It is no secret that the sale of digital cameras has overtaken the sale of film cameras in Europe. Today, one is spoilt for choices as there is almost a deluge of digital camera manufacturers in the world market. The choice is so wide that one actually needs a guide that could pave the way for you, guiding you through this maze-like situation to finally help you make an intelligent and informed choice.

The first thing that most people take into consideration before buying a digital camera is its resolution. Higher the resolution of the camera, better is the quality of the pictures that you click through it and larger the size of the print-out. One usually finds digicams in the range of three to nine megapixels in the market. According to your needs, professional or personal, carefully decide on the megapixels of the camera.

Zoom is another feature of the camera that is paid a lot of attention at the time of buying. Two types of zooms on digital cameras are the optical zoom, which determines the quality of the image and the digital zoom that goes up to x10. Some cameras are meant for professional purposes and hence are developed with wide angle lenses.

Display screen in a digital camera is LCD and it previews the picture you are about to click. The screen size generally ranges from 1 to 3.5 inches. On the other hand, it is also advisable to take into consideration the batteries that would make your digicam last long. The proprietary rechargeable batteries are preferred over the standard ones.

Most importantly, before going in to buy a digital camera, take the camera’s size and weight into consideration as well. Go to the plethora of comparison and cashback sites that compare digital cameras by almost all manufacturers in the electronics market. Discount digital cameras are also easily available on these shopping portals that offer you whopping cashback as well for shopping with them.

So, if your next buy is a digital camera, take various important factors into consideration before finally settling down with the one that suits your requirement, budget and profession.

Fletcher Mak is an author, write various articles on different themes to expand information. You can get more information about digital camera and other latest cheap laptops.

You might be thinking of studying aboard or in reputed institutions. But what becomes the matter of concern is the lack of fund. Thus, keeping in view, lending institutions have made policies to support students with required cash through student cash loans.

Student cash loans finance the expense that comes in the way of a student’s education. Buying books, admission fees, lodging, are some likely expenses that a student faces in his educational life. All such educational related expenditure can be met with the help of cash loans for student.

Student cash loans are actually of two types: government and private student loans. In government loans, all the expenses are made by government. This type of loans can be refinanced with lower rate of interest. Such loans are usually based on the financial needs of the student applicant.

Meanwhile, private student loans are provided by private benefactors. Student cash loans carry a number of advantages, and the foremost is that students can borrow cash they are seeking and repay it once after graduation and started to earn a specific income. Moreover, student cash loans have special interest rates that are calculated specifically for students. With the existing competition among lenders applicants can take the advantage and spot a marginal rate of interest according to their repaying ability.

Student cash loans are approved in spite of bad credit status. To approve student cash loans in instant, online application process is available. The privilege of online application process is that applicant can collect various quotes and approve loans just sitting from home or office by providing appropriate credit details.

Student cash loans help the students to reach the career edge. Student becomes worry free from financial view and can concentrate on his studies.

Julia Russell works as an executive in financial department for Get Student Loans. She has a lot of experience in finance field.

To gain more information about Student Cash Loans, College student loans, Student refinance loans, Direct student loans, Defaulted student Loans visit

http://www.get-student-loans.com

Let me tell you about my friend, Alpha Female. She is a savvy young woman at the top of her profession, who can cook fantastically, speak three languages and drink your average Russian under the table, all while looking like a film star. Jealous? Of course. But, Alpha Female appears to have suddenly met her match in the form of a small, unpredictable creature: her newborn son. Alpha Female’s route to motherhood was pretty much the ideal: with lovely Alpha Male for a few years, married in a tear-jerking ceremony, traveled the world, excelled at work. Then along came baby and Alpha Female backtracked along the evolutionary path and regressed into Pregzilla, devouring each and every pregnancy-related book, website and programme she could get her hands and ears on, with an all-encompassing need to know, to understand what she was going through, was about to go through, to be ready. I was flummoxed by emails and texts pondering the relative merits of strict routines and ‘baby whispering’. I was no help. I thought ‘baby whispering’ involved Robert Redford and a horse’s nostrils. Confused? I still am.

Kids. Whether you’re making them or raising them, it’s a bit of a project, isn’t it? A seriously long-term, oh-God-what-have-I-done sort of a project, admittedly. But the best bit is that you don’t really need any qualifications to take part, just a bit of common sense. A finely calibrated sense of humour helps, too. Instinct, genetics, whatever, something kicks in and we tend to muddle through. We immerse ourselves in the enjoyable consumerism, the paraphernalia of the task at hand. We confidently choose the booties, the buggy, the cot and the colour of the nursery. The Man of the House fiddles with baby monitors and does his best to get excited about the Bugaboo vs Baby Bjorn debate. And then, as we are in full thrust of the novelty of the growing bump, we start wondering if maybe we should take a quick flick through some of the parenting guides on offer, just to have a look, mind, so that we are a teensy bit prepared for life after the big event, The Birth. Any mother will tell you that the nine months of pregnancy are almost entirely devoted to staving off the terror of giving birth. We write birth plans with the vain idea that they will somehow lessen the sheer hideousness of labour and then we turn to distractions for the rest of the pregnancy. If we are clever, we turn to a nice gentle hobby. But some are tempted by The Books and terror of the birth is quickly replaced by the terror of Getting It Wrong, ‘It’ being the next eighteen years or so. You see, having kids is like coursework that never gets handed in but is, instead, continually assessed. Assessed by your peers, by your mother in law, by strangers in the supermarket, let alone by you walking the room with a thoroughly awake baby at 3am, wondering where you went wrong.

