Saturday, April 25th

We are finally done! Eli and I met this morning to make some final touches to our presentation, and finish both the presentation for the faculty, as well as the presentation for the senior project assembly. We are feeling a bit sad now that it is all over, but also ready to show our peers what we have done. We can't wait to rock the faculty that didn't see our bikes at the barbeque, and really want to make sure we do a good job. With our hours complete and our bikes ready to go, Eli and I can't wait for this coming week. All in all, this experience was a life changing one, and the decision to do a senior project was one of the best decisions of my life!

Friday, April 24th

Pretty short day today. Eli and I both decided we wanted to go to the senior chapel, so that took a large chunk out of our day. We spent most of the day working on our presentation, but Eli had to leave early for tennis, so we plan to meet this weekend to finish our hours for the project. Reflecting on the senior project, we are both happy and sad that it is over. We are excited to head back to our friends, but no so thrilled to have to sit in class next week. Now is the time we prepare for our presentations to both the students and the faculty. Cant wait!

Thursday, April 23rd

Today was the day. We started off by heading over to Patrick's in the morning to see if the carburetor was securely fastened after a night of drying. Luck was on our side, as it stayed on the whole time. Once we were sure that the carburetor was securely fastened, we spent some ample time riding around the area near Auto Repairs by Patrick. This was to make sure the motor was running correctly, as well as warm it up for our time at Lovett. Once we were sure the motor was ready, we loaded up the bike and said what we hoped would be our last goodbyes to Patrick (DeJaVu), and headed over to Lovett.
Once at Lovett, we had a blast. We arrived during Lower school lunch, where Kindergardeners watched us ride our bikes, and applauded us and screamed. As lunch went on, older lower schoolers came out and began to ask questions, which Eli and I enjoyed answering. It was almost like we were giving lectures, as we had an entire 5th grade class and their teachers surrounding us. Middle schoolers weren't as interested in the bike as we had anticipated, but many still came to ask questions. The fun was when our friends came to lunch and saw what we had built. The best part was being able to show them how they work, as well as the words of admiration from both our peers and teachers. The amount of heads we turned today was amazing. Although, I would have to say my favorite part of the day was lower school lunch. Eli and I figured out that if we rode the bikes once around the circle, kids would come running to figure out what we were riding, and ask many questions. Unfortunately, the question most asked today was, "Can I try it?". Of course not. Based on all the issues Eli and I have had with the bikes, we decided inexperienced riders would put our project in jeopardy.
As lunch came to a close, Eli and I headed to the track to get some footage of us riding the motor bike, which wasn't as reckless as us filming the electric bike. Today was a really fun day, and also important because we realize this is the only opportunity our piers will have to see the bikes work in person. As much as we would like to, I don't think the tech crew would be so hot about us rolling our bikes onto the stage. One day left, and Eli and I are satisfied with our work. We plan to work on the presentation both tomorrow and this weekend.

Wednesday, April 22nd

Long day today. To start our day, we went to Patrick's to try to fix our bike. However, when we arrived, Patrick wasn't there, only his son. We talked to his son for a while and asked him if he had any suggestions. Unfortunately, James told us that Patrick knew way more about carburetors than he did. However, he did make a suggestion about the spark plug. He suggested removing it while waiting for Patrick in order to let to motor dry out, as there may have been too much gas in there. After about 45 minutes, Patrick arrived, and we began to look into the carburetor. Patrick suggested many different methods to try and attach the carburetor, but none of them worked. The real issue is that the carburetor is not very high quality. At some points we were able to get the bike started and ride it, but when we switched it into idle and reved the engine, the carburetor would shake off. Eli and I realized we may just have to make due with reattaching the carburetor after every ride. For the most part, the carburetor stays on, its just when it is in idle that we run into some issues. Patrick had one final idea where we glued the actual screw of the carburetor to keep it from unscrewing. With the glue applied, Eli and I planned to leave it overnight to dry, and we will check back in the morning before the outdoor bar b que.
Next, Eli and I decided to get some footage on the electric bike to try and show people what it looks like to ride it. We did this because we realize that we will not be able to bring the bikes on stage with us when we present the bikes, so the videos we make will hopefully suffice. Though it was a little reckless, I got in my car and rode along Eli on the bike, filming on my phone. Surprisingly, it was kind of tough to keep up with Eli because of how agile he was on the bike. We plan to incorporate this into our presentations.
After we finished filming, Eli and I headed to Starbucks for some more work. We began by compiling our final list of expenses. We soon realized that we may have misplaced some of our receipts. Luckily, we only used credit cards, so hopefully we can outline exactly what we spent on our bikes. We then began work on our presentation to the faculty. We discussed for a while about how to actually present. We debated going through our project by day, week, etc. We have decided to basically focus on the gas powered bike, then the electric bike, then compare the two. This would include showing our stats for each bike, which one is easier to ride, discussing the actual assembly of the bike, and so on.
With two days left in our senior project, Eli and I are feeling both relieved and sad to be finishing up. We are glad to finally have something to show for our work, but will miss getting down to business in the mechanic shop. We are both really excited to be at the outdoor bar b que tomorrow, and really want the students to see what we have done. We are still debating if we should let people ride the bikes or not. I guess we will find out tomorrow!

