Subject: Re: Question re hauling bikes
Author: jason telford
Date: Jan 7, 2002, 8:11 AM
Post ID: 1709317165
Hi Ian,
A couple of reasons. One is that gas will slosh up and out- all over the
tank and anything underneath it. (I remember a thread on gas-cap seals
a while back!) We all know what that will do to the paint, but it also
soaks any cloth laying around.
So the second reason is that gasoline averages about 29-30,000
kilocalories/gal (or 121,000 kilojoules, or 1.2e15 erg if you want to be
silly). Even assuming you have just one gallon in the two bikes, that's
a hell of a lot of energy. Consider also that the process of combustion
increases the number of molecules (1C8H18 + 12.5O2 --> 8CO2 + 9H2O) and
that explains why burning hydrocarbon containers tend to expand to
catastrophic failure. On a side note, I did the Fermi calculation for
the explosions of jet fuel in the Sept. 11 attacks. The energy
released in each plane was comparable to the A-bomb the US dropped on
Hiroshima in '45. Wow.
One can be very careful packing a bike, but in a closed container like a
U-haul, gas fumes can build up. Then all it takes is one spark- say
from faulty brake lights, and that's all she wrote.
The third reason is that the border guards, even if they are cousins to
Andy, would not be amused at the international transport of hazardous
chemicals in unlicensed containers.
So...you ever notice in the movies that when cars blow up, it's always
three explosions? Ok, the first one is the gas tank, the second is,
what, oil? What's the third explosion? Radiator fluid?
Cheers,
Jason
On Monday, January 7, 2002, at 05:45 AM, Loopfram-@topica.com
wrote:
| Date: Sun, 6 Jan 2002 05:35:39 -0500 From: "Ian Adkins" <adk-@gte.net> Subject: Re: Question re hauling bikes Jason, Why drain the gas from the bikes? Thanks for the advice...Ian -----Original Message----- From: jason telford <jr-@avalon.net> To: Loopfram-@topica.com <Loopfram-@topica.com> Date: January 6, 2002 1:49 PM Subject: Re: Question re hauling bikes |