And so back to Alpha Female. In her hormonally vulnerable state, she keenly felt the pressure to Get It Right. Baby ‘guru’ Gina Ford instructed her to get baby into a military, love starved routine immediately or face the consequences of having a socially inept three year old, while attachment parenting manuals urged her to give up any semblance of a life and breastfeed until puberty. I scoffed. I gave birth for the first time eight years ago and honestly don’t remember feeling that pressure. Nowadays, it seems de rigeur to cook perfectly (thanks celebrity chefs), keep fit (er, thanks Z-list celebs with your pole dancing workout DVDs) and, most of all, be happy and calm and in control at all times. My scoffing became a strangled squawk as a quick browse of my shelves showed no less than 18 parenting-related books. Oops. Hormones do amazing things to your memory.

Rummaging amongst all these books, most of which I hadn’t even read, made me wonder what on earth possessed me to buy clearly conflicting tomes of ‘advice’ and left me shamefaced at the realisation that the only person to actually benefit from most of them was the author, laughing all the way to the bank. Against my better judgment, I read through them and immediately regretted it. Three kids later, my ‘methods’ have dissolved into the bribe-reward school of parenting which, curiously enough, doesn’t seem to have a ‘guidebook’, even though it is the preferred method for most parents I know. Having been made to feel so inadequate by reading so much of how it’s supposed to be done in a perfect world, I have decided to aim at how to be a good parent in the real world. Sometimes fish fingers are the best you can manage and yes, of course goldfish go to heaven, sweetheart. As for Alpha Female? Well, she has come to her senses, ditched the guilt and put two fingers up to other people’s expectations. She went back to work last week.

Nikki is a freelance writer whose work is regularly commissioned by and published in a variety of international magazines and newspapers. As a mother of three young daughters, her writing often focuses on parenting and lifestyle issues but, secretly, Nikki also has a ‘proper’ job, as an expert writer on overseas real estate investment. She acts as a consultant to agents and developers, identifying and marketing key emerging markets. She is currently collaborating with Property Club International. See more at http://propertyclubinternational.net

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There are many different types of stroller, each one designed to meet a specific need. Often families will own one or more of these strollers and use them as and when the need arises. This article will attempt to explain the main types of stroller to help you decide which stroller is right for you and your family. It will also briefly explain the advantages and disadvantages of each type. The types of stroller discussed are:

• lightweight or umbrella strollers
• standard strollers
• double, triple or quadruple strollers
• jogging or all-terrain strollers
• travel system or car seat strollers

Lightweight strollers, sometimes known as umbrella strollers, are as the name suggests, light in weight and therefore easily stored and convenient to use. They lack some of the features of their more heavyweight counterparts. These strollers are not suitable for younger infants (4 months and under) because they often, but not always, lack a good quality reclining seat. They also lack durability and comfort. However, they are perfect for short trips to the shopping mall or for traveling because they are so lightweight and convenient. They are an economical and can easily be used as a spare stroller for those quick trip occasions. An example of a lightweight stroller would be the Zooper Swing.

The standard type of stroller are your everyday strollers. They are heavier than the lightweight stroller and can come equipped with an array of features such as toy bars, snack trays, drinks holders, etc. They are more versatile and invariably have more comfortable seating, better maneuverability and a larger storage capacity than lightweight strollers. As they are heavier and larger, they are not as convenient to store and can be more trouble than they are worth for the short trips. They are more comfortable, safer and come in a variety of styles and colors. They are more expensive than lightweight strollers but are well suited for family outings, traveling and most everyday activities. The Zooper Waltz or the Zooper Tango are examples of standard strollers.

Double, triple or quadruple strollers are, as their names suggest, for those of you with more than one child. They tend to be more bulky , for obvious reasons. Serious consideration must be given to the seating arrangements for these types of stroller. Some strollers allow children to sit next to one another and others allow children to sit one behind the other or in tandem. Which you choose depends on whether you want your children to “socialize” with each other or to be kept apart. It should be remembered that having a side-by-side seating arrangement can cause difficulty in maneuvering, due to the extra width. On the other hand, a tandem seating arrangement can cause arguments about who gets to sit up front! Remember to choose reclining seats for younger children.

Jogging or all-terrain strollers are not just for the health nuts amongst you. They can be very useful for those of you who simply like to get out about more often, in parks or just about anywhere. The main features to look out for in this type of stroller are their wheels, suspension and steering capabilities. They make excellent everyday strollers but can sometimes be bulky and difficult to fold and store. These type of strollers are not recommended for children under six months old. The Zooper Boogie is an example of a jogging stroller.

