[Lindy]

Here's the math for the last post....

If the real time, known only to God, was 4.39 sec, then:
(0.25 miles / 4.39 sec) * (3600 sec / hr) = 205 mph

If the real time, known only to God, was 4.89 sec, then:
(0.25 miles / 4.89 sec) * (3600 sec / hr) = 184 mph

It seems more likely to me that the guy on the bike actually took 4.89 seconds (=184 mph) to go the 1/4 mile, and the cop with the stopwatch in the airplane jumped the gun by only 0.5 seconds -- getting a time of 4.39 seconds (= 205 mph).

 

[Stephonovich]

No way he was getting those speeds. As people pointed out, to pass 200 requires an insane amount of power and low cD compared to, say, 100. Pretty much any family car made within the past 15 years can break 100. But, as I'm sure people have found out (in theory only, of course...), passing, say, 120 or 140 requires an amazing amount of time for your average car. It's like you hit this wall, which essentially, you are.

Even if he did mod the heck out of this, strap on a turbo or two, I still don't think he could get those speeds. MAYBE if he was running nitrous (people who run nitrous on a bike are insane, but to each their own) and had completely stripped his bike of mirrors, foot pegs, and anything else sticking out, he could have touched 200. Still not sure.

I mean, look at cars. Very few stock cars can reach 200. Even the modded ones require a huge amount of power. One example is the Hennessey Venom 800 TT (highly modified Viper, with the mods costing about twice as much as the car... 833HP and 903 lb.-ft. of torque), which turns out a 2.4 0-60 and 9 second 1/4 mile runs. Hits 200 in about 1 mile. This thing has a good 300 more HP than even the brand new RT-10, and the only thing you get out of it is another 30 MPH or so.

200 is indeed a magical number, and one that's very, very hard to break.

 

[Spankypoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chillysalsa I know it's very hard to see in this picture, but it slightly appears like the speedo on this bike, the LCD, does not even have the elements to show a leading '2', meaning the readout would max at 199 mph. (the little LCD elements are faintly visible in the off condition to make a '1', but I can't see where the other elements would be to make a 2...) Has anyone sat on one? Is that correct? If that were true, and the bike is stock, you could disprove this whole 205mph thing right there, no?

A vehicle's speedometer doesn't designate its max speed. While on stock vehicles it may provide some indication of its general top speed, on a modified one it's going to have little (if any) value in that regard.

 

[chillysalsa]

Yes, that's certainly true, Spankypoo.

But I was strictly talking about it in hypothetical terms: if the bike COULD exceed 200, it would be necessary from a design point to put the 2 digit in the speedometer. They would have put it there... but it doesn't look like that's the case.

Of course, if it couldn't, they could still make it possible to display the 2 just for the ego trip... which is why most cars have speedos that go to speeds only seen in the driver's wet dreams.

I think the measurement is all wrong: How did the cop know it was a marked 1/4 mile? How could he have timed to less than 0.5 s by eyeballing it?

 

[D-EJ915]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chillysalsa Yes, that's certainly true, Spankypoo. But I was strictly talking about it in hypothetical terms: if the bike COULD exceed 200, it would be necessary from a design point to put the 2 digit in the speedometer. They would have put it there... but it doesn't look like that's the case. Of course, if it couldn't, they could still make it possible to display the 2 just for the ego trip... which is why most cars have speedos that go to speeds only seen in the driver's wet dreams. I think the measurement is all wrong: How did the cop know it was a marked 1/4 mile? How could he have timed to less than 0.5 s by eyeballing it?

Well, they did agree to limit bikes to not go any faster than 186 miles per hour or something like that, so that's the reason why it doesn't go any higher, it probably just hits 186 and sticks there.