Это паровой мотоцикл: едет! Быстро!
Hi guys, we're in chilly autumnal Togliatti. And here's the answer for the popular question: if you're in Togliatti, you ought to visit Avtovaz! I can even see it from here. And here's the answer: we've been to AvtoVAZ before! The link is in the description, go look. And today we're going to talk about something really technological...
No, not this. This! Here's a steam-powered motorbike! Fully-functional! Let's go for a ride and find out about it, let's go! Let's start from a bit of a distance. Let's talk about steam technology and steam engines in general. Because this topic is very interesting, and it is worth delving into it, at least a little bit. In very general terms, a steam engine is an external combustion engine which converts steam energy into mechanical work.
Look out! Avtovaz! Look, the car has three colours at least. It's even four! The front is one colour, the middle is another, the back is a third and the boot a fourth. But we've got distracted. Moving on. The first known device powered by steam was described by Heron of Alexandria in the first century.
Can you imagine? But the creator of the first steam-powered transport is considered to be Nicolas-Joseph Cunhaud. In 1769, he created a three-wheeled wagon. It's honestly funny because... Here are some interesting facts about this invention.
The wagon could go one kilometre without refuelling, mind you. No kidding, exactly one kilometre. After this, it would stop to refill water and make a fire under the boiler to increase the pressure.
However, the further along it got, the more interesting it got. There's the Doble E - 1900... Look, I haven't seen a repair pit in years. Here, the car has come in for repairs. Avtovaz, the factory, is right here behind the woods, but people prefer this kind of repair. While it's getting in position to repair, I'll tell you more.
Now, the Doble E steam engine was built in 1924. That's a real car! It would be nice to drive one nowadays! The creator, Abner Doble, is from the United States. On 90 litres of water, which is its maximum capacity, the car could do 2400 kilometres. There's no mistake! 2,400 kilometres on a single supply of water.
Accelerating to 120 kilometres an hour took just 10 seconds - no mistake. And the car drove practically silently. Should we give him a hand? There's usually someone at the front who's showing where to go. Here, look: the front right wheel... Alexei, do you want to help him? Look how the wheel is hanging down. - We had one falling down a while ago! Another cool example - a real beauty! The car is called the Stanley Rocket. 1906.
It goes up to 205 kilometres an hour, and it's still a steam-powered vehicle! The more we studied the topic of steam engines, the more we understood it, because it turned out, steam engines have a lot of advantages. You can use almost any kind of fuel to run a steam engine - from conventional firewood to a radioisotope heat source, if you know what I mean. The engine doesn't need a transmission, the power is transmitted directly to the wheels. Maximum torque at all rpm, which means smooth running without jerking and no tendency to stall, and the reciprocating steam engine is completely silent. But of course there are disadvantages, otherwise steam engines would be going everywhere nowadays. The first is the size. The second is safety.
Largely because of this, steam engines gave way to the internal combustion engine at the beginning of the 20th century. However, a few other modern examples, which is also interesting. For example, steam turbines. They are used extensively in power generation and mechanical engineering, and also, mountain steam locomotives. Super-efficient stuff.
The internal combustion engine, as you know, suffocates in the mountains, but steam locomotives are the opposite - the lower the atmospheric pressure when climbing up, the better they go. But back to the subject of our review. Two horsepower, steam-powered and made by hand. The creator, here, stands behind the scenes.
We'll talk to him now and go into the garage because, frankly, it's chilly! But first - short commercial brake. Guys, meet the ultimate gaming laptop. But, MSI didn't just take a plastic chassis and put powerful hardware in it - they made an interesting laptop. The design of this model uses ideas from Tsuyoshi Nagano, the illustration artist who created the cover art for the iconic game Romance of the Three Kingdoms V. But where does all this power come from? Processor: Intel Core i7 12700H.
Graphics card: RTX 3070 Ti for laptops with 8GB of memory. And there's powerful MSI Cooler Boost 5 cooling: two fans and six heat pipes. The screen is good too: 144Hz and also, let me show you - 180 degree rotation. Sometimes it's quite handy.
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You can take it on business trips or holidays - it's even better. The special link is already below, definitely recommended. Let's get back to review. ⁃ Meet Alexei! Alexei the Romantic, eh? ⁃ Yes, that's right.
