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Motorcycle Book Store > Motorcycle books beginning with M
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Motorcycle Design and Technology Handbook (Motorbooks Workshop) |
Author: Gaetano Cocco
Published: 2004-08-01 |
List price: $25.95
Our price: $19.72
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As of: August 20th, 2008 12:13:08 PM
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Customer comments on this selection.
 Content great, binding very poort
The content is great for helping anyone with a moderate knowledge of math and physics understand the forces at work in motorcycle dynamics. And while most of us ride and do what we do without understanding why, this book will allow you to add the kind of knowledge that can only lead to more expert riding.
The binding of the book is tragic ... I've not completed reading the book and fully 1/3 of the pages broke loose from the binding. I'm going to have it spiral bound before finishing the book.
Great for learning the theory, but....
...don't take everything as gospel. This isn't to say Mr. Cocco doesn't know what he's talking about, as he obviously does - he just sometimes doesn't make things very clear when he's using English as opposed to Italian. Some of it is rough translation, while some of it is just shoddy editing. In particular, I think whoever edited it didn't do much math or engineering. Some of the equations themselves have typos (an explaination of an equation describes two different variables when only one exists in the equation... but twice), many of the variables aren't explained, and some equations just don't make sense (a force divided by a distance equals another force). And the chapter on aerodynamics needs to be reworked - there are a few times when downforce and lift are used interchangeably even though they're opposing each other, and since those are the key points in the chapter it makes the rest of it harder to follow.
That being said, if you just take this as basic theory and don't try to build any mathematical models or anything off it, it's an excellent source of info. Mr. Cocco is one of the best in the field and does a good job of getting fairly specific in a relatively short book. The illustrations are great in demonstrating ideas that are hard to visualize just based on his writing, and the equations, if not completely accurate/explained, give a good basic idea of how the stuff is looked at analytically. It's also nice to have a book dedicated just to describing the dynamics and forces involved. So if you're looking for anything regarding engine tuning, look elsewhere. The extent to which engines are involved here are their affects on weight transfer, CG height, etc...
If you're looking for the most difinitive and thorough explaination of the subject, get "Motorcycle Dynamics" by Vittore Cossalter. Mr. Cocco did cite Mr. Cossalter as his main scientific source, after all. But if you'd just like to get a general "so that's why that happens" idea of all the little things your bike does, this is the book for you.
 Translation malfeasance
I've only just started reading, so most of this review is based upon visual impression.The graphs, charts, and diagrams look clear, the text easy to read. However, the translation could have found a better word than "couple" in chapter 4. Especially since "moment" (or even "force") is a much clearer fit -- try it, substitute either word for "couple" in "... you will feel is the action of a couple on your arms..." Hopefully, this is the most egregarious problem in the translation.
This is a book on physics as it relates to motorcycles
This is a good book if you want to read about the physics of motorcycles and the different technologies but it is not a design book. It has a lot of formulas (know your greek alphabet) but the math is simple. I found this book interesting but now I still need to find a book on design of motorcycles.
 No More Misconceptions
Have you ever wondered why your motorcycle's handling changed from the way you intended? This book will clear up all your misconceptions and guide you towards your desired specific task. This is a book for graduate school designers, but presents information that is easily understood. This is brain food for the technicallly inclined.
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