Tuesday, April 21st

Another fun day with the motor bikes! Today, we began our day by going to second period at 8 AM. After that, we went to Eli's house, where we planned to ride the bikes. However, the batteries for the electric bike weren't completely charged yet, so we decided to get organized on our reimbursements while we waited for the batteries to charge. We made a list of what we spent, and had receipts to match them. Once the electric bike was full, and the gas bike was fueled, we decided to ride our bikes to Lovett from Eli's house. Eli lives across the street from New York Pizza Exchange, so Lovett is about a mile away. This was definitely the most fun part of the day because of how much we were accepted on the road. Eli and I slowly inched our way onto the road, but expected cars to swerve past us and give us a mean look. Surprisingly, our bikes were actually able to keep up with the cars, and stay at a pace where the cars felt no need to pass us. Today, I was on the motor bike, and I can tell you from experience that there is nothing like riding a gas powered motorized bike. The sound it made as I rolled through Vinings was amazing.
Once we made it to Lovett, we headed down to the track, and this is where we had issues. We decided to time the bike on the straight part of the track and figure out how fast the bike was going. We used the electric bike first, which clocked a time of 8.9 seconds for a hundred meter distance. However, when we tried the gas powered bike, we had some difficulty getting it started. We couldn't figure out what was wrong, but the motor would turn on, then cut off. We were able to get somewhat of a reading on it once Eli made a few adjustments to the bike. However, eventually the bike shut off again. After about two hours of riding the bikes and tinkering with the gas powered bike, we figured out the problem. The carburetor was not securely fastened to the bike, and therefore was slipping loose on the motor. This may seem like a simple fix, but Eli and I actually foresaw this issue coming. When we were assembling the bike, we realized the clamp holding down the carburetor was not nearly sufficient enough, but we thought it would work out since the clamp was standard for the kit. However, as we learned today, this was not the case. We spent time at Eli's house coming up with ways around the issue, but eventually subjected to calling Patrick. We plan to meet with him tomorrow.
After we found what we thought was a solution to the issue, Eli and I talked about the day. We went over what we discovered today, including distance lasted on each bike, speed of each bike, and issues with each bike. We then planned our day for tomorrow and hope we are able to fix the bike. Pretty awesome day until the carburetor incident.

Monday, April 20th

Today was awesome! We finally know for a fact that we created two fully functional motor bikes. Our day began bright and early when we went to Patrick's. Once there he looked at the oil we bought, and helped us figure out how to mix the oil and gas. Our two packs of two stroke motor oil eventually ended up being mixed in with half a gallon of gasoline, which we bought at a gas station near Patrick's. We then put the fuel mixture into the fuel tank and fooled around with the bike. We watched other videos to make sure we had the starting method down, then took to the road right outside Patrick's. We noticed our gas bike is a little more difficult to operate than the electric bike, but not too hard to figure out. Basically, to start the motor, you have to get going on the bike up to a good speed, then release the clutch, and the motor kicks into gear. When you want to remain idle, you can pull the clutch back in and lock it in place. It is so awesome.
Once we figured out how to ride the bike, which goes rather fast by the way, we said our goodbyes to Patrick, as our work with him was complete. We then loaded the bikes into my truck and headed over to Piedmont Park. Our initial plan was cut short when we were told that we weren't allowed to ride motor bikes in the park. I was able to get away with it on the electric bike, but Eli's was way too loud to be inconspicuous. However, this wasn't really an issue due to all the neighborhoods surrounding Piedmont Park. We rode the bikes for a good while in the surrounding neighborhoods and streets trying to get a feel for the bikes. We want to have experience when talking about our bikes, saying we have actually ridden them in the city and they are quite practical. One major thing I noticed today was when Eli and I stopped for lunch, we were able to pull our bikes right up to the door instead of having to look for a parking spot in the full parking lot. The bikes also lasted a lot longer than we expected. One major thing we noticed is that the bikes should really be used as an assist system. By this I mean that the rider should still pedal at all times, but use the motors for help. Using just the motors to get around, though fun, uses a good amount of fuel/energy, especially when going up hills.
Once our bikes were dead, Eli and I spent a good amount of time going over what we had learned, how to best present this information, and our plan for tomorrow. All in all, it was a really good day. Today was by far the most fun day of our project yet, and I can't wait for what is in store for tomorrow. One of the most fun parts about today is the amount of heads we turned when rolling by on our bikes. People were astonished at what we were riding, and we think they wished they had some motor bikes of their own.

