Motorjournals by PSN Jr.

The Indian motorcycle market is diversifying rapidly. Young consumers are choosing ADVs over roadsters and commuters for their versatility and go-anywhere nature. However, the question that arises the most while purchasing one is whether an ADV makes sense as a Daily Driver? While offroading and adventure touring have been gaining popularity lately, these trips don't last more than a month in a stretch. Besides those 30 days of joyriding, most ADVs spend time in cities. Are ADVs only meant to slog through hours of mindless traffic congestion and pothole-ridden roads throughout the year? Do their abilities become overkill when commuting? The simple answer to that is yes. While some may argue about the situations where ADVs prove their superiority over other motorcycles. Situations such as a sudden pothole while going fast or need to go through flooded areas in monsoons. However, one has to remember that such situations are rare. Also, both commuters and roadsters are capable of tack...

Not all vehicles are fuel-efficient and green at the exact same time. That’s why most car customers typically must decide whether they would like a hybrid or a gasoline vehicle. While a gas-fuel car is the most common conventional option, hybrid-based cars are gaining reputation in recent times. This is largely due to their superior gas efficiency and all types of advantages over a standard gas engine.  Of course, each of these cars has its very own of pros and cons, based upon its capability, maintenance, and typical benefits.  What Is A Hybrid? Automobile buyers need to understand the fundamental features of a plug-in hybrid vehicle prior to deciding. An electric automobile utilizes a combination of gasoline and electric power to incorporate propulsion in order to supply boosted fuel performance. The main advantages of an electric motor include comparatively less fuel usage and reduced CO2 pollution than a traditonal gasoline or diesel-engine car, or SUV. The lastest kinds o...

The government of India has applied the ban. Today, if someone is found selling or manufacturing a non-ISI certified helmet, then they will have to face the consequences – in this case it will be imprisonment for a year, fine of Rs 1 lakh or both. This order was given out in November 2018, thereafter in 2019 certain rules were laid out for the same. All the helmets sold in India will now have to meet the BIS quality requirements. The traffic cop has every right now to challan a rider if he or she isn’t wearing an ISI-certified helmet. Moreover, the fact that the BIS standards are quite similar to the international DOT, ECE could be something that may be lost on the enforcers. The 2018 ruling meant that someone with an ARAI or Shoei helmet is actually using an illegal helmet in India. Does this mean someone wearing an imported helmet could be asked to pay a fine by the traffic police? Yes, they will be fined but our traffic cops are so burdened that sometimes even those not wearing a he...

Chapter 8: As we ended the last chapter, one particular memory came flashing in my head. It was of a particular event that made 'Mumbai' standstill for nearly 4 days. That was the very fateful day of 26th July 2005. Massive floods that had engulfed Mumbai & it's suburban areas in water, some almost neck deep. I was in school when the flooding began & since we were the senior students, we were tasked with taking the kids to safety through almost 2.5 feet to 3 feet of water that flooded our school ground. My Dad was back home from his Project, just a day before, Jetlagged. Even in that situation, he kept is calm & went to pick up my Mom from her office premise near Tekdi Bungalow area in Thane. The office was in an elevated level, hence did not face any trouble of flooding, but that was not the case with the areas around it. Some areas had almost 550-600mm of waterlogged. Such depths are enough to test some of the "so-called" SUV's of the current gen...

Chapter 7: Continued......   Automatic   Most modern North American and some European and Japanese cars have an  automatic transmission  that selects an appropriate gear ratio without any operator intervention. They primarily use  hydraulics  to select gears, depending on  pressure  exerted by fluid within the transmission assembly. Rather than using a  clutch  to engage the transmission, a fluid flywheel, or  torque converter  is placed in between the engine and transmission. It is possible for the driver to control the number of gears in use or select reverse, though precise control of which gear is in use may or may not be possible.   Automatic transmissions are easy to use. However, in the past, some automatic transmissions of this type have had a number of problems; they were complex and expensive sometimes had reliability problems which sometimes caused more expenses in repair, have often been less fuel-e...

