What do you think of these?

[Scooterman]

(Not for myself or most other folks in this forum I would think). I've been watching some videos on youtube and they seem quite popular. And also I've been reading UK law. But I've forgotten most of what I've read already! They're not in the same class as an electric bike (an EAPC) because they've not got pedals. Apparently you're supposed to wear a motorcycle helmet and have insurance when riding an electric bike because they're in the same class as mopeds (I didn't know that).

As far as these scooters go all of them apart from this model are illegal to ride on roads, pavements, and public parks. But this one is approved to ride on the road. But I don't know if you need insurance or a crash helmet?

As well as being advertised for fun they're also aimed at commuters. Although I would imagine riding on the ride is quick way to end up in A&E.

How stable do you think they are when riding, with them little wheels, bicycle seat, and narrow handlebars they look a bit iffy to me?

https://www.evoscooters.co.uk/road-lega ... c9316.html

PS: I'm no legal eagle so may have got the law wrong above.

[Burgerman]

Great. But not if you are disabled... Stable? Not terrifically!

[ex-Gooserider]

My experience on little motor-scooters (50cc Honda, looks like porta-potty w/ wheels...) is that they are actually surprisingly stable once you are used to them but they take a LOT of getting used to...

The big difference between them and a larger wheeled motorcycle or pedal bike is that the front wheel 'hunts' all over the place, with the result that the handlebar wobbles a lot. If you fight it and try to hold a straight line it keeps getting worse until you end up on your arse... The trick is to just relax and let it wobble all it wants, while averaging into a straight line - just give gentle counter-steering pushes to get it to go the direction you want without using force...

Shop I hung out a lot at many years back had one that was used as the retrieval vehicle for pizzas / / Chinese / etc.... Slow, but not a real problem for just going a mile or so, and sort of fun in an odd way...

ex-Gooserider

[Scooterman]

The big difference between them and a larger wheeled motorcycle or pedal bike is that the front wheel 'hunts' all over the place, with the result that the handlebar wobbles a lot. If you fight it and try to hold a straight line it keeps getting worse until you end up on your arse... The trick is to just relax and let it wobble all it wants, while averaging into a straight line - just give gentle counter-steering pushes to get it to go the direction you want without using force...
ex-Gooserider

Ah! That must why I see a lot of new riders on youtube snaking slightly when going in a straight line. You've ridden one in the past. Is it perhaps better to used your bodyweight to steer by leaning side to side rather than giving it a lot of handlebar input. I'm just curious, I won't be getting one anytime soon unless I have Lazarus moment!

[Scooterman]

Great. But not if you are disabled... Stable? Not terrifically!

Sorry it probably wasn't very applicable to this forum. I reckon I could just about get on one although it'd be blooming uncomfortable. And I'd probably hit a fir cone and crash and burn anyways.

[ex-Gooserider]

At one point I was an MSF certified Motorcycle Safety Instructor, which is a fantastic course, especially if the instructor encourages the students to push to their limits... (Look for lots of black streaks on the range and scrapes on the pegs to evaluate this...)

Because I usually drove a sidecar rig, I often got put in the back of the pack on group rides, as that helped discourage the cage drivers from running up the back of the pack... This left me looking down the line of bikes in front of me, and it was amazing how obvious the difference was between the folks that had been through the course and those that hadn't - even the ones with a lot of experience...

The folks that hadn't been through the course were very heavy on steering by shifting body weight and muscling the bars, trying to force the bike to go where they wanted. The course graduates were using 'countersteering' techniques, and minimal force, just letting the bike 'float' under them. It was like the difference between a novice horseback rider and one that is really expert at posting... You could see it when there was a pothole or manhole cover in the road - the course trained riders would just sort of float around it with no visible effort, while the self taught folks would try to muscle around it and not succeed...

So don't do a lot of deliberate weight shift, instead do counter-steering (PUSH on the handlebar in the direction you want to go) and let your body go with the flow of the bike....

