Beefy's Corner - The Off-Topic Chat Thread

Bon Jovi listen to his one good song then leave.

 

Problem is they do their best stuff at the end.

Good thing I love Bon Jovi so I'll be there for their whole 3 hour set.

 

Each to their own, guess I got put of Jovi by my auntie who played it every time I was over there.

 

we are off to see the Boss at Wembley in a while , he and the e-street band are brilliant IMHO .

 

Just watching MotoGP free practice and the temperature at Catalunya, near Barcelona. 86°F and full Sun is just what I'd like right now.

Dominant cloud in Southampton and decidedly chilly considering we're a week away from the longest day. At this rate I'm not travelling to Stonehenge to watch the Sun come up on the 21st. As I finish writing the sky gets a tad brighter just to mock me.

 

Liverpool set to sign Mignolet.

 

Reina to Barca then I guess.

 

Does anyone know which England cricketer Bob Willis thinks is a ball tamperer?

 

Probably Broad.

 

MotoGP commentator Charlie Cox has just made me giggle [not for the first time] as he described the bikes engines preferring thick chewy cool air as opposed to the hot stuff in Catalunya. Of course he's right, but the aerodynamics, if you can call them that on a motorcycle, prefer the thin, slippery and warm stuff. Danny Pedrosa has just broken the lap record there which had been held by the retired to Aussie V8 car racing Casey Stoner since 2008, admittedly on super grippy lap tyres back then. Nowadays they use the softest race tyres they can manage and put two or three super laps into them before going into the pits to change them - usually just the back one. Cal Crutchlow came in 2nd, with a super lap, and is the fastest Yamaha which, considering he's on a satellite bike and not the full factory job, is slightly embarrassing for them. Jorge Lorenzo is 3rd and not the happiest bunny, I think as he was stomping around in the garage earlier in the qualifying session. Great race prospects for tomorrow, and now for Moto2 qualies and Scott Redding.

 

My entire degree is based around studying things like that

 

Really..? And Charlie summed it up in a sentence..!

Just to follow on, in Moto2, Pol Espargaro got pole position with a super hot lap nearly 0.6 of a second in front of 2nd placed Scott Redding, who was in 12th [twelfth..!] at one point, and although he was getting baulked, managed to scramble it up the rankings. Possibly the best race in prospect in Moto2 tomorrow, but with Moto2 that is always a possibility, as they are completely bonkers in that class.

 

Yeah, Automotive Engineering is pretty much the science behind car design, so I study all sorts of modules. These include aerodynamics/fluid mechanics modules, engine-based modules, all that jazz. So yeah, he did sum it all up in one sentence, but I could (and have to) expand on it somewhat

 

Yes, I suspect that's the thing that is really bugging you at present.

 

Unfortunately so. I mean, I could tell you that such and such happens when so and so happens, but when it comes to calculating exact numbers for this, that's when it becomes tricky It is interesting though, really shows that car design is all about compromise. There's never going to be a perfect design, it's just about trying to minimise your losses.

 

Rain forecast at Cardiff tomorrow. If England v New Zealand is a no-result, Australia need to beat Sri Lanka {but not too heavily!} for England to make the semis. Chances?

 

If you can make a motorcycle properly aerodynamic, without changing its time honoured characteristics, you'll have your fortune made.

 

Bikes are always going to be a nightmare to design. Because they are so small, it is very easy for even the smallest of styling changes to dramatically change the aerodynamic characteristics of the entire system. But then obviously it's much harder to make changes to them because, like you said, bikes are bikes, and there are some things that you just cannot change with them.

 

Yeah, this is where racing becomes an important component in determining design. In motorcycle racing the mere fact that a bike is a relative flying brick is a tremendously important factor in why bike racing is so close and exciting [F1 really should take note] and the rules don't encourage aerodynamic advances. If they did I wonder if we'd be back to the dustbin fairings of the 1950's or something like them..?

please log in to view this image

I see that, while just looking for a photo of such a device, there are modern versions available for bikes, but you don't see them on the road. Bikers are very conservative, by and large, so any change in design has to overcome buyer resistance in any case. It's slightly strange because while car design forges ahead, bike design seems to be stuck in some cul de sac, and any attempts at direction are viewed with extreme suspicion. And I'm no different. I love riding motorbikes and anything that changes that experience has to enhance it without taking a jot of it away.

Mind you, you can take away the bloody wind, so over to you.

EDIT: Interesting article - http://rideapart.com/2010/06/dustbin-2010-agni-e1-adopts-ancient-aerodynamics-to-modern-racing/

 

It would be great if they took away the wind, one less module for me to study! That said, I am studying Computation Fluid Dynamics next year