Group 21 - Beginner Cruiser Motorcycle - Request for Proposal

Gate 1 - Request for Proposal

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Group Info

Ryan Boyle: Communication, CAD Lead:
-Allows communication between TA’s and group via email.
-Person who will make CAD drawings for the project.

Carl Eckhardt: Master Wiki Designer, Communication:
-In charge of editing information, and translating information to wiki.

Dylan La Lone: Project Manager, Technical Lead:
-Person who assigns group work, and keeps everyone on track.

Josh Bryant: Technical Expert, Wiki:
-Answers assembly/disassembly questions, under any means necessary including online references.

Greg Gasiorczyk: Technical Lead, Technical Expert, CAD:
-In charge of takedown, and reassembly.
-Keeps track of all parts, and keeps team on track during lab time.

• Members will be able to assist other responsibilities if circumstances require. Those roles are italicized. The description is only stated with the Role if it is the main role of the individual.

Request for Proposal

Tools:

• Socket/ Ratchet Set
  • Allen Key Set
    • Philips and Flat Head Screw Drivers
      • Needle Nose Pliers
        • Chanel Lock Wrench

Capabilities:

Ryan Boyle
His experience with disassembling things is limited. He’s taken apart bicycles and small electronics, but never anything like a cruiser motorcycle, so has almost no knowledge about what is to be expected with this project. Ryan is not that good with computers beyond basic computing skills. Also, he has never made a wiki. Overall, he doesn't have much experience with any of these things.

Carl Eckhardt
Carl has a little experience with taking gas engines and bikes apart. He mostly took apart and put back together R/C cars when he was younger. He does have some experience with Wiki’s from a required project he had to do in his senior year of high school.

Dylan La Lone
Dylan has experience with small gas engines, carpentry, bicycles, paintball guns, and his dirt bike. He has taken apart and reassembled a go cart engine as well as a chainsaw engine, and worked on his dirt bike. He is fairly good with computers, but is new to using Wiki’s.

Josh Bryant
When he was young he used to build model cars but doesn’t feel that those skills will useful with a real reverse engineering situation. Outside of that he has very little experience with disassembling machines.

Josh’s computer skills are slightly above average for today’s college student but no exceptional skill and mostly good with Macs. In terms of Wiki’s, he uses wiki pages for reference regularly but has never put one together nor added to one in any way.

Greg Gasiorczyk
Greg has experience when it comes to small engines and cruiser motorcycles. He has held an internship at Jiffy-tite, and has learned the process needed to keep projects on track, and the need of properly storing components to assure a quick reassembly. He is a little rusty when it comes to any CAD software, but can quickly pick it back up if needed. Greg has no experience when it comes to Wiki.

Time and Management Proposal:

Groups 21 and 22 are sharing the Beginner Motorcycle Cruiser, so we have planned to divide some of the dissection between the groups, and share the remaining parts. Group 22 is taking the section of the bike from the engine back. Group 21 is taking on the front fork, suspension, and handlebars. We will meet in the middle, to share the dissection of the engine. Our goals for each stage in our dissection are to finish the separate dissections by Sunday, October 18th, and the engine dissection by Wednesday, October 28th. Some possible challenges or obstacles we have forecasted are the pull start and fly wheel, the clutch, and aligning the back wheel.

At the beginning of every week we will decide through email, when we can meet that week. Because of peoples after class work schedules, we will aim to meet one or two times through Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

Gantt Chart

Initial Product Assessment

- The intended use of our product is to provide a motorized, two wheeled platform to ride on for entertainment. Intended for home/recreational use, the Beginner Motorcycle Cruiser imitates a real motorcycle for younger and older users. Like the name suggests, it’s a simpler, easier, and safer yard, woods or off-road miniature motorcycle.

- The product runs on a gas engine: 196 cc, one cylinder, four stroke. The engine is started by pull start, not electric and runs via carburetor, not fuel injection. Inside the engine chemical energy is turned into thermal energy when the gasoline is ignited. The gasoline is ignited via the spark plug which converts rotational energy to electrical energy. The thermal energy is converted into kinetic energy when the piston is thrust down, and the drive shaft is spun. The drive shaft is connected to the clutch. It uses a centrifugal clutch which transfers mechanical/kinetic energy indirectly to a back larger sprocket via a chain.

- The Cruiser is currently running and operating. Every group member in groups 21 and 22 was able to ride it twice. It ran very successfully over gradual hills and bumps in the field next to Governors Dorms, as well as the two way trip up and down campus. The Cruiser consumed about ¾ of a 20oz Gatorade bottle of gasoline. There were no problems encountered during our outing.

- Complexity is based on the number of parts on the product. Another good indicator of complexity is how many parts need to be removed to access any other given part. Compared to some of the other products available to us for MAE 277, the Cruiser probably falls above average. Compared to an actually motorcycle the Cruiser is considered fairly simple. If you divide the bike into systems, it falls into six main parts. The frame, the suspension, the engine, the clutch/sprockets, the handlebars, and then the fabrication like the fenders, fake gas tank, headlight, and big comfy leather seat. If the bike is broken down into all of its simplest pieces it consists of roughly 200 parts. Of the six main parts, the engine and clutch/sprockets stand alone as the most complex parts leaving the remaining sections in-complex.

- There are many materials that make up the Cruiser. So far we can say that several different types of metals are used. Some type of fake leather covers the seat. The tires and grips are made of rubber. There is also plastic around the cables, the kill switch, the exhaust, intake, and clutch guards, and some other tubes and pieces on the engine. Further investigation and breakdown of the materials used in the cruiser will appear further along in our report.

- We would be happy with this product. It was very fun, comfortable, and easy to use. It is a 4 stroke engine so no mixing of gas and oil is necessary, and by nature the engine should be more reliable being a 4 stroke. With no gears the only two controls during operation were the gas and the brake, which makes it very easy to use. Our only complaints were the size of the large front tire which seemed week in turns, and the stoppers on the front fork that limited our turning radius without leaning. The only maintenance you could plan for is changing the oil, keeping the tires full of air, and always supplying it with gas.

- Some alternatives to the cruiser are dirt bikes, mini bikes, quads, and go-karts. All of these (excluding the mini bike) are more expensive than the cruiser (ranging from $1,000 to $10,000). All of these pricier options are also more complex, but probably better performing. Dirt bikes and quads usually have gears which are less user friendly, but give more capability, power, and speed. Go karts are very similar to the Cruiser, but have four wheels and can hold more than one person. Mini-bikes are very similar to the Cruiser in every aspect except for the fancy fabrications, and suspension found on our product. The Cruiser is cheaper ($500-$600) and simpler than most of its competition, but surpassed in performance.