Drafting

[ray h]

Originally Posted by Pantah

Since you are the expert, why not tell us what you consider a safe distance?...Maybe you have a few other tips you've learned. Your take on countersteering maybe?

First off, are you expecting me to react to the sarcasm or are you really interested in riding safer?
.

[Retro]

Originally Posted by ray h

First off, are you expecting me to react to the sarcasm or are you really interested in riding safer?
.

If you feed lunch to the troll, he'll soon be back for dinner.

[Pantah]

Originally Posted by Retro

If you feed lunch to the troll, he'll soon be back for dinner.

Nah - Just a little fun. I get a kick out of his section because it brings out all the experts. I only posted my quartering headwind blurb to be different. I think most everybody here thinks tailgating anything is dangerous. Anybody who has ridden long distances on a motorcycle probably flinches at all those big alligator strips we see coming off those trucks. One of those could kill a rider in a flash.

Carry on...

PS: Ray, there might be something you could teach me about riding motorcycles, but I doubt it.

[ray h]

Originally Posted by Pantah

PS: Ray, there might be something you could teach me about riding motorcycles, but I doubt it.

I also doubt I can teach you anything new. Probably the best I could do is remind you of things you already know.

[duck]

When I was 16 my friend used to draft semis in his parents Honda. He'd get REALLY close to the semi. The one or two times he did it with me in the car it was a little nerve-wracking.

[ray h]

Originally Posted by duck

When I was 16 my friend used to draft semis in his parents Honda. He'd get REALLY close to the semi. The one or two times he did it with me in the car it was a little nerve-wracking.

I had a little Honda CVCC like that (except yellow) back in 84-85. Awesome little car even though it burned more oil than gas and eventually broke a timing belt in Mexico. I left it in Mexico sitting along the road and never went back for it. It may still be sitting there.

[High Country Herb]

Originally Posted by Mgbgt89

What? My 625 SMC will outbrake any vehicle i've ever owned. Then again, they've all been old peices of shit. No way would a loaded semi stop faster than it.

Not saying i would draft a semi because of that though.

You are right!

A traffic school instructor had all kinds of data he showed us which said it had more to do with how much rubber was on the road than the size of the vehicle, but it turns out he was full of shit. It turns out a Ninja 250 can stop about 10 feet shorter from 60 mph than a Chevy Silverado can.

Of course, a rider will cover more than 10 feet during the reaction time, so it doesn't make a difference in this context, but it does piss me off that traffic school lies to us. Maybe next time I'll pay someone to take the course for me.

[High Country Herb]

Originally Posted by ray h

I had a little Honda CVCC like that (except yellow) back in 84-85. Awesome little car even though it burned more oil than gas and eventually broke a timing belt in Mexico. I left it in Mexico sitting along the road and never went back for it. It may still be sitting there.

Fun little cars. My brother's first car was a $200 example with bad rings. It left a cloud of smoke the size of a house wherever it went, until we put new rings in it. We used to stand on the back bumper to keep him from leaving; front tires would just spin. Good times!

[ray h]

Originally Posted by High Country Herb

You are right!

A traffic school instructor had all kinds of data he showed us which said it had more to do with how much rubber was on the road than the size of the vehicle, but it turns out he was full of shit. It turns out a Ninja 250 can stop about 10 feet shorter from 60 mph than a Chevy Silverado can.

Of course, a rider will cover more than 10 feet during the reaction time, so it doesn't make a difference in this context, but it does piss me off that traffic school lies to us. Maybe next time I'll pay someone to take the course for me.

He was half right and you are half right.
It's about lbs/sq,in of tire on the road. Most modern vehicles have enough braking power to bring the tires right up to the point of lockup.
All other conditions being the same a vehicle that weighs 4000lbs and has 100 square inches of rubber on the road will be able to stop in the same distance as a 400lbs vehicle with 10 sq in. of rubber on the road because they both have 40lbs of down pressure per 1 sq in.
Many other things play into stopping distance as well, such as type of tire (compound, tred, shape), brake fade, dive, weight shift, road surface, etc.
If you could keep the brakes from heating up, a loaded semi can stop in a shorter distance than an empty one.

[ray h]

Originally Posted by High Country Herb

Fun little cars. My brother's first car was a $200 example with bad rings. It left a cloud of smoke the size of a house wherever it went, until we put new rings in it. We used to stand on the back bumper to keep him from leaving; front tires would just spin. Good times!

That's funny, I paid $500 for mine and it would start with a huge cloud of smoke as well.
One night I almost burned myself up in that car when I passed out in the driver's seat with my knee on the cigarette lighter, holding it in. I woke up in time to see smoke and smell plastic burning in the dash and around the lighter.

[CaptUglyDan]

I made it home ok, and thanks for the concern, It was a dumb-ass thing to do. I just wanted to do more than 45 mph into the headwinds without someone crawling up my ass, Siskyous and Mt Shasta were a bitch!