Reading the threads makes me realize how ignorant and unthinking I was (along with some other folks) back in 1952. The course that year, if I remember right, was 3 miles acceleration, three 1-mile traps, and 3 miles to slow down in. The 650cc Triumph (motorcycle) I rode took only 2 miles or a little less to get up to top speed, so I stroked along in second gear for the first mile. I tached 165mph and clocked 148mph, so I asked some car/motorcycle guys about wheelspin - they all assured me that 3 to 5mph was max, and 17mph wheelspin had to be a tachometer error. The following year, Rich Richards on his 650cc Triumph did about 147mph with 165mph indicated - he said it was wheelspin. This was almost identical to me, so maybe I was right after all. I have finally realized that if we had just added enough weight to minimize wheelspin, I would have gone maybe 10mph faster - I had plenty of distance to build up speed. In any case, I got into a high speed wobble/headshake/shimmy and/or weave at about 150mph, so I got some practice bouncing on the salt. Recently I have been reading some reports on stability and found that light weight (I weighed 124 pounds) tends to increase the tendency to get a wobble. Also. rearward rider weight tends to induce it too (like my riding position).
Some Professors in the Engineering Dept. at Cranfield University in England have been doing a lot of research on motorcycle stability as well as consulting for Ducati. The college does work for the Williams F1 team, aerospace studies and automotive development among other things. They have published several papers on motorcycle stability (I have four of them totaling 5MB in case anyone wants to see them - just send me an e-mail address or something). The head of the Engineering Dept and some of the other professors ride bikes, so they are more than just theoretical guys. One very interesting thing they are working on is an active steering damper. Let me know if you want their e-mail address, although they probably don't want thousands of requests. Attached is a picture of them.
By the way, the "pressure drag" mentioned by Rex Schimmer was perhaps "dynamic pressure" or "Q". Due to advancing age and senility my memory is getting bad (my wife says that is just part of it), but back in 1963 I was the author of the USAF flight test software package. I almost but don't quite remember any of the details of anything. I just wish I could find my flight test handbook, which I haven't seen since Jan 1964 when I went to work at JPL.