(A lot of what the MSF course teaches was derived from watching top rank professional racers doing tasks on fully instrumented bikes on marked ranges - and teaching those techniques...)

ex-Gooserider

The big difference between them and a larger wheeled motorcycle or pedal bike is that the front wheel 'hunts' all over the place, with the result that the handlebar wobbles a lot. If you fight it and try to hold a straight line it keeps getting worse until you end up on your arse... The trick is to just relax and let it wobble all it wants, while averaging into a straight line - just give gentle counter-steering pushes to get it to go the direction you want without using force...
ex-Gooserider

Ah! That must why I see a lot of new riders on youtube snaking slightly when going in a straight line. You've ridden one in the past. Is it perhaps better to used your bodyweight to steer by leaning side to side rather than giving it a lot of handlebar input. I'm just curious, I won't be getting one anytime soon unless I have Lazarus moment!

[Scooterman]

The course graduates were using 'countersteering' techniques, and minimal force, just letting the bike 'float' under them.

I totally get what you mean. I would think it's very similar for winter sports like skiing. Also I've heard Formula 1 Grand Prix drivers repeatedly practice visualising the race track circuit, i.e. gear changes, corner apexes, etc, etc. Even holding a steering wheel while doing it.

When I learnt to ride a motorcycle the local police riders used to give up their time for free on a Sunday morning instructing us spotty faced teenagers. Both in the classroom and the school playground weaving in and out of a network of road cones, all on our 125cc 12bhp motorcycles We also went out on the road with them. I really enjoyed it, but I've never been on a race track, I'd have like that. Although I don't think I'd have like the high braking g-forces needed to scrub off speed before entering a corner and then getting back on the power.

[Burgerman]

all on our 125cc 12bhp motorcycles We also went out on the road with them. I really enjoyed it, but I've never been on a race track, I'd have like that.

My first bikes were before you then. 250cc yamahas, kawasaki 2 stroke 250cc triples etc. All about 90mph 30hp.
Then somewhat serious modded T4 turbocharged nitrous injected GSX1100 and later a 1100EF, with 270 to 350 horsepower and fat tyres better brakes etc, then water a cooled suzuki 1100WR with a little nitrous to wake it up with 190bhp rear wheel while awaiting a turbo to be fitted among others.

12bhp? Even that is enough for fun on a track with other small bikes. But you wont be leaving a lot of rubber! In many ways the little bikes are more fun. You can go a bit mental as speeds and costs are low when you bin it. And can embarass some slower riders with bigger bikes. So little damage done.

[Burgerman]

Valentino rossi, little 125 bike! And his new team mate vinales.

Racing on a car park...


youtu.be/P0rY3mqow44

[Scooterman]

all on our 125cc 12bhp motorcycles We also went out on the road with them. I really enjoyed it, but I've never been on a race track, I'd have like that.

My first bikes were before you then. 250cc yamahas, kawasaki 2 stroke 250cc triples etc. All about 90mph 30hp.
Then somewhat serious modded T4 turbocharged nitrous injected GSX1100 and later a 1100EF, with 270 to 350 horsepower and fat tyres better brakes etc, then water a cooled suzuki 1100WR with a little nitrous to wake it up with 190bhp rear wheel while awaiting a turbo to be fitted among others.

12bhp? Even that is enough for fun on a track with other small bikes. But you wont be leaving a lot of rubber! In many ways the little bikes are more fun. You can go a bit mental as speeds and costs are low when you bin it. And can embarass some slower riders with bigger bikes. So little damage done.

You're a little bit older than me, I'm the first of the Generation X brigade. I do remember one or two of my friends riding 250s on L plate, but within a few months the law was changed and the 125cc and parts 1 & 2 tests introduced.
Was your Suzuki like the GSRs, I remember them but am not sure if I got the name correct? I think they did a 750 and 1100? But you obviously know far more about bikes than me. When I passed my test I bought a secondhand Yamaha MX 175cc enduro I think it was? It was the later mono-shock version. I really liked it but it was a bit underpowered, but I think that was possibly more to do with it's age. I never owned or rode a sports bike, I wouldn't have been able to handle the power and would have ended up killing myself! The MX 175 used handle really well, I sold it but always regretted doing so.

