Three-Wheeled ATV — A No-Suspension Rigid Rider System, Part II: Applications — Handling and Ride

This paper is the second in a series on three-wheeled all-terrain vehicles and investigates the handling and ride characteristics of the six degrees-of-freedom mathematical model of a vehicle/rigid-rider system with no suspension. This vehicle/rider system was simulated over three different bump profiles of rectangular, parabolic and sinusoidal shapes. The results show that a light vehicle/rider system equipped with a set of stiff tires has the poorest handling and ride characteristics whereas a heavy vehicle/rider system equipped with a set of soft tires has the best handling and ride characteristics. It was also shown that, for the particular profiles selected, a longer ramp-like bump profile disturbed the vehicle/rider sytems significantly more than a shorter length bump profile.