So my plan here is to talk about some of the lesser discussed topics on the finer points of motorcycle design. There are a lot of basics that I have yet to see discussed on message boards and blog's with any depth. This will be a series of blogs on various topics. Pt 1 we are going to discuss hardware, nuts and bolts of bike building. Hardware is very common and probably one of the most overlooked components of motorcycle construction. Sure we all know that a gr 8 bolt is stronger than a gr 5. We all can look at charts and see psi ratings for tensile and compressive strength. But honestly what good is that? Are we all engineers? Do we have the ability to model our desgin and stress test it to industry standards? Even if we did have our whole motorcycle modeled in solidworks, what good is that if we have nothing to reference it to? So join me on this journey as we drove into real life useful information about the hardware that connects our motorcycle form a bunch of parts to a working machine. 

              Defining the problems..... Before we can embark on any conclusive hardware solutions we must define the goals we need to meet. So what are the issues that we must overcome specific to motorcycle design.

    1) bolt strength
    2) strength of the surrounding matieral the fastener is holding
    3) fatugue, how much operational stress will this fastener handle before failure
  4) torque. What is the torque specifications of the hardware you are using. Can the surrounding matieral handle that torque value?
   5) VIBRATION, what locking mechanisms do we use to keep that fastener tight? Mechanical, chemical, or hopes and dreams lol.

​Follow my blog and find out in my next post how to tackle some of these problems, by the time I'm done I will make selecting the right fastener to do the job a piece of cake.