Re your 1100WR. How much power would for a example a stock Kawasaki 900R produce? Also isn't nitrous a bit dodgy on a bike with all that extra bhp suddenly going through the rear wheel?

Re that video of Rossi. You need a lot on concentration and good reflexes to do that!

[Burgerman]

GPZ 900R was claimed 114PS. Measured 89bhp rear wheel. They were just about capable of 148/150mph with a skinny rider and 2 miles runway.

Todays 600s do 170mph and have 125bhp! My water cooled GSXR 1100W made 137 rear wheel bhp (below) at the tyre. Claimed 157. 181mph. 0 to 60 in 2.3 seconds. Standing quarter mile 10.2 seconds @ 146mph.
With Nitrous? Doubled the rate of acceleration if grip allows. Extremely suddenly! Ran out of top gear as if you were in 2nd... So stupid fast! Approx 0 to 160 in about 9.5 secs on the road.

My turbo bikes were way more powerful, double the above. like nothing you can imagine. Those were my street bikes, but were drag raced at weekends at avon park, santa pod raceway etc. Even at 150+ mph you get wheelies if you accelerate, and have 2 gears left or can do a black line quarter of a mile long. Fun! Like being fired out of a gun.

Stock GSXR 1100W with the addition of some nitrous just for the street. Just to make sure I win... Remember that it was already the fastest streetbike in 97 with a claimed 157bhp.

I had a dynamometer. So can measure horsepower. Heres a before and after run. One run with no nitrous. One with nitrous hit, from 7400rpm.
TORQUE is what you feel so = to acceleration. I hit the nitrous button at 7400rpm. Thats the blue line. As you can see, torque/acceleration doubles instantly! Sudden? You better have some tyre traction.



POWER is torque x rpm. So up from 137 to 190 rear wheel, or around 235 at the motor here.

[Scooterman]

You mentioning Nitrous (N2O), which is I assume is two nitrogen atoms and one oxygen atom? It's the oxygen that is required for combustion so why not pump in pure oxygen. But I found this article saying why it's impractical. But I expect you know why anyway. https://auto.howstuffworks.com/oxygen-engine.htm

Re both your nitrous and even more powerful turbo bikes. When they kick in is it a problem keeping the cylinders fed with the large increase in fuel, to keep the acceleration going?

[popschief]

Looks like you were getting up around 10,800 revs. My 1300's rev limiter stopped her at 10,000. Did you make that change or did the 1100's rev more?

bp

[woodygb]

Air contains 21% oxygen ... the decomposition of Nitrous allows an oxygen concentration of 36.36% to be reached. ... or 1.73 times more oxygen than Air alone.

[Burgerman]

11,500 rev limit is stock on the water cooled suzuki 1100s. Power falls away just before that - see power graph.

You mentioning Nitrous (N2O), which is I assume is two nitrogen atoms and one oxygen atom? It's the oxygen that is required for combustion so why not pump in pure oxygen.

1. MUCH of the extra power comes from the huge charge cooling affect, not from the greater amount of oxygen although that certainly helps too! Its minus hundreds of degrees temperature as it is added to the intake system, "shrinks" the air, fuel, and nitrous oxide in the inlet tract and cylinder allowing much more dense charge into the cylinder so more power and less preignition worry. And:

2. Nitrogen in the N2O is essential to absorb the heat and to expand to drive the piston down. Oxygen alone creates far too much heat. Whats more its available in the cylinder during compression and allows the hot engine parts glowing carbon etc to ignite the fuel mixture too soon, before the spark does so, causing pre-ignition, and subsequent detonation which means engine life measured in seconds.

3. Because oxygen cannot be stored in a bottle as a liquid, and only as compressed gas, you cant carry much oxygen, and, it doesent phase change and cool the charge. So it displaces the normal engines air that would have filled the cylinders.

