I recently heard that a car can stop faster and therefore shorter than a bike. I went, "No Way". Then I got to thinking about it and with the advancement of brakes and a light weight car, maybe it's true. I know that wasn't the case many moons ago but maybe it's true now. Cars have got lighter and brakes better with ABS. Anyone have any facts or links that can prove whether or not a car can indeed stop quicker than a motorcycle. I'm really having trouble thinking it's possible if you stay with apples and apples as far as weight. What do you think?
Braking Distance of Car versus Motorcycle
hogcowboy
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Looked pretty objective to me. Numbers don't lie. And how is it comparing apples to oranges? Both are street legal speed machines, the test was to determine which is faster.
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You're right man, I'm not going to argue the point. And numbers never tell the whole story
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Here it says a GSX-R1000 has a stopping distance 60-0 of 133 ft.
http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/232/1...a.com/232/13354/Motorcycle-Article/2012-Suzuki-GSX-R1000-Street-Comparison.aspx
133ft seems longish, I practiced stopping on a GSX-R600 and I think I did better than 130ft.
http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/232/1...a.com/232/13354/Motorcycle-Article/2012-Suzuki-GSX-R1000-Street-Comparison.aspx
133ft seems longish, I practiced stopping on a GSX-R600 and I think I did better than 130ft.
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I did some reading in one of the many hotels I was in this past week and found some interesting data on Edmonds. It does in fact seem that most of the modern cars have stopping distances of around 100 feet 60 - 0. I found it hard to believe but the data was there. You have to search each vehicle independently to find the information in their testing. I looked up the mustang, charger, corvette and camaro. All stock, not the high end of the vehicle.
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Things change and improve. I have often read that a stock street-prepped crotch rocket of today is a better race bike than a professional race bike of ten years ago.
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So I'll put Marty McFly on my bike and he'll be the world champion ten years ago.
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From all the stats I've ever seen cars can stop quicker than bikes. I know my bike is a absolute joke since all it has is one disc brake in the front and a rear drum brake that I'd gladly trade for another disc.
Wow! My XR1200 did that good? Motorcycle Consumer News (which I subscribe to) usually has the disclaimer in their test/review articles that those distances are by a PROFESSIONAL rider, not an average guy like most of us and most of those numbers are with ABS turned off if possible. ABS usually adds distance on average as most people will grab a handful that would cause an uncontrolled skid/slide otherwise not a controlled stop. My impression is that bike vs. car is pretty even depending on weight, meaning lighter bikes will perform like lighter cars given good brakes. A heavy bike like a Harley tourer would be like an SUV or large car, a lot longer distance. For my car brake distance tests I watch Motorweek on Public TV for examples. Cars also have four tires and brakes against two tires on a bike that are a lot skinnier giving less contact area.
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I have no test results and no links. Let's start there. On the other hand my car has all of its brakes linked together so if a tire starts slipping the ABS will let off braking pressure on all wheels. On my bike the front and back brakes are separated. The ABS acts independently on each wheel so if the back starts to slip the front is not affected and vice versa. My guess is that in an emergency situation the independence of the ABS may become a significant factor in how far I go before I get stopped. That would mean the bike may well stop faster.
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There are bikes with ABS last I heard....
I think it's a wash, small bike vs big car -- bike wins... Small car vs big bike, car wins.... But IMO it takes more skill to do it with most bikes...
I had to stop not long ago very hard (car) and there happened to be a 400 size bike not far behind me.. I did the stop and looked in the mirror to see how the bike did and he was totally in control and very much kept his distance....
I think it's a wash, small bike vs big car -- bike wins... Small car vs big bike, car wins.... But IMO it takes more skill to do it with most bikes...
I had to stop not long ago very hard (car) and there happened to be a 400 size bike not far behind me.. I did the stop and looked in the mirror to see how the bike did and he was totally in control and very much kept his distance....
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I noticed on my new Fatboy, (having not had any previous HD experience) that the downshifting option for braking (belt drive) was a bit more dramatic, and I needed to float into the reductions a bit more than I had to on my chain-driven Shadow.
The brakes themselves do in fact work of course, and will stop that bike on a DIME if I'm not careful!! (They are not "ABS" however).
But to the original query, I'd assume the heavier weight of a car would require a longer stopping distance, than a motorcycle. Then again, from dead stop to start up, a bike is going to beat a car off the line, any day of the week!!
-Soupy
The brakes themselves do in fact work of course, and will stop that bike on a DIME if I'm not careful!! (They are not "ABS" however).
But to the original query, I'd assume the heavier weight of a car would require a longer stopping distance, than a motorcycle. Then again, from dead stop to start up, a bike is going to beat a car off the line, any day of the week!!
-Soupy
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It only takes 90 feet for a new Vette to go from 60 to 0 now, are there any bikes out there now that can stop that quick?
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So a Corvette is "cars"... ?
A small bike can probably stop that fast so long as the rider is skilled...
But for the most part it depends on the size and weight of each vehicle... and the skills of the rider/driver.
Know what you ride and know what it and you can do in an emergency stop...
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18 wheelers stop more quickly loaded than they do empty. Fact...
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That can be true, but there are many variables such as tire pressure, tread depth, road surface, road conditions, etc., which all are factors. So it's not always clear cut.
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