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School Bike Project Underway

Discussion in 'General' started by riversbikes, Nov 6, 2019.

  1. riversbikes

    riversbikes Well-Known Member

    Proud of the kids, thought I'd post a few pics of the project -- transforming my street triple into a race bike. This was day 1 of our after school club.
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  2. Razr

    Razr Well-Known Member

    Very cool project, looks like they're serious about it. Good luck and keep us informed on the progress.
     
    Banditracer likes this.
  3. j cal

    j cal Well-Known Member

    Sweet! Are there any assignments for them throughout the process like explaining why they chose certain components?
     
  4. dsapsis

    dsapsis El Jefe de los Monos

    Love the big shop coat on your daughter. I recall somewhat similar efforts with my pop. From this I think I inherited his basically craptastic mechanical skills, but the memories are sweet and the impression has lasted five decades. Good work.
     
    RichB likes this.
  5. Banditracer

    Banditracer Dogs - because people suck

    I'm not sure that's his daughter. I took it to be his students ?
     
  6. dsapsis

    dsapsis El Jefe de los Monos

    Yeah. Bad assumption on my part as it did look like a class shop. Its just a little weird to bring your own rig in to a project I thought. No matter -- good story.
     
  7. riversbikes

    riversbikes Well-Known Member

    These are actually grade 6, 7, and 8 students -- I'm the principal of the elementary school, and for the past while we've used the high school shop (next door) to build 2 cafe racers (raffled off for charity) and now my new race bike. High school staff likes it as it's a basic primer of power mechanics for grade 9 at the "new school". I could have built this over a long weekend myself, but I thought it would be another way to involve the kids in a fun project and get them spinning wrenches. The lad in the pics above is really keen on taking auto mechanics in high school, so he jumped at the chance. I appreciate the comments -- a good reminder of the "why" (as if I needed any more motivation!).
     
  8. Banditracer

    Banditracer Dogs - because people suck

    You might get one of them interested in racing motorcycles too. :)
     
    Shenanigans likes this.
  9. riversbikes

    riversbikes Well-Known Member

    Yep -- one of the other participants is a motocrasher... I think he has a KX65 at home or something... so this should help!
     
    cav115 and Shenanigans like this.
  10. Mongo

    Mongo Administrator

    That is very very cool.
     
  11. riversbikes

    riversbikes Well-Known Member

    The grade 5 and 6 curriculum in science has a unit on "simple machines" -- so what I've done in the past is show students that a complex motorcycle is just a combination of simple machines (lever, pulley, sprocket, etc.). Grade 8 students have a unit on pneumatics and hydraulics (coming up later in the year) so the brake bleeding prior to removal is a good primer!
     
    j cal likes this.
  12. lonewrench

    lonewrench Mr.Charles

    That’s awesome
     
  13. Steeltoe

    Steeltoe What's my move?

    Man this is the coolest thread on here. Good on you.
     
    SuddenBraking, jksoft and Banditracer like this.
  14. blkduc

    blkduc no time for jibba jabba

    Coolest principal ever!! :beer:
     
    Steeltoe and Banditracer like this.
  15. Banditracer

    Banditracer Dogs - because people suck

    For sure ! :clap:
     
  16. pscook

    pscook Well-Known Member

    This is really cool, great way to initiate kids into the manner of all things mechanical. My daughter knows how to change a car wheel (and manually mount and balance a car tire), plus she helped me change out shocks on the Miata. Having exposure to these tasks really helps kids understand basic mechanical concepts as they age, which continues to promote independence as they grow.

    One thing I would like you to consider is to instill the sense of safety by promoting kids to wear safety glasses when they enter the shop and to wear chemical appropriate gloves when working with fluids like brake and gas. I have trained my daughter to remind me to wear glasses whenever we are in the shop because you never know when someone else is going to start throwing dirt or dust that can get in your eyes, and knowing which gloves to wear for which fluid will promote inherent safety ideals (and prevent some liability issues) in the future. Building a safety culture from the beginning promotes awareness of environmental hazards so that kids are better prepared (and less scared of the unknown) when they have to make critical decisions that can affect themselves and those around them.
     
    Shenanigans likes this.
  17. riversbikes

    riversbikes Well-Known Member

    Ye
    Yep, you are right about the PPP -- I realized that the gal at the bleed nipple was OK with her prescription glasses, but the fella with the syringe should have had eye protection as well. I did tell them all about brake fluid and the potential danger of it ahead of time. As for the gloves, I tend to avoid using them, as I immediately tear them and I think they are more hassle than they are worth; however, considering we will be dumping the oil and glycol in upcoming sessions, they would be a good addition as well. I'll pick some up this weekend. We live in a rural area on the Canadian prairies, and I've spoken to parents and kids about "work clothes", or using the shop smocks... none of the boys want to wear them as they (and their folks) are totally fine with getting oil, grease, and etc. on their clothes. I guess it's a farm thing...
     
    pscook likes this.
  18. pscook

    pscook Well-Known Member

    Remember about glasses - Prescription glasses that are not ANSI Z87.1 (shatterproof) with side shields can give a false sense of safety and can potentially cause more harm than not.
     
  19. riversbikes

    riversbikes Well-Known Member

    Ok -- I'll get some direction from the HS power mech teacher. My undergrad degree was in History and English, not Vocational Instruction!
     
  20. Banditracer

    Banditracer Dogs - because people suck

    Try several different brands, took me a while to find some I liked. Right now I'm using Derma Pro nitrile black from Advance Auto. Some of them you just look at them and they rip. I was getting Motion Pro's thru PU and liked them but PU quit carrying them or Motion Pro did. I wear them all the time in the shop, my hands are in much better shape because of it.
     

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