If you ignore the closed-cockpit record breakers on Bonneville flats, motorcycle aerodynamics is a field which has been largely neglected. It’s just hard to do much modelling of a system whose entire geometry is changing every few milliseconds.
There are however some obvious bloopers to avoid. The first of these is the flapping dewlaps of leather which tend to increase drag on riders -even in race-tight, in one-piece suits. Some examples can be seen in slow motion here.
Privacy notice: Playing this video may set cookies as described in Google’s privacy policy.
Today’s invention is an improvement to race suit streamlining.
Just before a race, a rider gets on his/her machine. A vacuum pump is attached to a valve in the back of the airtight suit, which evacuates it like a coffee pack. A plug is inserted in the inlet and sealed, so that the armour segments are more effectively attached to the body.
The suit would incorporate small stretch panels to allow a little body movement for weight transference on the corners (and occasional breathing). A cold water bladder would be worn on the inside of the abdomen area of the suit to help reduce body temperature in the absence of ventilation. Thus there would be no spare leather to flap around and slow these heroes down.
