Very cool! This stuff is pretty neat.

Hey Kaolin, I've had a thought recently which lead to another thought which lead to the thought of "Kaolin knows about motorcycles. I should consult the Oracle."

So I'm "working" on this homebrew ultimate air compressor/generator of DOOM! and I've decided to ditch the crappy 5 HP Briggs & Stratton engine that I got and find something better. I was going to go with a 13 HP Honda but they're really expensive, at least $500. Then I got to thinking about motorcycle engines. I need something small, about 10-15 HP, QUIET, low vibration, electric start, with readily available parts, that will last a long time. In other words, a motorcycle engine. I think.

Here's where you come in. First of all, I don't know much about the power curves of motorcycle engines. In order to get something quiet, I'm thinking I'd like the engine to put out that 10-15 HP while running well under 3000 RPMs. My guess is that motorcycle engines are designed to put out peak power around 8-10k, so that would mean finding a bigger engine to get more power out of the lower end, which goes against the "must be small" requirement.

After doing some relatively brief research, it looks like motorcycle engines are integreted with their transmissions, something I don't want. I want just the engine. While a tranny could have its uses for my application, it's more parasitic power loss and weight I don't want to deal with. Is it possible to get just the engine?

I can't stand the idea of putting a screaming single cylinder pressure washer-style engine running at 3600 RPMs (as they're all designed to do) on this project. So if I can get an engine that puts out 10-15 HP at ~2000-2500 RPMs without being too loud or heavy/bulky, I'll be happy.

LJ did it again. It sent the "you got a reply" email WELL after I wrote what I did. Grrr. Good thing our nuclear stockpiles aren't managed by LJ software.

Anyway, I'll hit up James on this one. I thought of him before but I figured I'd give you a shot too.

Hey!

I need some help and you are the first one that comes to mind.

Baraka and I are trying to start up an e-biz (something that she can do from home most of the time) and we are looking into web-designers and the average costs involved. Is there some guideliness that you can help us with? I know your uber busy so I'm not even going to try and put the actual design on your plate but some help with numbers as well as a referal or two would be great!

hope things are smoothing our for you.

if you can email me at Mike_peterman at hotmail I owe you a big favor.

Mike

though I seem to have forgotten in the meantime to answer some of your questions. Ah, that's what dialogues are all about, right? ;)