Now before you go on don't think I'm some kind of morbid fellow. I have always dreamt of motorcycling from a young age and am now finally realizing that dream. Before now though, motorcycling was always seen in a spotlight with angel choirs singing and all that jazz. Now that the time has actually come for me to ride, I have been doing extensive research into how best to get into the sport by minimizing risks of serious injury. (starting on an FZ6 may not have been my best choice lol but its better than the Ducati 848 I was FIRST gonna get only 2 months ago before I started doing the research).
Anyway on to the numbers I've compiled recently:
It has sunk in recently that the danger of a motorcycle accident is not the vertical fall off the motorcycle. No matter what speed you are travelling (i.e. you could be doing 120 kph) the speed with which you hit the concrete VERTICALLY will always be the same as if you were doing 0kph. The danger of the motorcycle accident (apart from obvious things such as oncoming traffic and that kind of thing) is colliding with stationary objects along the roadside. Curbs, street signs, concrete meridians are not your friends.
So here I will give you some examples in the following manner. As I have shown the vertical portion of the motorcycle accident is negligible. The horizontal speed is the one to consider. Now imagine if instead of driving the motorcycle into a concrete barrier you were free falling from a given height. At what heights would you be falling to have the same force of impact as hitting the concrete barrier head on at 60kph (~35mph)? 120kph(~75mph)? 200kph(~120mph)????
Answers (without air friction...which means the heights are actually HIGHER than listed here):
If you fall off your motorcycle travelling at 60kph (~35mph) and hit a concrete wall head on it is the equivalent of freefalling from approximately 15 meters (~50 feet). That is from the 5th floor of a building to the ground below.
If you fall off your motorcycle travelling at 120kph (~75mph) and hit a concrete wall head on it is the equivalent of freefalling from approximately 56 meters (~183 feet). That is from the 18th floor of a building to the ground below.
If you fall off your motorcycle travelling at 200kph (~120mph) and hit a concrete wall head on it is the equivalent of freefalling from approximately 155 meters (~500 feet). That is from the 50th floor of a building to the ground below (and then some in a motorcyclist shaped silhouette in the asphalt).
Consider that the average building you see in your local downtown which you would call a high-rise building is about 500-700 feet high (my own values I'm just guessing at averages). The Empire State Building is ~1200 feet high.
And here is the crazy number.....
If you fall off your motorcycle travelling at MORE than 200kph (~120mph) and hit a concrete wall head on it is the equivalent of hitting terminal velocity as a skydiver. So what this means is you are pretty much hitting the concrete barrier with the same force as a skydiver who has been falling from any height greater than 1800 feet. That number of 1800 feet takes air friction into account. A skydiver will hit just over 120 mph after dropping for 1800 feet in the real world with real air friction and with a normal skydiver stance of hands and legs fanned out without the chute deployed. So that means it's the same thing as hitting the ground after your chute didnt deploy from 2000 feet, or 10,000 feet, or 20,000 feet. You're hitting the concrete barrier with the same force as that skydiver hits the ground....
Now THAT is wild.
What can be learned from this? I will leave you all with one more statistic I picked up along the way someplace. It will contrast the rest of what I have written here and to me it forms the backbone of my rationale with urban riding.
As you increase the speed at which the motorcyclist travels in motor-vehicle accidents in the U.S. ABOVE 35 mph (~55-60kph) the FATALITY RATE INCREASES EXTREMELY DISPROPORTIONATELY. What this means is if you graph speed of motorcyclists at time of accidents against the number of dead motorcyclist you have a fairly nice rise until you get to 35 mph (~55-60kph). Once you trace the graph OVER that speed the number of fatalities starts increasing EXTREMELY quickly.
What does that mean? In and around town, obey the speed limit. Enjoy the ride.
Ride safe gentlemen.
Ride often.
Ride long and prosper *throws up Vulcan 'V'*
:Sport:
P.S. Get the piss and vinegar out your system at the track. Thats what I plan on doing anyway soon as I get enough miles under my belt to be confident enough to take my bike to the track. And I think track racing would actually make me a better road rider. Bike control and all that.
Anyway on to the numbers I've compiled recently:
It has sunk in recently that the danger of a motorcycle accident is not the vertical fall off the motorcycle. No matter what speed you are travelling (i.e. you could be doing 120 kph) the speed with which you hit the concrete VERTICALLY will always be the same as if you were doing 0kph. The danger of the motorcycle accident (apart from obvious things such as oncoming traffic and that kind of thing) is colliding with stationary objects along the roadside. Curbs, street signs, concrete meridians are not your friends.
So here I will give you some examples in the following manner. As I have shown the vertical portion of the motorcycle accident is negligible. The horizontal speed is the one to consider. Now imagine if instead of driving the motorcycle into a concrete barrier you were free falling from a given height. At what heights would you be falling to have the same force of impact as hitting the concrete barrier head on at 60kph (~35mph)? 120kph(~75mph)? 200kph(~120mph)????
Answers (without air friction...which means the heights are actually HIGHER than listed here):
If you fall off your motorcycle travelling at 60kph (~35mph) and hit a concrete wall head on it is the equivalent of freefalling from approximately 15 meters (~50 feet). That is from the 5th floor of a building to the ground below.
If you fall off your motorcycle travelling at 120kph (~75mph) and hit a concrete wall head on it is the equivalent of freefalling from approximately 56 meters (~183 feet). That is from the 18th floor of a building to the ground below.
If you fall off your motorcycle travelling at 200kph (~120mph) and hit a concrete wall head on it is the equivalent of freefalling from approximately 155 meters (~500 feet). That is from the 50th floor of a building to the ground below (and then some in a motorcyclist shaped silhouette in the asphalt).
Consider that the average building you see in your local downtown which you would call a high-rise building is about 500-700 feet high (my own values I'm just guessing at averages). The Empire State Building is ~1200 feet high.
And here is the crazy number.....
If you fall off your motorcycle travelling at MORE than 200kph (~120mph) and hit a concrete wall head on it is the equivalent of hitting terminal velocity as a skydiver. So what this means is you are pretty much hitting the concrete barrier with the same force as a skydiver who has been falling from any height greater than 1800 feet. That number of 1800 feet takes air friction into account. A skydiver will hit just over 120 mph after dropping for 1800 feet in the real world with real air friction and with a normal skydiver stance of hands and legs fanned out without the chute deployed. So that means it's the same thing as hitting the ground after your chute didnt deploy from 2000 feet, or 10,000 feet, or 20,000 feet. You're hitting the concrete barrier with the same force as that skydiver hits the ground....
Now THAT is wild.
What can be learned from this? I will leave you all with one more statistic I picked up along the way someplace. It will contrast the rest of what I have written here and to me it forms the backbone of my rationale with urban riding.
As you increase the speed at which the motorcyclist travels in motor-vehicle accidents in the U.S. ABOVE 35 mph (~55-60kph) the FATALITY RATE INCREASES EXTREMELY DISPROPORTIONATELY. What this means is if you graph speed of motorcyclists at time of accidents against the number of dead motorcyclist you have a fairly nice rise until you get to 35 mph (~55-60kph). Once you trace the graph OVER that speed the number of fatalities starts increasing EXTREMELY quickly.
What does that mean? In and around town, obey the speed limit. Enjoy the ride.
Ride safe gentlemen.
Ride often.
Ride long and prosper *throws up Vulcan 'V'*
:Sport:
P.S. Get the piss and vinegar out your system at the track. Thats what I plan on doing anyway soon as I get enough miles under my belt to be confident enough to take my bike to the track. And I think track racing would actually make me a better road rider. Bike control and all that.
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