E: Engine Balance factor

BigEd

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Hello Eddy, Is there an easy way to work out the Balance Factor, I have read the Higgins bit and checked a few Web sites, But I am lost on the Maths side of it.
I want to do a Comet soon. Cheers Bill.
Dear Bill,
I don't think you can go far wrong if you read what Phil Irving wrote about engine balance.
In Motorcycle Engineering, Chapter 16, he got quite technical writing about balance. He says that the balance factor on the post-war Comet was 66%.
I suggest that for what you want, his explanation of how to balance in Tuning for Speed is much simpler to follow. In my 3rd edition copy, Truing and Balancing Flywheels is chapter 7. He explains what to do in 4 pages. In those pages, he gives some simple maths to work out the balance factor for the weights you find. If you don't have a copy of his Tuning for Speed I can probably sort out some simple writing to explain the process.
You will need some scales to weigh your piston and the small end. (He explains how to do this.)
If maths is an absolute no-no for you then I, or someone else could work out the balance factor for you if you supply the numbers for the weights.
If your new computer has Microsoft Excel I can send you a very simple spreadsheet where you just have to type in your weights and the spreadsheet does the maths to calculate the balance factor. ( I appreciate that you are not actually a computer buff so this might not be a good option for you.)
 
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Jez Nemeth

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Removed download link...just didn't feel right in the end...
 
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bmetcalf

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I remember PEI being unhappy that Clymer had pirated the book with no royalties paid. Wonder what he would think of it being scanned and posted?
 

Jez Nemeth

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You're right -been thinking about that all evening -best remove. Enthusiasm of finding a PDF of it on the web overtook reason there...
 
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Bill Thomas

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Only need a Chain, And it's finished !!. :)
 

TouringGodet

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Back in the ‘80s when Phil Irving was in LA, a new-ish section member offered up his Clymer print of one of his books, for a signature. Phil was gracious, but definitely let him know how he felt.
 
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