Cornering capability - Trying to get a grip
September 2009 ROTM Winner - Faster than a Speeding ..........
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From: UK
I just watched the Top Gear last night where Richard Hammond tried to drive a Formula 1 car. Extremely interesting. They are almost impossible to drive at all and even harder to get to their top performance capabilities. I have a whole new respect for those guys (the real drivers). I can see how a car that is drivable by mere mortals just can't have the characteristics of those cars. As an example, they don't have much grip until you heat up the tires (which they preheat for you), and if don't drive hard and let them cool, you will lose it. And you can't take off slowly because they have so little torque that there is a circuit that pushes the clutch in for you if it senses you are going to lug the engine. It was kind of bizarre, he couldn't make himself push it hard enough to stay on the track.
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This thread has been wandering every where ..
Um... I think cost might be a reason ...
cost of the rear ends to take bigger rubber ...
cost of the bigger rubber might be a reason as well ....
and how about the fact that if we could put up with the cost of tires that only lasted 200klms before needing replacement ...none of the size thing would really be an issue anyway ...
Bottom line is that a suitably setup sports bike with good rubber and a gutsy mad bastard at the controls , will 9 times out of ten take the most avid road going sports car on and blow it into the weeds ...
Ok yer ....this does excludes F1 cars ... ect ....
So why aren't the tires on Sport Bikes fatter?
cost of the rear ends to take bigger rubber ...
cost of the bigger rubber might be a reason as well ....
and how about the fact that if we could put up with the cost of tires that only lasted 200klms before needing replacement ...none of the size thing would really be an issue anyway ...
Bottom line is that a suitably setup sports bike with good rubber and a gutsy mad bastard at the controls , will 9 times out of ten take the most avid road going sports car on and blow it into the weeds ...
Ok yer ....this does excludes F1 cars ... ect ....
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From: NS, Canada
Plus the wider the tire is, the slower the turn in.
Yesterday I destroyed another set of SC-1's... and knocked a lot of time off my laps and STILL the bike will hold more than I'm giving it.
Yesterday I destroyed another set of SC-1's... and knocked a lot of time off my laps and STILL the bike will hold more than I'm giving it.
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Several years ago a Car & Driver road tester in a BMW sedan followed a sportbike on an impromptu speed run through some twisties. Predictably, the bike gained ground on the straights and lost it in the curves. The C&D editor said that a sportbike and a decent car will have similar lateral grip, but it's a LOT easier for an average guy to drive a car at 9/10s than a bike . . . and when a car loses grip at the limit you just have the rear end step out a bit with plenty of time for a good driver to compensate. The bike, not so much . ..
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From: Preston, UK
Gyroscopic effect slows down the capability of a bike to change directions quickly and because you have two gyroscopes acting against each other (front & rear wheels) - it can try to stand the bike up in a corner.
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From: Republic of Boon Island
Right on the money Dean0 and the faster you are entering the corner ,
the more pronounced the effect is, making you "setup" for it earlier ,
it's when you leave that part too late that the fun starts trying to get
her to lean over.......my 2c's
the more pronounced the effect is, making you "setup" for it earlier ,
it's when you leave that part too late that the fun starts trying to get
her to lean over.......my 2c's
Gyroscopic effect also plays a part - the bigger and heavier a tyre is - the more gyroscopic effect they produce.
Gyroscopic effect slows down the capability of a bike to change directions quickly and because you have two gyroscopes acting against each other (front & rear wheels) - it can try to stand the bike up in a corner.
Gyroscopic effect slows down the capability of a bike to change directions quickly and because you have two gyroscopes acting against each other (front & rear wheels) - it can try to stand the bike up in a corner.
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From: Bir Tawil
The face that a car tire stays on the ground and a bike tire has to be rolled on its side is a major factor. Drag bikes have a wide tire because they don't need to corner but need a huge contact patch when coming off the line.
September 2009 ROTM Winner - Faster than a Speeding ..........
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From: UK
The profile of a car tyre is square , allowing much more rubber to touch the ground + it has twice as many wheels and the patch essentially remains the same in a corner .
A bike tyre needs to roll into a corner , but always has a comparatively tiny contact patch . Though bigger tyres may create a bigger contact patch , it will always be very small when compared to that of a car
and as mentioned you will get adverse handling problems.
Woot , your my hero! Destroying tyres is fun!
A bike tyre needs to roll into a corner , but always has a comparatively tiny contact patch . Though bigger tyres may create a bigger contact patch , it will always be very small when compared to that of a car
and as mentioned you will get adverse handling problems.Woot , your my hero! Destroying tyres is fun!
