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Abbreviation for All Terrain Vehicle. An ATV typically has balloon tires that enable it to cover soft or muddy terrain, and can have two, three or four wheels, and in a few rare cases, even more! The term "ATV" was originally coined to refer to non-straddle ridden six-wheeled amphibious ATVs such as … [Read more...] about ATV

When fuel is is mixed with air in a carburetor or fuel injection system it is turned into a fine mist for more complete combustion. The process of turning the air/fuel mixture into a mist is known as atomization. … [Read more...] about Atomization

Abbreviation for the American Petroleum Institute. API is the only national trade association that represents all aspects of America’s oil and natural gas industry. For consumers, API provides the API’s Engine Oil Licensing and Certification System (EOLCS). It is a voluntary licensing and … [Read more...] about API

An electrical current which constantly reverses direction and polarity.  The number of times it reverses the polarity every second is called "cycles per second". Motorcycle alternators produce AC voltage which then must be passed through a rectifier and converted into direct current for charging the … [Read more...] about Alternating Current (AC)

When someone says they have an air-cooled motorcycle engine they are describing a motorcycle engine that is cooled by air, not coolant. Most air-cooled motorcycle engines have cooling fins that surround the cylinder and cylinder head to provide more surface area for cooling. The cooling fins help … [Read more...] about Air-cooled Engine

Many modern four-stroke motorcycle engines have carburetors with built in accelerator pumps. These simple pumps, consisting of a plunger (usually with a vacuum diaphragm) and fuel passageways, squirt a small amount of fuel into the carburetor venturi when the throttle is opened and help to eliminate … [Read more...] about Accelerator Pump

A unit of measure that quantifies the amount of  electrical current flow. The symbol for amp is DCA for measuring DC amperage, ACA for measuring AC amperage. … [Read more...] about Ampere (amp)