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Abnormal valve gear vibration is a perennial problem confronting the designer of high-performance 4-stroke engines. It would shorten time and reduce costs if an analytical method could be applied to the prediction of engine valve behavior. This paper describes a method of valve motion simulation for both SOHC and DOHC valve gears through interactive calculation and using computer graphics. The authors tried to set up as simple a simulation model as possible by using modal analysis and modeling techniques. Through setting simulation model parameters and experimental damping factors, a close correlation between calculated and actually measured results was found.

This paper concerns a torque control of a rear wheel of a motorcycle equipped with a rubber/aramid belt electronically-controlled continuous variable transmission where a primary sheave position is controlled by an electric motor. In particular, the paper discusses a method to calculate a required engine torque and a required primary sheave position, given reference values of a rear-wheel torque and an engine rotational velocity. The method forms a foundation of a hierarchized traction control where a higher control layer decides an optimal motorcycle motion (rear-wheel torque and engine rotational velocity) and a lower control layer realizes the motion by actuators (engine torque and primary sheave position). Difficulties of the control are due to large mechanical compliance of the rubber/aramid belt, which leads to an inevitable lag from the primary sheave position to a speed reduction ratio.

We studied the mechanism of occurrence and evaluation of the surge that is produced in motorcycles equipped with 2-stroke cycle engines by simultaneously measuring chassis behavior and combustion. When modal analysis was performed by measuring the acceleration of each chassis component while placing the test vehicle on a chassis dynamo, it was found that pitching, in which the tires serve as springs, and resonance, generated from the rear suspension spring, occurred simultaneously during surge generation. The major component that is felt physically is pitching. Although a certain degree of correlation was observed between fluctuations in combustion and occurrence of pitching, since the drive line contains a large amount of back lash, the system has a high degree of non-linearity, thus making it difficult to obtain a well-defined correlation.

The Bonded Valve Seat System is the latest technology to realize drastic reduction in valve temperature in SI engines characterized by the good thermal conductivity of extremely thin valve seats bonded directly on the aluminum cylinder head. A unique and highly rationalized resistance bonding technique was developed to maintain adequate bonding strength and positioning precision in a short bonding period of around one second. Engineering data on optimization of bonding-section geometry, valve seat material and the surface treatment and bonding parameters were presented and discussed regarding the mechanism. The geometry of the bonding section of the cylinder head was optimized by FEM analysis so that the aluminum material should deform to embed the valve seat ring with the action of expelling the surface contamination and the oxide film. The bonding facility was modified so that the electrode axis should move flexibly according to distortion of the cylinder head during bonding.

We introduce a research on steering dampers using MR fluid (Magnetorheological Fluid). In recent years, steering dampers have been used in on-road and off-road motorcycles. Steering dampers stabilize the front end of motorcycles. The advantage of a steering damper is increased stability, but hydraulic steering dampers give rise to the problem of ‘Heavy Steering’. In order to resolve this heavy steering, we need to set the restrictions on the maximum damping force and avoid it from interfering when the rider is steering. However only reducing the damping force will lead to insufficient damping force when the handle, unresponsive because of kickback, shakes. We solved this problem with the development of an electric control damper which generates sufficient damping force at low steering angle rates and also allows for mechanically limiting the maximum damping force.

This paper covers certain aspects of the 2-stroke cycle, high-speed, high-output racing engine developed by Yamaha. Based upon design concepts and data from the development of the general racing engine, as well as the development of Grand Prix racing engines, this material is especially concerned with intake, scavenging, and exhaust systems. In addition, data on cooling and lubrication systems are presented.

This paper describes aspects of YAMAHA 2 cycle, high speed, high output engines. Generally speaking, in order to obtain good results in developing engine performance, high delivery ratios and high thermal and mechanical efficiencies are essential. In addition to these, the most suitable cooling and lubricating systems must be employed. YAMAHA has developed a separate and automatic lubrication system for 2-cycle gasoline engines, which keeps YAMAHA engines well lubricated.

Recently, our research has focused on the weave mode. This is a representative vibration mode of motorcycles and is important when considering maneuverability and stability. In a method of analyzing the weave mode, a disturbance is applied to the handle bars of the motorcycle during running and then the response waveform of the roll angle and other items at that time is used to perform estimations. However, when the motorcycle is driven at low speeds, the steering operations of the rider have a large effect on the running data and this makes estimation difficult. Therefore, it was assumed that weave mode data can be estimated from slalom running data since this possesses almost the same vibration frequency as the weave mode in low speed range. In this research, a simulation was used to investigate the relationship between the weave mode and slalom running.

We compared motoring friction loss, output performance at WOT (wide open throttle) and specific fuel consumption of big-end bearings on engines having identical specifications between the case of using plain bearings and rolling bearings to investigate the effect of the lubricating oil supply rate on these parameters in an attempt to improve output through reduction of friction loss for big-end bearings of small, high-output motorcycle engines. Testing was performed using a 125 cc, 4-cycle, single cylinder engine at high engine speeds mainly above 10,000 rpm.

1 Research was conducted on reduction of circuit inductance for the purpose of reducing the surge voltage generated during switching by FET (field effect transistor / semiconductor device) in the power modules of motor controllers for golf carts (Fig. 1) and other electric vehicles. The motor control system is composed of the battery, the motor controller, the motor, and the wirings that connect them, and the inductance exists in them altogether. It became clear from simulation analysis and measurements from a prototype that only the inductance within the motor controller among these composition parts influences the surge voltage. And it became clear that there is a correlation between surge voltage and the sum of the inductance of the electrolytic capacitor inside the power module and the inductance of the circuit by which current is supplied from the electrolytic capacitor to the FET.

