Control For Energy and Sustainability

EPSRC Programme Grant

[LS10b] D.J.N.Limebeer and A.Sharma, Design of a novel aerodynamically efficient motocycle, Proceedings of the Symposium on the Dynamics and Control of Single Track Vehicles, Delft The Netherlands, Oct., 2010

Abstract

Recently a novel aerodynamically efficient motorcycle known as the ECOSSE Spirit (ES1) was designed and patented. Initial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis estimates the ES1's drag-area coefficient at 0.16m2 - a 54% improvement over a conventional sports machine (such as the Yamaha R1), which translates in to a 30% increase in top speed for a given fixed engine power, or alternatively 170bhp of performance with a 78bhp engine. Since the initial design of the ES1 was approached from an aerodynamic perspective, Imperial College London has been working with Spirit Motorcycle Technology on improving the overall dynamics and performance of the vehicle. This paper addresses the parameters that affect the lateral dynamics of the vehicle, which is one of the many aspects in motorcycle design.