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i'll admit that some of them are pretty cool to look at, but other than that, a chopper is crap. my idea of a motorcycle is to maximize power-to-weight ratio, and have razor-sharp handling. plus, it should look good doing it. and the MV's fit those parameters better than anything out there.
so, at the other end of the performance spectrum, we have choppers. big, heavy, crappy handling, and slow.
i do some consulting work for a custom chopper shop here in so. cal. and they asked me to help them understand gearing and drive force (thrust) on their machines. just looking at the calcuations even for the biggest motor (124 ci or 2031 cc's), the gearing is so bad that 5th and 6th are useless.
here's where the story get better. i told the guy that the data indicates that anything after 4th, and the bike will slow down. on top of that, since the drag (aerodynamic) is so bad on a chopper, i was doubtful that the bike would get past 140mph. and i was being generous. honestly, i don't think it'll go much faster than 125 mph. drag goes as the square of velocity, and those bikes have HORRIBLE drag coefficients.
so, now this guy wants me to come out to some dry lake bed, and he'd going to prove that i'm wrong.
i've offered to put money on this. but i'm beginning to feel bad. this is a bet that he just can't win...
alex
so, at the other end of the performance spectrum, we have choppers. big, heavy, crappy handling, and slow.
i do some consulting work for a custom chopper shop here in so. cal. and they asked me to help them understand gearing and drive force (thrust) on their machines. just looking at the calcuations even for the biggest motor (124 ci or 2031 cc's), the gearing is so bad that 5th and 6th are useless.
here's where the story get better. i told the guy that the data indicates that anything after 4th, and the bike will slow down. on top of that, since the drag (aerodynamic) is so bad on a chopper, i was doubtful that the bike would get past 140mph. and i was being generous. honestly, i don't think it'll go much faster than 125 mph. drag goes as the square of velocity, and those bikes have HORRIBLE drag coefficients.
so, now this guy wants me to come out to some dry lake bed, and he'd going to prove that i'm wrong.
i've offered to put money on this. but i'm beginning to feel bad. this is a bet that he just can't win...
alex