JPH0986463A - Motorcycle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily inspect and maintain a surge tank even in the case of a structure for covering the surge tank with a cowling. SOLUTION: A surge tank 19 is laid between the air inlet 17 of an upper cowling 12 and an air cleaner. Also, at least the lower part of the surge tank 19 is projected downward beyond the upper cowling 12, and fitted with a drain pipe 19d. Furthermore, a side cowling 13 is structured so as to be freely detachable from a body frame 2, with the upper cowling 12 and the surge tank 19 fixed to the body frame 2. In addition, the downward projected part of the surge tank 19 is covered with the side cowling 13.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a motorcycle for supercharging by utilizing ram pressure of traveling wind, and more particularly to a cowling structure for covering a surge tank provided in an intake system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a motorcycle for supercharging by using ram pressure of traveling wind, an intake system is used in order to mitigate the pressure fluctuation of the ram pressure and minimize its influence on the output. Some have a surge tank. The surge tank has a structure in which an intake passage is partially inflated, and is interposed in an intake system between an air inlet opened on the front surface of a cowling covering a front portion of a vehicle body and an air cleaner. The inside of this surge tank also communicates with the float chamber of the carburetor.

By providing the surge tank in this way, even if the ram pressure of the traveling wind greatly changes, the pressure applied to the air cleaner and the float chamber of the carburetor can be suppressed to be small.

Further, since foreign matter such as rainwater or muddy water splashed up by a preceding vehicle may be blown into the air inlet, in order to prevent the foreign matter from accumulating in the surge tank, the surge tank is drained to a lower portion thereof. And a drain hole is provided for the purpose of discharging foreign matter.

[0005]

However, when mounting the above-mentioned surge tank on a motorcycle, the structure of the cowling that covers the front part of the vehicle body together with this surge tank has been a problem. Although the surge tank has a structure for draining foreign substances by providing a drain hole, when many foreign substances enter the surge tank at once, it cannot be drained completely and the drain hole is blocked. turn into. In such a case, it is necessary to insert a thin wire from the outside of the drainage hole and scrape out the foreign matter at the entrance.

[0006] A conventional motorcycle equipped with the surge tank has an upper cowling covering the headlights,
It is equipped with a side cowling that is connected to this upper cowling and covers the side of the engine.In order to effectively take in the ram pressure, it is preferable to place an opening at the frontmost part of the cowling, and to alleviate pressure fluctuations. From the viewpoint of, it is preferable to arrange a surge tank in the vicinity of the opening.Therefore, an air inlet is opened on the front surface of the upper cowling, and the surge tank is arranged inside the upper cowling instead of the side cowling. There is. Therefore, in order to inspect whether or not foreign matter has accumulated in the surge tank or to perform the cleaning work as described above, the upper cowling must be removed from the vehicle body to expose the surge tank.

However, in the conventional motorcycle, since the upper cowling is connected to the supporting stay, the side cowling, the headlight, the meter, etc., a lot of man-hours are required to attach and detach the upper cowling,
Inspection and maintenance of the surge tank cannot be performed easily.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to facilitate the inspection and maintenance work of a surge tank even if the surge tank is covered with a cowling. To do.

[0009]

In the motorcycle according to the present invention, a surge tank is interposed in the intake system from the air inlet opening in the upper cowling to the air cleaner, and at least the lower portion of the surge tank projects downward from the upper cowling. A water drainage hole is provided in the lower part of this, and the side cowling that connects to the upper cowling has a structure that can be attached to and detached from the vehicle body frame with the upper cowling and the surge tank fixed to the vehicle body frame. At least the lower part of the surge tank is exposed by simply removing the side cowling from the vehicle body because the structure is such that it covers the part projecting downward from the upper cowling.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment of a motorcycle according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a side view of a motorcycle according to the present invention, and FIG.
Is a side view of the main part with the side cowling removed, FIG. 3 is a front view of the upper cowling, and FIG. 4 is a front view of the upper cowling with a surge tank attached, which is a part of the upper cowling. Is omitted.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a state in which the left side surge tank is covered with the meter side inner panel and the left side inner panel from above, FIG. 6 is a rear view of the surge tank and the meter side inner panel, and FIG. 7 is a branch duct. 3 is a diagram showing a seal structure of a front end portion of FIG. 3, and a broken portion in FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line VII-VII in FIG. FIG. 8 is a view showing a mounting structure of the branch duct, and the broken portion in the figure is the VIII-VI in FIG.
It is a II sectional view. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along line IX-IX in FIG. 2, and FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view of intake system components around the cowling and surge tank of the motorcycle according to the present invention.