MotoGP is the pinnacle of motorcycle racing, with the world's top riders racing 800cc prototype machines at leading venues around the world. The riders compete against each other to win the title and show their superiority. The manufacturers have improved the engines every year to gain high power with low-fuel consumption. The percentage of the duration in fully open throttle is less than 20% of the race, but the partial throttle is used as much as 80%. Moreover, when the rider accelerates the machine, the front tire is easy to be lifted from the ground. In the middle of corner, the rider cannot open the throttle fully because of the tire slip. Therefore, it is the most important factor to appropriately control a throttle in the partial area. The Drive-By-Wire (DBW) system is one of the solutions for the force control. The vehicle simulation in the engine dyno test helped efficiently to evaluate the DBW.

In product development of motorcycles, application of CAN at the initial design stage is more necessary than ever to ensure the reliability of the product and also to shorten the lead time of product development. Finite element method (FEM) plays a crucial role in this respect. In the application of FEM to the development of small vehicles, such as motorcycles, analysis must he carried out in a short period and at a low cost. However, FEM requires complex operations and therefore, designers have been unable to use this method satisfactorily. In order to improve these matters, we have developed a system, called STAGE-FEM, which enable the engineers to make FEM models of components of motorcycle and to evaluate the analysis results easily.

THE MULTI-VALVE FOUR STROKE CYCLE engine design trend is Coward increased engine power and higher fuel efficiency. While a four-valve system is the most common direction, problems occur when the valve area is widened by increasing the cylinder bore for a higher engine output. The layout of four larger valves causes the combustion chamber shape to flatten and the combustion time period to increase. In pursuit of the optimum multi-valve engine we have studied four, five, six and seven-valve per cylinder design. Performance targets and design constraints led us toward the successful five-valve engine technology. This technology develops high engine torque and efficient combustion over a wide range of engine speeds.

By orthogonalizing the primary inertia moment vector produced by an engine with many engine vectors, a new engine mounting method called “the orthogonal engine mount system” was designed. This paper explains its theoretical background. In addition, a motorcycle with a two-cylinder engine incorporating this system was analyzed by means of modal analysis and building block approach techniques to determine the effectiveness of the orthogonal engine mount system.

Motorcycles have been widely used as private transportation means, but are now confronted with difficult situations to meet increasingly stringent noise control regulations which requires various noise abatement technologies. Manufacturers, on the other hand, are required to produce totally balanced motorcycles overcoming restrictions in space, weight, etc. To cope with this situation, utilization of high techniques for measurement and analysis of noise is indispensable including those for detection of noise sources in order to take effective noise abatement measures. Well balanced motorcycles must be protected from tampering or improper maintenance, and it is essential that noise control regulations must be technologically feasible in view of the situation in each country.

In the past, the performance of motorcycle engines has improved quite rapidly through intensive competition in racing and in the marketplace. Motorcycle engines have contributed to the technological progress of internal combustion engines (hereafter abbreviated as ICE). Today's environmental concerns require motorcycle engines to improve fuel economy and exhaust emission pollutants. After examination of potential measures to improve the thermal efficiency of small engines, it was concluded that if engineers of motorcycle engines fail to take on new ideas such as those being developed in cold fusion, it is foreseen that motorcycle engines will be replaced with new power plants as was seen on locomotives in the past.

With the hope of efficient and sophisticated motorcycle engine development, an engine test bed that can simulate vehicle running conditions using an ultra-low inertia motor and high response load control system was constructed, and was applied to the development of engines. By combining an exhaust gas analyzer, an exhaust gas constant volume sampler (CVS), and a data processing system, mass emissions could be measured in various test cycles. This system's advantages for data repeatability and test efficiency compared with a chassis test using a vehicle were confirmed. An acceleration test was conducted to assess running performance, and good agreement with actual driving values was confirmed. In addition, by measuring and evaluating engine response to throttle manipulation, it was possible to evaluate driveability on the test bed. These test findings indicate that this test bed can simulate vehicle driving tests with the engine only and will be a useful tool in engine development.

This paper concerns the development and validation of a three-dimensional mathematical model representing a motorcycle with rider. As part of this development, several motorcycle to barrier tests were performed at the laboratories of the TNO Crash-Safety Research Centre and several measurements were carried out, including measurements to determine the inertia properties of the motorcycle segments. Results of two full scale tests involving a passenger car were then applied to validate the model in a more realistic crash environment. The resulting MADYMO motorcycle model consists of 7 bodies linked to each other by joints and spring-damper type elements. Special attention was given to the mathematical representation of front fork, front wheel and gastank. A 50th %ile Part 572 dummy with pedestrian pelvis and legs represented the rider. For representation in the model an existing dummy database was updated.

A high-quality die-casting technology has been developed for lightweight aluminum frame structures that produces high-strength aluminum parts that are also weldable. This new technology has been used in casting frames for motorcycles and snowmobiles and has enabled improved frame designs with far fewer component parts than was possible before. This die-casting technology also results in a significant reduction in energy consumption during the manufacturing process.

This paper describes an experimental method to predict the rolling contact fatigue life of a crankpin in a market vehicle engine. The fatigue life up to pitting was evaluated by two laboratory tests including a fatigue life measurement using a ball-on-disk test machine and a crankpin durability measurement by an engine bench test. The surface observation after the tests revealed that the surface dent triggers pitting in both tests. The Weibull plot of the percent failure vs. cycle to failure as a function of the contact stress was presented. In order to directly evaluate the effect of the contact stress on the lifetime, the lifetime values measured at L50 are plotted in the diagram showing the contact stress vs. cycle to failure. The obtained relation can predict the lifetime under the controlled condition in which the number of maximum torque points is countable.