Wednesday, 5 August 2020

If you know the logic behind how an object falls and centre of gravity then you may skip this portion and directly jump to paddock stand section.


Newton 1st law of motion states that an object will remain in motion or rest (inertia) unless an external force is applied on it to change its state. This law applies on everything, even on a two-wheeler motorcycle/bike. Either stopping power or acceleration should be greater than the current state in which the body is to observe the end effect. When a rider is sitting on his bike with both his legs landed on the road, all the forces mainly weight of bike are balanced by the legs to keep the bike in standing position. Legs exert an external force on the bike which allows it to remain in that position. What happens if the legs are withdrawn?

The bike will fall down because the external force to counter the weight of the bike is now absent. There is one more reason behind the fall which is that every object wants to attain minimum energy state. Just like, if you are standing(high energy consuming posture) for a long time, you would want to sit down after some time. This later posture is a less energy consuming state. After sitting for long hours, you would want to lie down on your bed which is even more less energy consuming state. Hence, every object wants to attain minimum energy state.


Free fall

Without any support or external force, a bike would fall for sure but on which side? The responsibility is totally taken by its centre of gravity. Technically, it is also known as gyroscopic stability. Centre of gravity is actually an imaginary location of a point at which overall weight of the bike is getting concentrated. It keeps on shifting when a bike is moving. Centre of gravity in a bike is determined by the location of its engine, transmission, exhaust system, pannier bags and so on. If centre of gravity is shifted to the right due the location of these parts, then it will tend towards its right and fall down ultimately. Same goes in a left side fall.

First leg operated stand was designed by Albert Berruyer in 1869 and was fitted on a bicycle. Different types of kickstands got developed after series of reinventions which are still widely used. Side stand, centre stand, flick stand, paddock stand etc are some of the egs.


Paddock stand


Being the heaviest among others, it is used in MotoGP. Also used by the crowd who like to work on their bikes, remove parts and again put them back together. This is not like a regular stand which is bolted to the chassis and moves with the bike but rather kept in the garage and is put on the moment a bike arrives in. Benefit of a paddock stand is that both wheels are in air and free to rotate without disturbing the overall position of the bike. This cannot be achieved in a normal centre stand which is unable to stop the bike from oscillating back and forth. In this manner, the bike could be accessed easily. Jobs like engine service, chain lubrication, wheel change, wheel balancing and many more becomes very easy with a paddock stand.

Construction

Paddock stands are made of light weight alumimium. It is a rectangular frame closed on one end and open on the other. The closed end has a handle. The two horizontal arms of the stand travel straight and then rise vertically upwards to greater angle that depends on the dimension of the bike. Horizontal arms act as a strong and stable support or base of the stand. Point at which the arms rise has small sliding wheels each. These wheels make paddock stand operation easy. The rectangular frame design is concluded by holding mounts on each vertical arm. Usually axle bolts of a bike sit easily in these holding mounts. It comes with different shapes and sizes depending on the model.

 Paddock stand works on lever mechanism in which a person applies certain amount of force on one end in downward direction. This force gets transferred to the other end making it to lift up. After aligning holding mounts to axle bolts, he applies a downward force on the handle that results in lifting the other end ultimately raising up the bike. Small wheels on each arm of the stand give rolling effect to make the mechanism smooth. The same procedure is followed to use front paddock stand. It is easy and safe to use.


 In MotoGP, wheels are kept in tyre warmers and they cannot be rolled until the final seconds of the race arrive. Paddock stand is used to keep the bike off grounded and also to carry out last minute changes or adjustments prior to a race.


I have come up with another revolutionary type of stand below.Drop your comments and let me know your views. Thankyou!!!! 




                                               by Aman Mishra  A.K.A  AUTOVOGUE


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