katana compared to car

[ibanez42054]

ok over and sportbikes.com they compare a gixxer to a power weight ration of an 800 bhp drag car what in your guys opinion would a kat compare to that ?

[Jarden]

Dunno, but it sure is funny when some punk in a riced out civic wants to try his luck at some anonymous stoplight.
:sigh:
They never learn.
-Tim

[MinnGreenGT]

In general, it's awfully tough to beat a bike - nearly any sportbike.

Look at an early Kat 750 - it's roughly 85hp at the rear wheels and weighs in a 500lbs + 200lb rider = 700lbs. That gives you roughly 8.24lbs/hp

Now let's look at a decently powerful (but mostly stock) street car - a newer f-body weighs in at roughly 3500lbs & puts out approx 320hp. That leaves you with 10.94 lbs/hp

Now that's a pretty signifigant difference, yet you also have to factor in traction from the go & aerodynamics at the top end.

And when we say "faster" are we talking acceleration? 1/4 Mile? Top Speed? 0-100-0? Road Coarse times? It's all about perspective!

Basically - most sportbikes (especially if you look at newer race/replicas like Gixxers, CBRs, R1/6's, etc) will outperform 95% of the cars on the street in stock form. But if you come across the rare lightweight performance car - you might be surprised!

[rotary13b]

A new GSX-R 750 OR 1000 ARE LOW 10 sec., bikes on 1/4 mile . A new Kat 750 is A mid 11s.

[The CyberPoet]

Look at an early Kat 750 - it's roughly 85hp at the rear wheels and weighs in a 500lbs + 200lb rider = 700lbs. That gives you roughly 8.24lbs/hp

Now let's look at a decently powerful (but mostly stock) street car - a newer f-body weighs in at roughly 3500lbs & puts out approx 320hp. That leaves you with 10.94 lbs/hp

That's a good comparison in general

...until you factor in the difference in frontal area as you noted (the car will have a better cD overall, but the bike is so much smaller a frontal area as to more than offset it).
Drive-line losses is another place where bikes tend to get it over cars -- no automatic tranny to sap power, no power-robbing differential(s) or universal-joints in the driveline (for chain-driven bikes), far less mass to spin up and down (chains weigh far less than even half-shaft axles).
And with very few exceptions, bikes shift a lot faster than cars because of the way the shift mechanism works. Then you factor in the active losses on the car (power steering pump, A/C, large water pump, large alternator) and their available power drops further. Add in the fact that the bike's engine's internal masses are increadibly light (so they can change RPM faster, thus reaching optimized power-band quicker)...

By the time you're done, you'll find very very few standard cars on the road that can keep up with even the slowest of bikes.

Cheers
=-= The CyberPoet

[tdrcomm]

Look at an early Kat 750 - it's roughly 85hp at the rear wheels and weighs in a 500lbs + 200lb rider = 700lbs. That gives you roughly 8.24lbs/hp

Now let's look at a decently powerful (but mostly stock) street car - a newer f-body weighs in at roughly 3500lbs & puts out approx 320hp. That leaves you with 10.94 lbs/hp

That's a good comparison in general

...until you factor in the difference in frontal area as you noted (the car will have a better cD overall, but the bike is so much smaller a frontal area as to more than offset it).
Drive-line losses is another place where bikes tend to get it over cars -- no automatic tranny to sap power, no power-robbing differential(s) or universal-joints in the driveline (for chain-driven bikes), far less mass to spin up and down (chains weigh far less than even half-shaft axles).
And with very few exceptions, bikes shift a lot faster than cars because of the way the shift mechanism works. Then you factor in the active losses on the car (power steering pump, A/C, large water pump, large alternator) and their available power drops further. Add in the fact that the bike's engine's internal masses are increadibly light (so they can change RPM faster, thus reaching optimized power-band quicker)...

By the time you're done, you'll find very very few standard cars on the road that can keep up with even the slowest of bikes.

Cheers
=-= The CyberPoet

Cyber,

I swear you graduated college in your first trimester, med school in the second, and assisted your mom in you're own delivery! How do you know this stuff??!! "Ask Marilyn" has nothing on you!! :P

[The CyberPoet]

How do you know this stuff??!!

I learned how to read early and retain most of what I read (I retain far more from reading than from any other form of information consumption -- such as lectures, TV, etc). Plus an inquiring mind that hates being bored... I'm never content to understand that "thing are this way", but want to understand the "why" of it...

Or maybe it's just because I'm as old as the hills :P

Cheers
=-= The CyberPoet

[SweetLou]

Yeah, I think its cuz your old.



And the Kat shouldn't have a problem with pretty much any car out on the road.

[jp1]

Dunno, but it sure is funny when some punk in a riced out civic wants to try his luck at some anonymous stoplight.
:sigh:
They never learn.
-Tim

I had some kid in a Prelude do that one day. I paced him/barely edged him to the next light, acting like I was trying my damnedest. At the next light he was like "ha, see my s**t's tight, f'ing sportbikes are for pu**ies"

That light turned green, we turned left to go down the ramp onto the interstate, I left him like the Roadrunner, and all he had to say to that was flipping me the bird as he flew by me 3 miles later.

I'm sure his girlyfriend had a good laugh at that.... I know I did.

[Anonymous]

I've heard of a civic just kill an gsxr 600

You never know these days what kids/adults will do...

(I believe it was a NSX engine in a competition civic dragger that had it's stickers off ) I believe it was a sub 10 car

[AkBigN]

Well that apples and oranges. Put that car up against Kat with a turbo busa engine and see what happens. You have to compare against stock or "slightly modified" because people do crazy stuff to vehicles these days.

[Jax]

Ok was at a light between a Mitsubitchy and some thing that looked like a Datsun or Opel looking vehicle...they both reved and so did I...light turned green and we're all off....I blow right by the Mitsubitchy...no problem...I'm hauling in my lane and I hear a muffled exhaust sound....I look to my right and sitting there in my blind spot is the crappy looking Datsun/Opel thing....I shift to 3rd and he's keeping up with me....I was like Sh*t this guy has to have something massive under that hood...well we raced a coupld of more lights and I was impressed...been looking for him just so I can ask him to let me look underneath the hood...

[loudnlow7484]

People regularly swap chevy 350's into old Datsun 280Z's. If it happened to be a worked small block chevy under there, it could possibly keep up with you. 2800lbs with 350hp works out to 8lb/hp = fast car.

[Jonsblckhwk]

he he i know that a kat 750 can be faster than an 05 GTO so im happy! bragging right over my boss with a 40,000 sports car LMAO

[Anonymous]

Mmmmmm....carbon fiber makes me hungry