Streamlined motorcycles

[PeterS]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

Repeat after me: wing shapes are not valid in ground effect.

Could I ask you to translate that for we stupid ones Frank ?
''not valid in ground effect'' ?

[redyaris]

Originally Posted by PeterS

The biggest limiting factor for me isn't design but what is legal in my state .Having to work with an unmodified frame is difficult and limits the lower ff position from being adopted .

Sooooo have you found the legal requirements for your state yet???

New South Wales motorcycle modification regulations

[Frank Lee]

Originally Posted by PeterS

Could I ask you to translate that for we stupid ones Frank ?
''not valid in ground effect'' ?

In aviation, ground effect is the distance from the ground up to 1/2 the wingspan of the aircraft in question, where aerodynamics behave quite differently than they do higher up.

There's no wingspan for us wheeled landlubbers so I'd say if it's on the ground, it's in ground effect.

Aerohead talks about ground effect somewhere in here IIRC.

[Rokeby]

FWIW, found on the 'Net, the Lit Motors C1:


Available in 2013, all electric, 150 mi range, ~$16K

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0m-cUxMcJw

[PeterS]

Very sweet indeed !

[FastPlastic]

I must admit I kind of like the looks of the C1. Only question I have is how much power does the gyro stabilizers suck to keep it upright? And did they include an emergency kick stand when the batteries die so it doesn't fall over on to the Ferrari you parked next to?

[PeterS]

I don't know how much power the gyro would use but it's just a spinning mass on bearings isn't it? Once in motion there should be very little power requirement but when you think about it the energy to oppose the bike falling over may be a variable load ....way outside my expertise.

Which isn't hard !

[Grant-53]

Frank, Did Galileo have this much trouble being understood? The ground does interact with the boundary layers as the body gets closer. A body 6 in. from the ground will be affected more than when at 9 in. at the same speed. The current figure for a motorcycle fairing width is about 24 in. I don't think we would get anywhere near the downforce of a racecar with skirts but even 20 lbs down force toward the front at highway speed (55 mph) could replace nose ballast.

[Grant-53]

The safety issues surrounding a full fairng motorcycle including what to do when you stop are worthy of a thread of their own. Anyone else?

[BHarvey]

Originally Posted by Grant-53

The safety issues surrounding a full fairng motorcycle including what to do when you stop are worthy of a thread of their own. Anyone else?

I was thinking of a two piece full faring that joins by the riders legs, with the rear section of the fairing on rails so it could be slid rearward and expose the entire sides of the rider and be locked in that position for city use.

Then slide it forward for highway use to get the full effect........