Travel system or car seat strollers offer convenience for busy parents. Basically, they consist of seats that can be easily attached to your stroller and your car. No need for two separate, and sometimes costly, seats. Before buying this kind of stroller you must check the compatibility of your car.

Manufacturers are creating innovations to stroller models yearly, making it very difficult to choose from the vast array of features and models out there. Choosing the right type of model is the first important step. Work out what type of stroller meets you needs best. Are you looking for versatility or a stroller for a specific task such as shopping or jogging? Remember, sometimes, it may even be necessary to purchase more than one stroller type.

B. Summoy writes consumer product reviews and provides advice and tips for smart shopping. She regularly writes interesting articles on baby products. Visit the Zooper Boogie Review site for a more detailed review of this particular stroller.

STEP 4: Organizational Structure

This is the step where I need to select an organization structure that best fits my business model. I personally find there is no “best” structure for all businesses. However, I normally prefer to select one that provides me with high autonomy and low tax liability. Again, this will also depend on the national, federal or local tax structure for each business entity in the country or state I conduct my business.

Before setting up my company, I would do insight research on all the options available for my particular business model, particularly the advantages and disadvantages of each formation, paying special attention to the tax implication and government formalities as well as red tape in the location or country where I operate. I never assume all countries are similar.

Let’s take a look at four common forms of business ownership:

1. Sole proprietor

2. Partnership

3. Corporation

4. Limited Liability Company

Before selecting the form of business, I always find it best to work closely with a lawyer or a financial planner to ensure I have the right information, compliance and resources that allow me to make the right choice.Sole Proprietor

This is a very popular form of business in many countries (i.e. America, Canada, UK, India, Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, etc.) because so little is needed to set up a sole proprietorship. Apart from local business licenses, there are minimal government fees and paperwork. It is instant, cost effective and minimal (or even zero) compliant requirements by local authorities.

On the other hand, there is also considerable risk to consider. The owner’s personal assets are vulnerable to creditors and other liabilities. Sole proprietorship doesn’t get the advantage of certain tax breaks that are reserved for Corporation or Limited Liability Company.

In short, this form of business is very ideal for home based business that has no massive inventory or a high number of staffs.Partnership

Similar to sole proprietorship, this form is very easy to set up and maintain, requiring minimal government fee and paperwork. The initial setup cost and maintenance fees to run a partnership are very low. Moreover, no capital is required to form a partnership. Each partner is not required to raise any capital to start this form of business.

On the downside, each partner is required to account full responsibility for all the company’s debts. If one of the partners defaults on a company loan, creditors can actually go after your personal assets and belongings. Besides that, capital raising is also very limited in a partnership. Just like sole proprietorship, partnership doesn’t get much tax incentives.Corporation

There are a few types of corporations available depending on the location or country the owners conduct business. However, most corporations (in many countries) share similar characteristics.

The key advantage of incorporating a business is that it shields equity holders (owners) of the company from personal liability. In other words, if business hits hard times, creditors cannot go after the owners’ personal assets to make up for any company debts. Yet, most creditors nowadays would require the owners of the corporation to guarantee the shortfalls if the company goes under. Besides that, a corporation offers significant tax savings (usually not extended to sole proprietorship or partnership), greater business flexibility, company name protection and better opportunity to raise capital via venture capitalist or financial institution.

Bear in mind that corporations are not cheap to set up. It requires some initial set up fees and certain amount of regular maintenance. With a corporation, you have to keep a proper set of financial records, audited by a certified accountant. Depending on where the business is conducted, some government or local authority would require a minimum set of compliance and would also require regular fees to be paid.

There is one option that a corporation possesses - that allow owners to sell their shares of stock to the public (known as public listed corporation). Then this will involve higher startup capital (usually runs into the millions), more legal and meticulous accounting compliances to adhere to.Limited Liability Company

As for many new entrepreneurs, choosing a business structure comes down to liability protection, low startup costing, tax savings and convenience. This form of business requires fewer formalities and less on-going paperwork than corporations while offering the same personal liability protection and tax flexibility. Just as with a corporation, the company name is protected, and the other members of the company are shielded from creditors and other company liabilities such as lawsuits. A limited liability company only requires the owners to keep minimal company records, and there is no limit to the number of equity owners.

Nonetheless, this form of business is dissolved when a member dies or undergoes bankruptcy. In comparison to sole proprietorship or partnership, it has more paperwork and complexity to set up and to be maintained.

Disclaimer - This article may be freely reprinted in its entirety in any e-zine, newsletter, blog or website. The author’s name, bio and website links must remain intact and be included with every reproduction.

Dave J, is an E-preneur, NLP-Certified Business Coach and Author. Within a decade, Dave J has served as an advisor to countless small-level to high-level business leaders around the world. Despite such a short span, Dave J has becoming a highly-respected authority on the psychology of business leadership, business startup, management and marketing. His forte is coaching ordinary people to attain professional and financial breakthrough.

