Keep em comin'. I really like the terrain tamers idea, although it looks like Bruce still offers them. Ram air is intriguing, however that cylinder has a finite volume. I'm just thinking that the cylinder can only draw in that amount of air....unless it gets compressed.

 

I always wanted to design an Electic Turbo. Use a brushless remote controled car motor and a decent fan blade pitch. make it so it only comes on at 3/4 to full throttle. It could be mounted just inside of the aircleaner (carb side) seems it would have enough space there. 12v and a brushless motor will really spin. I bet it would generate a few psi on this little motor. I have actually seen this done somewhere on the net to a CRF250 but I dont know how well it did.

 

I would like to see that part time elec turbo, I don't think it would be possible. Of course we put a man on the moon (maybe once), so theoretically it may be possible, but......

 

What do you mean maybe once? I saw it with my own two eyes, there it was on my girlfriend's parents' TV and stepping out into the yard I looked up at the full moon where it was happening.

The girlfriend on the other hand was not impressed by that. All she wanted to do, while everyone was enthralled by the moon landing, was to ...

Oh never mind.

 

Wider rear foot pegs. There are no after market ones. Just today I was getting quotes for a TIG welder to put 1/4" round on mine. You could easily design something the CNC could kick out.

 

You've already touched on the balance of other coursework plus this project - do not get caught by the "whole year" to do the project thing - it's really not much time to do anything. By now, you're probably used to long days and nights...senior year will really push your limits.

Another thing to consider is whether you will be working alone, or on a team. Individual is good because you don't need to coordinate time and ideas with others; team is good because you can split up some workload (depending on the scope of the project) and share ideas.

Obviously you won't want something too simple (like a basic rack), and your professor/curriculum might reject it if it doesn't meet minimum standards. You also definitely don't want something too complex for you to finish. Odds are good that you will have to pay for every dime of what you do...consider what it might cost. Don't worry too much about how exciting the end product might be; you need to demonstrate your engineering knowledge, but you don't necessarily need to awe the world with what you create.

You will need to justify the "need" for whatever your project is, and you will need to create a report on every minute detail of what you did and why. It's going to be a lot more work than just designing and making "something cool." Unless you're on one of the SAE competition teams or the like, you might be best served to pick something that seems a little mundane at face value.

I understand the desire to use your own bike/hobby for your senior project...but be careful not to confine yourself to the KLX, or even just to motorcycles when figuring out what project to pursue. You might find some very cool opportunities in subject areas that you might not have thought of.

Now KLX related project ideas (some rehashed)...

Improve the shift mechanism. Shift quality is one of the weak points of this motorcycle. One could make a number of improvements to the design of the parts just under the left cover. Definitely potential for a senior project.

Center stand. A little bland, but could definitely be a project. It might be a little light for a senior project though...talk to your advisor/professor about it.

Create a functional, integrated luggage system (redesign/replace subframe is necessary). This could definitely be an engineering project, maybe a bit more involved than the center stand.

The idea of completely redesigning the frame is admirable, but probably not a good fit for confines of a senior design project, especially for one person. As an aside, the real world benefit is questionable...if you get to the point of redesigning this frame for strength, the entire rolling chassis of the klx is a weakness...cost/benefit goes out the window. It's (relatively) simple to (properly) lower the suspension of existing motorcycles that have better out of the box capabilities for hard use.

Stay away from perpetual motion machines and the like (ram air, electric superchargers, etc).

Broader picture...consider accessibility of dual sport motorcycling to disabled people. They're out there: motorcyclists or would-be motorcyclists who have no or limited use of a lower extremity. Some of these folks do ride, and have converted their bikes to work for them. Some would ride if they had a motorcycle that would work for them. So just for consideration, what about using the KLX as a platform to design and demonstrate truly functional hand-only controls? Think about what fully integrated hand-only control would need to do, how it would work, how it would look, and how you might incorporate all this into a fully engineered package to retrofit this particular model of motorcycle. How would you brake? How would you clutch? Get the kick stand or center stand down? Could the design be adapted to multiple models? How would you make the parts? Out of what materials?

 

Good idea for a product, but not really enough substance for a senior design project, in my opinion.

 

I know it's simple with a limited market. But a new design on a CNC would be cool and easy.

 

I think if you can reroute the muffler to exit underneath, then relocate the cooling unit, you could indeed create a sort of storage area for tools and tubes, or even one side (i know its been done) for spare gas.

I like the idea of improving shifting mechanisms, but that might take too much time and trial and error to end up with a minimal result.

I think a bolt on supercharger would be a great thing to build, much more possibility than a turbo i think since the single has a hard time spinning fast on its own. Perhaps create a belt driven supercharger for this bike. THAT would be a project.

 

Sorry for a double post, but you could create bar end posts, that either come out when the bike it tipping over to catch it, or better yet help push the bike back to an upright position. A basic air piston design.