Author Description

MOTORCYCLE HANDLING AND CHASSIS DESIGN gives a thorough explanation of the structure and performance of motorcycle frames and other chassis components. Written with the minimum of mathematics to appeal to the widest possible range of enthusiasts, from engineer to the layman, it is nevertheless based on sound principles of physics. Illustrated profusely with photos, diagrams and many graphs it gives a clear account of the many factors involved in motorcycle handling behaviour. In a simple logical step by step process it leads the reader through the details of tyre behaviour, anti-squat geometry, suspension characteristics plus much more, including the first widely published description of the detail mechanism of the lean-in process. Showing exactly just what part gyroscopic reactions and tyre forces play in this vitally important topic. 520 information packed pages and over 550 illustrations. Foreword by Kevin Cameron. Technical editor Cycle World magazine. The motorcycle is a complex system that has long defied full analysis. For a very long time, motorcycle handing was hardly even considered a subject. Engines, whose performance could be measured in "objective" terms, therefore received the lion's share of development. Engine development moved rapidly ahead of chassis, suspension, and tires, creating a succession of design crises that required new thought for their solution. Examples might be Rex McCandless's twin-loop swingarm chassis of 1950, Tony Mills wide, belted Dunlop Daytona tire of 1974, and the present-day elaborations of Antonio Cobas's large-section aluminium twin-beam chassis of the early 1980s......... Yet motorcycle performance is at present again deadlocked, with no sunny uplands of easy progress in sight. As motorcycles lean over farther on their wonderful tires, their suspensions turn sideways, at a large angle to the bumps they are designed to absorb. As engine and brake torque is applied, motorcycles short enough to turn quickly, an