In these figures, reference numeral 1 shows a motorcycle according to this embodiment. Reference numeral 2 is a vehicle body frame of the motorcycle 1, 3 is a front wheel suspended from the vehicle body frame 2 via a front fork 4, and 5 is the front fork 4
A steering handle provided at the upper end of the vehicle body, 6 is the body frame 2
The rear wheel supported by the rear arm 7 is shown in FIG. A shock absorber (not shown) is interposed between the rear arm 7 and the vehicle body frame 2.

Reference numeral 8 is a fuel tank, 9 is a seat, 10 is a cowling having a structure for covering the front part of the motorcycle 1 from the front of the vehicle body, and 11 is an engine. The cowling 10 is
An upper cowling 12 fixed to the vehicle body frame 2 via an upper cowling supporting stay described later;
The upper cowling 12 includes side cowlings 13 connected to lower left and right ends of the vehicle body. The side cowling 13 covers the engine 11 from the side of the vehicle body.

The engine 11 is a water-cooled four-cycle type which is cooled by cooling water passing through a radiator 14, and has a structure in which fuel and air are supplied by an intake device having a carburetor 15. Further, the intake device communicates the upstream side of the carburetor 15 with an air cleaner 16 arranged on the front side of the vehicle body with respect to a fuel reservoir (not shown) in the fuel tank 8 and opens on the front surface of the upper cowling 12. The structure is such that the outside air is introduced from the air inlet 17 through the branch duct 18 and the pair of left and right surge tanks 19 shown in FIG.

The branch duct 18 is integrally formed of a rubber material so as to form a bifurcated intake passage.
As shown in, the structure is such that the intake passage is branched to the left and right sides of the vehicle body from one inlet opening toward the front of the vehicle body. The branch duct 18 connects the inlet to the air inlet 17 of the upper cowling 12 and has the surge tanks 19 at the downstream ends on the left and right sides respectively.
Connected to

At the connecting portion between the branch duct 18 and the air inlet 17, the air inlet 17 is opened in the upper cowling 12 so as to be wide in the left-right direction of the vehicle body as shown in FIG. A tubular portion 20 (FIG. 7) that becomes a side opening is provided, and the inlet portion of the branch duct 18 is fitted to the outer surface of the tubular portion 20. As shown in FIG. 7, the tubular portion 20 includes the upper wall 2 and the lower wall 20a.
0b is formed to be shorter in the front-back direction of the vehicle body. By forming in this way, the inner peripheral surface of the tubular portion 20 can be coated uniformly over the entire area. This is because the upper surface of the inner peripheral surface of the tubular portion 20 is the air inlet 1
This is because the paint can be sprayed from the lower front to 7 and the lower surface can be sprayed from the back side of the upper cowling 12 toward the lower front.

Further, as shown in FIG. 8, the branch duct 18 is screwed at two left and right upper portions of the branch duct 18 to duct brackets 12a provided above the tubular portion 20 of the upper cowling 12. Then, two left and right lower portions are fixed to the lower wall 20a of the tubular portion 20 with fixing screws 21 together with the branch duct holding plate 22.