4. Because nitrous oxide compound requires considerable heat before it breaks down into oxygen and nitrogen, it means theres extra fuel in the cylinder (rich mixture) initially during the compression stroke as theres only the oxygen from the atmosphere along with the extra enrichment fuel added for the nitrous oxide to burn. So it ignites as a rich mixture safely only when combustion begins correctly, at the spark. And it then breaks down from the heat of combustion and releases its additional oxygen load to burn the extra fuel.

Re both your nitrous and even more powerful turbo bikes. When they kick in is it a problem keeping the cylinders fed with the large increase in fuel, to keep the acceleration going?

On the turbo bikes we use additional fuel injectors, pressure compensating fuel pressure regulators, larger fuel taps, big fuel pumps etc. On the nitrous systems, they have their own additional fuel pump that injects extra fuel along with the nitrous oxide into each port runner. With nitrous, running short of fuel is not good. Its consumes the engines alloy heads, pistons, valves as fuel instead! So we run those very rich and smoky! If you se traces of black smoke, its safe.

With both, you really win. A huge turbo can be used. And the nitrous makes a lot of exhaust gas that spins up a massive turbo at low rmps, instantly or close to it. So megapower!

[Burgerman]

Turbo GSX11EF very similar to my own turbo bikes. Although this is lowered at the front more. Not much stock remains, much like this. 300 to 350bhp streetbike. In 96. And a stock ish one.

[Burgerman]

Stock GSXR1100W exactly like my 190bhp one. Same colour etc. Mine had a hidden 2.5lb nitrous bottle under the seat. And taller gearing (sprockets) so it would do a real 200mph in top. 179mph stock claimed. That extra 21mph took an extra 50 to 60bhp. The last of the GSXR 1100cc Sport bikes from suzuki.

[Scooterman]

1. MUCH of the extra power comes from the huge charge cooling affect, not from the greater amount of oxygen although that certainly helps too! Its minus hundreds of degrees temperature as it is added to the intake system, "shrinks" the air, fuel, and nitrous oxide in the inlet tract and cylinder allowing much more dense charge into the cylinder so more power and less preignition worry.

I get that, is it the same reason why they had to add superchargers to ww2 fighters, cos the the air is less dense at high altitudes? On a tangent I've also heard that cars/bikes run better in the rain/wet, because water vapour in the air, and lower rolling resistance of wet tyres? I know I've heard of injecting a water spray into the inlet manifold. Is that to cool the charge going into the cylinder? I don't know I'm only guessing.

2. Nitrogen in the N2O is essential to absorb the heat and to expand to drive the piston down. Oxygen alone creates far too much heat. Whats more its available in the cylinder during compression and allows the hot engine parts glowing carbon etc to ignite the fuel mixture too soon, before the spark does so, causing pre-ignition, and subsequent detonation which means engine life measured in seconds.

I get it I think? The nitrogen makes the oxygen 'usable' if that makes sense?

3. Because oxygen cannot be stored in a bottle as a liquid, and only as compressed gas, you cant carry much oxygen, and, it doesent phase change and cool the charge. So it displaces the normal engines air that would have filled the cylinders.

I didn't know oxygen can't be stored a bottle as a liquid.But I must admit I don't understand what 'phase change' means?

4. Because nitrous oxide compound requires considerable heat before it breaks down into oxygen and nitrogen, it means theres extra fuel in the cylinder (rich mixture) initially during the compression stroke as theres only the oxygen from the atmosphere along with the extra enrichment fuel added for the nitrous oxide to burn. So it ignites as a rich mixture safely only when combustion begins correctly, at the spark. And it then breaks down from the heat of combustion and releases its additional oxygen load to burn the extra fuel.

I get it, I didn't know that either! Lol

On the turbo bikes we use additional fuel injectors, pressure compensating fuel pressure regulators, larger fuel taps, big fuel pumps etc. On the nitrous systems, they have their own additional fuel pump that injects extra fuel along with the nitrous oxide into each port runner. With nitrous, running short of fuel is not good. Its consumes the engines alloy heads, pistons, valves as fuel instead! So we run those very rich and smoky! If you se traces of black smoke, its safe.

