of seamless forged wheels which are much lighter than a normal alloy wheels. GP bike wheels hang about 30%-35% lighter than super bike wheels because of magnesium alloy, carbon fibre and composite materials which are nowadays added to GP wheels to diminish more weight.

Most of the GP races are kept dry and so as the tyres. Plane tyres (without any treads) are used for efficient gripping and to generate ample contact area. Bridgestone is the only certified and approved company which can supply tyres for MotoGP races.  No doubt, crew can ask for different designing, manufacturing and composition of tyres according to demanding requirements.  Past consequences, current conditions and rider’s feedback are used as core requirements to design GP bike tyres. Upper most layer of the tyre is kept softer than normal tyre. This softer layer gets heated on burning and provides excellent gripping. Life and efficiency of this GP tyre is decided with respect to number of laps. It becomes obligatory for driver as well as crew to change bike tyres after pre-defined laps. Auxiliary brake discs and chain sprocket are kept assembled into the standby wheel-tyre assembly to save precious lap time. Pit crew has to change this assembled wheel within few seconds.

In the case of super bikes, life and efficiency of tyres are decided with respect to kilometres. Like, it is essential to change Hayabusa tyre after 5000 kms. Super bike also uses heavy duty tyres which can withstand tremendous stresses at the time of delivering high power. But core construction and composition differs a lot in both bikes.

Fairing and Aesthetics

Fairing is very obvious requirement for these two bikes. Basic difference exists in material and construction. GP fairing contains smooth and simple structure without complicated curves. While super bike fairing is designed to serve the purpose of aesthetic and contains lots of lines and curves. Smooth and simple fairing of GP bike restricts the formation of V notches and eddy currents. The only material used for GP bike fairing is carbon fibre whereas super bike uses heavy duty FRP. Different colour schemes are also used on super bikes to make them attractive. GP bikes also have dazzling colours but mostly remain cover with sponsor’s logos.

Electronics

Today, each bike uses electronics either as system controller or as a component of any system. Electronics has helped designers to get rid of from many bulky mechanical parts and also serves efficiently without any chance of error. Both these bikes make use of advanced electronics to control engine power and riding quality. The only difference is, performance data of engine as well as of bike are visible to the crew on their computer screens. I don’t know how they do this but it really seems advance.

This is all I know about MotoGP and super bikes. Please share your knowledge about said differences if anything left untouched.

Regards,
Dhruv Panchal

Image Source: Images taken from various sources under fair use policy.

Original Source: Stuff You Should Know Before Modifying Engine Compartment from BikeAdvice.in

Many old Karizmas and Pulsars are roaming on the road of Ahmedabad with modified engine compartment. Three of my students had performed their project on the similar topic to expose major negative aspects of these modifications. I am sure that you all will also be in opposition to these modifications after completing this article. We can consider this as a process of converting our machines into heat generating and fuel spoiling furnaces.

Majority riders always remain lean towards sport bikes. Many of them got satisfied by purchasing small scales like R15, ZMR and up to Ninja also. But those who cannot afford these big price tags move towards somewhat cheaper way of modifications. These modifications include front fairings, headlight alteration, tank shape modification, rear panel alteration, tail light and finally big heavy wheels and tyres. Some modifiers are so capable that they always remain ready to convert your bike into Hayabusa or R1. We can define it as a first step towards biggest error of rider who wants to ride a sport bike.

Modifications should improve something at the expense of nothing. But exactly reverse, these modifications always increase ostensible looks of bike at the expense of fuel efficiency, engine life, and riding quality. My students had considered only engine compartment modification because in most of the cases, major troubles crop up in the engine related parameters only. Let’s look at them.

This photo demonstrates us a modified Karizma, particularly its engine compartment. Nothing is visible apart from gear lever. Without considering any engineering terms, any normal person can also predict some of the drawbacks here. There is no space available to operate the fuel valve which indicates that the bike always runs with “Reserve” position of valve. No room is available to repair carburetor if something goes wrong. Worker has to remove this fairing every time to change engine oil. Obviously weight increased at least of 1 kgs with this fairing because it is not a standard light weight FRP material provided by companies.

Another example is the modifications done with Pulsar shown in this photo. Aesthetically, this is the best modifications I have ever seen in any Indian bike. Distance between fairing and front tyre is also sufficient. Enough space is also available with this company made R15’s fairing fitted on Pulsar. Weight should be also less if compared to above said handmade fairing. So what’s the problem now? Let’s discuss it.

Main problem occurs with the cooling system of engine. Any cooling system contains other two sub systems called heat source and heat sink. Here, engine itself works as a heat source which generates tremendous amount of heat during working. Because of many limitations and to sustain efficient working, this heat must be dissipated from the engine. For that, we required another system which contains lower amount of heat than the engine has. This system is known as heat sink where engine has to dissipate its heat.

