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> I guess racing motorcycle tires are just awesome This is essentially the biggest factor. And more important than the surface is the material. When properly w
by joeyspn 11y ago
> I guess racing motorcycle tires are just awesome
This is essentially the biggest factor. And more important than the surface is the material. When properly warmed (notice how they always prewarm the tires in bags before any race) that stuff is basically chewing-gum.
I've worked in F1 and several circuits including the one featured in the article (Jerez) and I remember the walls in the paddock totally splattered of tire material at the end of the day. Some days I'd even go back to home with small pieces stuck in my clothing.
That's the reason why engineers must wear glasses and helmets sometimes.. https://dfp2hfrf3mn0u.cloudfront.net/879/87936_1.jpg https://dfp2hfrf3mn0u.cloudfront.net/879/87936_1.jpg
- donjigweed 11y agoExactly. Tire technology is unbelievable today. With track temps reaching 50C, the tires are practically molten rubber during the race. This was Rabat's rain tire after finishing 2nd last weekend on a track that was mostly dry by the end of the race. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CNpxNYdWIAAdD6s.jpg:large https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CNpxNYdWIAAdD6s.jpg:large
- newman314 11y agoThe surface does matter or more specifically, the suspension. If the suspension is not properly set up for compression and rebound, guess what? Materials mean nothing if the tire is not in contact with the ground. And there are some bumpy tracks out there...
- donjigweed 11y agoSuspension has seen less advancement than tires imo. And the greater the lean angle the less the suspension is actually working. If the bike could lean to 90 degrees the suspension would not work at all. This is why motorcycle handling is still something of a black art rather than pure science, because at full lean much of the "suspension" comes from frame, fork, and swingarm flex, rather than actual damping.
- newman314 11y agoCould be true. I'm more familiar with racecar suspension than motorcycle suspension and the high end systems are pretty damn impressive.
- bigiain 11y agoFor a long time now race bikes have run "regressive rate" rear suspension linkages. The geometry of the suspension is set up so that when you've got the ~2G of force vertically down on the rear suspension (from the bike's frame of reference) that a ~60degree lean angle turn implies - the effective spring rate is significantly less than when the bike is upright and the suspension is riding higher under only 1G of load. While it can't resolve the 90 degree degenerate case, it's easy enough to tweak the geometry so you've still got known and desired levels of "suspension working" at 60ish degrees. (Handwaving away the complexities of component flex and stiction - which really is black magic.) Note this is opposite to what many road oriented motorcycles use - progressive rate springs and linkages are often used to allow "more supple" suspension around normal riding circumstances while still having enough suspension force to deal with bumps while overloaded or leaned over hard. Race bike don't have to have any consideration for rider comfort "suppleness" or bumps/potholes. The sole purpose of the suspension on a race bike is to maximise the tire's contact to the track.
- steveax 11y agoThey pre-heat the tires as that will naturally happen during a race and the compounds are formulated for racing temperatures. Modern climbing shoe rubber is another example of amazing friction. As Charles Cole (Five Ten founder) explained to me, you need both maliability and high shear strength so the "plugs" of the rubber that extend into the depressions in the surface do not tear off.