Weight effects on a bike By 89newbie (Read 453 times)

[89newbie]

Grocery last night. Probably an addtional 30 to 35 lb. Carried it alll in my large biker bags, with the weight where an additional rider would sit. I weigh 171 so weight on bike was probably 200 to 210 counting the heavy cable and lock in saddlebags. The ride was much smother with the weight. Other result from additional weight. Hill I normally go up at 40 to 45 chinameter dropped to 35 to 40. Who would believe that 35 lb would make that affect? Bumps in the road were much less severe with the weight. Turns and stops stayed constant. Glad I dont weigh 235 anymore ;D

[Bashan]

From a lifetime of riding motorcycles I can tell you a heavy bike handles bumps much better. It's just a matter of physics, X bump pushes up with say 30 LBs into a 300 LB scooter and the bike's inertia to stay in the same spot is disrupted quite a bit. Do the same to an 840 LB Vulcan and it goes..."eh, what was that?." You've got a 2008 Wildfire 50, 2008 Ice Bear Trike, and 2008 JCL 150C[; nice bikes all of them. However, the deal with scooters is none of them pack much over 20 HP. There's lawn tractors sitting out in front of lowes that boast 30 or 40. My point is, you add an additional 50 LBs to a 200 LB ridier and you've increased their load on the engine by 25%; that's a lot for the little guy. I think these things do remarkably well for what what they have to deal with. Rich

[89newbie]

Sept 24, 2011 9:42:35 GMT -6 Bashan said:

From a lifetime of riding motorcycles I can tell you a heavy bike handles bumps much better. It's just a matter of physics, X bump pushes up with say 30 LBs into a 300 LB scooter and the bike's inertia to stay in the same spot is disrupted quite a bit. Do the same to an 840 LB Vulcan and it goes..."eh, what was that?." You've got a 2008 Wildfire 50, 2008 Ice Bear Trike, and 2008 JCL 150C[; nice bikes all of them. However, the deal with scooters is none of them pack much over 20 HP. There's lawn tractors sitting out in front of lowes that boast 30 or 40. My point is, you add an additional 50 LBs to a 200 LB ridier and you've increased their load on the engine by 25%; that's a lot for the little guy. I think these things do remarkably well for what what they have to deal with. Rich

Agreed on what they do. Im thinking I misjuged the hill and was not turning my right hand enough considering the weight.