With both, you really win. A huge turbo can be used. And the nitrous makes a lot of exhaust gas that spins up a massive turbo at low rmps, instantly or close to it. So megapower!

Wow! Lol

Thank you for taking the time to explain all of the above. I do genuinely understand most of your answers, but only in the broadest sense though.

[Scooterman]

Air contains 21% oxygen ... the decomposition of Nitrous allows an oxygen concentration of 36.36% to be reached. ... or 1.73 times more oxygen than Air alone.

I didn't know that thank you. So at 36.36% it's slightly more oxygen than the N2O ration would suggest: I.E. 66% nitrogen 33% oxygen.

[Burgerman]

Your brain is expanding!

On any engine, the limit of power that it can make is the point where we get uncontrolled detonation of the fuel during the compression stroke just before or at the correct spark timing point. This limit is imposed very firmly, and destroys engines.

On a naturally aspirated normal petrol engine this is determined only by the compression ratio, and the fuel octane rating. If the compression is too high, or the engine temp too high, or the fuel octane rating too low then the thing fires or preignites and detonates before the spark, and it damages engines. So in race engines, where compression ratios of a very high order are common, like 14 or 17 to one, higher than road vehicles use, we need a better fuel like VP race fuels with higher octane ratings. Octane is simply the fuels ability to not ignite due to heat/compression alone. It waits for the spark! So allows greater compression to be used.

In a turbo engine we add intake pressure. At a 1 bar boost level, we can push double the air into the engine. So the EFFECTIVE compression ratio is doubled. You have double the air being compressed in the cylinder. So we have to lower the compression ratios. Maybe 7 to 1 instead of 10 or 12. This also sadly reduces power.

With nitrous being injected as a liquid, that boils off in the intake system to a gas, (phase change) we get a massive cooling effect of the entyre charge. And it makes this intake charge more dense. The COLD prevents detonation in the same way that fancy high octane fuels do. So even though theres more "stuff" in the cylinder to compress, pre ignition, and fuel detonation does not happen so easily. Add enough however and its still a problem. But that limit is 4 to 6 hundred percent power increase. So not really an issue.

Nitrous injected with a turbo, means you can use greater boost, or higher compression before detonation issues appear. So adding nitrous to a turbo engine works really well. It meand that the turbo spools up instantly, no lag. And that it does so regardless of RPMs. And that its less likely to detonate. So you can increase boost too. And of course the nitrous adds a lot of power as well!

And contrary to popular myth, water, humidity, and water injection all reduce power. If nothing else changes at the same time. The water vapour in the air displaces the actual air being drawn into the engine and so reduces oxygen volume. However, water injection has the same affect as high octane race fuels. It helps prevent detonation. So allows added boost, extra ignition advance, more nitrous oxide etc to be used before detonation stops play. So it CAN help if used in conjunction with other things. Water alone does not help however dispite all the common misconceptions.

[Scooterman]

Your brain is expanding!

Expanding? I think it's overheating, on the point of exploding! Lol

What with trying to get my head around the ins and outs of powerchairs as well! Lol

Seriously though, thank you for your latest reply. I've not read it yet I am saving it for later when I can better absorb the facts.

[Burgerman]

Before getting into wheelchairs, literally, I spent decades modifying cars and bikes for serious power. For the drag strip.

I designed and built my own computerised inertial rolling road chassis dynamometers to measure horsepower, and torque so I can measure the results. You cannot rely in testemonials for accurate data.
And I built lots of high powered custom engines for cars (mostly V8s with a throttle body per cylinder and nitrous injection, and particularly drag bikes or weekend dragstrip refugees for the road.
Including one off home designed nitrous injection systems before nitrous became well known or popular. And fuel injection/turbo systems etc for bike engines that didnt have them...

So I spent a lot of time figuring out how to get humungous power levels without ending up with an engine in many broken or melted bits. So I learned what/how/why early on! £££

Its all just physics, chemistry, metal.

[Scooterman]

Your brain is expanding!

On any engine, the limit of power that it can make is the point where we get uncontrolled detonation of the fuel during the compression stroke just before or at the correct spark timing point. This limit is imposed very firmly, and destroys engines.

