| because mods like this reduce the drivetrain loss. The 3 elements of drivetrain loss would be moment of inertia, friction, and springiness (This is analogous to L, R, & C in electric circuits). Reducing weight of any drivetrain component will reduce moment of inertia and make your drivetrain more efficient. Maybe you'll get 86% of your power to the ground instead of the rule-of-thumb 85%. Here's something else to think about. Flywheel / crank pulley moment-of-inertia is more critical than driveshaft moment-of-inertia, which is more critical than wheel / tire moment-of-inertia. The tranny gears the engine down (at least in gears 1-3). The 3rd gear ratio is 1.3 - so in 3rd gear the engine will be spinning 1.3 times as fast as the driveshaft. That means that the fly, crank, and crank pulley will require 1.3 times as much energy to get up to speed. The final drive has a ratio of about 4. So the drive shaft will be spinning about 4 times faster than the wheels, and the engine will be spinning about 5 times faster. So 1 lb on the flywheel is equivalent to about 5 lbs at the wheels (or maybe 1.25 lbs on each wheel). So, you should worry about fly/crank weight before you worry about anything else. The driveshaft is also not so important because it has such a small diameter - I would worry about wheels & tires first.
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05:04:56 01/24/05
