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Well it's not finished, but it's in use and so much damn fun that further improvements will be tricky lol




A video of my mate riding around Assen, sorry about the crap footage.

https://www.youtube.com/v/zdIgecNPASM

Managed to tear myself away for a little while and add some basic buttons.

I re-loaded win7 with the recovery disk included in the package when I bought the pc

You will have Acer stuff running then. I would try the msconfig tool to get the cleanest boot you can to test GPB with, it very easy to do and undo. In the msconfig tool (hit the start button and type "msconfig") click the "startup" tab and hit "disable all", then on the "services" tab check "Hide all Microsoft services" and then "disable all", then OK and reboot. If it makes no difference just reverse the above to get back to as you were.
If that still gives no joy I'd also be trying a full scan disk - in an elevated command prompt type "chkdsk c: /r" and answer yes to "do you want this to run after a reboot as the drive is locked" question, this will take some time to complete. It's possible your GPB 6c install is using different parts of the disk than earlier versions.
Have you tried any other Open GL based games?
You're running an i5 chip, have you loaded the latest chipset drivers?
Is your DirectX fully updated? I'm not sure but this might still be used for controller input?
Have you tested your memory?

OK ta, I will test centering with bungees when it's up and running, which should be this weekend hopefully.

So when will we see the rig in your videos in the shops then DD? 

Most impressive to hear that you could DD.

So how's your rig holding up davidboda?

I feel for you ghostchild these problems are soul destroying  the only good point is that your crashes are consistent which can actually make fault finding easier.
When you re-loaded windows, was it from an MS disk or do you use a manufacturers disk/recovery partition with bloatware to load it? Have you tried msconfig to disable all unnecessary start-up items and services? I would also disable your AV but only test offline before re-enabling it.
As the problem exists before and after an OS reload it points to either a hardware problem or the same software interfering which you've now re-loaded during the restore.
Also do you have any problems showing in your device manager or does the event log show any other issues along side the core.exe crashes?

Would be great to see a rig that can do this to you when you do a virtual high-side, within a padded room of course lol

looking at that.. its screaming out "back ache" lol

Fair comment BOB, I had originally gone for an exact dimension match of my GSXR but then realized it would be like riding in slow traffic all the time!  So I've gone for more of a Bandit type of riding position. Also those dimensions are no good for using this rig in front of your average desk and monitor setup so I've shrunk it's height all round and made the steering adjustable so you could use it on your knees and also standing upright. With that and the seat to handle bar adjustment it should allow anyone of any size to set it up as they wish.

@DD - Did you find the steering center spring was necessary? I was thinking of maybe just putting on an adjustable steering damper for some resistance.

My mate has finished the steering base, just got to make and fit the control mechanics then wire it up. It's a blatant copy of DDs rig and I thank him for saving me a load of time working out how best to mount the handle bars to the pivot.

The seat section has been thoroughly tested and has stood up well. Just got to work out what might be best to use for foam, rubber or other pliable stuff to give the rear brake a hydraulic brake feel, I'll be using the same thing for the front brake too.

A few questions I have is ---
Can I play this game multiplier but have two separate displays ( run it off one computer and have two separate screens ?
CAn I play a local area network game?

I've not seen an in-game option for multi screens myself, bring on the oculus 
GPB works fine on a LAN, mixed with online is ok too. Need a license for each LAN PC mind.

Also good luck if you go for the Manx TT arcade build, would be sweet and very do-able although you may need to swap out the sensors if they're not compatible. If sensors are needed consider hall effect ones as they're non contact and wont wear out like pots.

With some old parts from my SRAD 750 I've made this and it seems to work pretty well after some tweaking. Got a mate sorting me some bearings and a mount for the steering assembly but for now I use this with my MS Sidewinder 2 joystick. I just need to make the pegs a bit more comfy for feet in socks.

Sweet vid, he is using both counter steering and much opposite lock, opposite lock looks most impressive, speedway style!

HornetMax you are correct. I see this topic has been argued by many for a while now But I have seen no mention of 90 degree centrifugal displacement http://super.nova.org/RC/CauseEffect/ "When force is applied to a spinning rotor like a bike wheel or helicopter flybar and rotor, the change direction occurs 90° at a right-angle to the input." Do you know of it's effect while riding?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuRlxpC9l-g - Can't see how this is called counter steering but 90 degree centrifugal displacement might explain it.

Seems to me without the 3rd lean input it's like riding while being bolted in a frame with your torso upright on the bike, do you think that would allow someone to ride normally? Also if I pull away from stop and want go left, I steer left and lean left, which, as you say, is why the GPB model feels a bit odd at low speeds. I'm also considering MXB with this controller, which will involve more slower speeds and scrubbing etc, I wonder if the inputs will be the same?