Sunday, April 19th

Eli and I are ready for this week. We met today at Carribou coffee to make plans for what exactly we want to do this week. We originally planned to try out the gas bike today, but Patrick was out of town, and returns late tonight. So, instead we made somewhat of a schedule for the week. Some major things we want to accomplish this week are both efficiency testing as well as filming a commercial for the bicycles. We plan to go to piedmont park tomorrow and ride the bikes around to get a grip on things. We want to make sure they work fine, and want to see how they fare in the turain of Piedmont park. Also, we plan to actually ride our bikes to Lovett this week. We want to do this to show that the bikes are capable of getting someone to school/work in a timely fashion. We are going to be recording how much energy/fuel we use and analyze the costs of each one to show that it is cheaper to ride one of our bikes instead of driving a car. All in all, it should be a really fun week filled with lots of information. The part of the week we are perhaps most excited for is the Earth Day outdoor bar b q where we plan to showcase our bikes. We are both excited to finally wrap up our senior project, and hope this week goes according to plan. If all goes well, we should finish up our week ready to present to the school as well as the senior project committee.

Friday, April 17th

Well, as I said earlier, Eli is out of town for college visits. I am leaving today as well for a college visit, and therefore will not work today. Eli and I plan to meet up on Sunday to finish up our hours for the week, in which we hope to finally ride the gas powered bike and set up our week of testing. Looking forward to next week!

Thursday, April 16th

Pretty short post today, as I didn't work that long. As I said earlier, Eli is gone today and tomorrow on college visits, so I spent my day doing a couple hours of research. Eli told me he was on the plane planning out our presentation, so I went ahead and started looking more into efficiency testing. I began to map out the best places for us to do our testing, as well as what tests we would do. Some of the basic tests we want to make sure we perform are speed, fuel efficiency, and maneuverability. We want to show that our bikes are a better solution to cars in the City of Atlanta. To track speed, we plan to possibly use the Lovett track, as this is the flattest place we can think of. We will time how long it takes for each bike to cover a certain distance, and determine how many miles the bike will travel per hour. We also want to look at how long each of our bikes can last. Can they only take someone to work then die? Or can they last a whole week without charging/filling up? Also, we want to look into the actual prices of "filling up". How much are we paying to fill/charge our fuel tanks in each bike? Is there any way to cut these costs down? We also want to try and show why someone should purchase a bike over a car. We want people to see how easy it is to get around on a bike by showing what it is like to eliminate many issues associated with a car such as parking, stop lights, speeding tickets, etc.
These are some of the tests I planned out today, and we hope to come up with more after talking to Hwang, who has offered his mathematics expertise. All in all, it was a short day, but I am planning to work on Sunday when Eli and I can finally meet up. I just want to see if our gas bike runs! We're super excited to meet up again, and cannot wait to start our final week next week.

Wednesday, April 15th

So close! Eli and I went straight to the garage after class this morning with a sense of determination. Because he is leaving for college visits tomorrow, Eli and I really wanted to finish the bike today. When we arrived, we observed how much progress we had made yesterday. Almost immediately after we arrived, Patrick sent us to the store to get a few things. First, we needed a new screw for the chain cover. As we said yesterday, one particular screw was extremely hard to take off. We eventually did, but stripped the screw so we needed a new one. We also needed a new brake line, because the original brake line was sitting right where we planned to mount the gas tank. So, we went to Pep Boys first in search of a new screw, which we found with ease. Then we headed to Atlanta Cycling, where we asked for a new brake line, which was given to us. We then headed back to the shop to hopefully finish the bike.
Once at the shop, we went to work screwing in the brand new screw, which didn't take long. We then spent some time measuring how long to make the brake and attaching it. Once we had the brake on and made sure the brake was fully operational, we installed a chain guard, which covers the chain linked to the sprocket we installed yesterday. We then installed the "Kill Switch". This device is basically an ignition for the bike. It has a button you push to turn the motor on and off. To install this, we had to measure out on the actual handlebars of the bike and drill a hole to install it in. We then had to attach the throttle to the kill switch in order to make the bike move. Once this was done, we had to run a cord from the kill switch into the carburetor. This was like surgery, as the parts inside the carburetor are extremely fragile and small. With the throttle line installed, we then needed to figure out where a few more cords from the kill switch went. These wires are what send electrical signals to the motor. After some tinkering and research, we figured out what wire went where. Next was the installation of the muffler, which was a bit problematic. Once we installed it, we realized it blocked the pedal from moving, as it is located under the bike. So, we had to bend the muffler into place with brute force, which we eventually did. With the muffler installed, we now needed to do some touching up. There were wires from brakes and kill switches everywhere. So, our trusty friend, zip tie, came to the rescue. However, we did encounter a slight problem with the clutch line connected to the bike. Unlike the other wires, which we could bend and form to the bike, the clutch line had to remain straight. This was because it is a pressure oriented wire. Basically, if we bent it, the clutch would not do its job. So, we spent time figuring out what to do. Patrick helped us out by telling us we needed to cut it to where it was short enough that it wasn't in the way. After careful measurements, we cut the clutch line and tied it to the bike. We are ready to go!
Eli and I decided to wait to put fuel into it until we meet next after his college visits. We are both so surprised at how hard we worked, and how much easier the gas powered motor was to install versus the electric one. We think this is because we pretty much understood how bikes worked by the time we got around to the gas powered bike. It feels so good to finally have what we wanted, two motor bikes. Granted, we may not yet have a gas powered bike, as we have not put some fuel into it to test it. Hopefully it works!

