UPDATE: Counter-Rotating Disc Successfully Tested At Jennings
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We could be starting a new era here. So don't be too hasty to criticize.
On the other hand it could also be that Rube Goldberg has risen from the dead.
Does anyone remember the ill-fated ELF GP bikes? ELF tried to compete using front swing arm suspension to eliminate front end dive and associated trail problems. The system seemed to work. But the unsprung weight more than made up for any advantages.
I can just see discs and brake pads and various other bits exploding in all directions.... all in a counter-rotating manner, of course.
On the other hand it could also be that Rube Goldberg has risen from the dead.
Does anyone remember the ill-fated ELF GP bikes? ELF tried to compete using front swing arm suspension to eliminate front end dive and associated trail problems. The system seemed to work. But the unsprung weight more than made up for any advantages.
I can just see discs and brake pads and various other bits exploding in all directions.... all in a counter-rotating manner, of course.
Re: They Just Never Learn
It's too bad professional motorcycle racing teams never pay attention to incredible engineering advances like this.
I guess Honda, Kawasaki, Yamaha, and Suzuki will learn their lessons when they get beat by Team Reverserotatingrotors.
It's too bad professional motorcycle racing teams never pay attention to incredible engineering advances like this.
I guess Honda, Kawasaki, Yamaha, and Suzuki will learn their lessons when they get beat by Team Reverserotatingrotors.
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Just think. Add enough mass to the counter-rotating discs and the bike will fall over. Personally I like the added stability that you get the faster you go. All I need is a super-twitchy front end at 140mph. Yeah. That's the ticket.
If this catches on watch the squids' insurance rates get even worse.
If this catches on watch the squids' insurance rates get even worse.
Re: They Just Never Learn
Don't be too glib. Established teams really don't pay much attention to radical technology, because developing tried-and-true approaches is a much lower risk strategy for them. Why would Honda go out on a limb and try something crazy, when they know that with their budget they can win by slightly improving on the standard stuff everyone is using?
Radical change never comes from the established players.
Don't be too glib. Established teams really don't pay much attention to radical technology, because developing tried-and-true approaches is a much lower risk strategy for them. Why would Honda go out on a limb and try something crazy, when they know that with their budget they can win by slightly improving on the standard stuff everyone is using?
Radical change never comes from the established players.
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68 Posts
The only way I could understand what this thing even did was to watch the "1st test" video when they're going slow. The other videos and pictures didn't really let me see the reverse rotation.
Having this new system won't magically snap it into alignment, but keeps that natural precession (as seen in the circle slowly traced out by the pole of a spinning gyroscope) out of the equation. With this powerful (because of the weight of the tire, rim, etc.) force nullified, the rider can easily correct the alignment when the front tire touches back down. Seems like a pretty sound application of physics to me.
By the way I'd seen that hideous last wreck into the parked car, and I'm pretty sure the guy survived. A little harder, and the car might have been flipped onto it's roof!
Having this new system won't magically snap it into alignment, but keeps that natural precession (as seen in the circle slowly traced out by the pole of a spinning gyroscope) out of the equation. With this powerful (because of the weight of the tire, rim, etc.) force nullified, the rider can easily correct the alignment when the front tire touches back down. Seems like a pretty sound application of physics to me.
By the way I'd seen that hideous last wreck into the parked car, and I'm pretty sure the guy survived. A little harder, and the car might have been flipped onto it's roof!
I actually saw a half hour TV documentary dedicated to this guy (I'm sure you can find the whole video on the web). He was a mute, slightly crazy when it came to bikes. He survived the crash, the coma, and need facial reconstructive surgery. He's back to riding crazy (and his girlfriend was translating his sign language on the show).
No, he didn't. See the 5 minute long video here:
http://www.bikepics.com/movies/000005/
Lots of replays of the crash. Description of his injuries.
http://www.bikepics.com/movies/000005/
Lots of replays of the crash. Description of his injuries.
I would like to see some figures reguarding parasitic power losses. It takes power to drive those gears. This is not measurable on a dyno, so I guess you would have to take it to the strip and see differences between a stock bike and the modified brake bike.
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It's probably not all that much. You would have to spin up the rotors in the forward direction anyway, so you're really only looking at the mass of the gears themselves. The effect on acceleration is probably no where near what it is on handling due to the increase in unsprung weight.
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