Crash106 Posted March 29, 2011 Report Share Posted March 29, 2011 Hello All, I recently sent a suggestion to the folks at Speed Angle, Inc. They make a data logger for race bikes that includes lean angle, lap times, G-forces (and all that good stuff) and costs well under a thousand dollars. My suggestion to the folks at Speed Angle was to create a much simpler gizmo that would only measure lean angle and sound an audible alarm when approaching the bike's lean angle limit, and another alarm (different sound or more rapid beeps) when very close to dragging hard parts. On cruisers and touring bikes, the floor boards will scrape well before the tires give out (assuming standard throttle control and clean roads). Some standard bikes will scrape too. On my bike, the first thing to drag is the center stand and right after that, the stand stops moving up and the rear tire starts to lift. That could get ugly fast. Since I'm not going to wear racing leathers with knee pucks to work, I can't use my knee as a feeler gauge. An audible alarm, I believe, would allow me to: Know how far I was leaning Know how far I could lean Help me get to my maximum lean angle quickly and confidently Have a clear idea of when to roll on a bit of throttle Know when I could roll on throttle more aggressively (because I'm up away from my max lean angle) If the product was reliable and affordable, is this something that YOU might use on a street bike? Does it have any application on a race bike (or do knees work just fine--thank you very much)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faffi Posted March 29, 2011 Report Share Posted March 29, 2011 I understand the idea of yours, but it's more complicated than that. More speed means more suspension compression means hard parts will drag at a lesser lean than when doing circles at a walking pace. Bumps in the road can use up all available cornering clearance and then some quicker than you or the system can react. Worn roads with crowns between the wheel tracks will also, if you ride in the lower wheel track, cause parts to drag sooner than the system will expect. So basically a simple lean angle sensor cannot produce accurate results. Also, having an alarm going off if you suddenly have to perform avaisive actions to avoid smashing into an errant deer. Basically, I wouldn't want it at any cost on most bikes. I use my toes on bikes that allows me to touch them down first. This doesn't work on all cruisers, so peg feelers would be nice on them as a second-best solution. Preferably some that doesn't make a lot of racket. The good thing with using toes - or knees if you go that hard on the road or are flexible enough to touch down at moderate lean - is that you not only get an early warning about getting close to whatever limit you have set, you also register how quckly pressure increases, allowing you to adjust your trajectory and/or speed if things appear a bit hurried. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozfireblade Posted March 29, 2011 Report Share Posted March 29, 2011 Hello All, I recently sent a suggestion to the folks at Speed Angle, Inc. They make a data logger for race bikes that includes lean angle, lap times, G-forces (and all that good stuff) and costs well under a thousand dollars. My suggestion to the folks at Speed Angle was to create a much simpler gizmo that would only measure lean angle and sound an audible alarm when approaching the bike's lean angle limit, and another alarm (different sound or more rapid beeps) when very close to dragging hard parts. On cruisers and touring bikes, the floor boards will scrape well before the tires give out (assuming standard throttle control and clean roads). Some standard bikes will scrape too. On my bike, the first thing to drag is the center stand and right after that, the stand stops moving up and the rear tire starts to lift. That could get ugly fast. Since I'm not going to wear racing leathers with knee pucks to work, I can't use my knee as a feeler gauge. An audible alarm, I believe, would allow me to: Know how far I was leaning Know how far I could lean Help me get to my maximum lean angle quickly and confidently Have a clear idea of when to roll on a bit of throttle Know when I could roll on throttle more aggressively (because I'm up away from my max lean angle) If the product was reliable and affordable, is this something that YOU might use on a street bike? Does it have any application on a race bike (or do knees work just fine--thank you very much)? No I wouldnt use it. Trying to hear an audible tone when leaned over might tend to just distract you, remember $10?, using $5 to listen out for a tone that your knee or toe or centre stand let you know your at your lean angle sorta wastes concentration that could be used elsewhere. If your centre stand is dragging....um I think you might have reached your lean angle? As far as all your dot points thats just practice practice practice. Have you done a Level 1 yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yigit Posted March 30, 2011 Report Share Posted March 30, 2011 Lean angle ?. How about road surface the like negative-camber ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhtmbowen@gmail.com Posted March 31, 2011 Report Share Posted March 31, 2011 Not for me, thank you very much. Seems to me you've got lots of potential lean angle indicators even without using your knee sliders before banging big, solid bits of your bike into the road such as pegs, toe sliders, etc I know I'm a new boy on here and there are some seriously quick people on this forum but it seems to me that; if you are dragging major bits of your Buell on the public highway, you really should know how far you're leaning that thing anyway as that is a long way over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Rutter Posted March 31, 2011 Report Share Posted March 31, 2011 Having got the whole chicken strips thing out of my system now after last weeks' trackday, I don't feel the need now to get anywhere near the level where I'm running out of lean angle on the road, certainly not to the extent that I'd need a warning system to tell me. If I was getting anywhere near the limit on the road I'd have a word with myself and reign it in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhtmbowen@gmail.com Posted April 3, 2011 Report Share Posted April 3, 2011 According to MCN a warning system and a system that makes it harder to open the throttle is being trialled. That's what I need. Something that decides I'm going too fast and shuts the throttle for me mid corner. http://www.saferider-eu.org/documents/SAFERIDER_D5_1_HMI_Concepts_and_Strategies.pdf Be afraid. Be very afraid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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