As shown in FIG. 10, the pressing plate 22 for the branch duct is formed in a plate shape in which a pressing portion 22a extending in the left-right direction of the vehicle body is projectingly provided on the upper surface, and as shown in FIG. The rear portion is fixed to the tubular portion 20 by the fixing screw 21 as shown in FIGS. 4 and 8 in a state where the rear portion is engaged with the folded-back portion 12b at the front lower end portion of the upper cowling 12. The pressing portion 22a is configured to fit from below into a recessed groove 18a formed in the branch duct 18 so as to extend from the lower surface to both left and right sides as shown in FIG. That is, by fixing the holding plate 22 to the upper cowling 12 as described above, the portion extending from the lower portion of the branch duct 18 to both left and right side portions is the pressing portion 22a.
Is pressed from the outside by the pressure contact with the outer surface of the tubular portion 20.

Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the upper portion of the entrance portion of the branch duct 18 is formed by pressing the lower surface of the headlight 23 from above to the projection 18b provided on the upper surface of the front end portion. The cylindrical portion 20 holds the nipping pressure. As shown in FIG. 10, the headlight 23 is supported only by the upper cowling 12 by screwing two positions on the left and right sides, the upper and lower parts, and the upper part, one place, to the headlight mounting portion 12c of the upper cowling 12. There is. In other words, this headlight 2
3 is not supported on the stay 32 side described later.

That is, as described above, the branch duct 18
The entrance portion of the holding plate 22 and the headlight 23
Is fixed to the upper cowling 12 by being pressed against and fixed to the tubular portion 22. By adopting this configuration, a high sealing property can be obtained at the connecting portion between the branch duct 18 and the tubular portion 22. In FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, the reference numeral 24, which is arranged inside the branch duct 18, is a wire mesh for restricting the entry of foreign matter to the downstream side thereof. The wire mesh 24 is arranged at a position not exposed to the air inlet 17 when the vehicle body is viewed from the side so that the appearance of the upper cowling 12 is not impaired, and as shown in FIG. It is fixed by rivets and screws.

The surge tank 19 is integrally formed of synthetic resin, and as shown in FIGS. 2 and 10, a duct portion 19a for connecting the branch duct 18 and the air cleaner 16 is provided on the upper side and the lower side is provided. Is provided with an air chamber portion 19b extending downward from the duct portion 19a. The synthetic resin used as the material of the surge tank 19 may be translucent when cured. With this configuration, it is possible to visually determine from the outside whether or not foreign matter is accumulated in the surge tank 19.

The duct portion 19a has an upstream end portion and a downstream end portion formed in a tubular shape having a circular cross section, and the branch duct 18a
It is fitted to the downstream end of the air cleaner 16 and the inlet pipe 16a of the air cleaner 16 and fixed by a binding band (not shown) or the like. The air cleaner 16 is used for the body frame 2
Placed inside the pair of left and right tank rails 2a in
The inlet pipe 16a penetrates the tank rail 2a and extends to the surge tank 19 side.

A pressure-conducting hose 25 for transmitting the air pressure in the surge tank 19 to a float chamber (not shown) of the carburetor 15 is provided above the duct portion 19a.
Are connected. In this embodiment, the pressure hose 25
In order that the attachment / detachment work can be performed from above the surge tank 19, a connecting pipe 19c is provided on the upper part of the duct portion 19a so as to project upward, and the pressure guiding hose 25 is connected to the connecting pipe 19c.

The air chamber portion 19 of the surge tank 19
4, b has a width (thickness) in the left-right direction of the vehicle body which is substantially the same as the effective diameter D in the duct portion 19a, and cooling provided on both sides of the radiator 14 in the left-right direction of the vehicle body. The water tank 14a is formed to have substantially the same length in the vertical direction, and a drain pipe 19d is provided in the vicinity of the lowermost portion so as to project rearward and downward.

