On 16/11/2010 21:30, Andy Champ wrote:
On 16/11/2010 20:47, Clive George wrote:
On 16/11/2010 20:11, geoff wrote:

and against a Honda Fireblade? I don't think so

How do motorbike times on the ring compare to fast car ones? Nothing to
do with dennis, just wondering how much of a car you need to beat a
fireblade.

Quite a lot of car, and quite a lot of stupidity if you try it off a track.

Up to legal speeds a Fireblade will be traction limited. So will a BMW
M5, or a Ferrari, or many other powerful cars. But _most_ cars have far
lower power-to-weight ratios to most bikes.

If you have an average bike against an average car I would expect the
bike to be quicker, and I'd hope the biker would have the sense to pass
under acceleration - where he's probably got a 2:1 advantage - and not
under braking or cornering - where the car may have a small advantage.

A good car _will_ outbrake and outcorner any bike. Not by much, but it
will. Only supercars can keep up with Fireblades and such under
acceleration.

I had a little dig for Nürburgring lap times. They seem to be within 10%
for the top cars and bikes, with really exotic cars having the edge.

The bike's big advantage is of course in a traffic jam.

The question comes from a report I read of a guy in a Honda S2000, which
isn't a supercar, who was lapping his local circuit faster than the
bikes. I think he might have been a motorbike racer as well. (all
vehicles involved were for racing, not road, and it wasn't a track day).

Not sure about average car vs average bike - since average car includes
shopping vehicles, you need to count all those scooters, and I reckon a
micra will beat most of those round a track :-) (OTOH Italian traffic
lights...)