THE TAGUCHI METHOD APPLIED TO MOTORCYCLE HANDLING

Abstract

This study aims to determine quantitatively how various suspensions, trials, riders, riding speeds, and directions affect motorcycle handling. In the development of vehicle handling tests, steady state turns are carried out. A video-based image analysis technique is applied to acquire data and a statistics-based Taguchi method is used to analyse it. Variance analyses are carried out to assess the factors which contribute to the performance of motorcycle handling. It is shown that trail lengths are critical design parameters. Also, rider techniques dominate 55% of handling performance in a rider-motorcycle system. Among several different trails and rear suspensions, the best design is determined by statistical calculation using the Taguchi method.