Topic: Bikes to Watch in 2017

[AutoTrader.ca]

The most interesting new rigs of 2017.
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[Noto]

Not that I'm a biker, but neat article. How quick (or slow) is a 34hp bike?  I know they don't weigh a lot, but are we talking like mitsu mirage, Corolla, or...?

[Gurgie]

Not that I'm a biker, but neat article. How quick (or slow) is a 34hp bike?  I know they don't weigh a lot, but are we talking like mitsu mirage, Corolla, or...?

Tough comparison... a 34hp bike would feel like a Corolla compared to a 80hp bike even!! But a 34hp bike would leave a Corolla in it's dust off a stop light! My 89 Suzuki GS-500 put down ~38hp to the rear wheel, but the 0-100km/h was 5.9seconds... quicker than most compact cars.

[wing]

Power to weight.   Do the math.   

My CB300f is 31hp.  It is still quick enough to easily break the speed limit.   But it's slow for a bike.

Only feels underpowered at 130km/h

[mlin32]

Not that I'm a biker, but neat article. How quick (or slow) is a 34hp bike?  I know they don't weigh a lot, but are we talking like mitsu mirage, Corolla, or...?

+1 on the comment about power/weight ratio. Really, not slow as numbers suggest.

My first/current bike, the Yamaha R3, is 42 PS and weighs 170kg wet.

Specs say 0-100km/h in 6,0s (achieved by 3rd gear)

I weigh another +/- 66kg with gear, and have no trouble running up to a rev-limited Vmax of 183 km/h. Overtaking even on autoroutes (bzw. 100-130) is a simply twist of the throttle for me, although two-lane overtaking I generally prefer to shift down to 4th and redline for quicker, safer manoeuvres.

[Fobroader]

Not that I'm a biker, but neat article. How quick (or slow) is a 34hp bike?  I know they don't weigh a lot, but are we talking like mitsu mirage, Corolla, or...?

+1 on the comment about power/weight ratio.

My first/current bike, the Yamaha R3, is 42 PS and weighs 170kg wet.

Specs say 0-100km/h in 6,0s (achieved by 3rd gear)

I weigh another +/- 66kg with gear, and have no trouble running up to a rev-limited Vmax of 183 km/h.

WTF is 42PS? Aren't you in the states??

Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk

[mlin32]

WTF is 42PS? Aren't you in the states??

PS/ch/metric horsepower, same thing. It's hard for most, me included, to use kW, although I'm sure Jacob is familiar with its use in Australia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horsepower#Metric_horsepower

[wing]

We use HP here and lb/ft  none of that weird Ps kw or nm stuff

[dirtyjeffer]

Not that I'm a biker, but neat article. How quick (or slow) is a 34hp bike?  I know they don't weigh a lot, but are we talking like mitsu mirage, Corolla, or...?

as has been stated, it's all about power to weight...a PCX-150 scooter is likely quicker around town than the majority of cars (normal cars like a Corolla, Civic and Focus, not the more powerful ones Mustang GTs, Charger R/T, etc)...if you step up to the $10k price range, most of those bikes will likely dust anything under $50-$70k (a few notwithstanding)...step up the $20k sport bikes, and they'll even dust (or certainly keep up) with supercars in the $200k+ bracket.

[Noto]

To be clear, I was asking a legitimate question (not suggesting that 34hp would be slow, but inquiring as to whether it would be slow or not).  To all the straight answers, thank you.  To those suggesting that I "do the math", I'm lazy and you can do it for me

If there were a way to make motorcycles safer, I'd be all over them.  Unfortunately, I'm a lawyer in the insurance industry and the only injuries I see are baaaad.

Cars protect you.  Being on a bike means you take the impacts (or are thrown).  I really want to like bikes - like, really, really.

(for the record, I don't like being a pedestrian where cars are for the same reason)

[JacobBlack]

Cars protect you.  Being on a bike means you take the impacts (or are thrown).  I really want to like bikes - like, really, really.

Next time I ride a bike through Ottawa you can come out for a pillion ride. I'll try not to kill you if you promise not to wet your pants.   