This whole cooling system works just because of temperature gradient as heat is a result of temperature itself. So finally, we can consider the engine as a hot body and heat sink as a cold body. We all know that heat always flows from higher temperature to lower temperature to get equilibrium in temperature digits. So without any external work, heat from the engine flows toward the heat sink, as a result, engine temperature decreases.

Now the requirement is for appropriate heat sink. It should be available continuously. It should be cheapest and easiest system that could be incorporated as heat sink. Air medium has been used as a heat sink from the very first generation of engines and still doing well in most of the cases. Mostly in single cylinder engines, surrounding air serves perfect medium for heat dissipation. In moving condition of vehicle, efficiency of this system further increases due to continuous flow of air. Air medium is efficient but not sufficient in the case of multi cylinder engines where power and thus heat generation is much more than a single cylinder engines. So in that case, designers are using liquid cooling as an answer. This liquid could be either water or oil. In some cases, particular chemical (generally known as refrigerants) also been used for better and quick temperature changing characteristics.

So as a conclusion, we are having two types of cooling system for bikes: Air cooling and Liquid cooling. We shall omit the liquid cooling here, as we are talking about bikes which are having air cooling system. It seems very easy in the very first instant that air flows and cools the engine incessantly. But it really requires very precise and hardcore engineering behind it.

There are basic three types of mechanisms by which the engine heat is transferred to the air medium. These are conduction, convection and radiation. Out of these three, most of the heat transfer takes place because of conduction, nearer to 70% of total heat transferred. Conduction can only takes place when two bodies with different temperature come into direct contact with each other. Same circumstances happen when air flows around the engine. Cooling fins are provided on the engine block to increase the contact area between flowing air and hot cylinder walls. This helps to increase the heat dissipation and improves the cooling rate. Fins also act as ducts, generate paths and provide guide ways for flowing air. So the designing of air cooling system requires detail knowledge of heat transfer, mass transfer and gas dynamics.

Now when any extra fairing is attached to the engine compartment, it obstructs the path of flowing air. As air is a compressible fluid and has minimum viscosity, it enters in to the engine compartment through front passage and small gaps of fairing. So our first objective of providing heat sink got completed. Now heat transfer takes place between engine walls and supplied air. Temperature of air increases due to this heat transfer. This hot air must be replaced quickly by fresh cold air to maintain the engine temperature as well as its cooling rate.

Obviously, modifiers are not considering any aerodynamics and gas dynamics while designing fairings. They just assemble it to the frame and wrap the engine totally. Coming back to the point, hot air remains trapped between fairing and cylinder fins because fairing also provides blockage to the outlet passage. Main problem arises at this instant. Intake rate of fresh air is not sufficient because of obstruction due to fairing and outlet rate is also diminished by the same fairing. As a result, temperature of engine compartment increases drastically within short instant and engine runs at higher temperature. This high temperature causes many problems within the engine itself, which my students had proved in their project.

Working Temperature

Above diagram shows us the analysis of two cylinder fins. Red colour indicates the highest temperature region and blue colour indicates lowest temperature region. The red region is cylinder side from where the heat is generated and transferred toward extended fins. The blue region indicates the surface area from where heat is thrown to the air medium. Fins are kept trapezoidal in shape to increase this blue region. Above diagram is for engine that runs normally without any modifications.

Above diagram shows us the same circumstances but the engine is now covered with modified fairings. It is easily visible that the red colour region in this case has increased considerably. This indicates drastic increase in working temperature of engine. Blue region is almost got eliminated from the contact area and replaced with green region. It also point towards increased temperature of surrounding air.

Statistics we got from this analysis is really nasty. Working temperature of engine was increased by 22% and temperature of surrounding area was increased by 9%.

Fuel Consumption

Fuel consumption in the case of modified bike was increased by 13% (after continuous run of 2 hrs.). That means, if your bike gives you a mileage of 40 kmpl, it will diminish to 34.8 kmpl after modification. This drastic increase in fuel consumption is just because of higher working temperature. Higher working temperature promotes knocking and detonation which are the most undesirable effects during combustion. It spoils the energy released from combustion of fuel. That is why engine requires more fuel to generate enough power output.

Exhaust Emission

Just like a spot on back pressure (you can read my article on back pressure here), engine also requires acceptable working temperature to minimise the exhaust emissions. As working temperature was much more than a required, emission from the modified engine also increased by 4% (it is for overall emissions).

Apart from Statistics

Higher working temperature of engine also affects other belongings of engine. Evaporation rate of lubricating oil increases and causes additional crank case emissions. Chances of engine seize increases if lubricating oil is not sufficient. Valve seats might get damaged if operated under higher temperature continuously. High temperature is also harmful to electrodes of spark plug.

