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The average car doesn't actually have more grip than the average motorcycle. More surface contact != More traction. Grip in a motorcycle is only really limite
by sudosysgen 3y ago
The average car doesn't actually have more grip than the average motorcycle.
More surface contact != More traction.
Grip in a motorcycle is only really limited by gravity. That's still far better than most cars. The average motorcycle (or bicycle, for that matter) will have little problem hitting 35 degrees lean and therefore produce lateral G forces exceeding that of a typical car.
Same is true for deceleration, the average bike is going to be able to slow down as fast or faster than the average car, even if you just let ABS takeover.
Motorcycles don't have any disadvantage in grip unless you're comparing them to the supercars that have significant downforce.
It really does come down to practice. The machine itself is more than capable. Even a cheap entry level motorcycle is eminently more capable in terms of braking and corner than many sports cars. The cool thing about have two tires, is that you don't need a super fancy suspension setup to be able to corner fast, you just need good tires.
- Swizec 3y agoThe biggest problem for bikes when it comes to grip, in my experience, is that there is no redundancy. You brake hard, rear grip goes to zero, and you fishtail. Then you have to reduce braking force or you crash. This doesn’t happen in a car because unloading 2 independent tires is very hard. You touch loose gravel going through a corner, front loses grip, you crash. Hitting the same gravel patch with 2+ car tires is unlikely.
- the_sleaze9 3y agoI learned in training to trust your motorcycle to keep it's footing when you encounter quick losses of traction. They had a bike that was equipped with a roll-cage, like an exoskeleton that prevented it from actually flipping but did allow it to lay over enough such that it would. Then they sent the bike through excessive lean angles across slippery surfaces. The riders who adjusted for the slippage wrecked, the ones who just allowed the bike to fish a little didn't. Of course that's assuming you aren't too close to the threshold, etc. But it was eye opening to learn to just kind of hang on and trust the machine a bit.
- Swizec 3y agoYep this works great until it doesn’t. When I crashed after hitting a gravel patch it literally felt like a video game that skips a frame. My thoughts were “Gravel!” “Wait am I on the ground?” And a few moments later I stopped tumbling. There was zero time for a reaction of any kind. Happened so fast I didn’t even get an adrenaline rush out of it. Luckily insurance paid for bike damage and new gear. I only got a bruise where my elbow missed the elbow pads. Bike stopped maybe 50ft down the road.
- aidenn0 3y agoA car with one wheel locked up has a lot more grip than a motorcycle with one wheel locked up. That might be an obvious non-sequitur, but when we are talking about ABS, it applies.
- sudosysgen 3y agoNeither of them lock up, we're talking about braking performance with ABS. And cars don't lock up a single wheel without ABD. When they do lock up you generally lock everything up. The question is, do cars have more grip? No, not really. Do they have better braking performance? Not really, either. Are they easier to use? Sure. The reason you can have a harder time on a bike isn't because of any fundamental limitation, it's just poor training - the video is correct. And car drivers also don't break anywhere near the theoretical potential of their car, either.
- pstanger 3y agoI don't have any data for you, but my own experience owning and racing cars and motorcycles tells me this is not true. Contact patch isn't everything, but being able to load 4000lb on the front tires vs 500lb makes a big difference. A car on a track can blow right by the typical motorcycle braking point coming into a corner