On a naturally aspirated normal petrol engine this is determined only by the compression ratio, and the fuel octane rating. If the compression is too high, or the engine temp too high, or the fuel octane rating too low then the thing fires or preignites and detonates before the spark, and it damages engines. So in race engines, where compression ratios of a very high order are common, like 14 or 17 to one, higher than road vehicles use, we need a better fuel like VP race fuels with higher octane ratings. Octane is simply the fuels ability to not ignite due to heat/compression alone. It waits for the spark! So allows greater compression to be used.

In a turbo engine we add intake pressure. At a 1 bar boost level, we can push double the air into the engine. So the EFFECTIVE compression ratio is doubled. You have double the air being compressed in the cylinder. So we have to lower the compression ratios. Maybe 7 to 1 instead of 10 or 12. This also sadly reduces power.

With nitrous being injected as a liquid, that boils off in the intake system to a gas, (phase change) we get a massive cooling effect of the entyre charge. And it makes this intake charge more dense. The COLD prevents detonation in the same way that fancy high octane fuels do. So even though theres more "stuff" in the cylinder to compress, pre ignition, and fuel detonation does not happen so easily. Add enough however and its still a problem. But that limit is 4 to 6 hundred percent power increase. So not really an issue.

Nitrous injected with a turbo, means you can use greater boost, or higher compression before detonation issues appear. So adding nitrous to a turbo engine works really well. It meand that the turbo spools up instantly, no lag. And that it does so regardless of RPMs. And that its less likely to detonate. So you can increase boost too. And of course the nitrous adds a lot of power as well!

And contrary to popular myth, water, humidity, and water injection all reduce power. If nothing else changes at the same time. The water vapour in the air displaces the actual air being drawn into the engine and so reduces oxygen volume. However, water injection has the same affect as high octane race fuels. It helps prevent detonation. So allows added boost, extra ignition advance, more nitrous oxide etc to be used before detonation stops play. So it CAN help if used in conjunction with other things. Water alone does not help however dispite all the common misconceptions.

Thank you they're excellent explanations! I surprised myself in that I basically understand all the points!

So it's all about getting the most amount of charge (chemical energy) into the cylinder and creating conditions to enable the biggest bang (compression ratios, ignition) but without getting pre-ignition/detonation?

I never knew that about high octane fuels, that must be why performance car engines knock if you put a lower grade fuel in? With the old leaded fuels... I know the lead acted as lubricant, but did help stop detonation as well?

[Scooterman]

Before getting into wheelchairs, literally, I spent decades modifying cars and bikes for serious power. For the drag strip.

I designed and built my own computerised inertial rolling road chassis dynamometers to measure horsepower, and torque so I can measure the results. You cannot rely in testemonials for accurate data.
And I built lots of high powered custom engines for cars (mostly V8s with a throttle body per cylinder and nitrous injection, and particularly drag bikes or weekend dragstrip refugees for the road.
Including one off home designed nitrous injection systems before nitrous became well known or popular. And fuel injection/turbo systems etc for bike engines that didnt have them...

So I spent a lot of time figuring out how to get humungous power levels without ending up with an engine in many broken or melted bits. So I learned what/how/why early on! £££

Its all just physics, chemistry, metal.

And building your own powerchairs gives you the ability to still go to race meets if you wish. Whereas a standard powerchair probably wouldn't be able to cope with the muddy carpark conditions, etc.

PS: There are lots of rolling-road, and engine burnouts videos on youtube. When I see them, rolling roads in particular scare the life out of me and I'd be hiding round the corner. Even high revving powertools like angle grinders i think are scary. It must be the sound of the high revs that does it, it must be the same for other people and not just me! Lol

[Scooterman]

Going back to previous point...

