JPH08225092A - Motorcycle with cowling - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To contrive enhancement of turning characteristics in a motocycle with a cowling. CONSTITUTION: A V-shaped part 19 in which both right and left side walls 19s are upwardly expanded and opened in a V shape is formed on the lower part of a cowling 14 in such a way that the inside wall 19s in the bank direction may define a venturi 20 in the back and forth directions between the inside wall 19s and a surface R in generally max. car body bank. thus, in the generally max. car bank, negative pressure evolved with traveling wind passed through the venturi 20 acts as down force on the cowling 14 to increase the grips of a front wheel and a rear wheel toward the surface R.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a motorcycle with a cowling provided with a cowling which covers the outer surface of a vehicle body and an engine between front and rear wheels.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Such a motorcycle is, for example, an actual Kaihei 2-
It is already known as disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 75289.

[0003]

When the motorcycle is turning, the rider controls the vehicle body in a unique posture to bank the vehicle body inward in the turning direction. At this time, the grip force of the front and rear wheels with respect to the road surface is controlled. Is larger, the turning performance can be improved, such as the turning speed can be increased.

Therefore, the present invention utilizes the ground effect of the cowling, which is originally attached to the vehicle body to reduce the air resistance, to generate downforce by aerodynamics during turning, and to the road surface of the front and rear wheels. It is possible to provide the above-mentioned motorcycle with a cowling that can increase the grip force.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a cowling having a lower portion which is a V-shaped portion whose left and right side walls open upward in a V-shape. The first feature is that it is curved in an outwardly convex shape so as to define a venturi through which traveling wind flows between the vehicle body and the road surface when the vehicle body is approximately at the maximum bank.

Further, in addition to the above features, the present invention provides a plurality of strips of air, which are left and right side walls of the V-shaped portion of the cowling, which are close to or in contact with a road surface to form left and right side walls of the venturi.
The second feature is that the guide fins are provided in a protruding manner.

Further, in addition to the second characteristic, the present invention has a third characteristic that the air guide fin is made of an elastic material.

[0008]

According to the first feature of the present invention, when the vehicle body is largely banked during turning, one side wall of the V-shaped portion under the cowling is close to the road surface to form a venturi therebetween. In Venturi, a negative pressure is generated by the passing wind at a high speed, and this negative pressure acts as a down force on the cowling and is transmitted to the front and rear wheels via the vehicle body, gripping the road surface of the front and rear wheels. Power increases.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the lateral flow of the traveling wind that has entered the venturi is restrained by the guide fins to effectively increase the air flow velocity in the venturi, that is, the negative pressure, thereby achieving a large downforce. Can be obtained.

Further, according to the third feature of the present invention, the venturi effect can be further enhanced by the contact of the guide fin with the road surface, and the maximum bank angle of the vehicle body can be sensed without any hindrance by the contact.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1 and 2, a vehicle body 2 of a motorcycle 1 includes a main frame 3 having a head pipe 3h at its front end, a front fork 4 operably supported by the head pipe 3h, and a rear end of the main frame 3. A rear fork 5, which is pivotally supported on the main frame 3, a seat rail 7, which is coupled to an intermediate portion of the main frame 3 and supports a seat 6, and a main frame 3.
To a seat rail 7 and a fuel tank 8 and the like. A front wheel 10 and a rear wheel 11 are supported by the front fork 4 and the rear fork 5, respectively, and the engine 12 arranged between the wheels 10 and 11 is attached to the main frame 3. The power of the engine 12 is transmitted to the rear wheels 11 via the chain transmission device 14 and drives the rear wheels 11.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a cowling 14 is attached to the vehicle body 2 and the engine 12. The cowling 14 includes an upper cowl 14a that covers an upper front surface of the front fork 4, a lower cowl 14 that covers a part of the main frame 3 and the left and right side surfaces of the engine 12 between the front and rear wheels 10 and 11, and a lower surface of the engine 12. 14b, a cooling air inlet 15 for the engine 12 is opened on the front surface of the lower cowl 14b, and a cooling air side outlet 16 is opened on both left and right side surfaces thereof. Further, the rear surface is opened as a cooling air outlet 17.

