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The Gyroscope Forum |
20 April 2024 13:54
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Question |
| Asked by: |
John crookes |
| Subject: |
Motor Bike Accident |
| Question: |
Hi
some months ago I witnessed a motor cycle accident in which a rider, travelling in a normal looking way on decent road surface fell sideways taking the bike with him and sliding in a continuation of his original movement. The fall was a pivot on the tyres and the wheels stayed in the plane 0f the falling bike i.e. no sliding and no steering movement of the front wheel. The resultant scratches on the road surface were parallel to the road edge and several yards long.
My initial reaction was to expect considerable abraded injury. In fact he was soon up and about. At the time my concern was for his well being .
It was later thinking about the fall I was puzzled as to what had actually happened. It appears that a pair of heavyish, largish gyros had been tidily turned over. Gravity acting on his body and the bike is the only candidate I think. IN which case he must have been asleep, momentarily. My question is am I right
John
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| Date: |
12 January 2008
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Answers (Ordered by Date)
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| Answer: |
Peter Jackson - 04/02/2009 18:33:05
| | | I see you've had no answers for a year! Hope you're still about.
The wheels aren't particularly heavy gyro's as the hubs are low mass, but are reasonable flywheels. In any case that makes no odds as they afforded insignificant resistance to the tilt direction and force. The bike is an essentially unstable mechanism kept upright only by continuous input of centrifugal forces by small turning actions. (leaning and steering into the 'bend'). Yes, the gravity of the riders body pulled the earth towards him (and to a greater extent vice versa) once the bike wasn't there to keep them apart.
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