Pretty nice 3D animation of an R1200 engine build & operation

[Miguel!]

This may have been posted before but its worth a second watch.

 

YouTube link...

 

Enjoy. Miguel

[TEWKS]

I see this and think to myself, wow on the techno advanced machinery scale, this engine probably sits pretty low on what's been accomplished throughout history. (talking race vehicles, aircraft, space travel, medicines and every other step forward) But, to look and see how it all functions and imagine having the brain power to actually create and make it all work together is incredible. 

[Sonor]

I agree with Tewks, but according to the vid, both cylinders fire at the same time.  Now I'm no mechanic, but the smooth ride would indicate that is incorrect.

[RogerC60]

I'm pretty sure the spark plugs in both cylinders fire at the same time, but one cylinder is at the end of its compression stroke while the other is at the end of its exhaust stroke. That's how it is on my '03 R1150.

 

[lkraus]

Simultaneous firing of all the plugs has been common for many years, usually referred to as Wasted Spark Ignition, but I am uncertain of any advantages on an engine with fully electronic controls and individual plug coils.  BMW sort of emulated the wasted-spark on the 4 plug R1200s - in some conditions the timing on the secondary plug is delayed until the piston is near BDC.  Supposedly this helps reduce emissions from un-burned fuel. Maybe emissions reduction is enough reason to keep that second spark.   In any case, it does not make the engine run rough or appreciably increase wear of the ignition components since the spark occurs in low compression conditions.

[RandyShields]

I have seen this before, but it is so cool, glad to see it again.  I am just glad there are brains out there who thought this up and have developed a fun machine that I can just put gas and oil in and ride without having to think about how complicated this engine is.  

[RogerC60]

2 hours ago, RandyShields said:

I have seen this before, but it is so cool, glad to see it again.  I am just glad there are brains out there who thought this up and have developed a fun machine that I can just put gas and oil in and ride without having to think about how complicated this engine is.  

Yeah, lots of parts moving without running into one another, pretty cool. But in that slow motion video you don't really get the full impact.

 

Every once in a while as I'm cruising down the road with the tach at 4000 RPM I think about how those pistons are moving in and out over 66 times per second. Or think about a sport bike running at 10k RPM, pistons moving over 166 times per second.

 

To me it's sort of mind boggling.

 

[Bill_Walker]

Well, I think I found the source of any electrical problems folks might be having: the gears that run the alternator aren't turning!

[lkraus]

At 3:05?  The stator coils don't spin, the bowl-like rotor on the back end of the crankshaft spins around them.  No gears. 

[Bill_Walker]

On 6/25/2020 at 2:52 PM, lkraus said:

At 3:05?  The stator coils don't spin, the bowl-like rotor on the back end of the crankshaft spins around them.  No gears. 

My bad.  Just watched it again.  What I thought was the alternator was the starter, the gears attached to which did spin briefly at 0:29.  Odd that there seems to be a ratcheting gear on the crankshaft (large-diameter gear spun by a smaller gear on a countershaft between it and the starter, but that stops turning after that) for it to drive.  That seems like a lot of extra weight, even though it's a spoked gear.