A design guide for motorcycles was recently finalised and launched by the international insurance industry.

The main objective is to reduce overall crash repair costs without compromising safety and other statutory design requirements.

This is the culmination of work by motorcycle insurers in Australia, England, Spain, Germany and USA over the past 18 months.

http://www.rcar.org/Papers/Design%20Guides/MotorcycleDesignGuideMarch2009.pdf

RCAR is an international organisation consisting of individual national insurance research centres. The overall objective of RCAR is to improve the safety, security, quality, design and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles in order to reduce ownership costs, including insurance costs.

In recent decades, motor vehicles have evolved to incorporate features that enhance performance and occupant safety while reducing running costs and environmental impact. International insurance companies have played a major role in influencing modern car design with the aim of reducing repair costs and increasing vehicle security and occupant protection.

Unfortunately, motorcycles have evolved along different design parameters, the emphasis being predominantly on styling and performance. Modern motorcycles often feature unrepairable exotic materials and finishes, expensive composite bodywork and highly vulnerable major components.

Each year, insurance companies throughout the world pay large sums of money in motorcycle damage claims. Many insurance claims involve motorcycles which have simply fallen over while stationary. Insurers frequently write off these motorcycles as total losses, due to excessive damage. Several factors influence the cost of these claims, including design features, manufacturing materials, surface finishes, pricing of replacement parts and available methods of repair.

Given the international nature of motorcycle design and production, the purpose of the design guide is to assist manufacturers everywhere to optimize their products by incorporating design features which enhance low speed crash performance. IAG’s motorcycle research is here:

http://www.iagresearch.com.au/content/view/11/20/

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