Re: Lightened Flywheel

["Bradley Peet" <btpeet@effervescent.com>]

Primary benefit: you can rev your motor faster at stop lights.  Secondary
(and marginal) benefit: slightly better acceleration at lower speeds.

There ARE actually some downsides.  Less rotating mass to help "resist" the
normal forces on the crank that put stress the bearings (according to
Perpetual Balance in Lynwood, WA) resulting in more wear over the long haul.
You also will have a somewhat less smooth running engine because the pulses
of each cylinder firing can more easily change the rotational velocity of
the crank.

It's like anything else involving mass and inertia: think about two cars
colliding, you know the car with less mass suffers greater force and
acceleration from the impact (F=ma).  The piston firing is a force that
"collides" with the crank.  If the crank and flywheel has greater mass, that
force is absorbed over a longer period of time so the peak "impact" or force
is softened.

That's how I see it.  For what it's worth, the shop that just balanced my
crank recommended against it.

Bradley

>Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2000 11:26:11 EDT
>From: "chris jevens" <rocco1987@hotmail.com>
>Subject: Re: Lightened Flywheel
>
>The lightened flywheel will lower the amount of mass that is being spooled
>up... thus allowing for quicker accels, and decels. Less rotaion mass to
>spool up means a faster spooling motor. There are negatives to this
>though... The more mass you take off of the rotating mass yes it will spool
>quicker, but then if you keep taking mass off (if you also lightened your
>crank) it will take more fuel to keep the motor moving... For the general
>rocco crowd that knows more about this please confirm this as being
right...
>is it? I just can't ezxplain it more than that... chris



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