| REVERSE ROTATING ROTORS |
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#1 Reduced Steering Effort (more precise control) A motorcycle equipped with reverse rotating rotors can change lean angle as easily at 180 m.p.h. as it can at 20 m.p.h. Effort can be adjusted to rider preference. Steering geometry can be set more aggressively. Rapid lean angle changes do not induce wobble or cause precession that must be resisted. #2 No Tank Slap It is impossible for a motorcycle that is equipped with Reverse Rotating Rotors to experience wheel wobble or tank slap. This is because the energy that causes wobble is a result of uncontrolled torque on the steering assembly. That torque is generated by the front wheel any time there is a lean angle change. There are rapid lean angle changes that cause the front contact patch to be misaligned with the path of travel during a wobble. The contact patch is misaligned due to torque generated by the front wheel. This occurs when the torque is greater than the trail can resist. If the torque is canceled out then a tank slapper is impossible. #3 Reduces Possibility of High-Side It stops the rear from snapping out suddenly when rear traction is reduced. #4 Better Brake Performance Braking feel is improved and braking effort reduced due to a dynamic increase in the swept area of the braking surface. This is because the rotors are spun faster in reverse in order to cancel the gyroscopic force of the wheel and tire. |
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not posed as questions but I am answering them as though they were. They are representative of others that I have read.
of feedback to the riders hands but #1 I doubt that they can 'eliminate tank slappers' and #2 I KNOW that they cannot make steering 'effortless' as they entirely discount the existence of the righting force of trail which is what provides the majority of the self- correcting characteristics of a moving motorcycle. (Further, I would not ride a bike that provided 'effortless steering' - I want positive feedback into my hands.)
steering torque. That torque comes from precession of the front wheel whenever the chassis changes lean angle. Most of the time that torque is managed by trail. If precession is gone so is the secondary steering torque. #2 When precession is reduced trail can also be reduced. A motorcycle with RRR does not require 4 inches of trail. Trail on a motorcycle is like dihedral and wash-out on an airplane. They make the plane self correct but they also make it slow handling and numb. Therefore it cannot be considered self-correcting unless you only intend to go straight. Neither trail nor precession provide positive feedback. They artificially weight the steering with unwanted steering input. Without precession trail is necessary but only a small amount.
because of geometry. That is, when the front wheel is turned in the direction opposite the turn the center of gravity of the motorcycle moved from over the line of travel to the side of the turn. This is due to the rake and trail geometry of the chassis. Once the COG is on the inside of the turn the bike "falls" over until the centrifugal forces stabilize the bike. You can see the effect of turning the bars with the motorcycle static. All it takes is a plumb bob.
can be measured in fractions of a degree. Trail does not cause the cg to move a significant amount and rake has nothing to do with it. Let's use his experiment but imagine the bike leaned over 10 degrees. If you "counter steer" the bars to full lock the cg is still on the side that the bike is leaning to. 'All it takes is a plumb bob'. Steering change relative to path of travel produces a lateral force. That is not debatable. Bikes are laterally unstable. When lateral acceleration is not in equilibrium with gravity there is lean angle change.
end's tendency to straighten itself, again part of it's geometry. If the upsetting force and the restoring force have the same time period of action, then the phenomenon becomes resonant and self- amplifying. Dampers work by altering the natural resonant frequency of the front end. You can do something similar by either leaning hard on the bars or pulling back hard on the bars. Often this will eliminate the resonance.
but is meaningless. Wobbles (tank-slap) occur when trail does not resist precession. This is either because a bike has short trail which gives it a shorter lever against precession or because the tire loses or nearly loses contact with the ground while the machine is changing lean angle. Trail only works when the contact patch is in firm contact with the ground. When a bike changes lean angle precession creates a steering torque. The rider must overcome it with steering input but trail insures that the tire stays in proper alignment. When the precession of the front wheel fails to be resisted by trail it will misalign the front tire with the path of travel. The more trail a given bike has the less likely it is to wobble. More trail equals more resistance to steering input from both the rider and precession. |
testing. It's purpose is to verify the performance claims. It is doing what it was designed to do. Details will be given soon. |
precession measuring jig. The production wheel generates over 150 lbs. ft. of torque on the steering axis at 120mph. At the risk of stating the obvious that creates handling problems. To put that in perspective a Hayabusa makes a max of approx 100 lbs. ft. of torque. A conventional motorcycle wheel can produce torque in excess of 300lbs. ft. on the steering axis. |
