Motorcycle's lateral stability issues: Comparison of methods for dynamic modelling of roll angle

This paper proposes a simulation scenario in order to compare a proposed model of a motorcycle in cornering condition. The behaviours obtained by considering a linearized roll dynamic and a nonlinear roll dynamic have been investigated in order to evaluate their use in designing automatic stability controls of a motorcycle. The former model shows a linear dependency on the roll angle and the steer angle. The second model starts from the former and removes the roll angle linearization. The comparative analysis of the results shows how the linearized model is able to describe adequately the cornering dynamics for sufficiently large values of roll angle. These performances are suitable for designing a motorcycle active safety device controlling the lateral dynamics for preventing lateral falls.