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Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) is a well-known active safety technology widely used in cars. Recently, it has become a mandatory safety feature for two-wheelers. In principle, ABS ensures an optimum braking performance by not allowing the tire to slip beyond a certain level. This guarantees steering stability and peak braking performance of the tire during panic braking situations. As the ABS controller depends on the tire characteristics information for its algorithm, a change in tire or pavement can vary the optimum operating range of ABS. In addition to this, motorcycle tires differ from a car tire in terms of its construction, dimension and compound. Therefore, the motorcycle tire’s performance envelope cannot be directly compared to a car tire. This work presents a methodology which aims to acquire the tire-road friction characteristics of three different tires for a study motorcycle on different friction surfaces through experimentation and estimation techniques.

Personal mobility is evolving in the emerging markets, where the primary need for transportation is met with two wheelers. This reflects on the annual production volumes, which is forecasted to reach 160 million units by 2021[1]. Around 28% of this volume belong to electric two wheelers from China and the remaining are predominantly Internal Combustion Engines (ICE). With the regulators across the globe planning to enforce stricter emission norms in order to improve the air quality and owing to similar demand from the end customers, there is a need for technology to evolve towards harnessing the best energy efficiency using multiple technologies/architectures. However, considering that the majority of two wheelers are used by a population which is cost sensitive, it is imperative that efficient topologies need to be made available at affordable costs. The authors attempt to decipher this need for personal mobility coupled with the stringent regulations.