Why is this considered so bad/not cool?

[HajiWasAPunk]

Many times when I talk to friends who don't ride they ask how fast are you going on the track or over a certain jump or something to that effect. It doesn't do any good to say that jump is 3rd gear pinned or 4th gear 3/4 throttle because they have no frame of reference. But I don't know how many mph the bike's going. Yet everytime someone askes how fast does this bike or that bike go, they seemed to get slammed for asking such a stupid question?

What am I missing?

 

[Patman]

I think generally there are a few variations of how "fast" a dirt bike goes. If you are a kid you go "Really fast" which might mean 10-15mph. If you are a pre or early teen nothing in your world goes less than 60mph. If you are a late teen or adult then you generally accept that on a track you might really only be going 25-40mph unless you are very skilled. If you are old and slow like me and you crash you were obviously going too fast.

 

[HajiWasAPunk]

I think generally there are a few variations of how "fast" a dirt bike goes. If you are a kid you go "Really fast" which might mean 10-15mph. If you are a pre or early teen nothing in your world goes less than 60mph. If you are a late teen or adult then you generally accept that on a track you might really only be going 25-40mph unless you are very skilled. If you are old and slow like me and you crash you were obviously going too fast.

lol.

Yeah, I'm 34 and I'm sure I was going at least 50?

 

[FruDaddy]

I don't know what you might be missing, but a PW50 tops out around 30 mph, and from what I have heard, most 250 2-strokes will run around 70-80. I have considered installing a speedometer to find out.

 

[RYDMOTO]

It really bugs me when they ask if my bike can do donuts. :coocoo:

 

[CaptainObvious]

I'm with Patman. If you're going faster than 40 mph over the jumps you should be making a living at riding.

 

[loudandproud]

a 250 tops about 75-80

mine hits 83 with sprocket changes.

You are going about 25-35 mph on jumps most of the time if i had to guess.

 

[HajiWasAPunk]

I'm with Patman. If you're going faster than 40 mph over the jumps you should be making a living at riding.

The jump in question is at the end of a long straight away (there are other obstables on it). The last jump is an 80 foot double and I'm in 4th gear on a 250F pinned. This track is notorious for being one of the fastest in the area with big bermed turns and straight-aways, the opposite of technical, but with fairly big jumps.

 

[Tony Eeds]

Just tell them that motorcross bikes don't have speedometers and you are going WFO. :)

I usually leave it to I am going faster than the dirt beneath my knobbies.

 

[bsmith]

I'm not upset when someone asks about dirtbikes and asks a dumb question. They just want to know because they don't!

It's like the people who ask if you caught anything whne they find out you went hunting ;)

Just take the time and explain it nicely :cool:

 

[Wrekt-1]

I'm mid 20's and fast for me was tryin to hit 200 on my ZX6R. Scarey drivers took that. Now top speed on KX250 is plenty. Already managed to wash out a few times, over launch a woods jump landing, and pull something stupid in a pond! Fast is relative like you said, to me trail is faster. Plenty more trees, rocks, obstacles in the way to mess you up. As it seemed most people were getting to, including the more experienced (haha older), it's relative to how much you think you are gonna get hurt!

 

[XRpredator]

I'm here to tell you that the only thing a speedometer does on a dirt bike is scare the bejeebers out of you. I was screamin' through the pea fields, ran out of gears, and I looked down at the speedo and saw it said 85. I looked back up and saw I was running out of planet. That's not fun. :yikes:

But the brakes work good! :cool:

 

[Wrekt-1]

best laugh i've had in a while....thanx!

 

[bsmith]

Same with the snowmobile, I'm to scared to ever look down :ohmy:

 

[trial_07]

I realized I was going too fast on the snowmobile when coolant started pouring everywhere :ohmy:

 

[kawicam250]

JBS realized he was going to crash when his engine started smoking ;) .my brother has an XR70 thatll probably do 30mph., whereas i have a 125 that can do 90mph :think: . ive been asked many times how fast im going( people think its odd to see a 14 y/o passing 250F/450s :ride: ), and i usually say 30-40mph. on the straights( we dont have big straightaways like other MX tracks :( ). just say faster than the next guy ;) .

