GSX-R600 engine

[woollymoof]

Hey guys,
Does anyone know if the GSX-R600 engine can be used as a stressed chassis member? Thanks

[Richard Lewis]

Lets put it this way: it is in the motorcylce it came out of. http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

-------------------------
UVIC Formula SAE Team
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http://uvic.fsae.ca

[Lyn Labahn UW-Madison]

A thousand words (http://www.cae.wisc.edu/~sae/video/203.JPG)

2002/2003 Team Leader
Best overall average finish of the new millenium http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

[Dan Deussen @ Weber Motor]

The forces in the bike frame act differently on the engine than in an FSAE car. We had our gixxer engine mounted almost exactly like the one in Wisconin's pic last year. It worked, but there were forces going through the upper front engine mounts on the cylinder head that caused tiny leaks of the cylinder base and head gasket during hard cornering. When we noticed the leaks, we were really worried that hitting a pothole during hard cornering could cause the head to twist enough to cause a piston to ceise up, but luckily that never happened. I would really like to know if Wisconsin is having the same leaks.

I would never stress the engine the same way again. If you really want to stress the engine I would research a way to add lower front engine mounts to the crankcase.

[woollymoof]

Lyn, I can't tell what's going on in that picture, so many wires and stuff. Perhaps a picture of your bare chassis with the engine in it? http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

[Lyn Labahn UW-Madison]

Picture 1 (http://www.cae.wisc.edu/~sae/video/frame.JPG)

Picture 2 (http://www.cae.wisc.edu/~sae/video/frame2.JPG)

Picture 3 (http://www.cae.wisc.edu/~sae/video/frame3.JPG)

A few notes:

The pictures are a little big because I have not had a chance to resize them since my paintshop pro license expired.

The pictures are kind of indirect because I was actually in the shop a couple of months ago taking pictures so that I had proof our car wasn't second year (you can see 2002 and 2001 cars in the background).

So far so good with our headgasket.

2002/2003 Team Leader
Best overall average finish of the new millenium http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

[woollymoof]

Thanks for your help guys.

[gug]

has anyone managed to get the manufacture's specs on the amount of stress you can place on the engine, or was it just a guess? i'm a bit paranoid about loading our engine cause the stresses in a road bike are almost always vertical i think (comes from only having 2 wheels), with very little twisting.

"I come from a land down under,
Where beer does flow and men chunder"

[woollymoof]

The loads aren't always vertical. Consider when cornering, the bike is lent over on its side and the front wheel hits a bump. The bump is vertical (with respect to the ground) and the wheel follows the bump in the vertical direction as well. The suspenion doesn't absorb deflections in any directions that are not parallel to the suspension travel. This twists the chassis and since the engine is a PARTIALLY stressed member it twists as well.
Many bike manufacturers advertise an engine that is FULLY stressed. Have a look out there and see if you can find a bike where the front and rear suspension load paths run directly through the engine without a chassis to give it some help.
With regards to info from the manufacturer. I wouldn't bother trying. If you want to know how stiff the engine is in torsion you'll have to measure it. If you want to know how strong it is in torsion, after you've measured the stiffness keep going until it breaks. A bit expensive and probably not necessary because you'll probably have the engine seize on you before that happens in reality.