The Small Engine Shop

Many illegal immigrants in New York City are making as much as $3000 a month tax free working as delivery drivers on scooters while New York City tax payers are paying their bills. The bills include: food, rent and even cleaning services. Not only do these illegals have a job without a social security number or proper documentation, but they are allowed to ride gas powered scooters to make deliveries. A whole litany of laws have been changed or are being broken to allow illegal immigrants to live and work in NYC. A corrupt government and politicians are ignoring and changing laws they don't like, to make it easier for illegal immigrants to live in America. The corruption is a burden on American citizens.

It doesn't make you a racist or bad person to not want illegal immigrants in your country. It doesn't make you a racist or bad person to notice the negative effects of illegal immigration on your community and to say something about it. The ruling class wants you to remain silent and fear being called a xenophobe or racist while they destroy your culture, community and country. The ruling class hates traditional American culture and people, and Mexico is not a friend to America when it allows immigrants from around the world to use Mexico as a stepping stone to cross America's border.

You don't have to hate illegal immigrants to realize they don't belong here.

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Not a single license plate is visible on these scooters parked in front of The Roosevelt Hotel where the government has the illegal families and individuals living rent free.

https://www.breitbart.com/immigration/2023/09/23/migrants-new-york-city-pocketing-3000-month-working-illegally-city-foots-bills/

 

Here's another photo of the scooters used by illegal immigrants in New York City. Not a single license plate is visible in the photo. The first and most visible scooter is a gas powered scooter with an exhaust pipe sticking out the back. It doesn't have a license plate. Even if this scooter has a small displacement 49cc engine, and is considered a moped by NYC DMV, the driver must have a drivers license and the scooter must be registered and insured. How can these scooters be registered if there isn't a license plate? And if the scooters not registered, why isn't NYPD issuing traffic tickets and impounding the vehicles? The answer is corruption.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12550581/NYC-migrants-working-roosevelt-hotel.html

The 2024 Honda Transalp will be sold in America. I'm probably late to the party, but I just noticed the Transalp model on Honda's website. The retail price is $9,999, and Honda has several factory accessories available for the bike. The Transalp model is powered by a liquid cooled, 755cc parallel twin with power flowing through a 6 speed manual transmission. The bike has a curb weight of 459 pounds and a seat height just slightly under 34 inches. The new Transalp is categorized as an 'adventure' model. If you remember the original Transalp was called a dual sport motorcycle.

I just have one question though. Why are the Honda plastic pannier bags or side case $839, plus you need to buy a mounting kit, $150, and these aluminum decorative pieces called a Pannier Panel Kit for $122, so the total price for side cases is over $1000? Same story for a Honda top case. Expect to spend close to $2000 to fit your Transalp with official Honda cases. No thanks!

The 2024 Honda Transalp sold in America


The original Transalp was powered by a v-twin and not a parallel twin engine. The v-twin engine volume was close to 600cc.


Here's Seth Rogan riding the original Transalp in the movie Observe and Report

Does anyone still measure the specific gravity of electrolyte in a wet lead acid battery to determine the battery's state of charge? I doubt it, but it's still interesting to know and a tool you can use to help determine the condition of a wet battery.

Specific gravity is the ratio of the density of a liquid and the density of the same volume of pure water at 80F. I've also heard this explained as the ratio of the weight of a liquid and the weight of pure water at 80F, to make it easier to understand. For example, the specific gravity of pure water is 1.0 because both liquids are pure water and have the same density. The specific gravity of sulfuric acid is 1.835 at 80F, and has a higher density than pure water. That means sulfuric acid weighs more than the same volume of pure water at 80F. The electrolyte used in a wet battery is 64 percent water and 36 percent sulfuric acid, and has a specific gravity of 1.260 to 1.280 at 80F.

When a battery discharges, the sulfates in the electrolyte solution react with the lead plates in the battery turning them into lead sulfate. The sulfate leaves the electrolyte solution and reacts with the lead plates when a battery is discharging. This chemical reaction changes the percentage of both the sulfuric acid and water in the electrolyte and changes the specific gravity. When a battery is charged, the sulfate in the lead plates go back into solution and changes the percentage of water and sulfuric acid in the electrolyte and it's specific gravity. This is why measuring the specific gravity of the electrolyte can tell you the battery's state of charge.

