Superbikes, cost of extreme performance and light weight.

[Grindle]

I was reading through a bike publication this morning and noticed that many litre bikes are now heading towards £20,000 new. Now, for a while i've found it interesting that some of the bikes have sales patter on the fact that the air box and exhaust has been modified for the current year and that 3 extra bhp has been found along with a weight reduction of 2 kgs from last year's bike by using expensive titanium parts or whatever.
If the bike meet last month at Ace cafe was anything to go by it ain't the bikes that need any more expensive parts to save the weight of a pair of trainers, it's the riders who need to lose weight if pure performance really is the buyer's main attraction. The best place to lose weight from on any bike is either the wheels or anywhere high on the bike. Less revolving mass always works well and lowering the weight of the bike and at the same time lowering the C O G is ultra handy. The best performance mod for any sports bike would be less weight on top of the seat for most people i saw on mega bikes that day.
Getting body weight down to where it should be won't just make you healthier and may even save your life, you won't need the crazy expensive latest, lightest and greatest because your 2009 R1 or ZX10R will be right beside the huge guy on the 2019 S1000RR.
Colin Chapman famously said that to go faster add lightness. Well the cheapest way to do that is make us lighter!

[warch]

The silliest weight reduction I've seen lately is reducing the size of the fuel tank, like Honda have done on recent versions of the CBR thou'.

[generationx]

I think I remember a quote from old Performance Bikes when discussing fitting some fancy carbon accessory or another that "it saved about the same weight as having a piss"

[Plinth]

generationx said:

I think I remember a quote from old Performance Bikes when discussing fitting some fancy carbon accessory or another that "it saved about the same weight as having a piss"

I remember that - very true!
Reminds me of one of Peter Kay’s stand-ups from many years ago.
Talking about women going to Weight Watchers and being delighted at losing a pound.
“A pound? I can sh*t more than that!”

[sjtscott]

warch said:

The silliest weight reduction I've seen lately is reducing the size of the fuel tank, like Honda have done on recent versions of the CBR thou'.

This is just plain stupid from Honda, but they do have a track record of fitting stupid sized tanks to even less hardcore sport touring bikes Firestorm/VFR1200 prime example.. if fuel weight really is an issue run the full sized tank 1/4 full

[bogie]

Its always been like that ...and you see the same with other hobbies like cars and cycles. People spend thousands on upgrades to equipment to emulate what the pros have, they want "the best" yet the most cost effective place to spend the time/money on should be in upgrading themselves; its cheaper and stays with you forever

[Speed addicted]

Grindle said:

I was reading through a bike publication this morning and noticed that many litre bikes are now heading towards £20,000 new. Now, for a while i've found it interesting that some of the bikes have sales patter on the fact that the air box and exhaust has been modified for the current year and that 3 extra bhp has been found along with a weight reduction of 2 kgs from last year's bike by using expensive titanium parts or whatever.
If the bike meet last month at Ace cafe was anything to go by it ain't the bikes that need any more expensive parts to save the weight of a pair of trainers, it's the riders who need to lose weight if pure performance really is the buyer's main attraction. The best place to lose weight from on any bike is either the wheels or anywhere high on the bike. Less revolving mass always works well and lowering the weight of the bike and at the same time lowering the C O G is ultra handy. The best performance mod for any sports bike would be less weight on top of the seat for most people i saw on mega bikes that day.
Getting body weight down to where it should be won't just make you healthier and may even save your life, you won't need the crazy expensive latest, lightest and greatest because your 2009 R1 or ZX10R will be right beside the huge guy on the 2019 S1000RR.
Colin Chapman famously said that to go faster add lightness. Well the cheapest way to do that is make us lighter!

If you're a chunky fker on a faster bike it'll still be faster than a slower bike with you on it.
Loosing weight would have a performance increase but how many people ride on the edge of what's possible on the way to the Ace cafe? It's not like they're professional bike racers looking for that last 1/10 of a second a lap.

You seem to be confusing people who want the best bike available (for whatever reason) with people looking for the absolute peak of performance. They're not the same thing. Almost no-one needs the latest superbike!
I bet most people there would be faster given proper tuition than if they lost weight, or if they just stopped giving a st about being caught.

Look at John McGuinness, he's not exactly a twiglet compared to most Moto GP riders. I wouldn't expect 90% of the biking population to see which way he went though.

But if it makes you feel better to ride an inferior bike while being skinny, good for you.

[Ho Lee Kau]

warch said:

The silliest weight reduction I've seen lately is reducing the size of the fuel tank, like Honda have done on recent versions of the CBR thou'.

same applies to Suzuki Katana. 12 liters in a liter bike.

[Ho Lee Kau]

more weight = better traction

[Lindun]

Some of us are naturally big boned at least that’s what I keep telling myself. I’ve been cycling between 10 and 30 miles nearly every day now for over 6 months and have lost less than half a stone. I still weigh over 15 stone, but am fitter than I’ve ever been.

It’s great for endurance racing, but has little impact on anything else. Of course there are some ridiculously skinny racers out there, but when you see them they actually look ill.

OP I’m sure you feel better about your lesser bike with your rant, but it doesn’t apply to everyone.

