Colder atmosphere = denser intake = greater # of oxygen molecules packed into the chamber prior to spark = much more power & torque.

My ZX9R has a ram-air intake that leads straight from the catfish mouth up front (directly beneath the headlights) to the airbox.


At subsonic speeds, 'ram-air' is little more than a marketing gimmick. But it does a great job of cooling off that intake charge, so when the weather is cold that bike really rips!

 

The service manager was wrong this bike loves cold weather. I on the other hand wasn't riding the bike properly. I moved my shift point to about 7-8 k, basically riding a gear lower and all is well. Break in is over, wring it's neck and it performs very well. Yup I'm a newbie

 

Glad to hear it Mug! We're all newbies here (except for the ones who earnestly wish we were tasting this sweet pasttime afresh.)
I'm just looking for an excuse to fly or take a bus up to the San Jose area to buy my green '06. Right now work is too busy and the family too demanding.)
Many safe & happy miles to you!
-CCinC

 

I love learning. So true there.
I must have missed that reasoning. k, I do not get that one.

 

[/quote]
I must have missed that reasoning. k, I do not get that one.
[/quote]

I might have deciphered it wrong (but I think what Chris meant is that we'all learners and learning has no end and you keep learning enjoyable by keeping the "newbie" status quo.) It actually reminds me of Socrates said: what I know is that I know nothing.

It's a pretty good way of keeping learning in a continuous state.

 

hahaha, what you mentioned above, this is what I can relate to:

 

I like the Socratic explanation even better, but what I was actually thinking was that I envy guys who are starting out and learning.
I still have a great time riding fast around corners and completing another service operation on my bikes, but there's nothing like the first time; like the terror when I turned the key and pressed the start button after my first valve adjustment or the thrill of "Holy-[CACA]!! That was the asphalt!" the first time I got my knee down.
I even relish the bitter triumph of my first crash. ("My helmet and jeans are ruined, my bike is fubar and my wrist hurts like h311, but I'm alive and walking around!")

 

Dynamic air pressure is higher than static air pressure. I have no measurements to base this on but i doubt the boost is much more than 1PSI at speed, so the effect is marginal. on the other hand at supersonic speed, air is unusable for thrust and must be slowed to subsonic speeds. Suprisingly the thrust produced by a supersonic aircraft is actually subsonic. I am only taking into account conventional turbine engines, not ramjets or scramjets, either of which could be radically different. Although my supersonic knowlege is based on a semester of subsonic aerodynamics in which these topics were only introduced on a Gee Whiz basis and will be explained better in advanced aerodynamics which I havent taken yet so any further insight or corrections of my limited knowledge would be appreciated.

 

yeah, I think we should stick simple things on here weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee just a thought

 

Sorry Prom.
Your knowledge of aerodynamics is vastly superior to mine! I'd LOVE to take such a course, but it seems like most information I can find about aerodynamics relates solely to aircraft and keeping them aloft. The Ram-air systems in Kawasakis (though not on the 500) are especially interesting to me.
At the bottom of both of my ZX9R's airducts there are resonator bottles. Apparently these are intended to introduce high-frequency turbulence to disrupt the naturally occurring low-frequency turbulence at the uneven edges of the ducts and airbox. This made no sense to my non-scientific mind, until the day I was standing on my favorite jetty near my home.
This jetty is an inlet to a large seawater lagoon and the changes in tide cause the water to flow in and out, sometimes at great flowrates. When the waves at the beach are big (e.g. low-frequency turbulence), they disrupt the flow of the water. But when the wind is blowing hard and the waves are small and numerous (e.g. high-frequency turbulence), the water flows more evenly and quickly.
I'd experimented with the bottles on and off the bike and wasn't able to tell much difference (primarily because the bike will do an honest hundred miles per hour in first gear and I was therefore unable to really test it at its intended speeds.) But watching the waves break at the mouth of this lagoon made me see the purpose of the resonator bottles.

Can you recommend any good books or websites on aerodynamics? Wikipedia and howthingswork.com have been pretty helpful, but I'd love to find more!