PIP HIGHAM
At last: a Pip-a-pedia!
Irealise that some of the stuff I write may be tricky to follow (incomprehensible perhaps?) so here are a few terms and their explanations that might help clear the fog... or maybe not.
■ Nitro: abbreviation of Nitro Methane, oxygen-laden fuel favoured by world’s fastest drag bikes, try 0-225 mph in five seconds! Closely related to TNT as used in underground explosives, demolition, etc. Not to be confused with…
■ Nitrous: abbreviation of Nitrous Oxide N2O, or laughing gas. A multi-function compound again, heavy in Oxygen, when squirted into engines with extra dollops of fuel can create prodigious lumps of horsepower. Can also create spectacular explosions when accidentally ignited in confined spaces.
■ Fogger: a trick little squirty nozzle thing used to combine fuel and N2O into a homogenous spurtle, usually in inlet manifold.
■ Swinger: swingarm, usually racy, boxsectioned alloy or steel, made by Metmachex, Spondon or Martek.
■ Stinger: tiny tail pipe favoured on high performance strokers (see below), motocross and road race, generally from the 1970s.
■ Stroker: two-stroke engine, either piston-ported, reed or rotary-valve induction. Simplest use of the ‘Otto Cycle’ principle, only two moving parts: piston and crankshaft.
■ Slipper: piston design in which the thrust faces (front and back) are extended and sometimes Teflon coated (‘Banadized’ is another process, I kid you not) to reduce noise and wear.
■ Slider: complex clutch design comprised of various links, cranks, springs and bob-weights, allows rider to simply mash the throttle without other concerns such as clutch levers: centrifugally assisted.
■ Slipper (2): as above with all components fitted backwards, allows clutch to slip in certain circumstances to prevent unintended rear wheel lock-ups causing battered bum cheeks and spectacular crashes.
■ Slapper: as in ‘tank’, unwanted steering feature resulting in broken lock-stops, dented tank, trapped thumbs and major expense.
■ Scamper: Sunday morning ride out, minimum 20 miles, max 50: with compulsory drink/chat stop(s).
■ Highside: to fall off with good chance of serious injury.
■ Lowside: slither off with opportunity to watch your pride and joy merrily spark its way into nearby wall, tree, parked car, bus stop, etc.
■ Drag: clutch fault caused by wear, abuse, neglect and poor set up. Causes neutral selection farce. Also stands for illegal race between pubs, urinals, roundabouts, etc., usually between 8-10pm.
■ Stoppie: imaginary manoeuvre never successfully achieved deliberately by sentient beings, but occasionally occurs due to incursion by maleficent pussy cats (not strokers) intent on suicidal endeavour.
■ Dog bone: part of rear suspension linkage, shaped, as suggested by the name like a ‘dog bone’ subject to great stress. Great bragging rights if you have billet DBS!
■ Dog leg: complex shaped control lever, resembling neither dogs nor legs, confusing.
■ Box: usually (but not always) black, subject to unpredictable (and invariably inconvenient, not to mention expensive) failure. Mystery components lurk within. (Quick hint: if yours fails, warm up the oven for 20 minutes, switch it off, pop the BB in and leave overnight, try again. Believe me it sometimes works!)
■ Twin pot: classic twin-cylinder with side-by-side configuration, but not BMW, always referred to as ‘Boxer’.
■ Twin pot (2): utilitarian brake caliper, fixed to fork leg with moving piston on either side of disc, other breeds are also available: swinging caliper, sliding caliper, four-pot, six-pot, seized, etc.
■ Twin pull: exotic-ish device for pulling two cables roughly simultaneously, e.g., throttle, front brake. Also stuff of dreams involving identical MOOS (Members Of Opposite Sex) and excess sherbert, never happens.
■ Boxer: engine configuration where foot warmers (sorry, cylinders) stick out on either side. Commonly used on BMS, modern versions have far too many boxes, black and otherwise. Also Ural, Dnieper, Douglas, Velocette, Subaru, Whispering Willy…
■ CV: Constant Vacuum, hold on, we all know that nature abhors a vacuum, so were Messrs Mikuni and Keihin attempting to overturn a basic concept of nature by controlling the behaviour of our beloved pollution laden atmosphere? Well, good luck with that one chaps, my money’s on Newton, Bernoulli, et al.
■ Full Floater: totally inappropriate term used willy nilly in many disparate contexts, e.g., disc that wobbles about in a stiff breeze, rear suspension linkage, IMHO I don’t want my bike to float, either partially, or indeed, fully; also pernicious, flushresistant foecal expulsion.
■ And finally Rev: measure of rotational movement of wheel, engine, any rotating body. Rev counter: oft ignored gauge giving vague idea of impending engine blow-up.