[Prof Prolapse]

Lindun said:

Some of us are naturally big boned at least that’s what I keep telling myself. I’ve been cycling between 10 and 30 miles nearly every day now for over 6 months and have lost less than half a stone. I still weigh over 15 stone, but am fitter than I’ve ever been.

It’s great for endurance racing, but has little impact on anything else. Of course there are some ridiculously skinny racers out there, but when you see them they actually look ill.

OP I’m sure you feel better about your lesser bike with your rant, but it doesn’t apply to everyone.

I think he's right broadly speaking.

Personally I think most blokes really are a bit delusional about their weight, I mean most I see day to day could comfortably lose over 20kg, and are not even remotely fit (I do live in Scotland however). That's what, 10% of the total vehicle weight? I mean how could that not matter? If the next top spec Panigale Super stripey McSportybdo edition (or whatever) had the same power, but had gained 10% weight from previous, it would be universally slated for it. Ducati would have a lot to answer for.

Also the advantages of fitness aren't just at your limits, it helps everywhere, from reaction times, to co-ordination, concentration, as well as overall health meaning your fitter on the day and less prone to injury. In any competitive sport, or strenuous activity, it's an advantage, it's just that being a better rider, is the biggest advantage in a largely skill based activity like motorcycling. Hence McGuinness, or even people like Ian Hutchinson, who due to some horrific injuries could not be said to "fit", are still fking legends. But, if two riders of equal ability are on track however, then my money is on the fittest one (or the one on the better bike of course!).

[Lindun]

But what about my situation? There are people who are skinny as hell, but seriously unfit and me who despite my bulk am capable of racing for 50 mins and barely breaking sweat?

Who is your money on? The guy who weighs 8 stone wet through but is unfit or me at 15 stone and very fit?

[cat with a hat]

Lindun said:

But what about my situation? There are people who are skinny as hell, but seriously unfit and me who despite my bulk am capable of racing for 50 mins and barely breaking sweat?

Who is your money on? The guy who weighs 8 stone wet through but is unfit or me at 15 stone and very fit?

Are we talking endurance race or fastest lap? You can be rather unfit and manage 10 laps at a track day

[dibblecorse]

Grindle said:

I was reading through a bike publication this morning and noticed that many litre bikes are now heading towards £20,000 new. Now, for a while i've found it interesting that some of the bikes have sales patter on the fact that the air box and exhaust has been modified for the current year and that 3 extra bhp has been found along with a weight reduction of 2 kgs from last year's bike by using expensive titanium parts or whatever.
If the bike meet last month at Ace cafe was anything to go by it ain't the bikes that need any more expensive parts to save the weight of a pair of trainers, it's the riders who need to lose weight if pure performance really is the buyer's main attraction. The best place to lose weight from on any bike is either the wheels or anywhere high on the bike. Less revolving mass always works well and lowering the weight of the bike and at the same time lowering the C O G is ultra handy. The best performance mod for any sports bike would be less weight on top of the seat for most people i saw on mega bikes that day.
Getting body weight down to where it should be won't just make you healthier and may even save your life, you won't need the crazy expensive latest, lightest and greatest because your 2009 R1 or ZX10R will be right beside the huge guy on the 2019 S1000RR.
Colin Chapman famously said that to go faster add lightness. Well the cheapest way to do that is make us lighter!

What a load of bks

[SAS Tom]

I’d rather lose weight from the bike and still be able to eat burgers.

[Lindun]

cat with a hat said:

Are we talking endurance race or fastest lap? You can be rather unfit and manage 10 laps at a track day

Either or both. Be interesting to see your view on both.

[twizellb]

I always go for a dump before going out on the bike.
Got to be 2 grands worth

[Prof Prolapse]

Lindun said:

But what about my situation? There are people who are skinny as hell, but seriously unfit and me who despite my bulk am capable of racing for 50 mins and barely breaking sweat?

Who is your money on? The guy who weighs 8 stone wet through but is unfit or me at 15 stone and very fit?

Whoever is actually fitter in the most relevant way is the short answer.

I think we're in danger of an argument of semantics here, but there's many measuresments of "fitness", and whilst you keep saying "15 stone", I have no idea how tall you are, your build, muscle tone, body fat, FEV, BP, percentage fat, strength, or simply whether you actually are very fit, or just think you are (no offence meant I just mean it is a statement of fact I believe that most people are deluded about their levels of fitness, it's one of the many reasons why we are so unhealthy as a nation).

It's not just about weight and/or BMI, but BMI remains a good indicator of health, so my money would be on the skinny bloke, as at 95kg if you're anything under 6'6" you're actually overweight, so highly unlikely to actually be "very fit". Not trying to be a about it, just saying.

[SAS Tom]

What if you just want fancy parts on your bike? Personally I don’t buy bits for my bike because they’ll save tenths of a second round a track. Generally I’ll buy something because it’ll make the bike feel better be it more comfortable, faster, corner better, brake better etc etc etc.

Yeah those things do contribute to going faster but it’s usually either solving a problem or making the bike do something it couldn’t before. Losing body weight doesn’t improve brake feel for example or move the foot pegs around for a better position.

[mak]

Speed addicted said:

But if it makes you feel better to ride an inferior bike while being skinny, good for you.