Geometric Considerations (AutoRecovered)

GEOMETRIC CONSIDERATION
TRAIL:
The trail is the horizontal distance from where the front wheel touches the ground to where the
steering axis intersects the ground. The primary function of trail is to build in a certain amount
of steering stability, and it also is of great importance to the lean-in phase when cornering
Steering effect:
If we lean a stationary machine to one side and then turn the handlebar the steering head
rises or falls, depending on the position of the steering. The weight of the machine acting at
the tire contact patch causes a torque about the steering axis which tends to turn the steering
to the position where the steering head is lowest (i.e. the position of minimum potential
energy).
Straight-line feel:
As we all know, even when we are riding straight ahead the steering feels lighter on wet or
slippery roads than on dry. This is because our seemingly straight line is actually a series of
balance-correcting curves, with the handlebar turning minutely from side to side all the time.
Rake or castor angle (steering axis inclination):

The caster angle or castor angle is the angular displacement of the steering axis from the
vertical axis of a steered wheel in a motorcycle.
1. Reduction of castor effect:
To maintain the same real trail we need more ground trails as the rake angle is increased. Road
bikes will seldom have more than about 45 degrees of steering lock, but these curves show
that at a typical castor angle of 27 degres, the ground trail will have reduced from 89 mm. to
46mm. at a steering angle of 45 degrees.
2. Negative castor:
A negative caster is when the top mounting point of the control arm to the hub is in front of
the center line of the wheel and the bottom mounting point of the hub is behind the
center line of the wheel.
3. Steering-head drop:
With a normal motorcycle held vertically, the steering head would drop as we turn the
handlebar to either side. The greater the rake angle, the greater the drop. This can be
best appreciated by visualizing an extreme rake angle, as in figure 3.12
4. Steering angle:
The steering axis angle is called the caster angle when measured from the vertical axis or the
head angle when measured from the horizontal axis. The steering axis is the axis about which
the steering mechanism (fork, handlebars, front wheel, etc.) pivots. The steering axis angle
usually matches the angle of the head tube,
5. Wheelbase:
Wheelbase is the horizontal distance between the centers (or the ground contact points) of
the front and rear wheels. Wheelbase is a function of rear frame length, steering axis angle,
and fork offset.
i. Required steering angle:
Steering angle means the angle between the projection of a longitudinal axis of the
vehicle and the line of intersection of the wheel plane (being the central plane of the
wheel, normal to the axis around which it rotates) and the road surface.
ii. Rear-wheel angle:
For a given sideways deflection, the angle of the rear wheel to the direction of travel
is smaller with a longer wheelbase, thus improving directional stability.
6. Balance:
Low weight and a low center of gravity both facilitate good balance. Figure 3.28 shows
that for a given degree of lean, the unbalancing couple is directly proportional to the
weight and the height of the center of gravity.
7. Angular motions:
As far as linear motions are concerned, it is the amount of the machine’s mass that is
important. But when it comes to the angular motions of pitch (about a transverse axis),
yaw (about a vertical axis) and roll (about a longitudinal axis), the distribution of the
mass is all-important because that governs what are called the moments of inertia.
These are a measure of the inertia effect about the particular axis and its value
determines the ease with which we can apply angular acceleration to the machine
about that axis.
i. Roll:
The roll moment of inertia is the sum of all the individual components of the total mass
multiplied by the square of their distance from a fore and aft axis drawn through the
CoG. A low roll moment of inertia is desirable for a rapid and effortless change in
banking angle.
ii. Yaw:
Any vehicle will be subject to some degree of yaw acceleration during corner entry. In
this case there are conflicting requirements for both a high yaw moment of inertia and
a low one.
iii. Pitch:
Pitch inertia controls how rapidly the bike pitches forward or backward under the
various inputs due to braking, accelerating and road bumps. Except in trials and
motocross, there is no great need for a fast pitch response and so a large amount of
pitch inertia is not generally harmful.

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GEOMETRIC CONSIDERATION

Rake or castor angle (steering axis inclination):

i. Required steering angle:

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