Tuesday, April 14th

Today was a life saver. As I said yesterday, Eli and I ran into some problems with our bicycle. A small piece didn't fit on the one we originally bought. However, Eli was able to find a bike at Isabelle Leonaitis' house that worked perfectly. After some heavy duty cleaning and WD-40 coating, the bike was as good as new. Eli and I then went to work installing the motor sprocket on the back tire, which took more time than anticipated. This was tricky because of the alignment of the sprocket. It had 9 holes that didn't quite line up with the spokes on the tires. However, after some jamming with our fingers, we were able to make everything fit, thank god.
Once our sprocket was attached and re-installed onto the bicycle, we mounted the motor on the bike. Though this may seem complicated, all it required was some simple screwing and tightening. Before we knew it, the motor was on there fitting like a charm. According to our horrible instructions, the next thing to do was install the clutch. This device is what starts the motor, which is essential. To do this, we needed to remove the gear shifter from the bicycle entirely, which wasn't very difficult. We then installed the clutch which looks like a brake handle. Once it was securely on there, we had to connect the clutch line to the actual motor, which took some intense times looking at pictures and videos. The clutch line is what makes the actual clutch handle work. So eventually, we got it on there and it seemed to be working fine.
Right as we installed the clutch handle and clutch line, Mr. Hwang showed up with Cuban sandwiches, which were delicious. We then spent some time showing him what we had done, and talking about our progress on the bike. Once we showed him the electric bike, Mr. Hwang wanted to take a spin. We think he was overjoyed based on his constant yelling of "Yipee!" He seemed to really enjoy coming down to Patrick's and also seemed to be pleased with all the work we had done. He thanked Patrick for all he had done for us, and then returned to Lovett.
Once Hwang left, we went to work installing the bicycle chain to the motor. This chain was not part of the original bike, but is actually a chain specifically for the motor and the sprocket we made. We had a lot of trouble with this though. It may seem simple, but we had to actually unscrew parts of the motor in order to thread the chain through. After some tough screwing and disassembling, we were able to get the chain attached to the bike.
Today was one of our most productive days, as we feel we made some major progress on the bike. Compared to yesterday where we thought all hope was lost, we were able to make a dent into the gas powered bike assembly. We hope tomorrow goes well!

Monday, April 13

     Success! Today, Eli and I finished the electric bicycle and rode it for the first time. What a rush! We are so happy to finally have something to show for all our work. We began our day by adding some finishing touches to the bicycle at Patrick's. One of the final installments we made was installing a PAS, which stand for Pedal Assist System. This is a small magnetic device that fits in between the two pedals. When we initially installed it, we weren't sure what it did, as our instructions weren't the best or most descriptive. We thought we should install it because we thought the bike might not work without it. So, just to be safe, we spent some time installing it onto the bike, and before we knew it, we were ready to ride!
     Eli was the first one to try our new electric bike, which was really cool. We were so surprised it actually worked when we turned it on, as we thought we had surely done something wrong. However, brave Eli was man enough to risk his life and try our contraption. We took it out to the street, and he turned it on and zoomed away. The bike actually goes a lot faster than we expected, and we are excited to show it to Lovett. After Eli rode it, it was my turn. I soon realized the bike had a lot of kick to it, which was useful. However, we noticed what the PAS was meant for when we started riding it. Basically, once you pedal for about 5 seconds, the PAS turns the motor on and send the bike zooming off. Though this addition to the bike is cool, we think we're going to take it off tomorrow. We didn't like it because it eliminates the ability to pedal, which will be a cornerstone of our argument for practicality of the bike. We also think the PAS is a bit useless, as there is a throttle that also kicks the motor into gear. We want riders to be able to both pedal and use the motor when necessary.
     Now for the bad part. After we finished our electric bike, we immediately began our gas powered bike, and we had a slight problem. Turns out a very small but crucial piece for our gas powered bike (the sprocket) will not fit on our bike. Suddenly realizing the problem, we of course took to Craigslist and began searching for another bike! Of course, we were also worried about funding, but Patrick graciously offered to buy our bike from us for what we paid, which was very kind of him. We met with Hwang today, and came up with another plan for our bikes if we cannot find a bike quickly. We do not want to spend nearly as much time looking for a bike as we want to make sure we have time to do efficiency tests. So hopefully all goes well.
      We are so excited to finally have something to ride after all our work. We cannot wait to test it out and test the efficiency of it. We are having a blast doing this project. Mr. Hwang is expected to come by tomorrow and try the bike for himself, and help us out where he can. All in all, it was a good day!

