Actually the riding position is more comfortable than it looks....I may make new handle bars to achieve a more upright position at some point but I made the simplest steering arrangement as I could just to get something to ride. The lock to lock is limited and I need to rotate the heim joints 90. There is about 2 inches of trail.....self-centering at launch is low but OK once up to running speed. I'm considering lengthening the lower arms an inch or so to improve. It does rise during hard braking if the suspension is set to higher ride heights but there is no instability so far. If this proves to be an issue I can move the calipers, however I did not want the front end to dive on braking because of the shared air shock and I clearly achieved that. There is resistive damping from the handle bar mounting at this point and seems to be sufficient. Steering is a bit hard at low speed but not a problem once underway. Can you point me to info on the old curved track ideas?
On 6/26/07, Paul Compton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>I won't be taking it to the strip any time soon. It has only been > around the block a few times so far with the battery current limited > to 100A and RPMs to 3200. It gets up to speed in a few seconds and it > could be interesting at the drags......... Next on the list is to get > it inspected, licensed and insured then start driving it to work and > log some data to share...... You've clearly put a lot of effort and skill into this build. However, I do have some concerns. Leaving aside the rather bizarre (to my mind) riding position. How much trail have you got in the front suspension? The linkage geometry and caliper mounting position make it likely that the front end will rise during braking. The pro-rise geometry will increase as it rises. This was a problem with the Earls forked BMW racers, the bikes becoming dangerously unstable if the suspension topped out. The curved track idea has been tried before. Sometimes with fatal results if dirt causes the track to stick. If the clearances are too wide, you may experience chatter under various loads. You look to have quite a lot of inertia around the steering axis, do you have a steering damper? Paul Compton www.evguru.co.uk www.sciroccoev.co.uk www.bvs.org.uk www.morini-mania.co.uk www.compton.vispa.com/the_named
