The Transport and Road Research Laboratory has previously reported on research which shows that leg protection for motorcyclists can be designed which will be of benefit to the legs without detriment to the head. It has also been shown that the United Kingdom draft specification on leg protection can be successfully applied to a large touring machine. This report describes the application of leg protection to a sports motorcycle Kawasaki GPZ 500s. The purpose of the test series was twofold. First, to show the effect of leg protection, designed and tested to the U.K. draft specification, on the potential leg and head injuries when fitted to a sports motorcycle. The second purpose was to compare the performance of the TRRL injury indicating leg, which is not frangible, with one that is, and to determine whether or not the TRRL leg is an appropriate device with which to assess potential leg injuries and dummy trajectory in motorcycle impact testing.
Abstract