Friday, April 10th

We're getting closer! Eli and I were able to make some good progress on the bike today. We began our day with a meeting with Mr. Hwang, who gave us some much needed guidance. We went ahead and scheduled a time for him to come into the garage next week, as we are planning on building the gas powered bike then. We then headed over to Patrick's where Eli had a bright idea as to how to secure the battery pack. He brought some plastic tupperwear with him that fit the battery pack perfectly. However, now we needed some way to secure the box to the bike. So, once again, we went to Home Depot. At home depot we got some self drilling screws (screws that do not need a hole drilled) as well as some washers, per Patrick's instructions. Once back at the shop, we drilled holes in the bike rack and successful secure the battery pack to the bike!
We then went to making a hole in the box where we could run wires through. Luckily, Patrick helped us out with that. He then instructed us to connect all four battery packs together at one point. Basically, we needed to cut electric wires, attach them to the battery pack, then connect the 4 separate wires together for both positive and negatively charged ends. The reasoning for this is because if all the batteries are connected by one single wire, you can charge all 4 batteries at once, which is efficient and convenient. So, we went to cutting wires, connecting them and melting them together. Our finished product is a battery pack that can be charged rather quickly and easily.
We are so close! I honestly think we will be done with our electric bike within the first hour of next Monday. Though it is a little irritating that our schedule didn't work out, I think that is part of the whole senior project experience. Hitting obstacles and finding ways around them is how you really begin to understand your subject. So, as of this week, no finished bike yet. Hopefully I can say differently next week!

Thursday, April 9th

Thursday, April 9th

Today was a bit of a scare. After some research last night, Eli and I realized what we thought was the battery to our kit was actually the controller (something that dissipates the heat). So, we realized we were without a battery! We looked all night for batteries and realized the cost was way out of our budget. We decided to wait and ask Patrick what we should do. We met at WalMart this morning and purchased a bike rack to mount our theoretical battery onto. We then headed over to Patricks. Once there, he made many calls to different auto stores asking what the best way to approach this problem was. Most suggested fusing multiple batteries together to create 48V, the voltage of our controller. 

With that in mind, Patrick sent us to Batteries Plus, where we met an extremely kind employee. We explained our situation, and he was super excited, because he loved to work on stuff like our project. He showed us the 12V battery, and suggested buying four and connecting them through a cable to make 48V. The only problem was that was that the batteries were about $36 a piece. Luckily, the employee said he could work the price down for us. We ended up getting 4 batteries for around $16 a piece, thanks to his help. He told us good luck, and we went on our way after thanking him many times. 

With our problem solved, we headed back to Patrick's to see if the batteries would fit on the bike mount we purchased, which they did. However, we had no way to tie them down on the back. So once again, we loaded into the car, and headed off to Home Depot looking for some restraints to keep the battery pack in place. Unfortunately, they didn't have much of a selection. We were also looking for a specific type of screw to mount the controller onto the bike, as the bike rack was full. Making the best of what we could find, we bought some bungee cords and screws.

Once back at Patrick's, we realized the cords we bought weren't going to work. We agreed to both look into different ways of securing the battery pack onto the bike tonight. We then went to work mounting the controller onto the bike, which proved to be quite difficult. We had issues lining up the screws with the holes in the controller. Using much tape and forcing of screws, we were able to secure about half of the controller to the bicycle. Before we knew it, it was 3PM and Eli had to return to Lovett for tennis practice. So, we are planning on attaching the whole controller to the bicycle tomorrow, fastening the wires to the bicycle, and securing the battery pack. If all goes as planned, we should be done with the bike by tomorrow afternoon. 

Today has shown me that everything does not go as planned. Originally, Eli and I thought we would be done with the bicycle by today, but this is obviously not the case. We now realize we will have to cut down our efficiency testing a little bit next week in order to build the motor bike. However, building the gas powered bike may prove to be easier than the electric, as we are sure that all parts are included in the kit. We are still very into the project, and want to thank Patrick for his help. We couldn't have solved our slight problem without him. 

