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Old 02-07-2012, 04:30 PM   #130 (permalink)
Ken Fry
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Old Mechanic View Post
It goes back to the toy gyroscopes some of us played with when we were children, and the same effect that was used to guide torpedoes in the old days.
The effects of gyroscopic procession and simply steering the contact patch out from under the CG are interrelated in motorcycle control. (And they both work in the same direction: turning the bars to the right causes the gyro effect of the front wheel to lean the bike to the left, and repositioning the contact patch does the same.

There have been studies that separate the relative "strength" of the two effects, and generally the direct countersteering effect is stronger than the gyroscopic effect. However, at very high speeds, the gyroscopic effect is quite strong. Interesting that it works that way, because that seems pretty safe -- when you are going really fast you don't want twitchy handling.

The Lit system is pretty slick and complicated, but I wonder if a simple stop stabilizing system might be the way to go with an enclosed motorcycle. The gyro would gimbal freely ordinarily(to permit steering and banking), but would be locked in place at stops. Then if the gyro control system fails, you just fall over at near zero speed. With the Lit, the gyros are in control at speed, so you'd want to be darn sure the control system is working right.
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