After @Johnny Depp's Maximizing Range for the Stark Varg, here is a supermoto edition.
When talking about maximizing the range of the Varg, personally I never mentioned changes to its aerodynamics because most of the users of this forum, including me, use it as a dirtbike.
Now there is an official supermoto version and some people have converted MXs or EXs. In a situation like this one I bet that if the same battery and powertrain were used in a sportsbike, those 40 miles wouldn't be a problem; the average slope for 4,000 ft is small and you can still save/regen a bit when downhill.
When a manufacturer wants to maximize range, they will take a lot of care of aerodynamics; the Mercedes Vision EQXX is an example of this, with its 0.17 Cx.
In general, the aerodynamic drag is the major energy dissipator past low speeds; it grows so much faster than the rest of the drags that you can basically say that if your top speed is for example 100 mph with a 30 HP bike, than it means that you need roughly 30 HP just to win the air drag with that particular bike at that speed. If you get some typical Cx values for motorcycles, you'll find out that this realistic experiment matches the formula.
The Cx values I've found online and in books change significantly with a leaning forward rider, so first of all, I'd like to see some testing done with a rider leaning forward vs upright and I expect to see differences.
One thing that I read in a laymem friendly scientific journal years ago was that vortices generated by the wheels are really detrimental for aerodynamic efficiency especially because in a wheel:
• the bottom part in contact with the asphalt is still, even when you are doing 200 mph (actually there is a percentage of slippage: it's almost still)
• the hub moves at the same speed of the vehicle
• the top part moves at twice the speed of the vehicle! If you are doing 50 mph with your Varg, then the top part of your wheels are moving at 100!
Still in that article, they explained that when they tested fairings on wheels in F1 they noticed quite some gains in top speed, like 15 mph. They then went back to open wheels because of a matter of rules and not because they think they are better.
If someone made a front wheel fairing for the Varg covering it close to it, I'd be curious to see whether that would improve the range.
When talking about maximizing the range of the Varg, personally I never mentioned changes to its aerodynamics because most of the users of this forum, including me, use it as a dirtbike.
Now there is an official supermoto version and some people have converted MXs or EXs. In a situation like this one I bet that if the same battery and powertrain were used in a sportsbike, those 40 miles wouldn't be a problem; the average slope for 4,000 ft is small and you can still save/regen a bit when downhill.
When a manufacturer wants to maximize range, they will take a lot of care of aerodynamics; the Mercedes Vision EQXX is an example of this, with its 0.17 Cx.
In general, the aerodynamic drag is the major energy dissipator past low speeds; it grows so much faster than the rest of the drags that you can basically say that if your top speed is for example 100 mph with a 30 HP bike, than it means that you need roughly 30 HP just to win the air drag with that particular bike at that speed. If you get some typical Cx values for motorcycles, you'll find out that this realistic experiment matches the formula.
The Cx values I've found online and in books change significantly with a leaning forward rider, so first of all, I'd like to see some testing done with a rider leaning forward vs upright and I expect to see differences.
One thing that I read in a laymem friendly scientific journal years ago was that vortices generated by the wheels are really detrimental for aerodynamic efficiency especially because in a wheel:
• the bottom part in contact with the asphalt is still, even when you are doing 200 mph (actually there is a percentage of slippage: it's almost still)
• the hub moves at the same speed of the vehicle
• the top part moves at twice the speed of the vehicle! If you are doing 50 mph with your Varg, then the top part of your wheels are moving at 100!
Still in that article, they explained that when they tested fairings on wheels in F1 they noticed quite some gains in top speed, like 15 mph. They then went back to open wheels because of a matter of rules and not because they think they are better.
If someone made a front wheel fairing for the Varg covering it close to it, I'd be curious to see whether that would improve the range.
