• Norah - She/They@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    1 year ago

    Firstly, you’re an Aussie, I’m an Aussie and we’re on an Aussie instance, the heck are you using pounds for? Secondly, there’s not a chance in hell the average motorbike weighs 317 kilograms! A Honda Goldwing, notoriously one of the chonkiest, plushest experiences in motorcycling, is only 390kg, and they have an 1800cc flat-six engine. I used to ride a 500cc twin and at 192kg it was heavier than a lot of 1000cc 4cyl that have more expensive, lighter materials. These days, I have a Postie Bike and that’s exactly 100kg lighter than my 500 was. It’s the equivalent of carrying a slightly overweight dude on my shoulders.

    • Zagorath@aussie.zoneOP
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      1 year ago

      I only used pounds because the table the user above shared was in pounds. And comparative damage is just that: comparative. It’s the fourth power of the ratio between the two. So keeping to the same units was easiest.

      Regarding the rest of it, remember we’re comparing it to a “freakishly heavy bicycle”. The table the other user shared implies a fat man + bike is 350 lb. My assumption was that’s 300 lb person + 50 lb bike. That would be a 23 kg bike. That’s crazy heavy. It’s more than double most bikes’ weight, and triple the weight of a racing bike. So if the motorbike weight I used is an overestimate, that’s basically just evening the playing field. (While both will still end up looking worse compared to a car than they should—which just highlights how much better both are than cars.)

      Anyway, I got the figure by just Googling “motorbike weight”, which turned up this page, which says:

      Some sources say the “average” motorcycle weighs around 700 pounds, but the weight depends on the brand of the bike, the engine size, and the style—whether it’s a street, off-road, touring, cruiser, or sport bike, or something else entirely.

      I’m not interested in being precise enough to delve into those different factors, so going with the quoted “average” sounded good to me.

      • lordriffington@aussie.zone
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        1 year ago

        That would be a 23 kg bike. That’s crazy heavy. It’s more than double most bikes’ weight, and triple the weight of a racing bike.

        It’s actually not that crazy. E-bikes tend to be at least that heavy. Mine is 30kg. In our example of a fat man riding a bicycle, he’s probably more likely to be riding an electric bike anyway.

        • Cort@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Lol my ebike is 35 kg, and I’m American weighing in at 155 kg, so about 200kg fully loaded on my bike. But I live in an area with pretty fantastic bike trails that have speed limits near 25-30kph.

      • Norah - She/They@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        1 year ago

        There’s not a snowflakes chance in hell the average is anywhere near that high in Australia, or most of the world. I’d put money on it being a US-only figure, considering their obsession with large cruisers. If you include motorised scooters, which I was, then I’d say the average would be about 200kg. Considering the rate increases exponentially, I think that’s important.