Chapter 6: Continued......   Automated manual / Semi-automatic, also called Automated-clutch manual, this is a hybrid form of transmission with an integrated electronic (electromechanical, electro-hydraulic, or electro-pneumatic) control system handling manipulation of the clutch automatically, but the driver can and still may be required to take manual control of gear selection. Most modern automated manuals with automated clutches can operate as conventional automatics transmissions in a fully automatic driving mode, removing the need for the driver to take any manual control of the gear selection. This is sometimes erroneously called a clutchless manual or a semi-automatic transmission.    Modern automated manuals can simply and best be described as a standard manual transmission, with an automated clutch, and automated clutch and gear shift control. Many of these transmissions allow the driver to fully delegate gear shifting choice to ...

  Chapter 5:   Not all of us move at the same pace. Some of us are too quick while some of us take our own time to get moving along. This is nature’s way of programming, which is necessary for us to survive.   Imagine us all programmed to move at the same speed (Top Gear), even though we all have different hearts (Engine). Not everyone is made that Torquey enough to break inertia, even in the highest gear. Some will stall, some will judder, some unique ones will get a move on. But in that process, the fuel consumed will make no sense to our environment, our society.   For our society to function, we required all its Cogs to move in a synchronous, harmonic way. Which means that we need different programming for every one of us, same way each and every Engine requires a transmission suited to its needs. That's how we come to different types of transmission available around us.   Manual transmissions come in two basic types:   ·   ...

Chapter 4:   "Every day is a new day" a saying that makes sense, for us all. Each day we wake up, it requires us to exert different levels of energy, to go about the day. Each task has its own requirement and rewards. Each task takes something from us and puts it to use in our own realities. Each task has its own pace requirement, which is fulfilled by our bodies, by selecting 'the Right Gear at the Right Time'.   What it means when we say that, is that even though our body has the capability to go a lot higher, faster, if going that way unnecessarily, it will wear us out and make us use our energy in a very inefficient way.   Same goes with our Beloved Vehicles. What good is it, if we keep on doing burnouts every time we want to move on? We need some sort of modulation, some form of control between Axle/Differential and Engine.   That is where a transmission comes in play. By definition, a transmission is a machine in a power w...

Chapter 3:    As we talked about Wheels last time, the thought grew deeper, no matter how important invention the wheel was, alone it was useless. The wheel is more like the 'Jack of all trades and Master of None'. We have an existence of wheel since early stages of Stone Age, but the use of the wheel as a mode of transportation dates back to 4200-4000 BC.   One of the first applications of the wheel to appear was the Potter's wheel, used by prehistoric cultures to fabricate clay pots. The earliest type, known as "tournettes" or "slow wheels", were known in the Middle East by the 5th millennium BC. One of the earliest examples was discovered at Tepe Pardis, Iran, and dated to 5200–4700 BC. These were made of stone or clay and secured to the ground with a peg in the center but required significant effort to turn. True potter's wheels, which are freely-spinning and have a wheel and axle mechanism, were developed in Mesopotamia (Iraq) by 42...

Chapter 2:   As I was moving around through some old memories, a thought kept jumping in my mind...…."How did a Wheel come into Existence?" A simple thought, yet the answer to which generates interest in every human who has encountered a wheel. The wheel, as historian says, was invented roughly in 3500 BC. As Humans evolved in the Palaeolithic era, they discovered that heavy, round objects could more easily be moved by rolling them than bulky, irregular ones. The realisation was made that some heavy objects could be transported if a round object such as a fallen tree was placed underneath and the heavy object rolled over it. However, diagrams on ancient clay tables suggest the wheel did not materialise for thousands of years until a potter’s wheel was used in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) in 3500 BC. The oldest wooden wheel discovered so far was found in Ljubljana, Slovenia and is believed to date back to about 3200 BC. It was about the same time that the wheel was ...

  Chapter 1: Breaking into old memories.   Machine has been an integral part of Man's evolution from the primal state of to a being that is now known as Homo Sapiens. Earlier in life, it was a plane bow and arrow, but as we evolved these machines started taking various forms like a hardworking tractor or mind-numbingly fast supercomputers.   But while life progress on Top Gear, we tend to forget the single-most greatest invention….'The Humble Wheel'.   The wheel single-handedly pushed the boundaries of man from Hunting and Gathering to the modern trade we now take for granted. The wheel is such a unique machine that it can connect with every person on this planet, almost every being born in today's time has encountered a wheel at least once.   My exact memory with a wheel, rather 4 of them, was with a beautiful vehicle called Premier Padmini. Manufactured in India from 1964 to 2000 by Premier Automobiles Limited under the License of FIAT Spa, it ...