Jeremy Sparks, ME student at UK and Graduate of Estill County High School, at Harley Davidson/Buell Motorcycle in East Troy, WI

Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Company: Ride and Handling Lab

Buell Motorcycle Company, East Troy , WI

Spring 2007, Tour 3

Harley-Davidson is the leading domestic producer of v-twin motorcycles. Keeping up with a diverse market, Harley-Davidson purchased Buell Motorcycle Company in 1993. With my position in the Ride and Handling Lab (RHL) I have the opportunity to work with both Harley-Davidson and Buell model motorcycles. Harley-Davidson is a publicly owned company whose shares are viewed under "HOG." There was recently a union employee strike at one of the manufacturing plants which reduced the volume of produced motorcycles in the first quarter of 2007. With that, the stock prices dropped quickly, but have been on a steady increase in the last months.

The Buell lineup of motorcycles is geared more towards a younger generation regarded as more influenced by speed and handling than touring capabilities. Buell Motorcycle Company is still considered small by most standards, but their popularity continues to grow worldwide with new models and industry leading design principles. Buell's goal is not necessarily to have the top speed, but rather offer a motorcycle that can allow the rider to go faster in most street situations. Design engineers at Buell have what they refer to as the "Trilogy of Tech." This is a list of what they strive for to design a better handling motorcycle:

1. Mass Centralization
2. Low Unsprung Weight
3. Frame Rigidity

To support the design principles, the RHL has developed fixtures to measure CG, inertia tensor, and stiffness of components and complete motorcycles. The concept of mass centralization revolves around the inertia of the motorcycle. The more mass you can have closer to the center of gravity of the motorcycle, the easier it will be to maneuver the motorcycle. Low, unsprung weight is aimed at reducing the weight of components not held up by the suspension (i.e. wheels, brakes, rotors). Reducing the mass of these components can allow better acceleration and braking by having less rotating mass. Frame rigidity is solely for handling purposes and is stated most simply by saying that you want your wheels to stay aligned at all times. A lot of torque can be generated at the road/tire contact patch in a hard turn. If the wheels do not remained aligned, the handling can become erratic quickly.

The position has not been much different from my initial expectations. In the beginning, I was slightly overwhelmed with the monitoring equipment that is used to gather the data. There were data acquisition units (Edaq) that I had never seen or heard of before. However, my supervisor was an electronics major so he was able to explain the logic of the gathering technique. The toughest principle I had to deal with repeatedly was when is a measurement good enough? What I came to realize was that's a question that everyone has to deal with. When a fixture is developed, an accuracy is typically chosen by the requestor. The goal of the lab is to meet that request and improve when possible. In one instance we were trying to improve on a .4% error. At that time, it was frustrating in trying to understand the error and how to correct.

One of the most interesting facets of the motorcycle test environment is that it has mostly been subjective testing from a rider in the past so not a lot of equipment is out there specifically for motorcycles. You get to face the challenge of actually building the equipment from nothing. This can be very challenging, but rewarding in the end.

There are always things that we can improve on and if I were given a chance to start this co-op over again I would probably ask even more questions and get involved in other opportunities with co-workers. The opportunities for skill development from this position are vast. Not only was I able to learn engineering principles and design fixturing devices for test equipment, I actually got to make some of it. If the part did not require extreme machining, I was able to do it on my own in the machine shop. This allowed me to learning how to use a milling machine and lathe as well as do more than just crunch numbers.

Communication was also very important in this position. Every Monday, my supervisor and I had a meeting with the RHL coordinator who was at another lab in Florida . These meetings were to discuss progress from the previous week and plan for the current week's items. With the other lab being 1,000 miles away it was extremely important to discuss topics fully and consistently to keep everyone on the same page.

The position requires a strong understanding of principles studied in engineering classes. Inertia, torque, gyros, and oscillatory motion were discussed at least 3-4 times a week. Statistics is an area that I wish I knew more about for this position. When completing measurements and validating a fixture, a lot of statistical analysis needed to be done before taking the next steps of putting the fixture into use.

Nothing can teach you the "real world" better than participating in it for an extended period of time. This co-op has introduced me to the frustrations and rewards of working in a technical lab environment where the data I gather must be accurate. Some of the data is used for company support in law cases. That was some added pressure!

The technical knowledge gained from this rotation has been great. Even though I'm not solving equations all of the time, discussions of fixture requirements have allowed me to understand the mechanics of dynamics motorcycles motion much better. Much of the understanding arises from becoming familiar with industry standards of reporting and design, but much of it is conceptual as well, so an imaginative mind that can picture in 3D is very helpful.

This position has not changed my educational or career goals but it has convinced me even more that this is what I would like to do. I love motorcycles and would like to know as much as I can about them and with a company as innovative as this one the opportunities are endless.

My workdays begin at 7:00am with my supervisor going through our task list and planning for the day. During my term, we had just received a new fixture and I did lot of accuracy and repeatability tests which took a majority of my day. Outside of validating the fixtures, I would complete work orders which could be for any test in the lab: center of gravity, component inertia, full vehicle inertia, alignment, front end stiffness, or frame stiffness.

Being a small company the co-workers were great. They don't just pass you with a "Hi," but instead start up a more personable conversation. Since most of the people love motorcycling as well you could always talk about what's new, a ride you had, or your own motorcycle.

The most important learning source for me was the position itself. This was my third rotation, so the environment was different but not something new. Meeting people is always fun, too. You have to step out of your own boundaries and meet new people, especially in my situation where I knew nobody when I moved here.

The town where my apartment was located was really small, but of course it did have a Wal-Mart which supported most of my shopping. Since the apartment was furnished by the company, the main expenses were groceries and gas which accounted for ~$250 a month. I also joined a local gym and rented a storage unit which added another $120 monthly. Those expenses were very moderate and allowed me to save a good amount of money for tuition and other loans. Since I was making money, I did have to watch myself and not waste my savings on things I didn't need (such as another motorcycle!).