Motorcycle Tire Modeling

The knowledge of the actual distribution of the contact forces transmitted by the tire to the rim is of crucial importance for the lightweight design of motorcycles wheels. In this paper, an analytical model of a motorcycle tire is developed and explicit formulae giving the distribution of the static radial and axial forces acting between the tyre and the rim for a given vertical load have been derived. The analytical model has been validated by means of a FE model of the tire and wheel and on the basis of indoor experimental tests. The proposed analytical model is able to predict the radial static deflection of both a front and a rear tire for a racing motorbike with very good accuracy over a wide range of inflating pressures and vertical loads. The force distributions are in very good agreement with the results of the FE model.