Use of 2 front wheeled motorcycles on the TdeF

[John MCParticipant @johnmc39344]

Not been any wet, slippery or rough conditions in this years tour, yet. When there is it doesn't seem to bother the motorcyclists, I've always been impressed by their abilities. Far more impressed by the competitors abilities though. I'm done for after 45k's and 400m of climbing!

Some while ago a motorcycle magazine decided to see if it was possible to fall off a 3 wheel motorcycle in bad conditions, they used a Gilera I think. The test area was the very icy office car park. I recall the result was that it was just as easy to fall off 3 as 2 in those conditions. I suspect the test was done somewhat tongue in cheek…..

John

[egaParticipant @ega]

Wasn't there a downpour on stage 1?

This edition has also included stretches of gravel and cobbles.

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

Posted by Ady1 on 15/09/2020 10:00:56:

Posted by Hopper on 15/09/2020 09:32:57:. Two tyres grip better than one. And apparently if you overcook it in a wet corner it can be slid sideways like a car without loss of control instead of the more usual lowside crash that results when your single front tire lets go. Pretty handy through the alps I should imagine.

My dad used a sidecar bike for years and said they always stopped in a straight line because of the free wheel

You just had to remember the mudguard poking out 6 inches beyond the sidecar when passing down the outside of a bus…

Must have had a sidecar wheel brake on it. My old Harleys and sidecars veer to the right under heavy braking as the unbraked left-hand mounted sidecar tries to overtake the braking motorcycle. Very handy for nipping around right-hand corners. You can improve on the technique by jamming the front brake on then applying power to the rear wheel to get it to pivot around the front wheel in effect.

But it's the left hand corners that get really interesting as the sidecar wheel gets airborne…

[John MCParticipant @johnmc39344]

Posted by ega on 15/09/2020 10:53:34:

Wasn't there a downpour on stage 1?

This edition has also included stretches of gravel and cobbles.

I stand corrected with regard to the rain, only the last 10Ks's though of the 3rd(?) stage.

The gravel isn't as bad as it sounds, I'm told the surface is fairly well sealed, I believe its an uphill section that won't trouble the riders, both powered and unpowered.

Gravel or not in the tour usually leads to some lively discussion. Having rode some of the gravelly bits of the tour they really don't make any difference as long as they are uphill, downhill then its mountain biking.

John

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

ASO don't just run the TDF they do events like Paris Roubaix which is often mud covered, pot holed cobbles, then there is Strada Bianca if you watched the Giro Rosa on Saturday that took in some of these "white roads" even the world champ fell off her bike while trying to ride an uphill gravel section plus dust is far more of an issue than exhaust fumes

And when it's not dry the dust turns to mud

Edited By JasonB on 15/09/2020 13:12:33

[John MCParticipant @johnmc39344]

I don't think a 3 wheeled motorcycle will be any better there in those (exceptional) conditions. Whats needed there is a 4 wheeled motorcycle, aka a "car".

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