*Note: Unproven theories to not be shown to my readers! If you need any small business startup help, feel free to visit my Website

=> To get the complete online business course on small business startup guide, log on to http://www.12daysonly.com, and redeem your
BONUS PACKAGE worth US$1,396.00

Have you checked your gas bill against your direct debit recently? According to research by moneysupermarket.com, gas suppliers are estimated to be stockpiling £490m of their customers’ money due to the delays in adjusting payment amounts for direct debit customers. Suppliers are believed to be only checking systems every six months, leading the way to an overpayment in excess of £100, as found in one of eight of the 2407 research participants.

Mish Tullar, Director of media relations at British Gas was quick to reject these findings, saying: “We are not sitting on a big cash windfall”, continuing to point out that their customers were on average £60 in debit and not overpaying.

Many people within the industry believe that whilst suppliers such as British Gas are offering cheap gas, they are too slow in reacting to the changes when it comes to customer payments. Particularly Powergen, who on average had the most cash “on float” at around £78 per household.

A new argument that is emerging is that of winter payments, when accounts are most likely to be in debit. This means a solution is needed to ensure good cash flow for suppliers, whilst recovering this debt from its customers. By placing the £490m in a typical business bank account, gas companies are likely to be earning £24.5m of revenue per annum.

So what can be done to ensure you don’t continue to give even more money away? Contact your supplier and discuss your current tariff and average bills. They should be able to give you this information over the phone and come up with a satisfactory amount for direct debit.

Always ensure you compare the market carefully when comparing gas suppliers to ensure you can obtain a cheap gas price.

STEP 3: Prepare a Business Plan

Once I have done all the preparations, I would start creating a detailed business plan - a document that will provide the priorities, strategies, agenda and sanity I’ll need to startup my business.

In my experience and observation of the business world, the “activity” of creating a business plan is as valuable as the end product itself. Just remember that the most important audience for a business plan is ME. I am accountable for all the statements, claims, statistics and facts. So if I try to “twist” the figure, I am actually lying to myself!

The business plan can also aid me as a tool to generate interest from financiers, venture capitalists, staffs, suppliers and strategic associates.

Regardless of the structure or format of my business plan, I will ensure that my business planning must contain answers for the following twelve questions:

1. What’s my business idea?

2. How does my idea address consumers’ needs/wants?

3. What business model suits me best?

4. What’s unique about my business idea over the rivals?

5. What is the market opportunity and potential?

6. What is my role and responsibility?

7. Who are the key staffs or workers (skip if I do not have any)?

8. What price will the customer pay and how will they buy?

9. How much money do I need to start and run the business?

10. What’s the source of my capital?

11. How will I measure the success of my business?

12. What are my key milestones?

While preparing my business plan, I would cover all the elements of a business plan shown in DAY 3. Just for your study aims, I have attached a sample business plan at the end of this section.

I must ensure that my business plan is concise and neatly formatted (i.e. Microsoft Word document for the bulk of the plan, with any financial documents as attached spreadsheets in Microsoft Excel), and need not include fancy graphics, flowery language or photos. The easier I make it to read, the better.

Alternatively, there are occasions I work better with business plan templates and wizards. Hence, I would search online as there are many business planning software packages available that only cost in the neighborhood of $100, as well as a few free online business plan templates. I would normally spend some time searching for the right software or templates to aid me in constructing my business plan.

Disclaimer - This article may be freely reprinted in its entirety in any e-zine, newsletter, blog or website. The author’s name, bio and website links must remain intact and be included with every reproduction.

Dave J, is an E-preneur, NLP-Certified Business Coach and Author. Within a decade, Dave J has served as an advisor to countless small-level to high-level business leaders around the world. Despite such a short span, Dave J has becoming a highly-respected authority on the psychology of business leadership, business startup, management and marketing. His forte is coaching ordinary people to attain professional and financial breakthrough.

*Note: Unproven theories to not be shown to my readers! If you need any small business startup help, feel free to visit my Website

=> To get the complete online business course on small business startup guide, log on to http://www.12daysonly.com, and redeem your
BONUS PACKAGE worth US$1,396.00

This is the first in a series of articles exploring motorcycle tire basics and various basic dynamic characteristics of the handling behavior of motorcycles. Overall this is a very complex subject
and needs a good level of mathematics and physics to properly understand what’s happening.
However, in these articles I’ll try and explain the basics with the absolute minimum of mathematics,
but where this is unavoidable I’ll not go beyond simple trigonometry. For those that are unhappy
with any mathematics at all, don’t worry, just skip those parts and the rest should still prove useful.
I’ll try and illustrate the mechanics with many sketches and graphs.

It seems incredible that just two small contact patches of rubber, can support our machines and
manage to deliver large amounts of power to the road, whilst at the same time supporting cornering
forces at least as much as the weight of the bike and rider. As such the tires exert perhaps the single
most important influence over general handling characteristics, so it seems appropriate to study their
characteristics before the other various aspects of chassis design.
When Newton first expounded to the world his theories of mechanics, no doubt he had on his mind,
things other than the interaction of motorcycle tires with the road surface. Never-the-less his
suppositions are equally valid for this situation. In particular his third law states, “For every force there
is an equal and opposite force to resist it.” or to put it another way “Action and reaction are equal and
opposite.”

