Dale, and others, from the research I have done, it seems as though a much
longer tail piece would be needed to truly smooth out the flow behind the rider,
like about 2 feet or more beyound the rear tire. I do not think that the
current roadracing type bikes with the teardrop shaped tail sections, are
benefiting much at all. Interestingly, Kawasaki, who is a very large
corporation, develops jet airplanes, and only has a tiny piece of the company
dedicated to making motorcycles, they get help from the airplane engineers, and
always have the most efficient ram air box design, and class leading
aerodynamics. With the current battle for fastest production street bike,
Kawasaki held off production of their flagship (ZX12R) after Suzuki came out
with the 186-190mph Hayabusa, insider talk has indicated alot of input from the
air plane guys on ensuring good aerodynamics, there is even small winglets
protruding from the sides of the lower fairing "to separate the laminar flow on
the fairing from the turbulent air coming off the brake calipers", anyway, the
tail section is plain, know effort at a huge teardrop.
I really think that bikes need much more distance behind the rider to smooth
out the air flow, that is alot of what makes bikes so poor at getting through
the air, too much turbulence of the back. Current BNI rules prohibit
streamlining beyond a vertical line at the rear edge of the rear tire, I
believe FIM allows, beyond, it would be nice to incorporate such a rule for
BNI/USFRA, as much of the current partial streamlining rules stem/originated
from the 60's when dustbin fairings proved instability prone. Any
thoughts?? Joe
Dale & Evelyn Thomas wrote:
> One of the reasons for the new rear fender designs you see on motorcycles
> is to keep your opponent from drafting you. Then, he has to push air like
> you, making harder to pass and/or keep up.
>
> Dale Thomas
> O.F.O.S. racing
> -----Original Message-----
> From: FastmetalBDF@aol.com <FastmetalBDF@aol.com>
> To: dr.piston@worldnet.att.net <dr.piston@worldnet.att.net>; RAWAWA@aol.com
> <RAWAWA@aol.com>; land-speed@autox.team.net <land-speed@autox.team.net>
> Date: Saturday, April 22, 2000 9:26 AM
> Subject: Re: More aero-dynamics
>
> > Jim, Bob, I saw some very hi tech motorcycles, being raced on a
> >road course, on The Learning Channel last night , and they had some very
> >interesting
> >conical fairings, pointing rearward, above and behind the rear wheel of
> >many of
> >the entries . Testing must have validated their value, as the extra weight
> >of these
> >fairings, however slight, would not be included on a vehicle in any class
> >where
> >extreme lightness is deemed of great importance . These fairings were
> similar
> >to the shapes now grafted on the trailing side of the swoopy helmets seen
> on
> >speed skiers and skateboarders, proving every little bit helps .
> > Nature's design ..... the TEARDROP ..... is hard to improve
> on
> > !
> >The laws of Physics are non- biased, and provide a level playing field
>
> >course ! )
> > within any given class, two wheeled or four wheeled .
> > As for dimples, let' s hope they stay on golf balls, and pretty
> girls
> >...... the sleek 'liners seen in present day competition are true
> statements
> >in aesthetics and symmetry, approaching the zenith of automotive
> aerodynamics
> > .
> >
> > Bruce in rainy, gloomy Connecticut
> >
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