[dirtyjeffer]

To be clear, I was asking a legitimate question (not suggesting that 34hp would be slow, but inquiring as to whether it would be slow or not).  To all the straight answers, thank you.  To those suggesting that I "do the math", I'm lazy and you can do it for me

i've had numerous bikes over the years, but whether or not it is slow, is actually difficult to answer, as everything is relative (i think i tried to answer it in my previous reply)...it depends what you are coming from...if you drive a really fast car, then some of the smaller bikes, while quick, might not seem as fast (even though they still are pretty quick).

a 34 HP bike is slow compared to say, a new Yamaha FZ-09 that has about 115 HP...but a bike like a Yamaha R3 that has about 40 HP (and is also fairly light) would beat 90% of the cars on the roads out there...so most motorcycles in the 30-40 HP range would likely be considered as rather quick (compared to normal cars)...the full on sports motorcycles (Yamaha R6, R1, etc) would be blisteringly fast as they have HP numbers well excess of 100 and some hover around the 200 HP number...the new Kawasaki H2R has something like 335 HP (but is not street legal, it's a track bike only).

[Noto]

Cars protect you.  Being on a bike means you take the impacts (or are thrown).  I really want to like bikes - like, really, really.

Next time I ride a bike through Ottawa you can come out for a pillion ride. I'll try not to kill you if you promise not to wet your pants.   

Deal.  I haven't wet my pants since...wait, do grandpa spots count?    (I don't actually get those yet - but I'm sure it'll start in a few years)

i've had numerous bikes over the years, but whether or not it is slow, is actually difficult to answer, as everything is relative (i think i tried to answer it in my previous reply)...it depends what you are coming from...

Oh, I agree - that's why I said a Mirage or a Corolla (in other words, Mirage = painfully slow, whereas I find the Corolla to be just fine in terms of power - I know that 34hp on a bike won't be the equivalent of a Forester XT)

[wing]

Be close though.   My ISF is way faster than my Bike.

But I was scared to go full throttle on my bike the first few times out,  it feels way way way faster.

But of course you get use to it.

[PJungnitsch]

All depends what top speed you want. Off the line, almost any bike is quick compared to a car because of the low weight.

The scooter I drove in England (10 hp maybe) would jump ahead of almost any car up to 50 km/hr or so but had trouble holding legal highway speeds, let along passing

The 650 Vstrom (64hp) had a 0-100 km/hr listed at 3.8 seconds but would start to run out of breath around 160

[wing]

Yeah I see my 300 is listed at 0-60 in 6.3

That's almost sport scar territory,  definitely faster than a corolla.   

But compared to the tire shredding torque of the 5.0L V8 in my car it feels like a slug.

[Gurgie]

My ZZR-600 was listed at 0-60 in 3.3, so pretty darn fast to hold onto... and that's done in 1st gear without needing to do a gear change! 1/4 mile was 11secs! Then the top of 2nd gear was ~130km/h & top speed 246km/h.

[PJungnitsch]

Heh yeah, another one of those Corolla vs Bike differences is the engine characteristics, a lot of bikes have a redline double what a Corolla has and will absolutely charge up to it. Hold the V-strom in a low gear and nail it and you better watch what you are aiming at. The big bikes can do this at hyperspeeds.

Some bikes, from what I understand (Harleys, and I think those Fit based Honda twin motors) have low redlines and are more relaxed like many cars, (or tractors) 

[dirtyjeffer]

Oh, I agree - that's why I said a Mirage or a Corolla (in other words, Mirage = painfully slow, whereas I find the Corolla to be just fine in terms of power - I know that 34hp on a bike won't be the equivalent of a Forester XT)

actually, most of the small bikes are still likely a bit quicker than the XT...as others have said, the smaller bikes will run out of steam above 100 km/hr, but for scooting around town, they are very good (where top speed isn't as important)...even if both the bike and the XT had similar 0-60 times of say, 6 seconds, the bike will likely feel faster, for the simple reason you aren't sitting in an enclosed vehicle, with laminated glass, etc...kind of like how a boat is...a decent car can go 100 mph on the 401...that's a decent speed...100 mph in a boat on Lake Huron is borderline terrifying.