Professor helps connect bikers on the Internet Dr. Mike Hilgers knows that riding a motorcycle is an emotional experience. That's why he's helping Honda engineers generate virtual feedback about motorcycle design from real bikers.
People can become very attached to the way their motorcycle looks in addition to the way it rides.
Thanks to a grant from Honda , Hilgers has created his Blueprint a Bike Web site that features an interactive blueprint of a Honda Shadow. Motorcycle enthusiasts can access the blueprint and make changes to various angles by clicking on the handle bars, for instance. Feedback is monitored, calculated and averaged in order to derive quantitative information about the most appealing features of a motorcycle's design. Honda will eventually be able to use the information to make decisions about future designs. In motorcycles, I suspect the triangle is most appealing aesthetically.