Quote:
Originally Posted by 350TSS
I think the bike rotates around the tyre contact patch and the bottom of the tank is about 800mm above that on a M900. A lot more on a Cagiva Elefant for example. The greater the distance betweem the contact patch and the bottom of the tank the more fuel moves across the tank. I do not think that a bike pulls 1 G when cornering so the fuel level will tend to stay level with the ground not level with the bottom of the tank.
I could be talking absolute bollocks!!!!
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Not quite.
The bike and rider continue in a constant state until acted on by a force.
To go round a right hand bend the rider initially steers left to make the bike lean. The steering is then pretty neutral till you want the bike to stand up and go straight again. That is done by oversteering tonthe right so that the wheels come back underneath the bike.
The force acting on the bike is at ground level, but the bikes inertia is acting at the centre of gravity. The difference between these gives a lever arm and generates rotation. If the bike rotated about the contact patch there’d be nothing to make the bike lean.
The fuel isn’t a lot higher than the centre of gravity of the bike and ride, but there would be sideways motion as well as rotation.
So, in summary, yes there is an effect, though possibly not as great as you first thought.