We've all heard this word, aerodynamics. Most of the manufacturers try their best to make their motorcycles as streamline as possible. So what is aerodynamics? Aerodynamics is the study that relates the behavior and motion of an object through the air. This study involves a lot of calculations before it is tested out. Most of the aerodynamics for vehicles are tested in a wind tunnel testing experiment, where the manufacturer can alter the shape according to their needs after the results are plotted out. Once the motorcycle crosses 30kmph, the air resists the motion of the vehicle and increase the pressure applied to it. This further begins to increase in multiples of 3.
Drag and lift are one of the major factors that influence the aerodynamics of a motorcycle or any kind of vehicle.
Drag:
Drag is the force of air or the wind that pushes the object that travels against it. It is the force acting opposite to the motion of an object in a surrounding.
Lift:
It is the direct influence of the air on the motorcycle, lift can be very dangerous when it comes to motorcycles, if the lift increase by a fair bit it can lead to the toppling of the motorcycle, especially the front wheel since the width of the front wheel is lesser than the rear in most of the motorcycles.
Motorcycles are of various types, sports, naked, touring, cruising and so on. Out of these the most aerodynamic is the sports bike. The full fairing is made to allow the motorcycle to cut through the wind like an eagle. The naked motorcycle has only a bikini fairing that doesn't act as good as the full fairing. Windshields are designed to bend the air so that when the rider's head is down, he can be more aerodynamically stable and can easily achieve higher speeds. Drag is the force of air or the wind that pushes the object that travels against it. It is the force acting opposite to the motion of an object in a surrounding.
Lift:
It is the direct influence of the air on the motorcycle, lift can be very dangerous when it comes to motorcycles, if the lift increase by a fair bit it can lead to the toppling of the motorcycle, especially the front wheel since the width of the front wheel is lesser than the rear in most of the motorcycles.
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Even helmets play an important role in aerodynamics, the more expensive the helmets get the aerodynamics gets better, and the high-speed stability of the helmet also increases. That is why they say it is always safer to get quality helmet. It will offer immense protection even at high-speed crashes.
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The riders flexibility also plays a wide role in aerodynamics, the more flexible and more you can bend and get into the right position, the streamlined shape just gets better by every bit.
Wearing a thinner and proper fit suit plays an important role in the aerodynamics too. Apt and the custom fit jackets will be really helpful for the rider and his motorcycle to get a proper aerodynamic stability.
When did I begin to notice this? We all love to watch bike races, especially Moto GP. I always see that the rider crouches when he begins to pick up speed, this was a big question mark during my childhood. Most of us will search the internet to find out the reasons for such happenings, and yes the Internet will give us loads of information, but there is the inner mind that will not trust anything unless witnessed. After I got a new motorcycle I wanted to try it out by myself. Once I wanted to test my motorcycle's top speed, and so I revved up to the red line in every gear but it just did 125 in the 6th gear. I was kind of like in shock that my motorcycle has the potential to do above a 140kmph, but why just 125?
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I stopped by and waited for a minute and then realized, I was sitting upright and I did not crouch down, that was why it could just do 125kmph. Then I crouched down from the beginning, the motorcycle felt so quick, quicker than before. And to my surprise it did 146kmph. Which is 21kms more than an upright position. For a 150cc motorcycle (Yamaha YZF-R15 V2) it looked great. That was when I was surprised for what just the posture of a rider could influence on the speed, stability and so many more factors of the motorcycles.
So whenever you want to test the top speed of your motorcycle, get into the proper posture for amazing results.
By: Rishath Suresh