Gear shift feeling is often an important factor which appeals to motorcycle riders. Therefore, it is important for designers to create a pleasant gear shift feeling when developing a motorcycle.
Sensory evaluation tests are indispensable for quantifying the gear shift feeling, but are very difficult to conduct with an actual motorcycle. Therefore, we developed a simulator dedicated to sensory evaluation tests, used it to conduct sensory evaluation tests, and thus clarified the relationship between the physical amount of gear shift properties and gear shift feeling.
This paper describes the development of the simulator, the sensory evaluation tests conducted on gear shift feeling using the simulator, and the results of analysis.