Relating this to tire action, means that when the tire is pushing on the road then the road is pushing
back equally hard on the tire. This applies equally well regardless of whether we are looking at
supporting the weight of the bike or resisting cornering, braking or driving loads.
What this particular law of Newton does not concern itself with, is which force is the originating one nor
indeed does it matter for many purposes of analysis. However, as a guide to the understanding of
some physical systems it is often useful to mentally separate the action from the reaction.
The forces that occur between the ground and the tires determine so much the behaviour of our
machines, but they are so often taken for granted. tires really perform such a multitude of different
tasks and their apparent simplicity hides the degree of engineering sophistication that goes into their
design and fabrication. Initially pneumatic tires were fitted to improve comfort and reduce loads on
the wheels. Even with modern suspension systems it is still the tires that provide the first line of
defence for absorbing road shocks.
To explore carcass construction, tread compound and tread pattern in great detail is beyond the scope
of this book. Rather we are concerned here with some basic principles and their effects on handling
characteristics.

Weight Support

The most obvious function of the tire is to support the weight of the machine, whether upright or
leaning over in a corner. However, the actual mechanism by which the air pressure and tire passes
the wheel load to the road is often misunderstood. Consider fig. 1, this sketch represents a slice
through the bottom of a rim and tire of unit thickness with an inflation pressure of P. The left hand
side shows the wheel unloaded and the right hand side shows it supporting the weight F. When
loaded the tire is compressed vertically and the width increases as shown, perhaps surprisingly the
internal air pressure does not change significantly with load, the internal volume is little changed.
At the widest section (X1) of the unloaded tire the internal half width is W1, and so the force normal to
this section due to the internal pressure is simply 2.P.W1 . This force acts upwards towards the wheel
rim, but as the pressure and tire width are evenly distributed around the circumference the overall
effect is completely balanced. This force also has to be resisted by an equal tension (T) in the tire
carcass.

The loaded tire has a half width of W2 at it’s widest section (X2) and so the normal force is 2.P.W2 .
Therefore, the extra force over this section, when loaded, is 2.P.(W2 - W1) but as the tire is only
widened over a small portion of the bottom part of the circumference, this force supports the load F.
The above describes how the inflation pressure and tire width increase produce forces to oppose the
vertical wheel loading, but does not completely explain the detail of the mechanism by which these
forces are transferred to the rim. The bead of a fitted tire is an interference fit over the bead seat of
the wheel rim, which puts this area into compression, the in-line component of the side-wall tension
due to the inflation pressure reduces this compression somewhat. This component is shown as F1 on
the unloaded half of F1 = T.cos(U1). The greater angle U2 of the side-wall when loaded means
that the in-line component of the tension is reduced, thereby also restoring some of the rim to tire
bead compression. This only happens in the lower part of the tire circumference, where the widening
takes place. So there is a nett increase in the compressive force on the lower rim acting upward, this
supports the bike weight. The nett force is the difference between the unloaded and loaded in-line
forces,

F = T.(cos( U1) -cos(U2))

The left hand side shows half of an inflated but
unloaded tire, a tension (T) is created in the carcass by
the internal pressure. To the right, the compressed and
widened shape of the loaded tire is shown.

Suspension Action

In performing this function the pneumatic tire is the first object that feels any road shocks and so acts
as the most important element in the machine’s suspension system. To the extent that, whilst
uncomfortable, it would be quite feasible to ride a bike around the roads, at reasonable speeds with no
other form of bump absorption. In fact rear suspension was not at all common until the 1940s or 50s.
Whereas, regardless of the sophistication of the conventional suspension system, it would be quite
impractical to use wheels without pneumatic tires, or some other form of tire that allowed
considerable bump deflection. The loads fed into the wheels without such tires would be enormous at
all but slow speeds, and continual wheel failure would be the norm.
A few figures will illustrate what I mean:–Assume that a bike, with a normal size front wheel, hits a 25
mm, sharp edged bump at 190 km/h. This not a large bump.
With no tire the wheel would then be subject to an average vertical acceleration of approximately
1000 G. (the peak value would be higher than this). This means than if the wheel and brake
assembly had a mass of 25 kg. then the average point load on the rim would be 245 kN. or about 25
tons. What wheel could stand that? If the wheel was shod with a normal tire, then this would have at
ground level, a spring rate, to a sharp edge, of approx. 17-35 N/mm. The maximum force then
transmitted to the wheel for a 25 mm. step would be about 425-875 N. i.e. less than four thousandths
of the previous figure, and this load would be more evenly spread around the rim. Without the tire the
shock loads passed back to the sprung part of the bike would be much higher too. The vertical wheel
velocity would be very much greater, and so the bump damping forces, which depend on wheel
velocity, would be tremendous. These high forces would be transmitted directly back to bike and rider.
The following five charts show some results of a computer simulation of accelerations and
displacements on a typical road motorcycle, and illustrate the tire’s significance to comfort and road
holding. The bike is traveling at 100 km/h. and the front wheel hits a 0.025 metre high step at 0.1
seconds. Note that the time scales vary from graph to graph.
Three cases are considered:

· With typical vertical tire stiffness and typical suspension springing and damping.
· With identical tire properties but with a suspension spring rate of 100 X that of the previous.
· With tire stiffness 100 X the above and with normal suspension springing.

