Titanium Armor Plates

[Ivan]

Saw an ad last night for a riding jacket with Ti armor plates.

Now, I may not be the brightest knife in the matchbox, but I am a machinist that works with Titanium. Ti takes a special fire extinguisher, the yellow kind, since the red ones only make the fire worse when Ti catches. Ti also doesn't dissipate heat like most metals, so it is relatively easy to get it to the flash point. Titanium burns like magnesium, only hotter (2600 degrees, IIRC).

Am I the only one that would never buy a jacket with Ti armor? I guess if you wanted the lime green sparks while you slide, that would be the way to go.

I guess what I am trying to say is that I don't need a compass to show me which way the wind shines.

[barberad]

I worked in an industrial/ Aircraft shop for a while when I was in japan. The fighters (F15 and F16) use a lot of titanium engine parts like spray rings and different manifolds. Most of the time I remember people asking for titanium to make knife blades. It did make really cool sparks when I glass blasted it. I personally will pass on the "power rangers"outfits though.

[Ivan]

I have a fair size chunk of Ti-4Al-6V that a former co worker scrapped (thats why he is former). I have been trying to come up with a use for it, but haven't yet. Knife blades and Armor plates never came to mind. LOL

Maybe a chunk of magnesium attached to the heel of a boot could be a great way to ward off tail gaters. hehe. Ti is way too expensive for that.

Maybe I will just sell it for scrap and use the money for an exotic type engine to put in my other XS frame. Always wanted a rotory powered scoot.

[barberad]

I've seen the japanese boy's hook up an extra spark plug to they're car exhaust systems to make "Dragon Fire". would definitly back off the tail gators, but the police kind of frown on it.

[fredintoon]

Bowtied needs Ti

Hi Ivan,
Bowtied could use Ti skidplates under the truck that he's lowering so it will make a better class of sparks when he's framedraggin'

[fredintoon]

" - - Always wanted a rotory powered scoot. - - "

Hi Ivan,
you do mean a rotary? Where the cylinders spin round like on a WW1 fighter?
You do know those engines don't have throttles, they either run flat out or stopped and you landed by turning the kill-switch on and off? Also they were lubricated with castor oil which the pilot got a fair few lungfulls of during a mission.
The first thing they had to do after landing was to run to the latrine but they never show that part in the movies.

[Ivan]

No, I mean rotory ala Mazda RX-7.

The LeRone type engines that had the crankshaft bolted to the firewall and the whole engine turned were more like a radial engine that spun. I know about the wide open, and the "throttle" was flipping on and off the ignition. My grand father, who had been aroung them a bit during the barnstorming days, said they spun the whole engine for better cooling.

Anyhoot. I think a supercharged rotory engine would be just friggn cool on a scoot. As I understand it, they put out a lot of exhaust heat, and can be uncomfortable to drive. I am thinking 100+ mph wind will make that not matter. hehe.

[bikerphil]

heres a couple

[malber]

This got me thinking about if there ever was a Wankel-engined bike, and apparently there was:

http://motorcyclemuseum.org/classics/bike.asp?id=39

But the story explains why they never caught on. Apparently the complexities of putting a rotary engine in a bike outweigh the benefits.

[webbcraft2150]

Suzuki made one for the masses, RE5. Never caught on. Bringing major bucks now on E-bay. I worked at one of the first Mazda dealers in NM selling the RX2 and 3 rotary cars. The cars were real pocket rockets and the engines very interesting. Always wanted to snag one of the motors and make a mini jet boat out of it.

[Ivan]

Re: heres a couple

Originally posted by bikerphil

Those B radial engines, not rotory.

[mstic2000]

"Holy Smokes Batman!" Put some wings on those darn things!

[fredintoon]

Hi Ivan,
Suzuki is not alone, Norton and Hercules also built Wankel-engined bikes.
But if you want to graft a Mazda rotary into a bike, I'd suppose the easiest way would be to find a Boss Hoss with a blown motor. It'd go much faster than with the stock V8 if the new engine only weighed ~1/3rd as much as the one it replaced.

[Geezer]

You left out the Van Veen that was built in Holland and had a 1000cc twin rotor. Back in the 70's these things sold for $12000 USD.

Out of the 4 Wankel rotary engine production bikes I've only ridden 2 of them. The Sook and the Herc. Both were interesting to say the lest.

Geezer

[latexeses]

Here is one for the power freaks.

http://www.premiumposts.com/jet-powered-motorcycle/


Not much wider than the XS..

http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/fe.../photo_05.html