bmer97
New member
http://www.mcnews.com/mcn/ but I could find the article exclusively in their July 2006 issue (Motorcycle Consumer News)
Author is Wendy Moon, quoting study by Dr. Jesse Wobrock, "MADYMO Simulation, Reconstruction, and Biomechanical Analysis of Motorcycle Crashes"
If your gas tank angles sharply up from your seat (most sport bikes), you have a BIG problem....
Hitting a sharply upwardly angled gas tank at 30 mph is equivalent to falling from 3 story building striking your groin onto brick wall....OUCH
Blunt force trauma against gas tank can damage genitals and cause permanent loss of sexual activity and ability to urinate, not to mention death.
Article's primary thrust is consideration of gas tank shapes and positions...less angled and lower the better. Pelvis fractures from striking the gas tank have 50% mortality rate; 11% of 3720 motorcycle injuries involved pelvic fractures.
Harry Hurt, primary author of the first mc accident causation report (Hurt Report), describes Dr. Wobrock's conclusions as "absolutely gold-plated when it comes to impact speed and pelvic force". Hurt is preparing his own study of sportbike injuries, and specifically sportbike DESIGN as a variable.
Newer sportbikes tend to have more dangerously designed tanks and overall motorcycle design. Soft rounded gas tank shapes were common in the past, as were knee cutouts on the tank.
Harry Hurt's publications include: Hurt, H.H., Jr. (1984). Motorcyclist Protection, Biomechanics of Impact Trauma, American Association of Automotive Medicine and International Research Council on the Biomechanics of Trauma; Hurt, H.H., Jr., Ouellet J.V. & Wagar I.J. (1981a); Effectiveness of Motorcycle Safety Helmets and Protective Clothing, Proceedings of the American Association for Automotive Medicine; Hurt, H.H. Jr., Ouellet, J.V. & Thom D.R. (1981b). Motorcycle Accident Cause Factors and Identification of Countermeasures. (DOT HS 805 862). Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Author is Wendy Moon, quoting study by Dr. Jesse Wobrock, "MADYMO Simulation, Reconstruction, and Biomechanical Analysis of Motorcycle Crashes"
If your gas tank angles sharply up from your seat (most sport bikes), you have a BIG problem....
Hitting a sharply upwardly angled gas tank at 30 mph is equivalent to falling from 3 story building striking your groin onto brick wall....OUCH
Blunt force trauma against gas tank can damage genitals and cause permanent loss of sexual activity and ability to urinate, not to mention death.
Article's primary thrust is consideration of gas tank shapes and positions...less angled and lower the better. Pelvis fractures from striking the gas tank have 50% mortality rate; 11% of 3720 motorcycle injuries involved pelvic fractures.
Harry Hurt, primary author of the first mc accident causation report (Hurt Report), describes Dr. Wobrock's conclusions as "absolutely gold-plated when it comes to impact speed and pelvic force". Hurt is preparing his own study of sportbike injuries, and specifically sportbike DESIGN as a variable.
Newer sportbikes tend to have more dangerously designed tanks and overall motorcycle design. Soft rounded gas tank shapes were common in the past, as were knee cutouts on the tank.
Harry Hurt's publications include: Hurt, H.H., Jr. (1984). Motorcyclist Protection, Biomechanics of Impact Trauma, American Association of Automotive Medicine and International Research Council on the Biomechanics of Trauma; Hurt, H.H., Jr., Ouellet J.V. & Wagar I.J. (1981a); Effectiveness of Motorcycle Safety Helmets and Protective Clothing, Proceedings of the American Association for Automotive Medicine; Hurt, H.H. Jr., Ouellet, J.V. & Thom D.R. (1981b). Motorcycle Accident Cause Factors and Identification of Countermeasures. (DOT HS 805 862). Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
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