⁃ Is that your real last name or just a YT channel called that? ⁃ Of course, Romantic is my nickname - the bikers gave it to me. Because I'm always talking about some unreal stuff... ⁃ But it's not unreal, though. Real and it works and you rode it? ⁃ Yes, it can go up to 60km/h, so we did a range experiment recently. On 20 litres of water, it did 15km.
⁃ Okay, let's go in order. First of all, where are we? Is this the actual workshop where you made it? ⁃ Yes, this is it. My "secret" lab. It's where I go in private and make all sorts of strange gizmos. ⁃ Do you have a floor down there? ⁃ Yes, the main part of the workshop is underground. The underground laboratory.
⁃ I wonder if you can show me? There's nothing secret down there? ⁃ Sure, let's go. ⁃ What's this? ⁃ And also what's this? ⁃ Yes, there's a lot of strange and unusual things here. Well, I often joke that it's a fireplace. In fact, this was originally a powder-coating shop.
And this is where the parts are painted. This is the gun I use to apply the paint, it's electrified by high voltage and sort of sticks. Then I take off the parts and put them in this oven. ⁃ Do you have a real oven here? ⁃ There's a bunch of equipment that controls temperature, time and everything else. And the paint is kind of baked. It's a powder coating.
In fact, my whole steam motorbike is painted this way. ⁃ It doesn't look like a factory device. Did you make it yourself? ⁃ Yes, of course, everything is homemade. It's the compressors. There's other stuff in there. It's the furnace, that's where all the automatics come in. ⁃ What kind of education are you? ⁃ Engineer.
- This explains a lot. Where did you study? ⁃ First at Zhigulevsky Radio Technical School, and then at Togliatti State University. ⁃ Do you work anywhere at all? Do you have a main job? ⁃ Yes. Now I work on shifts in the north. I'm not an oil worker there, but a power engineer. There's a big oil facility there, but I'm a power engineer.
We make electricity for the whole tundra. ⁃ Do you have enough money earned on the shift to do what you like here? ⁃ Having fun, yeah. ⁃ Having fun! Wait, I see another door. ⁃ It's the door to Narnia! There's a sandblaster there, to work with details ⁃ Are you joking now or are you serious? ⁃ No, I'm serious. ⁃ The sand is just like the beach.
⁃ Yes, but it's not ordinary sand, it's special very sharp and strong sand to knock everything off the metal. ⁃ Why? ⁃ It's preparation before painting. In fact, the whole bike was painted here. Right in this garage. ⁃ Right, OK, let's get back to the bike. How did you come to this? It's not some rocket industry and space technology, it's the opposite of something from the past.
⁃ Yeah, I wanted to go back in time, feel the spirit of the times. So many things I heard about the old days, where engineers were every battling and discovering some new technology almost every day. And the whole steam engine industry - it reeks of something engineering, an industrial breakthrough. A leap of civilization! ⁃ At first I created an engine, and I wanted it to work somewhere, something to spin. Then a friend from a neighbouring garage gave me a motorbike as a present. And a great idea was born to put a steam engine on that motorbike.
Especially, a steam engine required a wheel, and that wheel was already there. That's how the idea of a steam motorbike was born. To be honest, the frame was so weak that in the end only the wheels, wings and handlebars could be used.
All that was left of it. ⁃ The knowledge of how a steam engine is built, a steam engine - where did you get it? Where did you get all the theory? ⁃ Actually, it's very simple. You go on the internet, type in "steam engine" and made the first picture I came across come to life. ⁃ Did you consult anyone at all? Old steam train drivers, for example. There are such people, technicians, steam locomotives are still running.
⁃ Well, it's a very rare topic, but I managed to find some real locomotive engineers, and of course I asked them a lot of questions. All the terms and so on. But the main help, of course, was the forums on the internet, and when I started uploading the whole thing on YouTube, a lot of secret steam engine enthusiasts showed up. They invited me to their secret forum, where the real calculations began. The work boiled on! I didn't even know when I created it that they had already calculated everything, measured everything from photos... ⁃ So the enthusiasts at the secret forum about steam engines helped make the bike? ⁃ Not secret, of course, but I didn't know about it.
⁃ Okay, now in order, please tell me: what is responsible for what here and how does it work? What parts do we see? ⁃ These are the fuel tanks. This bike can run on any gaseous or liquid fuel. Methane, propane, butane, dixane... Any gas. In this cap, the same tanks can also be filled with liquid fuel.
