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!