Alan B
100 GW
Reading through this article on two wheel vehicle dynamics I found some things that folks here might be interested in. Some of them are counter-intuitive at least to the first order.
Before commenting in this thread please read the article which will be linked at the end of this post. Then perhaps post some useful highlights, questions, or items for discussion.
Some highlights of what you will find there:
Higher center of gravity increases bike stability. This is why scooters are unstable, their cg is too low.
Wheel gyroscopic forces do not help bike stability. Scooters are not unstable because their tires are small. Big wheels don't help with stability except by adding height.
Weight on the rear of a bike should be low for control and stability, but weight in the front should be high for best control and stability. The center of mass is best high and forward to minimize steering input required for balance. This is why recumbents are harder to balance, their center of mass is too low and to far from the steering, also the long wheelbase slows the steering response. This is also why Oatnet and others have had such good success with high front mounted battery packs.
Braking of the front tire can approach 0.5g while braking of the rear tire limits at about 0.1g. A similar argument in reverse applies to front versus rear wheel drive.
Turns begin by steering in the wrong direction.
Lots more here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_and_motorcycle_dynamics
Before commenting in this thread please read the article which will be linked at the end of this post. Then perhaps post some useful highlights, questions, or items for discussion.
Some highlights of what you will find there:
Higher center of gravity increases bike stability. This is why scooters are unstable, their cg is too low.
Wheel gyroscopic forces do not help bike stability. Scooters are not unstable because their tires are small. Big wheels don't help with stability except by adding height.
Weight on the rear of a bike should be low for control and stability, but weight in the front should be high for best control and stability. The center of mass is best high and forward to minimize steering input required for balance. This is why recumbents are harder to balance, their center of mass is too low and to far from the steering, also the long wheelbase slows the steering response. This is also why Oatnet and others have had such good success with high front mounted battery packs.
Braking of the front tire can approach 0.5g while braking of the rear tire limits at about 0.1g. A similar argument in reverse applies to front versus rear wheel drive.
Turns begin by steering in the wrong direction.
Lots more here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_and_motorcycle_dynamics