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Centre of gravity

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Petrus

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 18, 2025
Messages
962
Location
Vva. del Rosario - Málaga - España
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Bike
R18, Nimbus Type C sidecar, Vespas
Has anyone encountered the hight of the entre of gravity of the R18?
A pretty good guestimate is that it is about 50 cm. hight but it remains a loose number with too much margin for meaningful calculation.
 
Not a spec I have ever considered but a meaningful one for sure. Manufacturers should list it right up there with height and weight, etc.
 
IMG_2016.jpegYears ago I could have had a go at this but its too long ago to remember formulas now, it’s critical with ships and boats to make them stable and not want to roll over (they have a centre of buoyancy) but I think you are meaning the centre of mass, which is not the same as the C of G, especially in an awkward object that moves and has mass that changes (eg as the petrol tank empties and riders of different weight and height get on & off. Anyhow, I expect the C of M will be somewhere close to crank shaft height (from the floor) and yes will vary by a few mm depending upon the bodywork & height of the various models. Not sure it’s going to keep anyone awake at night but there will be a boffin in BMW that has it all worked out. My fag packet sketch above pins my guesstimate. The red dot. It will be low though compared to very many bikes and be on par with the GW, at or below knee height. It’s why it feels so stable upright but wants to drop away at that ‘ooh-err’ lean angle you don’t want to reach before it’s too late and goes down.
 
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thanks for that @Rufus
A very helpful illustration and what is more some empirical scientific basis!
I was drawing some lines and arrived at 50 cm. without rider.
With my saddle being 75 cm high, even assuming all of the riders weight there, it will not raise the cog to 60 cm.
For sidecar related calculations, 60 cm is therefor imo a safe assumption.
 
Is reducing the weight by replacing the lead acid battery with a much lighter lithium ion battery is a bad thing? the weight reduction being so low?
 
Is reducing the weight by replacing the lead acid battery with a much lighter lithium ion battery is a bad thing? the weight reduction being so low?
It will hardly have an effect:
Total with rider and gas say 450 kg.
Reduction of 10 kg is only 2.2%
Next the battery is only just under the cog so the effect will be under half a cm.
On the sidecar wheel lift the reduction of weight also reduced centrifugal force net resulting in negligeable less lift if anything.
 
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When I got my first transcontinental, I was struck by how nimble it was compared to the HD Roadglide. On the highway, you could just feel the low cg. But the irony is that when turning at low speed it grew heavy quickly. My R18 base is a bit heavy on the turn also.
 
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