Grandma's pan

[Recovered]

If I get this story wrong, we'll have the General fix. It's his story and the credit goes to him.



One day, a woman was cooking a pot roast. She cut the ends off before putting it in the pan. Her daughter asked her "mom, why did you cut the ends off of the pot roast?" Her mom answered "because that's how my mom did it". That wasn't good enough for the girl, who went and asked her mom's mom why she cut the ends off of the pot roast before putting it in the pan. Her grandmother said "because that's how my mom did it". The girl carried on and asked her great grandmother why she cut the end off of the pot roast before she put it in the pan. Expecting to hear the same response, the great grandmother replied "because the pan was TOO SMALL".

How appropriate that little story is today. Not all technology is good. But it's surprising how many people pass technology off as a fad thing. Things that come to mind as non-fad updates would be: long travel suspension. Improved racing fuel and aftermarket fuel conditioners. Synthetic oils in all forms. Reed valves. Then dual stage reeds from Boyesen. Thank You Mr. Boyesen. Power valves in the exhaust port. Plated cylinder bores (decreases lubrication requirements, no need to over bore, better heat dissipation and control) and my biggie...LIQUID COOLING.  I could write a book about these things, and how they have made the modern 2 stroke the highly refined racing engine that it is.

The moral of the story is this: we don't always know why things are done the way they are. Question everything.

General, if I missed on the story, feel free to tighten it up for us.

Thanks.

[JETZcorp]

I should note that, with many of those things, the number of moving parts went up, and the number of things that could leave you stranded alone in the desert went up.  The last thing I need, as one who rides for long distances, is for my engine to suck a reed, get a smashed radiator, leaky hose, or have the power valve rattle itself to death.  If you look at a Maico 490 (or similarly simple bike) there are really only a couple of things that could go wrong with the top-end.  You have the piston, rings, bearings, and rod.  Everything else is just cast aluminum.  I'm not saying that'll give you better performance (just 95% performance) but I don't think it's a good trade-off for the kind of riding I do.  And my biggest beef with liquid cooling is the simple fact that it's ugly as hell, in my opinion.

[JohnN]

You've got the story right... although I can't really take credit for the story. I heard it someplace myself... probably Chicken Soup for the Soul or something like that.

The thought behind the story is scary but true... we learn something, then we refuse to accept any new information about what we learned. This is a sad state of affairs.. and reminds me of an ostrich... keeping it's head firming buried in the sand. I'm sure that everyone knows at least one person that lives so completely in their own world and refuses to open their eyes and see that the world has changed.

The world is constantly evolving and new processes are created all the time. But in order to accept this new data, you've got to keep your mind wide open.

Now, not everything new is better, but you've got to take some time and test the theory for yourself. If the new processes or advancements work, why not adopt them?

[/rant]

[JETZcorp]

In the context of bikes, I think it should be taken a bit further.  If it works, and you like it, then go ahead and adopt it.  In the case of water-cooling again, I'm sure it works great, but for me it takes away a big part of what makes a bike cool.  Everyone of the bike makers had their own signature style to their cooling fins.  Looking at a Husky cylinder, you knew instantly what it came from.  It was industrial art.  To me, replacing that with a hose and a radiator seems tragic.  It's like the difference between a 1969 Mustang and a 1999 Mustang.  Sure, one's faster, but the other one had "it."

[Recovered]

In the context of bikes, I think it should be taken a bit further.  If it works, and you like it, then go ahead and adopt it.  In the case of water-cooling again, I'm sure it works great, but for me it takes away a big part of what makes a bike cool.  Everyone of the bike makers had their own signature style to their cooling fins.  Looking at a Husky cylinder, you knew instantly what it came from.  It was industrial art.  To me, replacing that with a hose and a radiator seems tragic.  It's like the difference between a 1969 Mustang and a 1999 Mustang.  Sure, one's faster, but the other one had "it."

If the General gives me the space (and my hands do not blow up or quit on me) I might write my opinions on things like liquid cooling, reed valves, bore plating  etc. While I understand your sentiments, I think these tech advancements far outweigh their detriment. My bike was purchased from the #1 plate holder in some desert racing sanctioning body (I forget what exactly it was) for the 50 plus pro's. When I checked his results, he was finishing ahead of all the 40 plus pro's and about 90 % of the 30 plus pro's.

For those of us who have passed the 40 year mark, we know how much harder physical things are to do than what they were when we were 30! I expect that 50 is the same way. He had a remarkable record. I will say this...when I met him, he was in dang good shape for an over 50 guy. He was no sissy.

As a side note, I followed him for a while but have since lost track. He went back to an air cooled open class bike and wasn't able to duplicate his results.

As a last side note...this mans record (and championship) is a testament to the durability of a 500 Maico. I'm sure he did not "soft shoe" the bike but rode the snot out of. They don't give you a number 1 plate for riding like a girl (no offence ladies).  It still had his #1 on it when I bought. I'm not that fast so I put my numbers on it. Guess I should have taken pictures. :'(