So basically we are considering a typical case, another case with almost no suspension springing and
the final case is with a virtually rigid tire. Structural loading, comfort and roadholding would all be adversely
affected without the initial cushioning of the tire. Note that the above charts are not all to the same time scale,
this is simply to better illustrate the appropriate points.

This shows the vertical displacement of the front wheel. There is little difference between the maximum
displacements for the two cases with a normal tire, for a small step the front tire absorbs most of the shock. However,
in the case of a very stiff tire, the wheel movement is increased by a factor of about 10 times. It is obvious that the tire
leaves the ground in this case and the landing bounces can be seen after 0.5 seconds.

These curves show the vertical movement of the C of G of the bike and rider. As in Fig 1 it is clear that the stiff tire
causes much higher bike movements, to the obvious detriment of comfort.

Demonstrating the different accelerations transmitted to the bike and rider, these curves show the vertical
accelerations at the C of G. Both of the stiffer tire or stiffer suspension cases show similar values of about 5 or 6 times
that of the normal case, but the shape of the two curves is quite different. With the stiff suspension there is little
damping and we can see that it takes a few cycles to settle down. The second bump at around 0.155 seconds is when the
rear wheel hits the step, this rear wheel response is not shown on the other graphs for clarity.

Front wheel vertical acceleration for the two cases with a normal tire. The early part is similar for the two cases,
the suspension has little effect here, it is tire deflection that is the most important for this height of step. As in Fig 5 the
lack of suspension damping allows the tire to bounce for a few cycles before settling down.

As in these curves are of the wheel acceleration, the values of the normal case are overwhelmed by the stiff
tire case, with a peak value of close to 600 G compared with nearly 80 G normally. Again note the effects of the landing
bounces after 0.5 seconds. This high acceleration would cause very high structural loading.

As the tire is so good at removing most of the road shocks, right at the point of application, perhaps it
would be worth while to consider designing it to absorb even more and eliminate the need for other
suspension. Unfortunately we would run into other problems. We have all seen large construction
machinery bouncing down the road on their balloon tires, sometimes this gets so violent that the
wheels actually leave the ground. A pneumatic tire acts just like an air spring, and the rubber acts as
a damper when it flexes, but when the tire is made bigger the springing effect overwhelms the
damping and we then get the uncontrolled bouncing. So there are practical restraints to the amount of
cushioning that can be built into a tire for any given application.

Effects of Tire Pressure

Obviously, the springing characteristics mentioned above are largely affected by the tire inflation
pressure, but there are other influences also. Carcass material and construction and the properties
and tread pattern of the outer layer of rubber all have an effect on both the springing properties and
the area in contact with the ground (contact patch). Under and over inflation both allow the tire to
assume non-optimum cross-sectional shapes, additionally the inflation pressure exerts an influence
over the lateral flexibility of a tire and this is a property of the utmost importance to motorcycle
stability. Manufacturers’ recommendations should always be adhered to.

The influence of tire pressure on the vertical stiffness of an inflated tire, when loaded on
a flat surface. These curves are from actual measured data. Note that the spring rate is close to
linear over the full range of loading and varies from 14 kgf/mm. at 1.9 bar pressure to 19 kgf/mm. at
2.9 bar. The effective spring rate when the tire is loaded against a sharp edge, such as a brick, is
considerably lower than this, and is more non-linear due to the changing shape of the contact area as
the tire “wraps” around the object.

This spring rate acts in series with the suspension springs and is an important part of the overall
suspension system. An interesting property of rubber is that when compressed and released it
doesn’t usually return exactly to it’s original position, this is known as hysteresis. This effect is shown
only for the 1.9 bar. case, the curve drawn during the loading phase is not followed during the
unloading phase. The area between these two curves represents a loss of energy which results in
tire heating and also acts as a form of suspension damping. In this particular case the energy lost
over one loading and unloading cycle is approximately 10% of the total stored energy in the
compressed tire, and is a significant parameter controlling tire bounce.

Vertical stiffness of a standard road tire against a flat surface at different inflation pressures. This data is from an
Avon Azaro Sport II 170/60 ZR17. The upward arrows indicate the compression of the tire and the 2nd line with the
downward arrow (shown only at 1.9 bar for clarity) shows the behaviour of the tire when the load is released. The
shaded area between the two lines represents a loss of energy called hysteresis. This acts as a source of suspension
damping and also heats the tire. (From data supplied by Avon tires.)

Lateral stiffness of the same tire shown in fig. 9. The vertical load was constant at 355 kgf. and the wheel was
kept vertical. As expected the tire is somewhat stiffer with the higher inflation pressure but loses grip or saturates at the
lower lateral load of 460 kgf. compared to 490 kgf. at the lower pressure. (From data supplied by Avon tires.)