The drainage pipe 19d is in an open state without attaching a stopper or the like. The reason why the plug is not provided is that the hole diameter of the drainage pipe 19d is reduced to some extent and the drainage pipe 19d is
Is disposed below the duct portion 19a at a distance of 2.5 times or more of the effective diameter D, so that even if the lower portion of the surge tank 19 is opened to the atmosphere by the drain pipe 19d, the surge tank 19 This is because it was found that the internal pressure was not significantly affected. By adopting this configuration, the cost can be reduced by eliminating the need for the plug member, and the work of draining the water that has entered the surge tank 19 becomes unnecessary. If the hole diameter of the drainage pipe 19d is too large when it is always open, the pressure in the surge tank 19 will decrease, so it cannot be increased, and the problem of clogging by foreign matter is always present. Let's take it. Therefore, regular maintenance is required.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the cooling water tank 14 when viewed from the front of the vehicle body.
The air chamber portion 19b is arranged so as to overlap with a. In arranging the air chamber portion 19b in this manner, the side surface of the air chamber portion 19b on the inner side of the vehicle body does not largely face the core portion 14b of the radiator 14 when viewed from the front of the vehicle body. That is, by adopting this configuration, the dead space generated in front of the cooling water tank 14a,
That is, while maximally utilizing the space that does not adversely affect aerodynamics without being added to the front projected area, the surge tank 19 is formed to be long in the vertical direction while maintaining the cooling capacity of the radiator 14, and its capacity is increased. You can secure a large.

In order to smoothly guide the traveling wind to the core portion 14b of the radiator 14, a pair of left and right baffle plates 26 are arranged inside the surge tank 19 as shown in FIG. As shown in FIGS. 2, 4 and 10, the baffle plate 26 has the upper front end bracket 26a screwed to the front lower lower bracket 12d of the upper cowling 12 and at the rear side of the connecting portion. The bracket 26b is screwed to the lower surface of the pressing plate 22 so that it is supported by the upper cowling 12. Then, the surge tank 19 is attached to the baffle plate 26.
Are fixed by screwing portions 26c at a total of three places, that is, the lower end and the upper part.

When the surge tank 19 is fixed to the baffle plate 26 fixed to the upper cowling 12 by the three screw-fastening portions 26c as described above, it is not necessary to provide a dedicated stay for fixing the surge tank 19. As compared with the case where the stay is provided, it is possible to increase the capacity of the surge tank 19 by the space occupied by the stay. Moreover, the weight of the vehicle body can be reduced and the cost can be kept low.

Further, a baffle plate 26 arranged on the left side of the vehicle body
Has a radiator cover 26d integrally formed at the upper rear end thereof. As shown in FIG. 9, the radiator cover 26d is formed so as to cover the upper end portion of the radiator 14 on the left side of the vehicle body from the front, left side, and upper side of the vehicle body. If the radiator cover 26d is provided in this manner, even if wires and cables are passed near the radiator 14 as indicated by reference numeral 27, this will cause the radiator 14 to reach a high temperature.
Not be rubbed against. If the radiator cover 26d is provided integrally with the baffle plate 26 as shown in this embodiment, it is lighter and cheaper than the case where the structure is supported by the stay protruding from the body frame or the like. Moreover, the surge tank 19 does not have to be recessed in order to avoid interference with the stay.

Next, the structure of the cowling 10 will be described.
The upper cowling 12 of the cowling 10 has a screen 31 mounted on the upper outer side, and the headlight 23, the branch duct 18, the holding plate 22, the baffle plate 26, and the like fixed on the inner side thereof. A cowling support stay is attached from the rear side of the vehicle body. A screw portion for attaching the stay 32 to the upper cowling 12 is shown by reference numeral 12e in FIG.

Further, the upper cowling 12 has
In order to prevent the inside of the upper cowling 12 from being exposed to the occupant side, from the occupant side, that is, from the rear side of the vehicle body, the meter side inner panel 33 and the pair of left and right upper inner panels 3 are provided.
4, the lower inner panel 35 is attached. As shown in FIG. 10, the meter-side inner panel 33 has a total of four mounting portions 33a (FIG. 6) on the left and right sides in a state where the meter 36 is mounted from the front side of the vehicle body and a screw portion 12f of the upper cowling 12. (Fig. 3).

