TT Zero

YeehaaMcgee

Completely pointless?

cat_with_no_tail

Kowalski675 wrote:

Cat With No Tail wrote:

Kowalski675 wrote:

It also took the engined bikes around 50 years to do a 100mph lap.

46 years, but that's not comparing like for like track conditions. Originally the course was barely more than dirt tracks.

I can see the appeal of the TT Zero for those who are involved with the bikes, but it doesn't interest me at all (an electric bike's completely pointless to me).

Is 46 years not around 50 years? And if you wish to be a pedant, the course was 37.5 miles until 1920 when they added in the bit from the top of Johnny wattersons, round signpost, govs dip etc and the new finish on Glencrutchery road.

Tbh, in this thread, you've managed to come across as a bit of a smartarse, know-it-all, douchebag.

The technology is already there to make the leccy bikes do 200mph+, the problem they have at the moment is the batteries won't last. So what they're doing now is trying to balance power, weight, and battery life. When you consider some of the big names involved here, and the sort of money they can put into R&D, not to mention the giant leaps they've made in the last 24months, I can't belive anyone would be so shortsighted to believe a 120mph lap isn't in the pipeline in the next year or 2.

Kowalski675

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

Completely pointless?

For me, yes. Who wants a silent, single gear electric motorbike? What's the point of it? You may as well have a diesel Vectra.

Kowalski675

Cat With No Tail wrote:

Is 46 years not around 50 years?

Yes, I was agreeing with you (about that part).

Tbh, in this thread, you've managed to come across as a bit of a smartarse, know-it-all, douchebag.

Do I look like I give a fu.ck, lol? Smartarse? Maybe. Do I know a lot about bikes? Yes, I do.

thekickingmule

Kowalski675 wrote:

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

Completely pointless?

For me, yes. Who wants a silent, single gear electric motorbike? What's the point of it? You may as well have a diesel Vectra.

If they can get the battery life to survive a decent length of time, and it can charge overnight costing me say £1 a day to run. I think in answer to your first question is a hell of a lot of people!

Kowalski675

thekickingmule wrote:

Kowalski675 wrote:

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

Completely pointless?

For me, yes. Who wants a silent, single gear electric motorbike? What's the point of it? You may as well have a diesel Vectra.

If they can get the battery life to survive a decent length of time, and it can charge overnight costing me say £1 a day to run. I think in answer to your first question is a hell of a lot of people!

Maybe, but it wouldn't interest me. No engine, no noise, no gears - for all the involvement you're going to have you may as well send someone else out to ride it and do something else more interesting instead.

Well done Bautista, you tit. Another utterly tedious Moto GP procession. Moto 3 was good though - proper racing.

YeehaaMcgee

Kowalski675 wrote:

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

Completely pointless?

For me, yes. Who wants a silent, single gear electric motorbike? What's the point of it? You may as well have a diesel Vectra.

The point of it is that, eventually, we're going to have to find an alternative to petrol. Why not start researching it now, before it's too late? That way, when the time comes, we'll know enough to have properly engineered solutions.

As for a diesel Vectra? Well, you know that the electric Lotus Elise is quicker than the petrol one round the track, right? Because it has absolutely mind-warping acceleration. That's a car, a heavy, early electric car, which would embarrass an R1 in a drag race.

Northwind

Depends what you have it for tbh. When I was doing recreational biking, trackdays etc, then the noise and the smell and getting my fingers dirty fannying around with the engine coaxing out the hidden horses was a big appeal. I grew up on speedway racing and speedway's nothing without the fumes burning your throat.

But then I stopped doing that stuff and it became just transport- much less emotive, I'd still miss the snarl if only for the way it can move pedestrians and traffic But electric would still do that job for me.

Kowalski675

Northwind wrote:

Depends what you have it for tbh. When I was doing recreational biking, trackdays etc, then the noise and the smell and getting my fingers dirty fannying around with the engine coaxing out the hidden horses was a big appeal. I grew up on speedway racing and speedway's nothing without the fumes burning your throat.

But then I stopped doing that stuff and it became just transport- much less emotive, I'd still miss the snarl if only for the way it can move pedestrians and traffic But electric would still do that job for me.

For me bikes are purely for enjoyment - they're toys for taking out and ragging hard and riding like a tw*t when it's dry and the sun's shining, and tinkering with and modifying between raggings. As practical transport they're useless, I have a car for that.

gt-arrowhead

Kowalski675 wrote:

Well done Bautista, you tit. Another utterly tedious Moto GP procession. Moto 3 was good though - proper racing.

Moto 3 was properly good!!! I enjoyed that alot.

Moto GP...Bautista...cmon...of all people to hit! I know he didnt see him though, cant really blame him, he didnt want to ruin everything. And the race wasnt all that amazing either. Was still alright to watch but nothing compared to the Moto 3 today. Was actually my first time watching Moto 3. I was impressed.

YeehaaMcgee

Kowalski675 wrote:

For me bikes are purely for enjoyment - they're toys for taking out and ragging hard and riding like a tw*t when it's dry and the sun's shining, and tinkering with and modifying between raggings. As practical transport they're useless, I have a car for that.