Wedneday, April 8th

Wednesday, April 8th

Building day 1 was a blast! Turns out all the boring research that Eli and I did last week paid off. To begin our day, Eli and I arrived at Auto Repairs by Patrick bright and early. Once there, we finally got to start on the much anticipated building of the bicycle. We decided to begin by building our electric motor first. So, we went to work. To start off, I should probably explain our electric motor. Contrary to what some may believe, our electric "Motor" is actually a bicycle wheel. The wheel is a standard 26'' frame, and it has a long cord hanging out from one side. The cord actually connects to a battery pack that is also attached to the bicycle. The battery pack provides the wheel with power, and the wheel spins on its own when power is initiated. So, to begin building, we first had to remove the original rear wheel from the bicycle, which was done with some heavy wrenching, and untangling of the bike chain. Eventually, after removing the brakes and kickstand to make way for the tire, we secured the tire onto the back with the chain attached. 

Next is where we encountered a little trouble. By disconnecting the breaks, we had essentially loosened them, and could not figure out how to tighten them. We decided to leave them be and fix them later, but of course the next part we had to install was the brake handles that came with our kit. These brake handles were specially modified for our bike kit. When squeezed, the brake handles both slowed down the tires as well as cut off power to the rear wheel. So, we went to work removing the original brakes as well as the grips on the handle bars. Once removed, we encountered another slight problem. Our kit also came with custom hand grips, one of which is the "on" switch for the battery pack, as well as a throttle. However, our bicycle had multiple gears, and included a gear changer situated on the right handlebar. We soon realized that the brake handle, gear changer and bike handle would not all fit. After some discussion, we decided we needed the gear shifter on the bicycle in order to enable it to be ridden as a normal bicycle. Therefore, we actually moved it to the other handlebar. This worked fine, but we realized the gear shifter was upside down. However, we had no where else to put it, so upside down it remains. 

Once we attached the brake handles, we soon realized we had to connect the brake cords to the handles. This required the reinstallation of our removed brake lines. Much time was spent figuring out how to readjust the brake lines in a way that they were tight and stopped the wheels from moving. After much tinkering, we soon realized we needed to look it up, but had no access to our computers. Therefore, priority number one tomorrow is to fix the brakes. 

The building is going extremely well. However, the instructions we received are very poor quality, and low in detail. So, we also must try to find a more substantial instruction sheet or video, which I am sure we will. If not, we have Patrick to help out, as he did a lot today. I am so ecstatic to finally be building our bicycles, and cannot wait to finish the first one. If all goes as planned, we should be done with the electric one tomorrow, and can hopefully start on the gas powered motor. All in all, it was a very productive, successful day. 

Tuesday, April 7th

Tuesday, April 7^th

Were getting closer! Today was our final day of preparation before we begin building (finally). Our day actually began last night when Eli and I met for two hours at Caribou Coffee debating a list we compiled of different bikes on Craigslist over the weekend. After a little bit of emailing and calling, Eli and I arranged meetings with many different Craigslist sellers in order to ensure that we would have a bicycle by the end of the day. We ended up buying a bike from a guy located in Dallas, Georgia, about an hour away from Atlanta. Eli and I met the man and he told us how he had won the bike in a trade and didn’t want it, which enabled us to bargain it down from $100 to $70.

The bikes we bought

Leaving Dallas, Georgia with a new bicycle in hand, Eli and I went back to his house to compare the two bicycles. Over the weekend, our electric motor arrived in the mail. Using the motor to compare the bikes, we came to the conclusion that the bike we just bought would be used for the electric motor, as it seemed to fit best on it. While we were sitting outside comparing the bicycles at Eli’s, FedEx arrived at his front door with a large package ( 3 guesses as to what the package was). Overjoyed, we tore into the package and spent ample time going through the motor kit. We made sure everything seemed to fit onto the bicycle, which it did. We went through the parts making sure everything that we ordered was included and nothing was lost. Luckily, everything was there, and we are now ready to build!

Parts included in motor kit

It’s really hard to type how I am feeling about this project right now. I guess you could say I am excited to actually build something. Eli and I are planning on arriving bright and early to Patrick’s tomorrow to begin building our electric motor bike. If all goes well, we should be done in two days or so, after which we will build the gas-powered motor. Taking these long road trips to find bikes and parts has taken a lot out of Eli, and me but the kits arriving rejuvenated us. We are both still having fun, and are very interested in our project, and cannot wait for our day tomorrow.

Thursday, April 2nd

Thursday, April 2^nd

            What a long day! Today was a day full of car riding and purchasing. To start our day, we met with Mr. Hwang around 7:30 AM to go over all that we had done this week. We spoke about our finances, what our plans were for the day, and our plans for next week. He gave us some valuable information about efficiency testing which we plan to utilize during that week. All in all, Mr. Hwang added some valuable insight into our week, and helped us to recognize what exactly we want to accomplish.

            After meeting with Mr. Hwang, Eli and I went to class, then headed over to Auto Repairs by Patrick. Here, Eli introduced me to Patrick and his son. While at the shop, they showed us where we would be working, what tools we could use, and showed us what assistance they could provide to the project. We then told them we were planning on buying bikes today, and they made a few suggestions into the type of bicycle we needed, as well as where to buy them. They pointed out a few thrift shops in the area that they knew had bikes, and told us to look there.