The same was confusing me while considering the required axis needed for a sit on controller build. I then just resigned myself to that only lean is going to work with this game. I had thought that to be more realistic I'd need 3 directional axis -

1/. Steering
2/. Bike Lean
3/. Rider Lean

But then noticed the game does not have these, so gave up on it. Then I see this direct steer option, which gave me hope, but it does not work as I had expected at all, as with direct steer on you get to steer but now no lean?

So I though OK I ride road bikes, MX bikes and pushbikes, so how do I ride them.....  I Soon found it's not so easy to articulate verbally, for me anyway, can anyone else? Do we need 3 axis as above to get nearer to the real thing?

On a real bike you don't have an independent bike lean input: the bike leans due to the torque you apply to the handlebar and due to your body movements.
That's why if you use direct steer you have no lean input (and rightly so).

Making a sit-on controller that tries to mimic a real motorbike is tough. Very tough. Most of the people I've seen trying this have given the dream up or have ended up with something much farther from their initial objective (maybe still enjoyable, but that's not the same thing).

From a purely theoretical standpoint you'd need:

• the trivial stuff: throttle, clutch and brakes axis.
• 2 input axes for rider lean left/right and fwd/back (rider lean, not bike lean).
• 1 axis associated to a torque sensor: it won't move due to your input (something like a load cell, except it  is torsional and not "linear"). That would provide GPB the torque you apply to the handlebar. You'd have to use direct steer torque (not direct steer angle).
• 1 output axis for the steering: GPB will dictate the position of the handlebars. The actuator should be (in principle) perfect: instantaneous and with unlimited torque (in practice, very fast ompared to the typical max frequency of handlebar movements and stronger than your arms).
• 1 output axis for the bike lean: GPB will dictate the bike lean (making your frame lean).

Notice how the steering works: you do not dictate the handlebar angle directly. You apply a torque, then GPB "decides" how the handlebar will move due to the combination of your input and the other torques acting on the front head (coming from road-tire interaction, centrifugal forces and gyro torques).

Even with that (which is very very tricky to build), it won't be perfect as you'd miss the interaction between your body and the chassis (which are kind of simulated by 2 input axis for rider lean).
Potentially you could put the same sort of torque sensor on the controller frame lean axis, but then GPB should provide an additional input.

It's a very very high call for a mere passionate.

MaX.

I've been reading this and other info on this and doing some observations while riding my own real bikes. All said above is correct for racing at speed but if we just for a moment forget all the FFB/torque and frame movement and only focus on the controls used to actually corner a bike I think we're missing an input which is lean (while using direct steer) in GPB. My only argument for this is that a rider can corner on a real bike without their hands on the handlebars. Based on this it seems to me that 3 inputs are involved - rider/bike lean, steering and rider position.

Applying force to the inside handle bar (counter steering) seems to be more a racing option where turns might need to be made as fast as possible, but is not actually necessary to corner a bike.

I appreciate that these controls might not be possible or practical to include but If you imagine mounting an FFB steering wheel (steering) on a simple lean pivot (rider/bike lean) and using the likes of the upcoming Oculus Rift for rider position (3rd input) then you could get a very sim like experience without actual frame lean or anything as complicated or expensive being involved. I do appreciate that there will be no correlation between steering input and leaning as per the real thing regarding counter steering but I don't see why the game can't take over this action when speeds increase and then only provide FFB for effect.
If the 3rd input is never going to happen so be it, a frame with lean and rider position will still do well along with throttle, front brake, clutch and also rear sets with brake and gear change. I guess I want make sure this will not happen before I start planning my build but it does seem that all the controls I mention are there but just not simultaneously.

I'd appreciate any input anyone has on this.

Teeds

But not in GP Bikes As the bike gains some speed the steering has no clear connection to what I do with the wheel. And that's a real problem for me in case the simulator I'm building.
Can anyone explain it to me?

The same was confusing me while considering the required axis needed for a sit on controller build. I then just resigned myself to that only lean is going to work with this game. I had thought that to be more realistic I'd need 3 directional axis -

1/. Steering
2/. Bike Lean
3/. Rider Lean

But then noticed the game does not have these, so gave up on it. Then I see this direct steer option, which gave me hope, but it does not work as I had expected at all, as with direct steer on you get to steer but now no lean?

So I though OK I ride road bikes, MX bikes and pushbikes, so how do I ride them.....  I Soon found it's not so easy to articulate verbally, for me anyway, can anyone else? Do we need 3 axis as above to get nearer to the real thing?