 

[Wrekt-1]

i know most would hate to burn a bit of rubber using this method, but prolly seems most logical. Have someone that knows bikes ride next to you on a streetbike or in a car. (use your head, have to find an equal crusing speed to start from) then just have them listen for your gear-shifts and note the speed. then at least you have some sort of estimate.

 

[kawicam250]

i know most would hate to burn a bit of rubber using this method, but prolly seems most logical. Have someone that knows bikes ride next to you on a streetbike or in a car. (use your head, have to find an equal crusing speed to start from) then just have them listen for your gear-shifts and note the speed. then at least you have some sort of estimate.

or, buy a accurate radar gun.

 

[mx547]

or use a hand-held gps. i'll get mine out one of these days and try it. i'd be real surprised if my bike would get anywhere near the speeds that some of you guys are estimating.

 

[trial_07]

whereas i have a 125 that can do 90mph :think:

Really? :coocoo: Wow! If my 125 would go that fast I wouldn't have bought a 250F :bang:

 

[High Lord Gomer]

Tighty wearin homos get upset when you talk about top speed on dirtbikes. :p

The truth is that speed is only one factor when determining what it takes to clear a jump. Acceleration and suspension compression/rebound also play large roles. For example, the same jump that can be done at 30 mph cruising can be done at 15 mph with full throttle, high rpm acceleration.

Similarly, the top guys can scrub heigth and land on the downside of a jump at 40 mph that most of us would overjump at 30 mph.

 

[snb73]

I'm sure someone has the mathematical top speed of a given gear ratio @ a given engine rpm with stock sprokets.

I think I would be safe in assuming a 2000 KX 125, with stock sprokets does no where near 90mph.

To Haji's original question, I think people find it ammusing when someone asks, "How fast does it go?" They seem to equate top speed in mph to how well and quickly a bike will transverse obsticals on a motocross track. This misunderstanding seems to be associated with younger guys.

How "fast" a bike gets around a track has more to do with; rider skill, proper gearing for the track, tires, suspension,ect... than the top speed of the bike in mph.

I think that most would be surprized to find that the average stock MX bike tops out at around 50-60 mph.

My 73 vette has a 160 mph speedo, I had a few kids at the tire shop remark how fast my car was after seeing the speedo. With a 373 rear end in 4th gear at 6000rpm's I could only do 120. If it had 411's, that would be a lower top speed, but I would get "toped out" quicker. Conversely, if I had a 211 rear I could probably do 140mph, but it would take awhile to get there.

Steve

 

[HajiWasAPunk]

Tighty wearin homos

My contract with Fruit-of-the-looms prohibits me from responding to that remark.

The truth is that speed is only one factor when determining what it takes to clear a jump. Acceleration and suspension compression/rebound also play large roles. For example, the same jump that can be done at 30 mph cruising can be done at 15 mph with full throttle, high rpm acceleration.

Similarly, the top guys can scrub heigth and land on the downside of a jump at 40 mph that most of us would overjump at 30 mph.

That's a good point. I've been at practice twice with an A rider I know and it's amazing to watch us go up the same jump together at what seems like the same speed, I over jump the landing and before I've figured out what gear I'm in, he's already blown by me like I wasn't there. Other than turning better, I'd say this skill is the next most important at the B class and up. He says he's not only scrubbing but dragging the rear brake before take off too but you've gotta be pretty comfortable to do that before going off a 50 foot double. :nod:

 

[Tony Eeds]

or use a hand-held gps. i'll get mine out one of these days and try it. i'd be real surprised if my bike would get anywhere near the speeds that some of you guys are estimating.

I've done that on my Pig in the desert. It is geared for 106, but I have never got it over 94 in the dirt and that added more than a few gray hairs to my head. The 94 was on an open area, but I kept expecting a washout any time. Most of the time we rarely exceed 40 or so in the desert.

I like using my GPS to learn what is over the hill I am approaching. It helps me set up for those blind turns better.

 

[motometal]

Really? :coocoo: Wow! If my 125 would go that fast I wouldn't have bought a 250F :bang:

I don't think you can assume that he's wrong. With the right gearing, I think 90 mph on a modern 125 would be doable.