Contact Area

The tire must ultimately give it’s support to the bike through a small area of rubber in contact with the
ground, and so “contact patch area = vertical force ÷ average contact patch surface pressure”. This
applies under ALL conditions.

The contact patch surface pressure is NOT however, the same as the inflation pressure, as is
sometimes claimed. They are related but there are at least four factors which modify the relationship.
Carcass stiffness, carcass shape, surface rubber depth and softness, and road surface compliance. If
we have an extremely high carcass stiffness then inflation pressure will have a reduced influence.
Let’s look at this in a little more detail and see why:

If a tire was made just like an inner tube, that is from quite thin rubber and with little stiffness unless
inflated, then the internal air pressure would be the only means to support the bike’s weight. In this
case the contact patch pressure would be equal to that of the internal air pressure. For an air
pressure of 2 bar and a vertical load of 1.0 kN. Then the contact area would be 5003 sq.mm. If we
now increased the air pressure to say 3 bar the area would fall to 3335 sq.mm.

Let’s now imagine that we substitute a rigid steel tubular hoop for our rim and tire, the area in contact
with the ground will be quite small. If we now inflate the hoop with some air pressure, it doesn’t take
much imagination to see that, unlike the inner tube, this internal pressure will have a negligible effect
on the external area of contact. Obviously, a tire is not exactly like the steel hoop, nor the inner tube,
but this does show that the carcass rigidity can reduce the contact surface area as calculated purely
from inflation pressure alone.

I did 2 sets of tests. For the first I kept the tire inflation pressure constant at 2.4 bar and varied the tire
load between 178 and 1210 N. (allowing for the weight of the glass and wooden beams). Secondly, I
keep a constant load of 1210 N. and tried varying the inflation pressure between 2.4 to 1 bar.
Even with a generous allowance for experimental error the effects are clear. The graphs show that
the results appeared to fit reasonably well to a smooth line, there wasn’t much scatter.

Point (1) on the curve with constant inflation pressure, shows how the actual contact patch pressure is
lower (just over half) than the inflation pressure, or in other words the contact area is greater. This is
due to the rubber surface compliance, thus this is more important at low vertical loads, whereas
carcass stiffness became more important as the load rose as shown by points (3) to (6) where the
actual contact pressure is higher than the air pressure, i.e. reduced area of contact.

Measurement setup. Various weights were placed on the end of a beam, which also loaded the tire via a
thick plate of glass. The beam was arranged to apply the load to the tire with a 4:1 leverage. So a 25
kgf. weight would load the tire with 100 kgf. By tracing over the glass the contact area
was determined.

The top plot shows the measured contact patch pressure at various wheel loads for a constant inflation pressure
of 2.4 bar. The lower curves show the contact pressure at various inflation pressures for a fixed load of 1210 N. The
numbers at the data points correspond with the contact area tracings in the previous sketch. The plain line on each plot
shows the case of the contact patch pressure being equal to the inflation pressure.

The carcass stiffness helps to support the machine as the air pressure is
reduced, the contact patch pressure being considerably higher than the inflation pressure. It looks as
though the two lines will cross at an air pressure of about 3.5 bar. (although this was not tested by
measurement), at which point the surface rubber compression will assume the greatest importance.
This is as per the steel hoop analogy above.

We can easily see the two separate effects of surface compliance and carcass stiffness and how the
relative importance of these varies with load and/or inflation pressure.

These tests were only done with one particular tire, other types will show different detail results but
the overall effects should follow a similar pattern.

Area Under Cornering

Does cornering affect tire contact area?
Let’s assume a horizontal surface and lateral acceleration of 1G. Under these conditions the bike/rider
CoG will be on a line at 45° to the horizontal and passing through the contact patch. There will a
resultant force acting along this line through the contact patch of 1.4 times the supported weight.

This force is the resultant of the supported weight and the cornering force, which have the same
magnitude, in this example of a 45° lean. The force normal to the surface is simply that due to the
supported weight and does NOT vary with cornering force. The cornering force is reacted by the
horizontal frictional force generated by the tire/road surface and this frictional force is “allowed” by
virtue of the normal force.

Therefore, to a first approximation cornering force will NOT affect the tire contact area, and in fact this
case could be approximated to, if we were just considering the inner tube without a real world tire.
However in reality, the lateral force will cause some additional tire distortion to take place at the
road/tire interface and depending on the tire characteristics, mentioned above, the contact area may
well change.

Another aspect to this is of course the tire cross-sectional profile. The old Dunlop triangular racing
tire, for example, was designed to put more rubber on the road when leant over, so even without tire
distortion the contact patch area increased, simply by virtue of the lean angle.

by Ray Taylor

http://www.CarsNet.com/motorcycle

Ray Taylor owns the real world San Diego Auto Swap and also owns http://www.CarsNet.com and http://www.SanDiegoAutoSwap.com

When I inherited an antique Brunswick pool table from my great uncle Ivan, I did not know what to do. You see, I have a limited amount of space. My condo is not small, but it is not huge either. If I had wanted to, I would be able to keep the antique pool table, but I certainly could not store it.

