Beautiful Old Motorpacers
05-30-13, 01:39 PM
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Beautiful Old Motorpacers
These were on display in Brooklyn at the City Reliquary. They may still be up. they're from the 30's or 40's. I've seen pictures, but hadn't seen one of these in person until last Sunday. Hard to describe the feeling that went through me when I imagined riding one of these behind a motorcycle at 60+MPH. Lots of amazing details on these bikes - I just stood there staring at them for quite a while, and hated to leave. No, I don't want to ride one.
05-30-13, 01:49 PM
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According to the guy that put on the display, it is - the chainring hanging below it is supposedly the one they used for events. I heard that the "reversed" fork on the other one would help the bike track better at high speeds, but not sure if that's a hard-and-fast requirement.
05-30-13, 02:34 PM
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Better yet, the reverse fork keeps you from crashing when you bump the bar...no?
05-30-13, 02:41 PM
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True. When it comes down to bike dynamics you can choose either a forward trailing fork or a backward trailing one (like on your shopping cart) but due to convention and other considerations (chiefly toe overlap) forks like these are rare.
05-30-13, 03:15 PM
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05-30-13, 08:49 PM
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Love that pic. I thought that, at those speeds, even touching the roller would bring you down? The scary part to me isn't the speed, it's following someone else that closely. And the wooden rims!
05-30-13, 09:07 PM
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some interesting stuff here: https://goodsparkgarage.com/motorcycl...-paced-racing/ 
05-30-13, 09:10 PM
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From Dave Moultons blog site
The Stayer bike as it is called, has a smaller front wheel, a steeper head angle, and reverse fork; all designed to get the rider closer to the motorcycle that is pacing him. There is a roller mounted behind the pace machine, set at a regulation distance. It is up to the rider to get as close to that roller as he can for maximum drafting effect.
If you look at the drawing on the left, you can visualize that a smaller wheel means less trail, a steeper head angle also means less trail, but the reverse fork increases trail to compensate. A stayer bike may have a little more trail than the average track bike, but not an excessive amount.
Another reason to have the fork reversed is that occasionally the rider will bump the roller on the back of the motorcycle. If he does the roller will spin and the fork will flex easier in the direction it is raked or bent, thus absorbing these slight bumps.
If you look at the drawing on the left, you can visualize that a smaller wheel means less trail, a steeper head angle also means less trail, but the reverse fork increases trail to compensate. A stayer bike may have a little more trail than the average track bike, but not an excessive amount.
Another reason to have the fork reversed is that occasionally the rider will bump the roller on the back of the motorcycle. If he does the roller will spin and the fork will flex easier in the direction it is raked or bent, thus absorbing these slight bumps.
05-31-13, 04:13 PM
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