The lower portion of the lower cowl 14b is formed with a V-shaped portion 19 whose side walls 19s, 19s spread upward in a V-shape. When the vehicle body 2 is banked at a substantially maximum bank angle θ, each of the side walls 19s is curved in an outward convex shape so as to define a venturi 20 that is close to the road surface R and extends in the front-rear direction with the road surface R. There is (see FIG. 3), and in particular, the convex top portion P thereof is arranged in front of the V-shaped portion 19 so that the downstream side of the throttle portion of the venturi 20 is longer than the upstream side thereof. Further, a pair of upper and lower air guide fins 21 and 22 forming the left and right side walls of the venturi 20 are attached to the side walls 19s by adhesion, fitting, or the like. Each of the air guide fins 21 and 22 comes into contact with the road surface R when the vehicle body 2 is in a maximum bank, and is formed of a flexible material such as rubber so as to absorb the contact impact at that time.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. When the vehicle body 2 is banked inward in the turning direction in order for the motorcycle 1 to turn, and the air guide fins 21 and 22 in the banking direction approach or come into contact with the road surface R, a V-shaped portion of the cowling 14 is formed. Between the side wall 19s of the portion 19 and the road surface R, the venturi 2 in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body 2 is formed.
Define 0. Moreover, since the air guide fins 21 and 22 form the left and right side walls of the venturi 20, the traveling wind introduced into the venturi 20 does not escape to the side,
As it passes through the venturi 20 at a high speed, a high negative pressure generated particularly downstream of the throttle portion of the venturi 20 acts on the cowling 14 as a downforce F, and in the illustrated example, the negative pressure generation region is Since it is long, a large downforce F can be obtained. The down force F is transmitted to the front and rear wheels 10 and 11 via the vehicle body 2 to increase the grip force of the road surface R thereof. As a result, it is possible to improve the turning characteristics of the motorcycle 1 such as enabling the turning speed to be increased, which is particularly effective for a racing motorcycle.

Further, when the air guide fins 21 and 22 come into contact with the road surface R, lateral leakage of traveling wind at the venturi 20 is surely prevented, the venturi effect is enhanced, and the rider of the motorcycle 1 has the maximum vehicle body 2. You can experience the bank state. Moreover, the air guide fins 21 and 22 in contact with the road surface R are appropriately sandwiched to absorb the contact impact.

In the above embodiment, various design changes can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, in FIG. 1, the side wall 19s of the V-shaped portion 19 of the cowling 14 is formed so as to cover the rider step 24 from the side as shown by an imaginary line 23, and the length of the upper air guide fin 21 is increased. The effective length of the venturi 20 can be increased by adjusting the height to the air guide fin 22 below.

[0018]

As described above, according to the present invention, the lower portion of the cowling is formed as a V-shaped portion whose left and right side walls open upward in a V-shape, and the side wall is substantially the same as the body. Since it was curved in an outwardly convex shape to define a Venturi that circulates the running wind with the road surface at the time of maximum banking, the negative pressure generated in the Venturi due to the passage of running wind as a downforce is at the time of approximately maximum banking of the vehicle body. The cowling acts on the cowling, and this is transmitted to the front and rear wheels via the vehicle body to increase the gripping force with respect to the road surface and improve the turning performance.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, a plurality of air passages are formed on the left and right side walls of the V-shaped portion of the cowling, which are close to or in contact with the road surface to form left and right side walls of the venturi.
Since the guide fins are provided so as to project, the traveling wind can be effectively distributed to the venturi, the negative pressure can be effectively increased, and the downforce can be increased.

According to the third feature of the present invention, the air
The venturi effect can be further enhanced by the contact of the guide fins with the road surface, and the contact allows the rider to experience the maximum bank angle of the vehicle body without any trouble.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a motorcycle with a cowling according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing a bank state of the vehicle.

3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Motorcycle 2 Body 10 Front Wheel 11 Rear Wheel 12 Engine 14 Cowling 19s Side Wall 21 Air Guide Fin 22 Air Guide Fin

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A vehicle body (2) between front and rear wheels (10, 11).
And a cowling (1) that covers the outer surface of the engine (12).
In a motorcycle with cowling equipped with 4), the lower part of the cowling (14) is attached to the left and right side walls (19).
s) forms a V-shaped portion (19) that opens upward in a V-shape, and the side wall (19s) runs between the side surface (19s) and the road surface (R) when the vehicle body (2) is substantially at the maximum bank. A motorcycle with cowling, characterized in that it is curved in an outwardly convex shape so as to define a venturi (20) for circulating. 2. The venturi (20) according to claim 1, wherein the left and right side walls (19s) of the V-shaped portion (19) of the cowling (14) are close to or in contact with the road surface (R). A motorcycle with a cowling, which is provided with a plurality of air guide fins (21, 22) that are left and right sidewalls. 3. The motorcycle with cowling according to claim 2, wherein the air guide fins (21, 22) are made of an elastic material.