⁃ Roughly speaking, it's a petrol tank? ⁃ Yes. Yes, fuel tanks where you can pour both gas and liquid fuel. ⁃ How does the whole system work here? ⁃ The tanks feed this burner here. This is where the flame burns and this is where all the energy comes from. This is the boiler. It's filled with water. The water boils and steam is supplied. The steam we supply to the engine, the steam presses the piston and turns the wheel.
⁃ Anyway, you burn fuel, right? The steam engine has wood and you have fuel. ⁃ Yes, that's right. ⁃ But the amount of fuel you burn to heat the boiler, it's not equal to the fuel burned in an ordinary motorbike with an internal combustion engine? ⁃ No, of course not. This motorbike consumes a lot more. ⁃ Even more? ⁃ Of course! You have to realize that this technology is 200-300 years old, and motorbikes like this are modern thing. ⁃ Is that actually why the internal combustion engine came into existence instead of steam? It's very important to explain this in detail to young viewers. That in fact, it's all obsolete and gone, because the internal combustion engine even uses less fuel, on top of the other perks.
⁃ Yes, internal combustion engines have greater efficiency, so steam technology has gone to the past. ⁃ Look, what is this made of? It's obviously something bought from a "steam motorbike shop"! ⁃ It's all taken from scrap metal. They're oxygen tanks from a TU-134... ⁃ Whoa, whoa, whoa. Really? ⁃ Yes, the tanks that hold oxygen for passengers in case the plane depressurizes. And there's a lot of them on the plane.
⁃ And where did you get them? ⁃ It's scrap metal. It's probably a propane tank. Which I converted into a boiler. ⁃ What's this? ⁃ This is the most interesting, this is the engine of this steam motorbike. This is where the steam...
The steam energy is converted into mechanical energy. The upper unit redistributes the steam back and forth, and in the lower unit there is a piston which makes these translational movements. Through this entire mechanism, these translational motions turn the wheel.
The top link controls the steam distribution. So it is a simple, looped and endless process. ⁃ What is this, by the way? ⁃ It's a very interesting thing! It's an unbelievably powerful steam whistle. When it works, it really hurts your ears.
It's almost impossible to stand next to it without covering your ears. The decibels are just crazy. The echo in the field comes back 3-4 times. ⁃ Is this done for fun or is it necessary? ⁃ It's necessary! What's a steam train without a whistle? ⁃ Listen, was any of this theoretically available somewhere? Some old steam engines, or maybe they make them to order? ⁃ A lot of things are bought here. This piece here, for example, is a leg from a table. ⁃ That's what I'm telling you, you haven't used every part for its intended purpose.
It's a table leg, but it's also a whistle in a steam engine, isn't it? ⁃ Yes! Exactly. ⁃ That's what the manual says, yeah. ⁃ I think something can be bought, but not from a steam engine. All the parts here are from something else, for example: these gauges here are completely purchased. ⁃ That's right, you even have a dashboard. ⁃ Yes, there's a dashboard, if you can call it that.
There's the fuel pressure, here it's directly attached to the tank, and that's the steam pressure. ⁃ Is there cruise control? ⁃ Yes, the knob sometimes gets jammed, I use that as cruise control. There's one important technical nuance, or rather difficulty I've encountered. The thing about this bike is that it's made in the "dryer" type.
That means there's no rear wheel damper. And there's a reason for that: it's the difference between a steam bike and a normal bike. It has to turn the wheel exactly as planned. So the wheel must not move sideways in any way, because all the mechanics here are fine-tuned. So it had to be rigid. And, of course, when you go over a bump, there's a lot of shaking. I wondered what I could do about it, and I came up with this. I put a huge spring in here with really long travel.
⁃ To make it softer? ⁃ Yes, the spring is from an Izh motorbike. And it works just fine. ⁃ Will you start it up? Why don't we go over there? ⁃ Yes, better outside. ⁃ Shall we try it? Guys, let's try it! ⁃ We need gas, right? ⁃ Yes. ⁃ What if you put regular petrol in it? ⁃ Yes, we can, do you have any? ⁃ Can you put petrol, paraffin, anything at all? ⁃ You can have petrol, anything at all. But the cheapest is gas, of course.