I wondered if I should sell the antique pool table, or if I should play on it. It was in good condition, and I had always wanted to have a billiard table of my own. An antique billiard table seemed like such a classy thing to have. I knew that my uncle used to play on it from time to time, and antique pool tables seemed to withstand wear pretty well.

The problem was, my uncle Ivan was not much of a drinker. If he had been, the antique pool table would not have lasted in the condition that it was in. I have seen my friends play pool at bars. They get drunk and ram their cues into the felt. I shuddered to think about what that would do to the antique pool table. It would be a shame to damage such a beautiful antique!

The antique pool table really was beautiful. It was made of a dark wood, well finished and heavy. The pockets had their original webbing, the table was finished with the original felt, and everything was balanced perfectly. It even came with a set of fairly well preserved antique pool cues. Although they were slightly warped from age, they were still serviceable. Don’t get me wrong - I would rather use my own cue on that antique pool table. Even so, it was nice to have the whole set together.

In the end, I decided to keep the antique pool table. I would simply have to watch it carefully. From then on, I did not drink with my friends in my house. I knew that once the drinks started flowing, I could not stop something from happening to the antique pool table. I would, however, invite my friends over to my house in the afternoon sometimes for a game or two of 8-ball. They thought that I was being unreasonable by refusing to play host for evening soirees, but I knew that I had to do what I had to do. It was the only way for me to take care of that antique pool table.

Ian Botham runs his own online sports goods mail order business as well as several sports related websites. If you are looking for sports Gear then check out this great Sports Equipment resource or here for more general Sports info and articles.

http://sports-info-and-stories.blogspot.com/

STEP 2: Business Model

Once I have selected the kind of business I want to do, I would brainstorm how to run the business. In today’s technology, there are many business models to choose from i.e. part time or full time, at home or totally mobile, online or brick and mortar business.

But the key is to choose a business model that fits into My Ultimate Plan. I do this to make sure that I spend the right number of days each month, take the right level of risk, investment wise and attaining the level of satisfaction that I want.

First thing first: How much time do I want to devote to my business?

If I only have three days to spare in a week, I cannot start and run a business full time. I will need to do it part time, to adapt my business to time consuming obligations that I already have, such as my day job, parenting responsibilities or other activities that would refrain me from doing it full time.

Once I have determined whether I would do the business full time or part time, I will need to identify the right type of business models to fit into my current situation.

I have complied six common business models here:

1. Home based

2. Brick and mortar

3. E-commerce

4. Franchising

5. Licensing a product

6. Multilevel marketing

Home based

Using the latest technology, anyone can create a legitimate and competitive business from home. In fact, this is the cheapest and fastest way to start an enterprise. It can be run full time or part time, Internet or non-Internet based.

Brick and Mortar

It simply means a business with a physical location outside the home, either leased premises or purchased. It involves a dedicated facility, whether retail, wholesale, service or manufacturing. This model usually involves relatively high capital.

E-commerce

There is no foot traffic in this business model. All the customers will purchase online, from A to Z of the transaction. The owner can sell and service the product/service through an Internet portal capable of collecting payment. This can apply to business that sells directly to customers or to other businesses.

Franchising

This model refers to buying a successful business model, which makes the buyer the “franchisee”. Usually, there will be a franchise fee upfront and a portion of the revenues over time to be paid to the franchisor. Everything the franchisee needs to know on starting and running the business is provided by the franchisor, including the equipment and sometimes, goods and services.

Licensing the Product

Any designer, expert, innovator or anyone creative enough to conceive a product or invention that people would buy but do not want to run the business, can still take advantage of a great product idea or invention by licensing it to another company that has the entire infrastructure in place to effectively manufacture, market and sell it.

Multilevel Marketing (MLM)

This is another business that could be started instantly and with low startup cost. However, to excel in MLM, one must have traits of perseverance and determination. MLM is a marketing and distribution structure. People at the top sell to those below them, who in turn sell to those under them. The higher one achieves in the structure, the more income one derives. Anyone chooses this model must be cautious before deciding to jump into the bandwagon as some MLM attracts its members using “greed tactics”!

Whichever option it may be, I would definitely do some research on its pro’s and con’s as well as the level of suitability to the kind of business I am going to venture into.

Disclaimer - This article may be freely reprinted in its entirety in any e-zine, newsletter, blog or website. The author’s name, bio and website links must remain intact and be included with every reproduction.

Dave J, is an E-preneur, NLP-Certified Business Coach and Author. Within a decade, Dave J has served as an advisor to countless small-level to high-level business leaders around the world. Despite such a short span, Dave J has becoming a highly-respected authority on the psychology of business leadership, business startup, management and marketing. His forte is coaching ordinary people to attain professional and financial breakthrough.

*Note: Unproven theories to not be shown to my readers! If you need any small business startup help, feel free to visit my Website

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