These are some of the negative aspects of engine compartment modification. I hope, you all now do agree with me to avoid these modifications. Also spread these points among your friends who want to heave their bikes out of above said problems. Put down your valuable comments.

Regards,
Dhruv Panchal

Original Source: 3 Reasons Why You Should Never Let Your Parents Buy You a Premium Bike from BikeAdvice.in

I posted this article 8 months back. When I posted it I was hesitating whether my readers would be ready to take such advice. My hand was trembling when I clicked the publish button. Fortunately it has reached well and to my amazement it has more than 200 comments already and the advice is still valid after all these months… and will hold true even after a few years. Since we have gained a ton of new readers in the past eight months, and I am bringing this article back to the top. Do leave your comments. – Deepak

March 22 2011 Before you start reading this article, please note that the ideas here are just my opinion and not advice. Feel free to contradict on my views. This article applies to students who are going to buy their first bike with the financial help of their parents and also those who receive partial financial assistance from their parents to buy their first bike.

Let us now consider that you are a student who has completed his 12th std. Even if you aren’t, just put yourself in those shoes so that you can get my point. You have completed 18 years of age and now you have your 2-wheeler driving license. You need a bike to commute daily to college. Even if you are going to stay in a hostel you need a bike to go along with your friends. At this stage you aren’t making money yourself. But a bike is a basic need. So your parents decide to buy you one.

If your parents are affluent, they may decide to buy you any bike you want. If your parents are not so affluent, and if they love you so much, they will extend their finances to buy you the dream bike you want. If they are not affluent, they will buy you a commuter bike which costs in the medium bracket.

In the above three cases, the last case does not seem to pose any problems. But the first two cases causes some problems which are not so obvious [in my opinion]. Here are the reasons why…

1. When you buy your dream bike with your own hard earned money, you can appreciate it a lot better. In fact, most of the pleasure lies in saving money for it and contemplating for it. And when you buy it with your own money, you will do a lot more research for it and choose the right bike for you. You will never get the same pleasure when you buy it with OPM (other people’s money). Though you cannot consider your parents as others, it is still not your money. Your money by definition is the money earned by you.

If you receive partial financial assistance from your parents, there is nothing wrong in it – or so it seems. But the problem that I see in it is that it dilutes your hard earned money along with it. It is always easier to spend other’s money than your own money and hence you may end up buying a bike which is above your means and get into the treadmill of a high consumption lifestyle.

2. Cars and bikes are more of a status artifact than a tool in today’s world. That’s how marketers have marketed it. I personally think that is unhealthy for several reasons.

When you buy a bike, buy it for utility and not for show off. Buy it for how it rides and not because it turns heads. Respect comes from what you do and not what you have. You express yourself through creation and not through possession. Marketers give you a perception of creation by introducing so many motorcycles, with so many colors with so many options (like disc brake, self start etc.) and this is even more common in cars.

You get a sense of uniqueness by choosing the one suited to your tastes, but do not fool yourself. That is absolutely not self expression even by a long shot. Self expression includes creation such as music, art, engineering (inventions), creating business systems, making transformations and so on. If you perceive your bike as a status artifact, as a tool to display your presence, read this point once more, else move on…

3. Having a high priced item (say a high end bike) comes with its own costs. It is a piece of a social status puzzle and it has to fit with the other pieces. And your cost of living goes up even before you know it. Say for example you have a Ninja 250R… then you have to match your clothing, watch, eating habits, mobile phone and laptop to fit with the Ninja. You cannot stick to minimalist utility products while one of your possessions is out of the line. People will look strangely at you.

When you buy a high end bike with OPM, you get pulled into a high consumption lifestyle slowly without your knowledge. I believe in being frugal and investing money. Earning money just for spending money is not my idea of a good lifestyle. Again, remember that I am not asking you to never buy high end bikes. Just saying that it shouldn’t be bought with OPM.

When you buy a high performance bike with your own money… there is a lot of benefits to it. First, you will introspect whether you really really need it – you will have maturity in deciding. Maturity automatically comes with age and it definitely takes a few years into your profession to accumulate enough savings to buy a high end bike. At this stage of maturity you will not buy it as a status artifact. And if you are buying it for performance then you will have the maturity not to match it with your other possessions.

Have you observed that some people are very rich but are so frugal? You may (even I have) thought that such people do not know how to enjoy life. But the reality is that they became rich by being frugal. People who look rich aren’t so and really wealthy people don’t look like it. The media has proposed a very false image of “millionaires”.

And here’s an excellent analogy to understand the above few sentences: If you see people in your locality jogging regularly every morning, those are the people who look like they don’t need any exercise. They look absolutely fit… but they stay fit because they jog regularly. Wealthy people remain wealthy because they do not get drawn into a high consumption lifestyle. Being frugal is like eating healthy foods everyday and exercising. It is difficult but worth it. I would like to quote my all time favorite words here…

Life is easy if you live it the hard way,
Life is hard if you live it the easy way.

