No abstract

The present study describes a possible driving mechanism for a self-excited oscillation observed in motorcycle dynamics, often referred to as chatter. This phenomenon, affecting the performance of road racing motorcycles, has been simulated in straight running braking manoeuvres with multibody motorcycle models. It involves rear suspension bounce and driveline oscillation in the frequency range between 17 and 22 Hz.A simplified model of a motorcycle rear suspension with chain transmission is proposed and its stability in equilibrium configurations is studied via eigenvalue analysis. The sensitivity with respect to all its governing parameters is analyzed by means of stability maps and the self-excitation mechanism is explained with the aid of energy balance analysis and phase diagrams. It is found that the key role for the instability onset is played by the gradient of the nonlinear characteristic slip function of the tyre.

Experimental evidence shows that a self-excited vibration may appear during braking manoeuvres performed by road-racing motorcycles. It involves vertical oscillation of front and rear wheel axles as well as angular oscillation of the driveline in a frequency range between 17 and 22 Hz. As a consequence, severe oscillations of the tyre-ground vertical loads can be observed, leading to a loss of grip and ultimately weakening the vehicle overall performance. Several contributions on this topic can be accounted for in the literature; however, a comprehensive description of the phenomenon has not been given yet. The present work is aimed at simulating the above vibration with a planar multibody motorcycle model, and then at analyzing its driving mechanism. Stability maps are drawn for time-invariant braking manoeuvres, and validated with respect to time domain simulations