Why do we buy high-powered motorcycles?

[miles]

Another thread got me thinking about this.

I own a bike which has more horsepower than my pickup truck.  How does that possibly make sense?



Discuss.

[Sport-Touring]

[phoenix]

to go faster

[kevin_stevens]

Sounds like you need a new pickup truck.  

KeS

[1moreroad]

Another thread got me thinking about this.

I own a bike which has more horsepower than my pickup truck.  How does that possibly make sense?



Discuss.

It doesn't.  You should buy a supermoto that has half the horsepower but creates twice as much fun as your BMW.  (This is kind of a "my bike is the bestest" response and kind of a "just buy the darn thing already" response)  

[chornbe]

  I had a ball leading a pretty spirited ride today on my 883 - totally stock engine. I don't feel at all like I needed more and I was leading at a pace that ended up leaving 1/2 the group to kind of create a "slow group".

[ol Rocket]

Miles, as my cornering skills decrease due to increasing age, I find I can still compensate by twisting it up quickly on the straights.  I know this will only work a short period of time longer.  As I see it, I now need about 1000 hp to make up for the lost cornering prowess.

[garry]

To paraphrase the Cleavage is Good thread: Acceleration is Good

[Jetpilot5]

Laziness.  It's not the top end I love, but the torque.  The ability to squirt past traffic with just a quick twist of the wrist.

[atypical1]

The ability to squirt past traffic with just a quick twist of the wrist.

Yeah, but I can do that on my low powered motorcycle too  

james

[Jetpilot5]

Yeah, but I can do that on my low powered motorcycle too  

james

But I don't want to downshift.

[Breadman]

I bought a powerful motorcycle to compensate for my laughably minute manhood, of course!

[Squareman357]

Yeah, but I can do that on my low powered motorcycle too  

james

Not in 5th at 85 mph...

[Windblown]

Because we can!

[Jetpilot5]

I bought a powerful motorcycle to compensate for my laughably minute manhood, of course!

[atypical1]

Not in 5th at 85 mph...

Yeah, I can.

james

[duceduceexplorer]

becuase its easier to buy a more powerful bike where you 3/4 throttle it. then to buy a less power full bike and have to spend tons of $$ getting your throttle to go from 0%-100% in a VERY short turn of the wrist...oh and i make torque mother bitches that can pull trucks out of ditches!

[kevin_stevens]

So I got the question in the other thread "How often do you accelerate at wide-open throttle?".

IMHO, that's a bad question.  The direct answer is "As often as I do on any bike I ride."  But focusing the question on the throttle puts the emphasis on the requirement rather than the solution.  You go wide-open throttle whenever you want the motorcycle to accelerate as fast as it possibly can, without regard for exactly how fast that may be.  Those adrenaline situations, whether born of fear or excitement, don't have anything to do with what motorcycle you are on.

Another question is "How much power is enough?"  It's really a rhetorical question, because there's no answer - however, there are a couple of ways to respond that kind of frame the discussion.  One would be "About 30HP is enough to stay with any legal highway speed and provide a margin for passing when needed."  The extreme would be the classic "When you can spin the rear wheel(s) all the way down the longest straightaway."  Both are true statements given the possible interpretations of "enough".

So putting those red herrings to the side - why do *I* prefer to ride a motorcycle with almost 200HP?  The simple answer is that I treat my motorcycle as a riding tool, not a riding companion.  I want the engine to be smooth, silent, and as nearly as possible a direct extension of the throttle grip.  I want it to have enough power to accelerate the motorcycle as rapidly as the motorcycle itself can support, and I don't want to have to stop and think about what specific point I'm at in the powerband, and what the engine is *about* to do in the next 500rpm.  I have a turbo car running over 21lbs of boost if I want to do that.  I want that power available somewhere at or near the normal operating rpm of the bike, and I want it to be able to cover a range of at least 30mph without having to shift.

The reality of engine design and motorcycle sales means that the best fit for my needs is one of the "hyperbikes" - the ZX-14, Hayabusa, or K1300S.  I said "best fit", not "perfect fit".   The 14 is probably over-powered for my needs.  I don't have a need to go 197mph (unrestricted top speed), or 186mph (restricted top speed), or even 164mph (fastest I've gone).  I'd be just as happy if the bike had a top end of 120mph.  But bikes that have a top end of 120mph don't meet the requirements above.

The other compromises inherent in a 200HP bike aren't significant negatives for me.  Mileage is worse than a smaller engine, but it's still better than any car I'd be driving.  The bike is heavier, but not to a point that is noticeable to me.  Let me characterize that a bit more.  I can lean down off of my 14 and pick up a glove without being unduly worried about dropping it.  When I pick it up off the sidestand, it's an unconscious action, not a premeditated heave.  And the speed with which I can go from full-left to full-right is limited by my ability to reset my position and initiate the turn, not by the bike's responsiveness.  Beyond such practical considerations, why should I care?

The other physical size issue is wheelbase.  Wheelbase in motorcycles affects basically two things:  how rapidly the bike turns for a particular degree of lean, and how much force is transferred under acceleration/deceleration.  The first I've pretty much addressed above; I don't mind leaning a bit further (or cornering a bit slower at the same lean angle) - I'm not racing anybody.  The second is a bigger deal to me.  Most SS liter bikes, and some of the 600s, are limited in how hard they can accelerate in their lower gears by how wheelie-prone they are.  ALL modern SS bikes are limited in how hard they can decelerate by how stoppie-prone they are.  The tradeoff is worth it on the track because a) they are usually accelerating in their upper gears where it isn't a limiting factor, and b) they need every bit of cornering ability they can get.  These same tradeoffs are, for me, completely reversed on the street.  I want to be able to use *all* of the acceleration available from the engine short of spinning that rear tire, and typically I'm doing this below 100mph.  I tried that on my GSX-R1K at 80mph and found myself doing a standup power wheelie in second gear.  Not helpful.  Try that on the ZX-14 and you are simply catapulted instantly forward.  When I do an emergency stop on my 748, I'm carefully monitoring the front brake pressure - but for what?  Not for impending front lockup - I can't lock that front wheel on clean pavement.  I'm monitoring the seat lift and trying to assess when the rear is coming off the ground!  That's the limiting factor in how hard I can stop, and it shouldn't be.  The traction available to the front tire should be.  Wheelbase on street bikes is a *good* thing.

So after this dissertation, the short answer is "I buy high-powered motorcycles to get consistent results throughout the performance envelope I use."  The fact that such bikes actually have ultimate limits far beyond that envelope is totally irrelevant to me - I have to choose from what the manufacturers sell.  Besides, I already have the t-shirt:
http://www.aerostich.com/catalog/US/Small-Big-p-16865.html

KeS

[atypical1]

But I don't want to downshift.

Now that makes sense. I'll say one thing about Kev's ZX14, it's like owning an automatic. I literally took it from around 30 mph to something north of that without having to leave 3d. I think that's the real strength of that bike (and of high powered bikes in general).

james

[swimmer]

Another thread got me thinking about this.





Discuss.

How dare you!?

[emillard]

Sounds like you need a new pickup truck.  

KeS

+1