|
Posted by AutoMajickal on October 29, 2008, 4:01 pm
On Wed, 29 Oct 2008 14:45:38 -0500, Mark Olson wrote:
> AutoMajickal wrote:
>> Newb here.
>>
>> Looking for my first bike and am doing the obligatory reading, Usenet
>> and print. I have read a couple of articles where the authors was
>> warning, complaining or cajoling smaller motorcycles and cyclists. The
>> center point was that you could buy a larger bike for not much or the
>> same money and the size of the bike (in weight and dimension) would
>> provide a greater safety net. Some indicated this would be in case of
>> striking or being struck by an auto, another cycle or an unmoving object
>> (curb, parked vehicle, Mother-In-Law, etc).
>>
>> I have a hard time understanding the rationale. Let's use a Buell Blast
>> v.s. a Buell XB12 as examples.
>>
>> You still have exposed limbs, not much more of anything in front of you
>> or behind you.
>>
>> What am I missing, if anything?
>
> Nothing. A heavy bike isn't inherently safer in a crash than a light
> bike. In fact it might be safer to crash on a lightweight bike- there's
> less of the bike to crush you between it and some other object.
>
> Very light bikes (250cc or smaller) are typically low in power which
> makes them slow to accelerate at freeway speeds, which gives you one
> less choice when electing whether to accelerate or slow down when you
> find yourself in a bad situation. But there are very few cases where
> slowing down is not preferable to speeding up. I suppose when you've
> committed to passing a car and you find someone coming at you, and
> traffic on your side of the highway has closed up and is refusing to
> let you back in. I'll let the thinkers decide if that's a problem your
> bike's engine should be solving, or if you brain could have prevented it.
> Another real world case where power is a great thing is sitting at
> a stop when someone barrels down at you from the rear, being able to
> shoot foward like a rocket is prefereable to becoming a hood ornament.
> But in that case I'll gladly take a 400 lb SV650 with 65 hp over an 800 lb
> Electra Glide with 65 hp... or even better, my FJR1300 with 121hp/660 lb.
My thoughts exactly. I kept telling myself that this mass concept didn't
make real world sense but being newbie at this, perhaps physics were
different in the cycle world. lol
WTS, I am finding myself leaning away from the Buell Blasts types and
more toward a standard rider with a slightly larger engine and frame. I
am from the auto racing (SCCA) world but speed isn't a priority until I
get the experience. hence, I am reluctant to sink much into Bike #1
since Bike #2 may not be many months away.
| 
Yahoo! 
Google 
Windows Live 
del.icio.us 
digg 
Netscape 
XML Sitemap