Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-29T11:04:48.543Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Art and Materials Science of 190-mph Superbikes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 January 2011

Charles M. Falco
Get access

Abstract

The following article is an edited transcript of a talk presented in Symposium X—Frontiers of Materials Research at the 2002 Materials Research Society Fall Meeting in Boston on December 2, 2002. From Bessemer steel used on the first motorized bicycle in 1871 to sintered aluminum ceramic composites and TiN thin-film coatings used on standard production machines today, motorcycles have been at the forefront of the use of high-performance materials. Thanks to developments in materials technology, relatively inexpensive mass-produced motorcycles are now capable of achieving speeds of >190 mph.

Keywords

advanced materials technologymotorcycles
Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Bulletin , Volume 28 , Issue 7 , July 2003 , pp. 512 - 516
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2003

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Bradley, J., The Racing Motorcycle: A Technical Guide for Constructors (Broadland Publications, York, UK, 1996).Google Scholar
2.Cocco, G., How and Why: Motorcycle Design and Technology (Giorgio Nada Editore, Vimodrone, Italy, 1999).Google Scholar
3.Dyson, F., Can Science Be Ethical? (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1997).Google Scholar
4.Falco, C.M., in The Art of the Motorcycle (exhibition catalog), edited by Drutt, M. and Krens, T. (Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1998).Google Scholar
5.Irving, P.E., Motorcycle Engineering (Temple Press, London, 1961).Google Scholar