The upper inner panel 34 is constructed so as to cover the upper extending portion of the upper cowling supporting stay 32 from the rear of the vehicle body, and the lower end thereof is connected to the left and right side portions of the upper portion of the meter side inner panel 33. The upper and lower two screw parts 12 of the upper cowling 12 in this state
g (Fig. 3). As shown in FIG. 5, the lower inner panel 35 is configured to cover the upper side of the surge tank 19, and the front end thereof is connected to both left and right sides of the lower portion of the meter side inner panel 33. It is screwed to the side inner panel 33 and the side cowling 13 described later. The mounting portion to be mounted on the meter-side inner panel 33 is indicated by reference numeral 35a in FIG.
The reference numeral 35b indicates an attachment portion attached to the side cowling 13.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 2, 5 and 6, the connecting portion between the meter side inner panel 33 and the lower inner panel 35 is connected to the connecting pipe 19c of the surge tank 19 and the pressure hose 25. It is formed so as to be positioned on the front side of the vehicle body with respect to the connection portion with. By adopting this configuration, the tip of the pressure guiding hose 25 is exposed by removing the lower inner panel 35 from the vehicle body, so that the pressure guiding hose 25 can be attached and detached with the surge tank 19 and the upper cowling 12 mounted on the vehicle. Easy to assemble and maintain.

As shown in FIG. 10, the side cover 13 includes a pair of left and right side panels 36 (only the side panel 36 on the left side of the vehicle body is shown in FIG. 10), and these side panels 36 are attached to the lower portion on the front side of the vehicle body. And an under cover 37 connected to each other. The upper end of the side panel 36 is screwed to the lower end of the upper cowling 12 with three screw portions 36a, and the upper and lower three rear portions are fixed to the vehicle body frame 2 with screw portions 36b. The uppermost screw portion 36b of the rear screw portion 36b is covered with the lower inner panel 35 from above and is invisible to the occupant.
Further, the left and right side panels 36 are connected to each other via a connecting bracket 36c provided at each lower rear end portion. The connecting bracket 36c extends toward the center of the vehicle body in a substantially horizontal direction, and has a connecting projection protruding from the upper surface thereof. To connect the left and right side panels 36,
The protrusions are overlapped with each other in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body and fastened by connecting bolts.

Inside the front end of the side panel 36, three positions of the baffle plate 26 are screwed. A screw fastening portion attached to the side panel 36 of the baffle plate 26 is indicated by reference numeral 26e in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 10, the under cover 37 is formed in a substantially inverted triangular shape when viewed from the front of the vehicle body, and the upper and lower three positions of both end portions in the left-right direction are provided with inner screw portions (not shown) of the side panel 36. It is screwed on. Further, of the mounting portions of the under cover 37, the uppermost mounting portion is fixed to the side panel 36 together with the screw fastening portion 26e at the lower end portion of the baffle plate 26.

The motorcycle 1 constructed in this manner has an upper cowling 12, a headlight 23, and a branch duct 1.
The upper cowling 12 is fixed to the vehicle body frame 2 by the upper cowling supporting stays 32 while the 8, the pressing plate 22, the baffle plate 26, the surge tank 19 and the like are fixed. The stay 32 is attached to the body frame 2
At the time of mounting to, the meter 36, the meter-side inner panel 33, and the upper inner panel 34 are also assembled.

That is, when the upper cowling 12 is attached to the vehicle body frame 2, it is in the state shown in FIG. In this state, the air chamber portion 19 of the surge tank 19
Most of b is exposed to the outside of the vehicle. In addition,
The surge tank 19 is connected to the air cleaner 16 in this state.

