| Author | Message | ||
     Doerman |
I heard it mentioned during the AMA coverage this weekend. Specifically, Zemke having problems with Mechanical Grip and May and the Buell having great Mechanical Grip. Can someone shed some light on what Mechanical Grip is? | ||
| Eweaver |
From my understanding, it is grip that results from the balance of the chassis as opposed to grip induced by electronics. | ||
| Doerman |
Hmm.. elaborate a bit what "balance of the chassis" means. Is that designed in or a tunable characteristics. | ||
| Eweaver |
Is that designed in or a tunable characteristics? It looks like the answer is "yes" to both. Troy Corser says: "Last year we didn't have our best weekend in the States. We just couldn't keep pace with the top riders and teams. Salt Lake City lies at a higher altitude than all the other circuits on the calendar, and that has an impact on engine output." "But that's not our main problem. The area we need to work on most is the chassis. The key here is to be clever with our chassis settings to increase mechanical grip, so that the electronics have to cut in as little as possible. I've got a few ideas which I'm keen to put into action at Salt Lake City." Michelin lists it as one of the 6 functions of a tire: MECHANICAL GRIP : Tyres transmit the bike’s mechanical forces of horsepower and braking. The few square centimetres that constitute the contact patch can make all the difference in a bike’s performance.} | ||
| Trojan |
'Mechanical grip' is a term pretty much made up and can mean whatever you want it to mean. However in most cases when comentators refer to 'mechanical grip' they are actually referring to the way the bike produces power and the way it puts that power down to the track rather than actual tyre grip. Therefore big V Twins usually have more 'mechanical grip' than inline 4 cylinder bikes because the power pulses give the tyre an easier time and allow it to recover grip 'between' power pulses better than screaming 4 cylinders. However Yamaha have got around this by altering the firing order of their R1/M1 so that the power pulses are similar to V Twin. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Geoff May commented the Buell has the best mechanical grip of any bike he has ridden--ever. Also, it was stated the Erik Buell Racing team might have been pulling for a wet race to take advantage of the Buell's traction...I usually hate wet races, but it would have been neat to see the Buell possibly up at the front. Anyone know if Geoff is good in the wet? (Message edited by fresnobuell on June 08, 2010) | ||
| Bob_thompson |
Trojan's got this completely correct and the very reason the XR750's were so dominating in AMA flat track. The unusual power pulses of the strange firing order grabbed the dirt way better then anything else especially when it was highly loose. Fresno, I believe Erik said a short time ago that Geoff is outstanding in the wet and why he was hoping for at least one day running in the rain at Road America. Bob | ||
| Anonymous |
Actually, the mechanical grip top race tuners talk about is not due to firing impulses, but to chassis design and tuning. Just sayin'. And in the rain practice, Geoff was actually second fastest. So we were really hoping. | ||
| Slaughter |
You are all WAAAAAaaaaayyyy off on "MECHANICAL grip" It is when you mis-judge a turn and tip the bike in and are so scared sh!tless that you GRIP the seat cushion so hard that you can't slide on the seat and hang-off the bike. Sometimes if the fear level is high enough, you can't get to your wallet for a good half-hour afterwards. Often this requires urgent laundering of shorts. (Message edited by slaughter on June 10, 2010) | ||
| Trojan |
Actually I am pretty sure that what you are explaining is commonly known as brown adrenalin, and that this is mechanical grip................  | ||
| Fast1075 |
When you blast into turn 1 with sticker tires, a stuck throttle and a broken kill switch......high side at 135....flip 10 times and land with your butt still attached to the seat.....THATS mechanical grip.. | ||
| Doerman |
with your butt still attached to the seat.... Would that be a smart ass or a "vice" ass?  Thanks for both the considered and humorous answers.  | ||
| Bob_thompson |
For anonymous: I have to agree and will add a question; if for a split second in between firing impulses the tire is not trying to break loose from torque and traction is better, couldn't that also be considered "mechanical grip"? | ||
| Trojan |
Actually, the mechanical grip top race tuners talk about is not due to firing impulses, but to chassis design and tuning. Just sayin'. Maybe there is something lost in our common language, but over here that would just be 'grip' or 'handling', not mechanical grip, as there is no mechanical element in there. 'Mechanical Grip' over here relates to grip caused by or related to mechanical elements i.e. the engine. However as I said right at the beginning ther eis no definition of mechanical grip anywhere so it can mean whatever you want it to mean. |
