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Does weight play a role in acceleration? Who wins??

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Old Jun 21, 2012 | 09:28 PM
  #51  
WalterM817's Avatar
WalterM817
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From: St. Louis Mo
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Hah! Foul I say! The fat guy wins if it's downhill !
 
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Old Jun 22, 2012 | 06:24 AM
  #52  
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FastHarley
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Originally Posted by mkguitar
the key to racing is to reduce weight

my fxr is right about 400 pounds wet- it is muuuuch faster than my bagger, even with a smaller displacement motor ( but cammed and hi compression)

mike
Could you please help me out here? I have a problem with my bikes weight as my bike is much heavier than yours. Could you please let me know where I went wrong on reducing my weight as my bike is 20% heavier than yours. I will give you some facts on what I must have did wrong.
  1. Started building my frame with chrome molly 4140 (did not weigh the frame but it is lighter than steel because of the reduced tube thickness) & built a one off aluminum swing arm at 17#.
  2. I added one off 17" C/F wheels but put road tires on them which weigh in at 40#/pair in place of 19#/pair for racing tires that get 2K miles @ best before replacement is necessary.
  3. I made an Inverted fork, aluminum triple trees, hollow chrome molly axle & calipers (complete w/o fender @ 36.9#). It has 30mm Ohlins cartridges inside of them. The rotors weigh 2.2#/each, they are MMC 13".
  4. The motor is a TP 113CI worked and a 6 speed with chain drive & Sportsman Bandit clutch. I am running belt rear.
  5. The fenders are painted C/F and the tank is steel. The oil tank is stainless.
MY question is what advice or help could you give me to loose a 100# so my bike could be as light as yours? Thanks for your input.

 
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Old Jun 22, 2012 | 08:21 AM
  #53  
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SDVmnt
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Perfect example here. I have multiple dyno sheets from both bikes. Different Dyno's, different states etc.. All come out with very close to the same numbers.

I weigh 205, She's 125.
2010 FLHX, Power duals w 4" Rineharts, SE255 Cams, SE Intake. 89HP, 98TQ
Wife's '02 Road King
V&H True Duals, 3" Rineharts, Stock Cams, SE Intake. 78HP, 89TQ

From a stop, she can get a wheel ahead of me and stay there. Doing a Roll on in the Cam's Sweet Spot I can pull away from her. Without cam's in mine, I'm certain she would be faster. Hence why I left her stock cams in when upgraded the Cam plate. Hers was already stout enough. She would hand my bike its lunch, which was nearly 2.5x as expensive after all my add-ons..

Also note, that's a 96" vs 88". The little 88 is able to rev quicker too.
 

Last edited by SDVmnt; Jun 22, 2012 at 08:43 AM.
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Old Jun 22, 2012 | 08:45 AM
  #54  
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Eshaw301
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Originally Posted by cruzmisl
Hi All,

Just curious how much of a role weight plays in the acceleration ability of the touring bikes. I never realized there is a 150lb difference (give or take) between a Road King and an Ultra even though the frame and mechanical components are identical.

All else being equal how much HP would be required to overcome the weight of the Ultra to keep up with a RK? I got to thinking would a stock RK be able to keep up to a stock CVO Ultra since the Ultra has more weight to accelerate?

Guys at work were throwing it around the other day and a number that was thrown out was 15% more power to keep up. Sound right??

J.
Damn! Has anyone on this thread ever drag raced anything in their life? I mean honestly, it looks as though no one here as ever done so. To answer the OP's question, you can EASILY neutralize the weight disadvantage with a technique called Torque multiplication, and its extremely simple to do. How does one do it you ask? Change the GEAR RATIO to a TALLER GEAR. Give me a competition of a 2012 RGC vs. my 2012 RGC and leave both bikes bone stock, let me change my gearing on the crank sprocket and at the wheel to go taller and I will kick their a** all day off the line and in a short distance (hp and tq and riders being equal of course). Now, where I will lose at is in the top end but that doesnt matter on a 1/4 mile distance. And how do I know this? Hmmm...I have a 4000 lb. 1996 Impala SS that I take to the track occasionally and I listened to the experts and changed the gears from stock 3.08 to 3.73 and my time dropped by about 3/4 of a second or so. With those gears, the car only hit 133 mph on the dyno in 3rd gear instead of 160 mph, but who cares, i never plan on going that fast anyways. The time reduction was the equivalent of TAKING 1000 LBS FROM THE CAR'S WEIGHT, all because of gearing. Yep, its that simple.
 
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Old Jun 22, 2012 | 09:45 AM
  #55  
swamperca's Avatar
swamperca
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Cut down on the Red Meat, eat more Chicken.
 
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Old Jun 22, 2012 | 10:34 AM
  #56  
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TheArchitect
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Originally Posted by FastHarley
Could you please help me out here? I have a problem with my bikes weight as my bike is much heavier than yours. Could you please let me know where I went wrong on reducing my weight as my bike is 20% heavier than yours. I will give you some facts on what I must have did wrong.
Oh I see what you're doing there, LOL! Beautiful bike by the way!
 
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Old Jun 22, 2012 | 11:51 AM
  #57  
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Eshaw301, actually I think you went to a SHORTER gear ratio....
 
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Old Jun 22, 2012 | 11:53 AM
  #58  
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And I have a 2003 Mustang Cobra with lots of goodies that has taught a lot of folks a lesson in street drags AND can touch 160 really fast....best of both worlds
 
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Old Jun 22, 2012 | 01:06 PM
  #59  
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CndUltra95
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Originally Posted by White Ice
Why has nobody mentioned the most important factor? COLOR!!! White bikes are a hell of a lot faster than any old black bike.

Factors affecting motorcycle speed
HP 5%
TQ 5%
Rider 5%
Color 85%
Umm, Sir, your only as fast as you think you are!
Everyone knows that Black M/C's are the fastest!
It is good to see civilized discussion on this with good info and some good fun.
Rob
 
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Old Jun 22, 2012 | 01:09 PM
  #60  
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Eshaw301
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Originally Posted by icepick
Eshaw301, actually I think you went to a SHORTER gear ratio....
my friend I believe you are right. my bad
 
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