Shock Isolation Properties in a Swinging Mechanism Suspension Used in Motorcycles (Front Collision Safety)

To reduce the shock and improve the safety when a motorcycle has a front collision, the authors have created a new suspension system using a crank element and have demonstrated its usefulness. For this purpose, a test motorcycle was made by installing this system on an ordinary motorcycle with an engine displacement of 125 cc. A pulling type impact test apparatus was made to collide the test motorcycle against an obstacle. The shock absorbing characteristics of the suspension system were investigated systematically.

The result shows that the impact load on the motorcycle decreased by approximately 30% when compared with ordinary motorcycles, and that the inclination of the motorcycle in a collision was significantly reduced.