A Parametric Multi Body Approach to Find the Key Elements Influencing the Steering Torque Applied by Rider on a Motorcycle

This paper describes about handling validation of a motorcycle on a steady state condition. Nowadays, it is very usual and common to get a feedback by motorcycle test riders that the steering feel is heavy due to which more effort is required to complete a full track circuit. So it has become a necessity to focus the study on handling dynamics of motorcycle at the initial stage itself using a numerical tool. To decide the handling characteristics it is very important to focus on the steering effort required at the handle bar by the rider, as it is the main control to study the ‘out of plane’ dynamics. To test the vehicle for steering performance, track radius and velocity were chosen as the variables to avoid the transient behavior and identify the key parameters at a faster rate. To study & investigate the steering effort influencing factors, an MBD numerical tool helped to solve the problem. A validated motorcycle model with parametric approach was developed to quickly determine the contributors of steering effort. Optimized variables ensure that the rider applies less effort to the handle bar and thus to control the motorcycle. This paper discusses the robust MBD model which ensures directional stability of motorcycle without much compromise on handling. The objectives met had a very good agreement with subjective evaluation on proving grounds.