Hello John, I read the taping of forks exclusion and thought of Rollie Free
and his 1948 record run on the Vincent bike. I've seen pictures of his
taping of the girder front end for streamlining. Must of helped.
As to why modern bikes aren't faired, I think its a combination of front
fender shape and brake caliper location. The fender of my Ducati flows to
the outside of the fork, smoothing the air flow. Also, on my bike, the forks
are upside down. The outer fork leg is at the top, lower fork on the bottom.
A bit less resistance than the thickness of a conventional "right side up"
lower legs. Thinking of my Harley fender, the fender is entirely inside of
the fork tubes. Big lower legs of the Harley forks could use a faired shape.
Regarding the brake caliper mounting, after the caliper is mounted, the
lowest part of the fork is minimal, a couple of inches at most. I know this
won't go over well but, there's a lot more low hanging fruit to grab before
I'd work on the lower forks.
I haven't seen much on aerodynamics on motorcycles although , I once saw a
very streamlined looking euro m/cycle that required the rider to wear a fin
on his back. Kind of like a shark fin. And I do believe that I have read
language in the rules excluding said device.
Regards,
Dale Krumheuer
Lakewood, OH
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