Honda may sell RCV Replicas to privateers by 2014

bluegreen said:

What I don't get is the RC-166 red lined at 18k (19k some sources) in 1966. That was with steel springs and 60's metallurgy. Why is 16k the limit nowadays with steel springs? Was it the size of the 990's ?

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Geonerd said:

I'll bet anything that the RPM limitations are strongly size dependent. The 166 valves were smaller than your pinky. Such small valves and springs can be tossed around with much less force.



There's a fundamental scaling law that affects all mechanical structures: If you double an item's linear dimensions, the item's cross section and strength will increase 4x, but its volume and mass will grow by a factor of 8. As things become larger, they grow comparatively less strong. That's why an ant can move a pebble 50+ times its mass but we tend to get squashed (like bugs!) when hit by the random runaway dump truck.

At any rate, tiny springs are much stiffer than large ones.

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Geonerd said:

I'll bet anything that the RPM limitations are strongly size dependent. The 166 valves were smaller than your pinky. Such small valves and springs can be tossed around with much less force.



There's a fundamental scaling law that affects all mechanical structures: If you double an item's linear dimensions, the item's cross section and strength will increase 4x, but its volume and mass will grow by a factor of 8. As things become larger, they grow comparatively less strong. That's why an ant can move a pebble 50+ times its mass but we tend to get squashed (like bugs!) when hit by the random runaway dump truck.

At any rate, tiny springs are much stiffer than large ones.

Click to expand...