It is difficult to explain all the various technical words that we see in a motorcycle manual or in an auto magazine, but then I have made a small attempt to try and sum up as many terms as possible. What is more important is that, If I have missed out on something or you my reader wish to add to this small dictionary, please add the same to your comments and I will update it in the review(not to mention with full credits to you)
PISTON: A partly hollow cylindrical part closed at one end, fitted to each of the engine’s cylinders and attached to the crankshaft by a connecting rod. Each piston moves up and down in its cylinder, transmitting power created by the exploding fuel to the crankshaft via a connecting rod.
SPARK PLUG: A device screwed into the combustion chamber of a spark ignition engine. The basic construction is a conductive core inside a ceramic insulator, mounted in an outer conductive base. An electrical charge from the spark plug wire travels along the conductive core and jumps a preset air gap to a grounding point or points at the end of the conductive base. The resultant spark ignites the fuel/air mixture in the combustion chamber.
CARBURATOR: The carburetor(American spelling, carburettor or carburetter in Commonwealth countries, ’carb’ for short) is a device which mixes air and fuel for an internal-combustion engine. It is seen in most bikes(sparing a few custom built racing versions). Carburetors are still found in motorcycle engines, small car engines and in older or specialized automobiles such as those designed for stock car racing. However, most cars built since the early 1980s use computerized electronic fuel injection instead of carburetion
SWING ARM: A swing arm is the main component of the rear suspension of most motorcycles and ATVs. It is used to hold the rear axle firmly while pivoting farther forward to allow the suspension to operate.
CAM: A cam is a projecting part of a rotating wheel or shaft that strikes a lever at one or more points on its circular path. The cam can be a simple tooth, as is used to deliver pulses of power to a steam hammer, for example, or an eccentric disc or other shape that produces a smooth oscillating motion in the lever.
IGNITION COIL: An ignition coil(also called a spark coil) is an electrical device in a automobile’s ignition system which transforms a storage battery’s 12 volts to the thousands of volts needed to spark the spark plugs. This is a specific form of the induction coil that converts current from a battery into the high voltage current required by spark plugs in a internal combustion engine.
RPM: Stands for Revolutions Per Minute. When the engine crankshaft turns 360 degrees it is one Revolution. The number of times the engine does this in a minute is the RPM it is set to.
B.H.P: Brake horsepower. A measurement standard used by manufacturers to help consumers compare engines. NOTE: BHP is measured at the maximum operating RPM of the engine, which may not be the RPM level at which your engine will provide maximum life and consistent performance.
B.H.P= H.H.P / P.M.E.,
where H.H.P.= Hydraulic Horsepower
P.M.E.= Pump Mechanical Efficiency
TORQUE: The measure of the force applied to an object to produce rotational motion usually measured in foot-pounds. Torque is determined by multiplying the applied force by the distance from the pivot point to the point where the force is applied.
GEAR RATIO: The number of revolutions a driving(pinion) gear requires to turn a driven(ring) gear through one complete revolution. For a pair of gears, the ratio is found by dividing the number of teeth on the driven gear by the number of teeth on the driving pinion gear.
DOHC:A double overhead cam(also called a dual overhead cam, DOHC, or’twincam’) engine is a type of internal combustion engine where the camshafts that operate the intake and exhaust valves are mounted above the cylinders, and where there are separate camshafts for inlet and exhaust valves. In engines with more than one cylinder bank, such as the V engine, this designation means two camshafts per bank.
WHEELIE: A wheelie is a relatively simple bike trick that consists of the rider pulling the front wheel off the ground and balancing himself on the rear wheel, all while in motion.
STOPPIE: In cycling a Stoppie is a bike trick where the bicycle rider lifts the back wheel and rides on his front wheel for an amount of time. This is sometimes called a front wheelie. To perform a stoppie the rider gets up to speed and hits the front brake while leaning forward. Then he rides on his front wheel until the bike stops.
Added After Some Interesting Comments:
Direct From G-raptor’s Message:
VALVE: A valve is basically the ignition chamber inside of a cylinder. The more number of valves u have inside a cylinder, the better it is for optimising combustion and generating torque
Based On sandeepdhawan_83’s question:
TAPPET: In mechanical engineering, a tappet is a projection which imparts a linear motion to some other component within an assembly. In automotive mechanics, a’tappet’ is a somewhat archaic term which is falling into disuse being largely replaced by other terms such as rocker-arm. Properly speaking, a tappet is only that part of a rocker-arm which makes contact with an intake or exhaust valve stem above the cylinder head of a gasoline or diesel engine and converts the circular motion to linear. So Tappet Settings are parameters for this parts.
Lacquer: Is a spirit varnish, that imparts a glossy finish to a paint job and thats what gives a bike that smooth and gleaming look.
more might be added based on comments and if extended, please refer to the comments where I might add information due to space constraints