Next, the side panel 36 and the under cover 37 are assembled to the vehicle body. At this time, first, the screw portion 36a at the upper portion of the side panel 36 is screwed to the upper cowling 12, and the screw portion 36b at the rear portion is formed.
To the body frame 2 with screws. Further, the side panel 36 is screwed to the baffle plate 26, and the undercover 37
Install. As a result, the exposed surge tank 1
The lower part of 9 is completely covered by the side cowling 13, as shown in FIG. The pressure hose 25 is connected to the surge tank 19, and finally the lower inner panel 35 is connected.
Install.

As described above, in the motorcycle 1 having the surge tank 19 in the intake system, the traveling wind flows from the air inlet 17 into the surge tank 19 through the branch duct 18, and the dynamic pressure fluctuation is alleviated. It is introduced into the air cleaner 16 as air with pressure. On the other hand, the pressure in the surge tank 19 is applied to the float chamber of the carburetor 15 via the pressure hose 25. As a result, the engine is supercharged using the ram pressure of the traveling wind.

To check the surge tank 19 or clean the drain pipe 19d, the side cowling 13 is removed from the vehicle body, and the surge tank 19 is removed as shown in FIG.
The air chamber portion 19b is exposed. Therefore, the cowling 1 is attached to the front of the vehicle body together with the surge tank 19.
Even if the structure is covered with 0, the preparation work for inspecting and maintaining the surge tank 19 is only the work for removing the side cowling 13 from the vehicle body.

In this embodiment, the side cowling 13 is removed from the vehicle body, but the entire area of the air chamber portion 19b of the surge tank 19 is exposed.
The present invention is not limited to such a limitation, and at least the lower portion of the surge tank 19 may be exposed.

[0043]

As described above, in the motorcycle according to the present invention, the surge tank is interposed in the intake system from the air inlet opening in the upper cowling to the air cleaner, and at least the lower part of the surge tank is located below the upper cowling. The side cowling that protrudes and has a drain hole at the bottom is connected to the upper cowling, and the side cowling is detachable from the body frame with the upper cowling and the surge tank fixed to the body frame. Since the structure that covers the portion projecting downward from the upper cowling is used, at least the lower part of the surge tank is exposed only by removing the side cowling from the vehicle body.

Therefore, even if the front portion of the vehicle body is covered with the surge tank by the cowling, the preparation work for inspecting and maintaining the surge tank is only the operation of removing the side cowling from the vehicle body.
Maintenance work can be easily performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a motorcycle according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of a main part with a side cowling removed.

FIG. 3 is a front view of an upper cowling.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing a state in which a surge tank is attached to the upper cowling.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a state in which a left side surge tank is covered from above by a meter side inner panel and a left side inner panel.

FIG. 6 is a rear view of a surge tank and a meter-side inner panel.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a seal structure of a front end portion of a branch duct.

FIG. 8 is a view showing a mounting structure of a branch duct.

9 is a sectional view taken along line IX-IX in FIG.

FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view of a cowling of the motorcycle according to the present invention and an intake system component around the surge tank.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 ... Body frame, 10 ... Cowling, 11 ... Engine, 12 ... Upper cowling, 13 ... Under cowling, 16 ... Air cleaner, 18 ... Branch duct, 19 ...
Surge tank, 19d ... Drainage pipe.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A motorcycle comprising: an upper cowling that covers the periphery of a headlight from the front of the vehicle body; and a side cowling that is connected to the lower end of the upper cowling to cover the engine from the side of the vehicle body. The air inlet is opened to extend the intake passage from here to the air cleaner, and a surge tank is arranged upstream of the air cleaner in the intake system, and at least a lower portion of the surge tank is projected downward from the upper cowling. A water drainage hole is provided in the lower portion, and the side cowling is structured to be attachable to and detachable from the vehicle body frame with the upper cowling and the surge tank fixed to the vehicle body frame, and below the upper cowling in the surge tank. To cover the protruding part A motorcycle characterized by being made.