N
NateDogg
Guest
This is what I got...
Interesting stuff. But they list the rider as 170, which is on the heavy side for a racer. A lot of the riders are closer to 125 or so. Without question the machine with the heavier rider will accelerate at a lower rate than that with a lighter rider, all other things being equal, but is it a significant effect? Acceleration is governed by the relationship force = mass x acceleration (there are other applicable factors in the real World like frictional resistance of the wheel bearings, losses through the tyres, and wind resistance which increases as the square of the speed, but, assuming that all of these are equal for the bike with heavy rider and bike with light rider, then it would not be unreasonable to assume that a bike will accelerate in inverse proportion to the total weight. Thus a 520 lb bike/rider will accelerate at 96.1% of the rate of a 500 lb bike/rider.
There could be a definite advantage though to being heavier and taller which is in cornering. The limit of lean for good tyre grip seems to be about 58 degrees to the vertical. Riders effectively increase the angle of lean, without leaning the bike any further over, by shifting their weight to the inside of the turn. A heavier and taller rider will achieve a greater shift of the C of G to the inside of the turn than will a lighter smaller rider. This could allow him to corner at a greater speed.
Conclusion? The lighter rider could have the advantage on circuits with short, slow corners and long straights whereas the heavier rider could have the advantage on circuits with plenty of long, sweeping, fast bends.
Interesting stuff. But they list the rider as 170, which is on the heavy side for a racer. A lot of the riders are closer to 125 or so. Without question the machine with the heavier rider will accelerate at a lower rate than that with a lighter rider, all other things being equal, but is it a significant effect? Acceleration is governed by the relationship force = mass x acceleration (there are other applicable factors in the real World like frictional resistance of the wheel bearings, losses through the tyres, and wind resistance which increases as the square of the speed, but, assuming that all of these are equal for the bike with heavy rider and bike with light rider, then it would not be unreasonable to assume that a bike will accelerate in inverse proportion to the total weight. Thus a 520 lb bike/rider will accelerate at 96.1% of the rate of a 500 lb bike/rider.
There could be a definite advantage though to being heavier and taller which is in cornering. The limit of lean for good tyre grip seems to be about 58 degrees to the vertical. Riders effectively increase the angle of lean, without leaning the bike any further over, by shifting their weight to the inside of the turn. A heavier and taller rider will achieve a greater shift of the C of G to the inside of the turn than will a lighter smaller rider. This could allow him to corner at a greater speed.
Conclusion? The lighter rider could have the advantage on circuits with short, slow corners and long straights whereas the heavier rider could have the advantage on circuits with plenty of long, sweeping, fast bends.