Effect of Rider Position on the Energy Consumption of an Electric Motorcycle

Unlike other transport vehicles, the rider of a motorcycle contributes to the change of frontal area and drag coefficient during riding as their position changes, and therefore, rider position can directly affect energy consumption. This manuscript systematically investigates the effects of variations in combined drag coefficient and frontal area on electric motorcycle (EM) range over the World Motorcycle Test Cycle (WMTC) 3.2 standard drive cycle. The combined drag coefficient and frontal area (CdA) values were measured in a full-scale wind tunnel using a rider who was fully kitted in separate leathers as opposed to single piece race suits. A vehicle longitudinal backwards-facing model was used to estimate the effect of different riding position on motorcycle energy consumption. A decrease of 30% in the product of drag coefficient (Cd) and frontal area (A) through changing from an upright to a tucked-in position leads to a decrease of up to 19% in terms of energy consumption.