On the dynamics of a motorcycle weave

Abstract

While riding a motorcycle the rider can find the handlebars along with the motorcycle frame to begin to oscillate at a high frequency. This motorcycle weave can be very dangerous as its frequency can be high at high speeds of the motorcycle. We collect evidence as how to avoid this motorcycle weave by numerically analyzing the eigenvalues of a certain matrix polynomial arising from the linearized model for the motorcycle motion. Among other suggestions, our simulations confirm that the rider leaning forward indeed mitigates such a high-speed motorcycle weave. Our model provides a prediction as to what attributes of the motorcycle increase or decrease the chances of the weave occurring.