The Kneeslider

Doers Builders and Positive People

Motorcycle Kickstarters – No, the Other Kind

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You've read the stories before, the lone inventor or small company has built a prototype of the next big thing, a revolutionary engine or a fantastic new design for a motorcycle, and all they need now are "investors" to carry it through. They should try Kickstarter. Kickstarter projects, no, not the old lever kind, the money kind, have become the current favorite way to … [Read more...]

JLSP305 – 300cc 5 cylinder Honda by Jean-Luc Borgetto

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How many of you know of the 125cc Honda 5 cylinder racer ridden by Luigi Taveri in 1966? It's a truly fascinating bit of engineering. Jean-Luc Borgetto, who we last wrote about way back when he built the JLS503, a 500cc 3 cylinder racer, inspired by the MV Agusta 500 GP bike, has built another beauty. His new bike, the JLSP305, takes inspiration from the 125cc 5 cylinder, … [Read more...]

What’s the Point of Model Years?

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Have you ever wondered why motor vehicles are sold by the model year? It's been going on for so long, no one seems to think much about it other than to wonder what the "new" models will have that's different from the "old" ones. Cars change sheet metal or plastic a little bit and put some spiffy new electronic gizmo in the dash, but motorcycles often do a lot less, commonly … [Read more...]

It’s Not Original – It’s Just Pieces of Something Else – Anyone Can Do That – OK Maybe Not

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Sitting in a college classroom many years ago, I was looking at an image. It was a very simple image of two common objects, a bicycle seat and handlebars. Nothing was hidden, you could plainly see the seat and handlebars, yet there, too, was what appeared to be a bull's head. It turns out, this was a well know bit of art work created in 1942 called, ... yes, "Bull's Head," by … [Read more...]

Grail Engine – a Clean Multi Fuel Two Stroke

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Just because 2 stroke engines were set aside in production vehicles, it doesn't mean development stopped, in recent years there has been increasing attention paid to these powerful and compact engines and the Grail Engine is an interesting example. It's a multi fuel, variable compression, highly efficient 2 stroke with built in supercharging and intercooling. The Grail … [Read more...]