Safe speed in a Kz.

Doing some research I found this video.



Luckily I weigh 130 kilos. 

 

At least I would know how fast we were going...  

I've done the 100-100-100 a couple of times lately. Not this year, though, as the weather was terrible. That's on the 100th day of the year, usually April 10th, with a bike and rider combined age of 100 years, a 100 mile ride, hitting 100 mph at least once and a bonus for finishing in less than 100 minutes. The stretch I use has a nice straight with excellent visibility and no cross roads. I like to count for speedo error, so will go to 175 kph or so. The bike is reasonably stable, but nowhere near as stable as a more modern bike. Mine still has it's shocks from 1977 and likes to wallow in high speed corners if there are any bumps, so I limit them to 120 kph or so.

So there's the answer when told to lose weight -- staying heavier makes my motorcycle more stable!   
Seriously though, that was an interesting video

Scotty

The problem with the wobble is an energy input to the bike at exactly the frequency of the wobble.  It's a natural phenomenon that can be found in other structures around the world.  Engineers are trained to check for wobble potential in whatever they build. The problem with motorcycles is that there are too many variables to control.  Weight, the location of the rider on the bike, tires, fork springs and rear shocks...and speed.  All of these are factors that can cause a wobble.

There is a great video of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge (nicknamed Galloping Gertie) self destructing when the wind energy striking the bridge at exactly the right frequency caused it to collapse.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacoma_Narrows_Bridge_(1940)

A great video, I've always enjoyed seeing it.  It's an extreme example of learning from our mistakes.  Suspension bridge design changed as a result of that collapse.  Fortunately the lessons learned didn't involve casualties.

Scotty