The tool used to measure specific gravity is called a hydrometer. It's basically a glass tube with some type of float inside the tube, and a rubber collapsible ball at one end to suck and push electrolyte in and out of the glass tube. How high the float inside the tube floats when electrolyte is in the glass tube determines the electrolytes specific gravity. This instrument works because the specific gravity of a liquid can affect how an object floats in the liquid. A good example of this is salt water compared to fresh water. If a boat is loaded with cargo it will float differently in the ocean than it does in fresh water. If the boats journey starts in the ocean but transitions to fresh water during the trip, it could sink when it reaches fresh water if the specific gravity of salt water and fresh water is not taken into account when loading the boat.

You can see what a hydrometer looks like and read about it more using this link. This is a paid Amazon link:

https://amzn.to/3EAcmZw

Relationship between specific gravity, battery voltage and state of charge:

Specific Gravity	Battery Voltage	State of Charge
1.265	12.6 or higher	100% Charged
1.225	12.4v	75% Charged
1.190	12.2v	50% Charged
1.155	12.0v	25% Charged
Lower than 1.120	11.9v or lower	Discharged

When using a hydrometer the reading must be corrected if the temperature is above or below 80F by adding the number shown below:
160F / +.032
150F / +.028
140F / +.024
130F / +.020
120F / +.016
110F / +.012
100F / +.008
90F   / +.004
80F   / 0
70F   / -.004
60F   / -.008
50F   / -.012
40F   / -.016
30F   / -.020
20F   / -.024
10F   / -.028
0F     / -.032

For example, the hydrometer reading is 1.236 and the temperature is 60F. You want to add -.008 to the reading. Adding a negative number to a positive number is the same as subtracting .008 from your reading. The hydrometer reading should be 1.236 - .008 = 1.228. Another example, you have the same hydrometer reading of 1.236 but the temperature is 90F. You need to add .004 to your reading, which will give you 1.236 + .004 = 1.240

Harley Davidson discontinued their classic Bar & Shield padlock. I'm probably the only person who noticed and cares enough to speak about it. The Bar & Shield padlock was made by Master Lock for Harley Davidson. It's a Master Lock 220 padlock and still available from Master Lock in the plain version. It's even available in different sizes. I don't know how long this lock has been in production and sold at Harley dealerships. I believe Harley Davidson now uses Kryptonite products for all their security locks, chains and cables, which is a good product, but they don't quite have that classic look and feel.

I think the Bar & Shield padlock is the only lock I've seen from Harley Davidson with a coined Bar & Shield logo on the body of the lock. It looked good in my opinion and it wasn't a bad functioning lock either. The shackle was much larger in diameter than many other padlocks of similar size, and I believe it either contained anti-pick security pins or it had an unusual amount of pins making it more difficult to pick. Not sure though....

Whenever I think of motorcycle locks I always think of this Bar & Shield padlock, but it's now gone along with the classic Sportster. I remember seeing this padlock used to lock the steering on Harley's when they came with a hole in the steering and frame where you could use a padlock to lock the steering. It was definitely a classic Harley Davidson accessory in my opinion.

The following is an older post I made about this padlock:


Harley Davidson Bar & Shield Padlock #45737-72A



Master Lock Solid Body Padlock #220

New link 7/18/2023: Master Lock Solid Body Padlock #220


Both above padlocks are actually the same Master Lock Solid Body #220 padlock, but the Harley Davidson version has the Bar & Shield logo engraved in the lock. I have both padlocks and the Harley Davidson version is actually pretty nice. The HD version is slightly more expensive than the Master Lock version, but I think its a good buy if your a fan of Harley Davidson.

The Ubullox bicycle chain lock is less expensive than most other locks. This lock is on sale on Amazon for $13.99 at the time I'm writing this. I would never use this lock to lock a bicycle for a long period of time, but it has some strengths for certain situations. If you need a lock that is relatively light, and good for securing your bicycle for a minute or two, then this lock works. It's a good lock for locking your bicycle to run into a store to pickup an order, or to run into a convenience store and make a purchase.

Some Ubullox chain lock strengths are:

• It's equipped with a combination lock making it easy to lock and unlock without having to carry a key with you.
• The combination is 5 numbers instead of 4 or 3. The more numbers your combination lock uses the harder it is to figure out the combination. Most combination locks for bicycles are 4 numbers.
• It's a combination lock with a 3 foot chain. Most combination locks use a cable, and it's rare to see one using a chain. I think the chain used on this Ubullox lock is harder to cut than most cables and it's length makes it easy to lock up your bicycle.
• It's fairly light making it an easy bicycle lock to transport.
• The chain is covered with a canvas like material to protect your bicycle from scratches.

This is a paid link