Experimental Analysis of Sense of Stability in Motorcycle

A vehicle in a running condition is essentially characterized of the three elements: (1) running, (2) cornering, and (3) stopping. Among the riding sensations which contribute to the rider's ease of performing these elements is a “sense of stability.” This paper concerns a motorcycle which can be more easily subjected to the rider's behavior, and an experimental analysis was made to study how the rider's “sense of stability” can relate to the response characteristics of the operating motorcycle running especially in a straight line in connection with the first of the above elements.

As a result, it has been found that a transfer function (motorcycle behavior/handlebar input) is among the physical characteristics corresponding to the sense of stability that the rider feels while he is running the motorcycle in a straight line. Especially, it has become clear that the gain and damping ratio of the yaw rate to the steer torque have a better corresponding effect.