Motorcycle Design & Technology: How and Why [Hardcover]

Gaetano Cocco (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1999

Written for everyone from motorcycling greenhorns to technical experts, this illustrated tour of motorcycle physics and mechanics offers a complete presentation of concepts which have never before been so thoroughly and comprehensibly presented in print. After examining the physical phenomena that govern the handling of a motorcycle, the text goes on to explain the various types of components that come together and make the bike go. Applicable to all makes and models, a generous selection of illustrations and photographs help readers visualize the topics at hand, allowing them to hit the saddle with a more complete awareness that enhances the riding experience.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 215 pages
• Publisher: Giorgio Nada Editore (October 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 8879111892
• ISBN-13: 978-8879111898
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 10.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,087,163 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

59 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Track or road, this is about the forces that apply, November 17, 1999

By 

David T. Johnson (Los Gatos, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Motorcycle Design & Technology: How and Why (Hardcover)

This book is all about the general theory behind suspension, frames, and tires. It provides a host of formulas complete with supporting graphics. Great stuff to impress your friends. What this book is not is a how-to manual for setting up a race bike, and/or resolving the likes or real world scenarios you would encounter on or off the track. The chapter on engines is mostly about vibrations, forces of rotations, and how they bolt into frames. The language conversion (Italian to English) is proper, but not smooth-often making it hard to determine if he's staying on the subject. If you want one book to learn the most from, buy Keith Cameron's Sport Bike Performance Handbook (ISBN076030229). If you have money left over, buy this one. However, this book would be a great (okay...excellent) gift item for anyone that rides street or track performance motos. By the way, it equally covers Italian, Japanese and German designs.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great for learning the theory, but...., February 1, 2006

By 

GS (San Antonio, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Motorcycle Design and Technology Handbook (Motorbooks Workshop) (Paperback)

...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.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting book, with many imperfections, January 7, 2002

By 

Alberto M. Marchetti - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Motorcycle Design & Technology: How and Why (Hardcover)

This book is very interesting because it helps understanding the physical behavior of a motorcycle. However it contains many errors and imperfections. E.g.: you can't introduce a formula without explaining the meaning of all the symbols or you cannot write "a.tan" instead of "arctan". If you need a more correct and scientific book, I recommend "Cinematic & Dynamics of a Motorcycle" by Vittore Cossalter, University of Padova.