The Kneeslider

Doers Builders and Positive People

Motorcycle fab labs

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Mentioned fab labs a while back and I noticed in the last few days there's been a lot of buzz due to the release of a new book, Fab, by Neil Gershenfeld of MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms. He teaches, "How to make (almost) anything," which is exactly the kind of course I would have enjoyed when I was in school, of course, back then, our tools were, ah ..., a bit more … [Read more...]

Biodiesel motorcycles

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When I first started writing about diesel motorcycles it struck me as a bit unusual, I really wasn't aware of some of the latest advances in adapting diesel engines to a motorcycle frame but of course, the Thunder Star 1200 got me thinking about the possibilities. That bike gets 150mpg and looks like it should get pretty impressive performance to boot. Now there's biodiesel to … [Read more...]

Machining model engines

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Some hobbies or skills are so utterly amazing and turn out such fine work as their end product, it almost takes your breath away. It's no secret The Kneeslider is biased toward the technical side of things and I personally find mechanical components that work together totally fascinating. The other day I posted about metal casting and today, in a related area, I want to touch … [Read more...]

Motoczysz C1 990

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Just reading the July issue of Motorcyclist and their in depth article on the Motoczysz C1. What caught my eye was the full name of the bike, the C1 990, as in 990cc displacement. So what? Well, this bike does have the intended aim of racing in MotoGP and if you'll recall, the rules just changed a few days ago and the engines are dropping to 800cc beginning in 2007. Just goes … [Read more...]