So the 'charge' is potential energy in the form of chemical energy. And the ignition and combustion converts the potential energy in the 'charge' to kinetic energy. And the more potential energy you can get into an engine, and the more efficient you can convert that potential energy to kinetic energy, then the more power the engine produces. Is that it, or have I overreached myself! Lol

[Burgerman]

Its sort of it. Cold air with the correct amount of fuel added, in the intake system, and the added oxygen inside a compound called N20 complete with extra added fuel to support the extra oxygen, is all in the inlet system and into the cylinder together. It all fits, because its super cooled by the nitrous oxide, as it goes from liquid to gas asit is injected. Making the AIR, as well as the added NITROUS take up less space than the air would have done alone through contraction. So the whole charge is now much more dense than at normal temperatures without nitrous. The nitrous boils off from the liquid to a gas almost instantly as it is injected. Reducing intake temperatures by hundreds of degrees.

So more total weight of:
Air (21 percent oxygen, 79 nitrogen)
Nitrous Oxide (its higher oxygen and nitrogen load is released only after the compound splits due to heat after the air/fuel starts to burn. So its not available earlier. This prevents engine damage.
Fuel. Theres now more of this. Because there is going to be more oxygen available to burn it.

All goes into the cylinder ready to be burned.

When it burns, the larger quantity of Oxygen/fuel creates a lot of power! Without engine heat damage. You end up with far higher AVERAGE cylinder pressures with no to very small heat increases. Due to exess fuel (over rich mixture) charge cooling, and a more retarded ignition point. And a very loud exhaust!

[Burgerman]

I had a few engines let go on the dyno. An a tyre or two. Always turbo/nitrous big horsepower ones. Its very dramatic. Everyone runs away! I stay. Beause its already happened and someone needs to stop a 1 ton steel drum spinning at 200mph while looking for the fire extinguisher! Mostly dynamometers are no more dangerous to your engine than driving on a road at max power/speed. It just seems more violent because you are stood right next to it.

[Scooterman]

Its sort of it. Cold air with the correct amount of fuel added, in the intake system, and the added oxygen inside a compound called N20 complete with extra added fuel to support the extra oxygen, is all in the inlet system and into the cylinder together. It all fits, because its super cooled by the nitrous oxide, as it goes from liquid to gas asit is injected. Making the AIR, as well as the added NITROUS take up less space than the air would have done alone through contraction. So the whole charge is now much more dense than at normal temperatures without nitrous. The nitrous boils off from the liquid to a gas almost instantly as it is injected. Reducing intake temperatures by hundreds of degrees.

So more total weight of:
Air (21 percent oxygen, 79 nitrogen)
Nitrous Oxide (its higher oxygen and nitrogen load is released only after the compound splits due to heat after the air/fuel starts to burn. So its not available earlier. This prevents engine damage.
Fuel. Theres now more of this. Because there is going to be more oxygen available to burn it.

All goes into the cylinder ready to be burned.

When it burns, the larger quantity of Oxygen/fuel creates a lot of power! Without engine heat damage. You end up with far higher AVERAGE cylinder pressures with no to very small heat increases. Due to exess fuel (over rich mixture) charge cooling, and a more retarded ignition point. And a very loud exhaust!

This is probably a 'how long is a piece of string' answer. With say a road car, or motorcycle that has Nitrous how long would an N2O cylinder last? I guess the bottle regulator can be set so when Nitrous is activated by the driver/rider the bottle either injects a lot or little Nitrous?
I get the basic concept but I think it's all a little bit above my head.

[Scooterman]

Everyone runs away! I stay. Beause its already happened and someone needs to stop a 1 ton steel drum spinning at 200mph while looking for the fire extinguisher!

That is so true! As you say once it's gone bang it's not going to go bang again. I suppose it's just that the loud BANG plays havoc with our nerves (mine at least!)

[Burgerman]

This is probably a 'how long is a piece of string' answer. With say a road car, or motorcycle that has Nitrous how long would an N2O cylinder last? I guess the bottle regulator can be set so when Nitrous is activated by the driver/rider the bottle either injects a lot or little Nitrous?

No regulator. It wouldnt work on LIQUID NITROUS. Because after the regulator it just boils off again and repressurises the pipes... We inject liquid nitrous oxide at 800psi via a control jet.