- #1
some bloke
- 280
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- TL;DR Summary
- to reduce unsprung weight, why isn't the pneumatic tyre developed for use in isolation?
I've been contemplating the design of a motorcycle, and I've been reading up on the sprung & unsprung weight thing, how you want to minimise unsprung weight (IE, the part of the vehicle which moves with the road, the wheel and lower half of the suspension) to improve handling.
This got me wondering on how to minimise unsprung weight, and the seemingly simple answer would be to use high-profile pneumatic tyres which are designed so that the only part of the "suspension" which moves is the rubber of the tyre, thus moving the entire weight of the wheel into the "sprung weight" category. It would also reduce wear (no suspension, no wear) and weight (no heavy springs).
I have a precedent for pneumatic tyre suspension, as I have a Harley and a Suzuki bandit, and the Harley has rubbish suspension and massively fat tyres, and yet it seems to soak up the bumps a lot nicer than the bandit. the tyres seem to absorb most of the impacts.
Is there any reason why pneumatic tyres have not been developed to account for 100% of a vehicles suspension?
Cheers,
This got me wondering on how to minimise unsprung weight, and the seemingly simple answer would be to use high-profile pneumatic tyres which are designed so that the only part of the "suspension" which moves is the rubber of the tyre, thus moving the entire weight of the wheel into the "sprung weight" category. It would also reduce wear (no suspension, no wear) and weight (no heavy springs).
I have a precedent for pneumatic tyre suspension, as I have a Harley and a Suzuki bandit, and the Harley has rubbish suspension and massively fat tyres, and yet it seems to soak up the bumps a lot nicer than the bandit. the tyres seem to absorb most of the impacts.
Is there any reason why pneumatic tyres have not been developed to account for 100% of a vehicles suspension?
Cheers,