Ball VS roller bearing Motorcycle
Posted: Sat Jan 07, 2017 5:02 pm
Ok, a motorcycle has front steering like a bicycle, a fork supporting the tire axle and handlebars. This pivots on rolling element bearings. It was loose ball bearings from early on and then in the 70's changed to caged tapered rollers like a car wheel bearing. Recently, the trend has been back to balls, but caged.....This is especially so on hyper performance street bikes and in racing...
At higher speeds motorcycles steers by leaning in basic terms ....To go left the rider steers slightly to the right, the bike leans left and the front wheel is actually a few degrees right as the bike arcs to the left....The rider also shifts his weight into the lean but the basic action is pushing and pulling on the handle bars...
So why change from roller to ball? I don't think they cheaper... Is a ball better for small angle of rotation? Does a ball have less resistance to movement so the rider has a better feel? bikes are all about what the rider feels the machine doing.....Any ideas?
At higher speeds motorcycles steers by leaning in basic terms ....To go left the rider steers slightly to the right, the bike leans left and the front wheel is actually a few degrees right as the bike arcs to the left....The rider also shifts his weight into the lean but the basic action is pushing and pulling on the handle bars...
So why change from roller to ball? I don't think they cheaper... Is a ball better for small angle of rotation? Does a ball have less resistance to movement so the rider has a better feel? bikes are all about what the rider feels the machine doing.....Any ideas?