What do you think?

Regards,
Deepak Raj

P.S. This post has been inspired by The Millionaire Next Door

Disclaimer: I am aware that I am contradicting with my own behavior. I bought Karizma with my Dad’s money. But it was 6 years back. I have evolved to a new stage of thinking and perceptions. And will continue to do so and share my thoughts with you. FYI, I bought my second bike – R15 without any financial assistance.

Original Source: What is 20W50? Engine Oil Grading – Explained in Simple Terms from BikeAdvice.in

I have been encountering a lot of confusion among bikers with respect to the different engine oil recommendations from manufacturers for their respective vehicles. This article is prepared to make a layman understand what does different grading signify and its implications on our engines in a very simple language.

Whenever you buy a new bike, it’s mentioned in your owners manual that you should use only the recommended “xWy” (for eg 20W-40, 10W30 etc) grade of engine oil. Now what is this xWy and what precautions should I take to ensure I am doing the right thing.

Let us understand letter by letter.

• The first letter ‘x’ stands for the viscosity number of oil when the engine is cold. For the sake of understanding let us take this colder temperature as 0 degrees Celcius
• The letter in between ie ‘W’, stands for winter
• The third letter ‘y’ stands for the viscosity number of oil at engine operating temperature. For the same of understanding take this operating temperature as 100 degree Celcius.

Viscosity, simply put, is nothing but the thickness of a liquid. Higher this number, thicker is that liquid and obviously more resistant to flow across. And thinner the liquid easier does it flow across.

For example, Kissan’s tomato ketchup is thicker than water. So ketchup would have a higher viscosity number (or viscosity index) and water would have a lower viscosity number. When you put a drop of each on a table and try to slide, you would notice that water easily flows across whereas ketchup takes its own little time to slide down. The same principle is applicable to engine oils.

Understanding x & y

As soon as we crank our engines, the internal temperature is generally cooler (as compared to an instant when the engine is running) and there are a lot of internal engine parts which move and rough up with each other. Hence the oil is required to quickly move up to all those parts and clung on them for better protection. And this is where the ‘x’ (first letter) comes to play. The lower the number, easier it would be for it to flow across and cover up the roughing engine parts. Hence a 5w50 engine oil would be better than a 20w50 engine oil here.

Let’s turn our attention to the second letter ‘y’. Consider an example when you have been riding for an hour continuously on your bike in scorching summer at stop and go city traffic. Do you understand the amount of heat generated and the temperature inside the engine at this instant? And we all know that under higher temperature liquids have this property of becoming thinner. So we need a thicker oil, don’t we?

This is where the ‘y’ figure comes into play. This figure should be higher enough to accommodate the ‘thinning’ of the engine oil at rising temperatures and ensure that the engine oil remains ‘thick enough’ to protect the engine at these burning temperatures. If this is not taken care of, engine oil would become thinner (like water) and would not clung to the walls of engine and loose its property of proper lubrication.

An Example

For better understanding, let us take an example: I and one of my friend start together on two Pulsar 220s. I am using xW50 oil and my friend is using Xw40 oil (forget about what the manufacturer has recommended for an instant). We ride on same roads and under similar conditions. After an hour, which engine oil do you think would be more effective? Yes, owing to its higher viscosity (thickness) at engine operating temperatures (ie the temperature that time), my bike with xW50 would be protecting my engine more effectively than my friends’.

I hope you have understood till here. However, I have a few more pointers to make which even if you do not understand completely right now, you will gradually get them.

• You can use a higher grade engine oil (higher ‘Y’) than the recommended if your kind of riding includes more ‘frying’ up of the engine. For eg: You can use xW50 even if your recommended grade is Xw40 in case you ride a lot in city traffic and your place is a lot hotter or you like (sensibly) ripping the bike more often than not.
• An exception to above relaxation would be not to go to extremes. Since a thicker oil would be difficult to push around the engine.
• Do not go below this figure of ‘y’ ie. You should not use any engine oil with a lower ‘y’ rating. If your manufacturer recommends engine oil of grade xW40, you should not use any oil below 40. An oil of xW30 would be ineffective in providing proper lubrication to your engine at higher temperatures.
• The first figure ‘x’ matters a lot at places which are colder and have freezing temperatures generally. In our kind of relatively hotter climates where winter temperatures generally do not go extremely harsh, ‘x’ could vary. So, if your manufacturer advises you a 20Wy, you can use other figures as well as far as they are lower than 20.

In case you still have confusions, you can come down to our forum thread about engine oils and we will talk about it in detail.

Saad Khan,
Author - BikeAdvice.in