⁃ What about firewood, some kind of paper? ⁃ Unfortunately, there's not much room, there's nowhere to put the firewood. ⁃ Wait, can you do that? ⁃ Yes. ⁃ Will it be cumbersome, but will it work? ⁃ Yes, if the bike were bigger, I'd make it a woodchuck.
⁃ The stove? ⁃ Yeah, yeah. ⁃ That's amazing! ⁃ Come on, help me fetch water. ⁃ How about a sparkling water? ⁃ Well, that would be a great ride. ⁃ Really? ⁃ Yeah. ⁃ With sparkling water? ⁃ It's not a problem. ⁃ And even Borjomi? ⁃ I even made tea in it. ⁃ Really?
⁃ Yeah! ⁃ Tell me, what are we doing now? ⁃ We're filling the boiler with water now. It's a steam engine, it needs water. ⁃ How big is the tank? ⁃ It's 27 litres here. But it's better to drive on about 24 litres. ⁃ How long does it take for all this water to boil off? ⁃ Well, it's more in kilometres than time. I mean, you can go slower, you can go faster.
⁃ You've got free gas! ⁃ Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. ⁃ There's the pump, guys! Do you even know what a pump is? I think a lot of people don't even know what it used to be. Shall we show it? Where's the water from, the central water supply? ⁃ Water from a well. ⁃ Straight from the well? Oh, technology! But it's a fancy pump. Before, you had to pump with a lever. ⁃ Here we go.
⁃ Free gas! I should buy myself a garage in Togliatti. ⁃ Yes, very convenient. ⁃ And close the cap. Here, the tank must be closed because the steam will be under pressure.
So the lid has to be closed tight. ⁃ What's the pressure in the tank? ⁃ About 16 atmospheres. ⁃ Is that much? ⁃ Well, steam locomotives used to run at that pressure. For example, there's only 2 atmospheres in the tyres. Now you have to fill it up with gas.
You could, of course, use liquid fuel, but gas is easier and cheaper. Here, you can see the gas pressure. ⁃ Yeah, it's moving. ⁃ Now we need a lighter. ⁃ Okay, wait! Careful! Tell me, what's going to happen now? ⁃ We need to light the burner so that the water starts to heat. ⁃ Shall we light the gas? ⁃ Yep. ⁃ Now we have a fire burning and heating the water in the boiler.
⁃ I see! ⁃ How long does the process take? ⁃ I think it'll take about 20 minutes to heat. ⁃ 20 minutes? ⁃ Yes. Well, what did you think, the locomotives were heated for ten hours before they go. ⁃ Ten hours? ⁃ Ten hours, yes.
[20 minutes later] ⁃ How many degrees is it in the boiler now? ⁃ About 200 degrees Celsius. ⁃ Why did you turn off the furnace? ⁃ To hear us better. ⁃ But it's better not to turn it off, right? ⁃ Yes.
⁃ Even while driving? ⁃ Yes. ⁃ The bike's ready to go now, right? Is it on, so to speak? ⁃ It's rather charged! ⁃ Guys, it works! ⁃ There's not a single electronic element in here. ⁃ There's not even a single wire. ⁃ This is the technology at the dawn of time! ⁃ Yes, just fire and water. ⁃ It's like 1796! Guys, look what we are seeing! This is the basics, the basis of technology! It works and it's homemade! And you can really ride it! To the shop, for pasta, right now! And how smoothly it goes! - It's a thrill! It's a delight! - Hey, will you let me take it for a ride? - Yes, it's just going to get a little warmer. - Look, it's as easy as riding a bike. Have you ever ridden a bike?
⁃ Yes! I had a motorbike. ⁃ Yeah, great. No gearbox, no nothing. You push with your feet because there's dead spots, you open the throttle, that's it! ⁃ Does the brake work? ⁃ The brake works, but it's so... Don't put too much faith in it. ⁃ Get on. Also, be careful, there's steam coming out here. ⁃ Steam comes out here, yeah. Where do i put my legs?
⁃ So put your foot here. ⁃ I don't know if it's safe enough. ⁃ That's it, you are ready to go! ⁃ Just push? ⁃ Yes! Go! ⁃ Open the throttle! Step on it, step on it, step on it! - It moves! It moves! Amazing! I'm riding a stembike! Nice! Throttle is rough! Here we go! I have to get used to it! Right, let's do a lap now.