            After leaving Patrick’s, we headed over to a pawnshop about 10 minutes away. In the shop, we found  quite a few bikes, but sadly none of the bikes were within our price range. We then headed to Goodwill to see if they had any bikes, which they did. However, these also did not meet our requirements for the project. Following our trip to Goodwill, Eli and I went to The Varsity where we had planned to meet with a potential Craigslist seller. After a long time waiting, Eli and I finally met the guy, who was extremely nice and enthusiastic about bicycles. He showed us two different bikes, offering one for $150 and one for $200. After a couple minutes of bargaining, Eli and I were able to get one bike down to $100. We paid the man and went on our way with our new bike!

We then tried a few more thrift stores and pawnshops looking for the right bike, but none were in our price range. We then took to our trusty Craigslist to see if we could find another bicycle based on Patrick’s suggestions. Luckily, we found one listed for $100 from a guy in Kennesaw. We loaded up the car and our wallets and made the long trek to Kennesaw to meet the guy. Unfortunately, when Eli and I arrived, we realized the bicycle wasn’t exactly what we were looking for. We thought we could make it work though. We tried to bargain with the man, but he wouldn’t budge from $100. So, we bid him a good day and went on our way. Eli and I decided we would both look over the weekend online for bike listings, and plan to buy our last bicycle on Tuesday morning.

Of all our days this week, I would have to say this has really felt like a senior project. Getting out into the world and interacting with people made today especially important. We learned a lot about the prices of bicycles, and the art of bargaining. To sum it all up, I would have to say the final day of our first week can be marked down as a success, as we came away with at least one bicycle.

Wednesday, April 1

Wednesday, April 1

I will just go ahead and say how much I am looking forward to actually building the bikes. Today, Eli and I spent our time yet again researching, this time about both bicycles as well as marketing practices. Though this research was extremely useful, it does get a little boring. However, I know that in the long run, we will be glad that we did all this research, as it will make our project easier in the future.

Anyway, we began our day by reading up on marketing and commercial production. We planned out our week for commercial filming, and took numerous notes on how to appeal to different audiences. We made a list of tentative ideas to cover in each commercial for the different bikes. These include stressing efficiency, practicality, as well as money saving benefits. We were debating writing a script today for our commercials, but decided to wait until the week of because we really want to emphasize the results of our tests in the commercials.

After concluding our research into marketing, we looked into what kinds of bikes would work best with our engines we bought yesterday. We watched numerous videos that gave precise measurements that bicycles should have. We then scoured Craigslist looking for bicycles that met the description. We then found a bike that seemed within our price range, but was about an hour away. We debated heading out there to meet our craigslist seller, but then decided to go to Atlanta Cycling right near Lovett. This trip proved to be crucial to our project. At the store, we talked with an employee about the different specs we had learned, and asked if he had any advice. Luckily, he knew all about building motor bikes, and gave us very good advice about what kind of bike to look for. He told us that with a gas powered bike, a beach cruiser or mountain bike would work best, which we assumed. However, he told us with an electric engine, you want the ride to be as smooth as possible to get the most out of one charge. He showed us some hybrid bikes, which were a cross between a street bike and a mountain bike. He said the tires were thick enough to be durable, but also thin enough to move aerodynamically though the roads. Once we talked to him, we knew exactly what we needed. He actually even offered us some free bicycles he had out behind the store that were worn down. We went back there and found a bicycle that seemed to be pretty useable. We thanked him and went out to the car with our free bicycle. However, we ended up giving it back as we realized that it would be more expensive to fix the bicycle than to get a fully functional one.

After our conversation with the employee, we continued our research into bicycles, this time looking specifically for hybrid bicycles. After about an hour of searching and contacting, we found a few bikes that were within our price range. We then contacted the sellers and waited for them to reply, and we are meeting a few of the sellers tomorrow to see if we can get at least one of the bicycles.

All in all, it was a very exciting day towards the end, as we learned some crucial information for our project. I really enjoyed actually getting out and doing something other than research! Eli and I cannot wait to go look at the bikes tomorrow, and feel strongly that we will return from our drives with something to show for it.