Ah, not a real biker then.

Northwind

The "we'll have to find an alternative for petrol" argument- some truth in it but just switching to electric isn't actually helping as much as folks think, because that's still just another fossil fuel. It just changes where and how you burn it. The production/recharge/efficiency/lifespan of electric vehicles has to be pretty good for it to become significantly better than IC. For weekend warrior bikes petrol will probably make more sense for a long time to come.

Kowalski675 wrote:

As practical transport they're useless, I have a car for that.

You've never done my old commute then! 15 minutes by motorbike, 2-3 hours by car.

Kowalski675

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

Kowalski675 wrote:

For me bikes are purely for enjoyment - they're toys for taking out and ragging hard and riding like a tw*t when it's dry and the sun's shining, and tinkering with and modifying between raggings. As practical transport they're useless, I have a car for that.

Ah, not a real biker then.

Quite the contrary - the very definition of a real biker (not that I use the word "biker" - "bikers" have dirty hair, wear too much denim and leather waistcoats and ride piece of shite bikes to muddy fields where they sit around and get pissed with other similarly shittily dressed folk on equally shite bikes, none of whom would have a clue what to do with a real bike, if they had one, lol...)

Kowalski675

Northwind wrote:

The "we'll have to find an alternative for petrol" argument- some truth in it but just switching to electric isn't actually helping as much as folks think, because that's still just another fossil fuel. It just changes where and how you burn it. The production/recharge/efficiency/lifespan of electric vehicles has to be pretty good for it to become significantly better than IC. For weekend warrior bikes petrol will probably make more sense for a long time to come.

Kowalski675 wrote:

As practical transport they're useless, I have a car for that.

You've never done my old commute then! 15 minutes by motorbike, 2-3 hours by car.

I don't live in a city. My last job was in Harrogate (17 mile commute each way) - quicker, more comfortable, drier, cheaper and just easier and a whole lot less hassle by car than by bike.

As for electric vehicles, they're a complete blind alley with no future.

thekickingmule

Kowalski675 wrote:

I don't live in a city. My last job was in Harrogate (17 mile commute each way) - quicker, more comfortable, drier, cheaper and just easier and a whole lot less hassle by car than by bike.

I see, so because it's not good for your commute, it's useless for everyone? For me to get from Hudd to Leeds by car in the morning can take between 1 and 2 hours. An accident can make it longer. On a bike, I recon I could knock that down to about 30mins, even on a bad day.

As for electric vehicles, they're a complete blind alley with no future.

I once said the same thing about MP3's. I wish I had been right, for the sake of music quality!

YeehaaMcgee

Northwind wrote:

The "we'll have to find an alternative for petrol" argument- some truth in it but just switching to electric isn't actually helping as much as folks think, because that's still just another fossil fuel.

I know what you mean, and where you're coming from. Maybe I should have worded it "we need to find an alternative to fossil fuels", more than petrol specifically.
The trouble is, the best current option we have, which can actually meet the demands, is nuclear.

As for electric vehicles, I do reckon they are eventually, the future, but a workable alternative to batteries needs to be found.

Well, the Mugello MotoGP was a procession this time. Some decent moments, Marquez's overtake was just perfection. Shame he lost it a few laps later. Good finish for Cal again too - surely some factory teams must be getting interested in him.

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

Ah, not a real biker then.

Kowalski675 wrote:

Quite the contrary - the very definition of a real biker (not that I use the word "biker" - "bikers" have dirty hair, wear too much denim and leather waistcoats and ride piece of shite bikes to muddy fields where they sit around and get pissed with other similarly shittily dressed folk on equally shite bikes, none of whom would have a clue what to do with a real bike, if they had one, lol...)

I grew up with bikers, surrounded by them. They're in the family's blood. Only a small minority of them were anything like you describe, but they all, lived and died by the bike, so to speak.
You know what else they all had in common? They all loved bikes, any bikes. If it was a motorbike, it was a bike. No prejudices.

I'm sure they would have loved to meet you. Or then again, maybe not.

FocusZing

"After Monday’s qualifying session, John McGuinness shot back to the top of the time list in SES TT Zero on the Isle of Man. Piloting his Mugen Shinden Ni, McGuinness set a new unofficial average speed record at 109.04 mph (almost two miles faster than in practice) and booked a time of 20:45.699."



"Second fastest in qualifying was Michael Rutter, who unfortunately didn’t improve upon his practice time, but still reached the finish line in 21:02.318 (average speed of 107.60 mph). Rutter drives a 2013 MotoCzysz E1pc."

That reminds me I must put my phone on charge.

Daz555

Kowalski675 wrote:

As practical transport they're useless, I have a car for that.

Depends on your journey. My 400 miles a week commute a few years ago would have been hell by car.

FocusZing

It has to be said electric bikes have a way to go compared to petrol. Good to see the progress though, it looks like McGuinness pushed a bit too hard on the batteries.