Handling V Power - you chose

[riffer]

I must be a n00b. I'd go for the better handling anytime...

[GSVR]

The less power you have the more important it becomes. eg if you raced mopeds around Manfeild the one with marginally more power (top speed) would be alot quicker.

For a semi skilled rider (someone still on L plates) on a 600 around Manfield. If you halved the power to say 60hp they would find the bike alot easier to ride and probably tell you it handles better than the bike with normal power.

More powerful the bike the more throttle control and precise braking points are required. Something a semi skilled rider doesn't have.

Was Casey Stoner the best rider this year or did he have a better bike? Did he have more power or better handling?

Power can be quantified easily but handling can be very subjective. Also why complicate things by giving the bike with good power crap brakes.

[BIGBOSSMAN]

My vote is for power - Graeme Crosby rode ill handling but wickedly powerful bikes for half a career and won on them against guys on better set up machinery.

[roadracingoldfart]

So whats the 600 your giving me to ride then Glen ??????
Ohh did i read the thread wrong again ?

[DUCATI*HARD]

ill go with performance,not power

[codgyoleracer]

So whats the 600 your giving me to ride then Glen ??????
Ohh did i read the thread wrong again ?

Good to see your classing yourself as semi-skilled still Paul

[roogazza]

My vote is for power - Graeme Crosby rode ill handling but wickedly powerful bikes for half a career and won on them against guys on better set up machinery.

Exactly, But there are very few Crosby's around, and were his bikes really that bad ? He certainly made them look wild .( now there is a thread start, "who is the Crosby of today," ? I can't think of one ! ) Gaz.

[slowpoke]

Hmmm, hard to compare bikes without specifics. I can't think of something comparable in the mid-range bikes but take say a 996R Ducati with OEM Ohlins and Brembo gear and compare it to a K1 GSXR1000 with it's wooden OEM brake pads, relatively crook front end but awesome motor and the GSXR was always quicker in the track tests I read at the time.

[scumdog]

I ride FXDX what would I know??

Lacking in power AND marshmallow mounted swing-arm........

[avgas]

to be honest a few people here i think are biased in their minds.
everyone is saying handling.....but yet they dont ride buells/rs250's etc.
This is a good question actually, its kinda like asking whether you would ride a scooter or not......very awkward to get a "straight" answer

[GSVR]

to be honest a few people here i think are biased in their minds.
everyone is saying handling.....but yet they dont ride buells/rs250's etc.
This is a good question actually, its kinda like asking whether you would ride a scooter or not......very awkward to get a "straight" answer

Yeah like anyone on a more powerful bike isnt going to admit it easily. They would rather have everyone thinking they where a quicker rider and can get their bike handling better.

Why not just have a bike that has more power and the best handling? Bit like asking a Protwin bike to keep up with a F3 bike thats had thousands spent on the motor and is allowed better forks, brakes, wheels and tyres.

BTW I reacon I go round corners faster on my scooter than the SV and the scooter has no damping and shit tyres. Probably more about not giving a fuck if I fall off the scooter.

[TonyB]

I reckon it'll be bike No1, the bike that handles- and not necesarily because of the handling, but because the 'power' bike No2 has 'shit brakes'. The shit brakes mean that it has to start braking earlier and for longer, and the bad handling means it has to enter the corner at a slower speed as well, so bike No1 will just slide underneath, and pull away through the bend because of the superior handling. Shouldn't be too hard to stay in front after that- 30% more power doesn't mean 30% faster.

If bike No2 had awesome brakes and power but shit handling it'd win...this is what happens when you race against Motards on a road bike, they outbrake you because they're 50kg lighter, baulk you in the corner, then hook up and drive out well. Sure you may start to catch them as the speed climbs, but then you've gotta slow a heavier bike from a higher speed.

[HDTboy]

"who is the Crosby of today" I can't think of one ! ) Gaz.

J

I'd go the handling. Especially if it has more brakes than Jills shoulder. Am I allowed to put padding on the tank?

[Flyno]

i ride a 125, they arent intensely fast but they go well, they go fast because the handling, whitch is the corner speed, making it a good weapon

[twinshock750]

I've been there. Bike one 120hp 160kg average handling. Bike 2 70hp, 105kg, better handling. Difference is over 8 seconds at a supposed HP track....to Bike 2 - the least powerful bike I've raced in recent history.

At most places when you have finally got the evil pig around the corner and and fought it to a point you can get on the gas, the slower bike has buggered off and you may just catch them at the next braking marker. If you are lucky. Meanwhile you're braking they are on the gas still and then after doing some demon braking fire it in on their knee and are gone...

Lap speed when it comes down to it is all about average use of horsepower. 125 vs a crap handling F3 450cc/4?
125 45hp say. on the gas for say 80% of the time at Puke 45hp X 80% = 36.00
F3 say 75 hp. on the gas only 50% of the time while he buggers around on and off the corners, get a slapper down the back (takes her name to come back later!) 75 x 50% = 37.5hp.

pretty sick comparison when you start looking at bike weights also...