WHY BIKES CAN\'T CORNER

[OB_Mr Bear]

I have a BS in Physics....
Defectron is right, you are mixing up your percentages and your degrees. a 45 degree lean angle puts half of the bike's weight (weight is a force) in the vertical plane and half in the horizontal plane. So it is 0.5G's lateral acceleration (gravity is a quantity of acceleration).

 

[OB_Dirty Pete]

Defectron, try re-writing it as if you were talking to the guy next to you. And do the whole job in one sitting so you don't get disjointed.

Just write in the same voice you normally use to speak with your friends.

You've got a lot of good thinking in there about complex ideas...which is good because most people write a lot better than they think. You know...fancy words...no ideas.

It's the thinking that matters.

Your writing in your posts is better than your writing in your paper, so I know you can do it.

I hope you find this encouraging and don't figure I'm a goof to say it.

 

[OB_SoreHead]

I think the real reason that bikes beat mom & dad mobiles is the straightline acceleration easily makes up for the slower cornering. (except for you Mick Doohan types with the scraped knees).
Incidentally, I almost got my knee down for the first time last saturday. At the last second I realised I was out in a pair of jeans. I wonder does bone give off sparks?

 

[OB_Dirty Pete]

Not unless you've pins in there from your last crash...

First you get a sore knee, then you get a SoreHead!

Seriously, congrats on the knee down. Now get knee sliders and enjoy.

[This message has been edited by Dirty Pete (edited 07 September 1999).]

 

[OB_Dirty Pete]

Defectron: Sorry to be slow getting back on your illustrated paper about bike motion physics.

Lots of good stuff in there. A nicely plain-languaged explanation of the fundamentals.

Thanks for sharing it.

 

[OB_Best Cycle Parts]

got smoked by Eddie Lawson, years ago on the Oretga Hwy.....definitely cars have the advantage

 

[Guest]

You guys are talking about cornering SPEED. A bike will beat a cage hands down in cornering RADIUS. The smaller the radius the better a bus will do. The reason is that the wheelbase on a Busa is 58in. On a car it's 100+. Therefore it depends on the race course whether a cage can beat a Bus.

 

[OB_defectron]

Pete: I tried to be plain and simple, but as I read it myself the other day, seemed unclear, bad english, and hard to follow. Anyways, thanx for going over too.

 

[OB_gsx1300rguy]

No doubt on cars having the cornering advantage.I was out on Rt 112 the other day trying to catch up to a Mitsubishi 3000 VR4 and that sucker could whale in the corners finally got a straight long enough and reeled him in.............I also heard that the ability of the bikes had something to do with the "nut behind the bars" .

[This message has been edited by gsx1300rguy (edited 07 September 1999).]

 

[OB_My Alaska]

I think you may be overlooking the obvious........a car, if you insist on comparing the two, has more (much more) earth-griping tire tread on the road than does a bike.
For instance, put a car with all it's mass into the shape of a bike, now with that much rubber on the road you would be able to perform a pretty hefty G.

 

[OB_Dr Busa]

Hello everybody.

To get equilibrium at a 45 degree angle 1 g must be produced, otherwise a purchase of new sidepanels might be called for. At 70 degrees of lean (not possible, and if it is i think Doohan would be most interested to know how this is achieved) 2.75 g:s is needed to balance it up. A serious mistake is made if you think lean angle and G:s are described linearly. With the resoning in the first comment you get 1 G at a 90 degree angle !!!!!. The closer you get to 90 degrees the G-force converges towards infinity !

Note that this lean is rider and machine together. Of course the bike can lean 70 degrees but that would mean that the rider would have to hang out on the outside of the machine.

Having studied mechanics as a civilengineer i hope i know what i'm talking about. I would approximate the maximum G for a Grand Prix machine to 1.5 G:s.

 

[Guest]

This question is for Mr Bear (or any other Physics degrees), I seem to be missing something here.

Assuming the weight of the bike remains the same, there is always the same downforce.

If the bike is leaning at 45 degrees, there should be the same side force as there is downforce, so it balances at 45 degrees.

Soo, at 45 degree lean there should be the same sideforce (1g) as gravity, hence at 45 degree lean you are pulling 1g sideforce. Am I correct? Or do you need to educate the un-enlightened??

 

[Guest]

Who gives a poop about corners, blast the f**k's in the straights and wave as you go by. HEHE....
Rule # 1 Straighten it out and twist tight.
Rule #2 Get the hell out of thier way in the corners.
A Busa will pull 100 G's in the straights.
Warp speed Mr. Zulu.