Tuesday, March 30th

Tuesday, March 31: Research into Testing
What an exciting day! As I mentioned in my earlier post, Eli and I reached out to Dr. Dunkel and Ms. Switzer requesting funds for our electric engine. We explained that the engine we wanted was around $200, and they graciously granted us $250 from Lovett’s Green Initiative fund. Words cannot express how grateful Eli and I are for this donation, as it helps our project to become the best it can possibly be. Once we received confirmation that our request was approved, Eli and I spent a good while before buying the actual engines reading the fine print of the product. We wanted to make sure everything was perfect. One thing we were concerned with was whether or not the engines we were ordering came with mounts that would enable us to attach the motors to the bikes. We came to the conclusion that the kits included all necessary parts, and pushed “Order” on each engine.
With the engines ordered, we had done all we could with them until they arrived. Therefore, we then delved ourselves into the next aspect of our project, testing. During the third week of our project when everything is built, Eli and I plan to conduct a series of tests that measure the efficiency of the bikes, the practicality of the bikes, as well as many other aspects that would cause consumers to switch to motor bikes rather than cars. We went ahead and mapped out our third week planning what exact tests we would do. This of course was after much research into how exactly we would test the bikes. For example, to get the true MPG or MPC (miles per charge) Eli and I plan to fill/charge the tanks a quarter of the way full, and ride the bikes in Piedmont Park until the bikes will no longer move. Using either our GPS phones or a pedometer, Eli and I plan to calculate how far the bikes will move on a full tank or charge. This is just one of the many tests we plan to perform in the weeks to come.

As we entered our second day of the senior project, I still find myself extremely interested in the subject of motorbike mechanics. As I said yesterday, all this research is exhausting, but I am keeping my eye on the prize. Personally, I think the most fun week will either be the actual building of the bikes, or the week of testing. Regardless, I am looking forward to both, and cannot wait for tomorrow.

Monday, March 30th

 Monday, March 30th: Initial discoveries and research

Today was an interesting day to say the least. Eli and I showed up to school at 8 AM and attended period two, then met in the Lovett library and began our research into motor bike parts, costs, positives, negatives, and anything you can think of when it comes to motor bikes. I think the best way to reflect on my day is to go through our major research findings of the day.

To start our day, we looked into gas-powered engines. We spent a good while after viewing some engine models debating if we should buy an engine that you build yourself, or if we should buy an engine that is preassembled. Now this may seem like a simple solution, but it took some time to figure out, as both engine types had their pros and cons. In regards to the manual assembly engine, we thought this would be the best way to build our motor. We felt that this would be a rewarding experience to build an engine from scratch. Moreover, the engine was cheaper than a pre-assembled one. However, we encountered a slight problem when reading the description of the engine parts. We found that the self-assembly engine only included an engine in the order. This meant that we would have to compile a parts list and buy all the other parts needed to make a motor bicycle separately, such as a muffler and motor mount. We then looked into a pre-assembled motor and found that these kits included all parts needed to assemble the motor onto the bike. We did some quick calculations and found that buying the parts all in one ended up being cheaper than having to compile a list and buy every single part of the bike separately.

Next, after deciding to buy a pre-assembled motorbike, we looked into what type of engine to buy. We saw listings on different websites for a “2 Stroke engine” or a “4 Stroke Engine”.  We then began our research into what the difference was between the two in regards to motorbikes. With a two-stroke engine, we found that the bike did not actually use solely gasoline, but rather a gas and oil mix. Moreover, we learned that the two-stroke engines we were looking into had more torque than a 4-stroke engine. Now, torque is useful for hills or heavier riders, as it offers more horsepower. However, because a two-stroke engine offers more power, it is not as fuel efficient as a 4 stroke. However, what the four stroke lacks in power, it makes up for with its fuel consumption rate. We ended up deciding on purchasing a two-stroke engine, as the low cost outweighed the pros of a 4-stroke engine.

After determining which gas powered engine to buy, we began looking into electric motors. These motors were actually very different from those powered by gas, as we discovered. Instead of one large engine cell, we saw that these kits included a wheel that was to be attatched on the bike that spun and propelled the bike forward when turned on. We did our research on how voltage of each engine translated into miles per hour. We looked into 48v engines as well as 36v engines. We discovered that though the 36v engine was cheaper, it did not move the bike at a practical speed for getting around, which made us want to go with the 48v engine. However, the 48v engine was about $200, which would go over our budget.

After deciding on to buy the 48v engine, we ran into a problem with our budget. Lovett graciously awarded us $350 for our senior project, but after calculating all the costs of the engines, bikes, etc., we saw that our budget was going to come out to more around $500 (rough estimate, not final). Upon discovering this, we decided to email Mrs. Switzer who was the faculty sponsor of the Green Team. We explained the predicament we found ourselves in, and asked if the Green Team would like to contribute to our energy efficient, green mode of transportation. Mrs. Switzer told us to write a proposal and send it to Dr. Dunkel, which was done immediately.

As you can tell by the length of my reflection I am really excited to be a part of this project. Though this research can be tiresome, I know what is in store for us in the coming weeks will be worth it. We planned out our entire week today and cannot wait to continue educating ourselves on the subject of motorbike mechanics. I am looking forward to learning what the mechanical industry has to offer and what I can learn from it. Tomorrow, we plan to research bikes and what they might cost, where they are located, and whether or not we should buy them. We are also planning on continuing our research covering every aspect of what motorbikes are, and what their engines accomplish.