Let's get more out of him! Ooh! Here we go! That's amazing! That's quite an acceleration! It's going! The camera's coming off. Very cool. Here we go! Camera's still here, camera's still with us. Brake! The brake works! ⁃ So, that's it? Nothing else needs to be done? ⁃ Nothing at all! ⁃ No transmission, nothing at all? ⁃ Nothing at all! ⁃ Look, everyone should drive these things! Everybody! You're driving and you can feel it.
Okay, the footrest. You can feel its warmth, literally! ⁃ Yeah, it's a living machine. I've talked to locomotive engineers, and they say that modern diesel locomotives and electric locomotives don't have soul, whereas they don't. They exist dry somehow. Steam locomotives are like that: steam comes out, something gurgles in the boiler, steam goes out. This is his inner world.
It is charged, ready to work and wants to go! ⁃ OK, the experts are coming. ⁃ Well? I rode it! ⁃ Yeah, i've seen it. ⁃ Cool, very cool! ⁃ I rode it too. ⁃ How much do you think it would sell for? ⁃ Ha! Such things... It's hard to say. Some won't even buy it for $10 ... Yes. And some might even pay a million for it.
⁃ That's what we were talking about. ⁃ Yes, it's a specific thing. It's one of the kind! ⁃ Right, right! ⁃ Did you check the whistle? ⁃ Come on, come on! ⁃ Now, we just need to get him warmed up. ⁃ Listen... Oh man! Main question: how much time and money did you spend on building it? ⁃ I spent $50 on scrap metal.
⁃ That includes all sorts of table legs, bolts and stuff. ⁃ Well, what about this and this? ⁃ It's all scrap metal. ⁃ $50? ⁃ Yes! ⁃ And if you take pure time? If you were to start making one right now, given your current experience. How long would it take? ⁃ That's a very complicated question. ⁃ So, a month, six months?
⁃ Well, if you just repeat it, I think I can do it in six months to a year. ⁃ Six months to a year...? Would you build another one? A man would come along and say, "I want one just like it, but with 2 seats and more power. Would you take on the project? I don't think so. Because I want to move on, other projects... ⁃ That secret project you have there? ⁃ Including him, yes. But it's not the only one... ⁃ The link to Alexei's channel is at the bottom, we highly recommend subscribing! What we saw was wow! We hope to hear from you when you finish it. Well now the most important question: if a person comes to you tomorrow and wants to buy? ⁃ Well, no. There's a lot of soul involved...
⁃ No, no. Sell it! ⁃ No! ⁃ How much? ⁃ No! ⁃ Well, nothing at all, or would you consider some amount? To spend on a new project, say? ⁃ Some things have no value when you put your soul into it. For example, they'll come to you and say: sell the baby, make a new one. ⁃ Well, that's all understandable. ⁃ So it's the same here. Every bolt is made, handles are cast, and some soul is hidden in it.
⁃ But you're not going to keep it for 20-30 years, are you? Maybe someone will drive it and put it in a museum. ⁃ I'll put it at home, next to the sofa, and I'll wake up and look at it. ⁃ Show me the whistle, then! If it's ready. ⁃ Yes, go ahead. ⁃ Should I cover my ears? ⁃ You can close your ears, but you definitely need to step back.
⁃ It's splashing! ⁃ Now, I turned it off... There are two whistles. The first is to disperse the audience. You know, so it's not too loud. And the other... ⁃ To make a fuss! ⁃ To make a fuss! Let's try it! ⁃ Now hide the bike in the garage and hide yourself there before someone comes.
⁃ That was LOUD! - Yeah, that was unbelivebly loud. You can't imagine. Even with closed ears. - Thanks for finding time to show it! - Thanks for coming! That's really impressive. And the other thing you have there is even more impressing. We hope, some day you'll show it. And thanks letting us to take a ride. Not many would allow that. - You are welcome! I'm very open to meet new people. And to show this to people. As inspiration! You can build anything, even if you don't have a thing.
You just need passion. You can just take everything at scrapyard! No matter what you want to build. A locomotive, car, trycicle... All you need is hands and inspiration.
Good luck on your new projects! Guys, looking forward to see your comments... Do you want to tell something more to our subscribers? Yeah! If you have a dream - go for it! You don't need workshop, complicated tools, you just need passion! Good luck! Waiting for your comments, see you!
2022-10-14 04:38
