Armen
Serious Thumper
Offline
Half-Witted Wrench-Jockey from Jersey
Posts: 1452
|
Ruttly asked: "Would a heavier stock bike benefit more from a lighter flywheel than a modified 310 lb bike like mine ? Would it be more noticeable ?"
It really depends on how sensitive the rider is. On the Ducs that have used my lighter flywheels, the folks who are hyper sensitive will not only notice the difference in how quickly the motor revs up, but they may even notice that the bike is easier to change direction.
Huh?
A story: Years ago when the brilliant John Britten built his all conquering twin, one of his racer/test riders was Andrew Stroud. One day, while testing at the track, Stroud came in and said to Britten "Lighten the crank so it'll turn quicker." "Huh?" says Britten. Stroud replied, "I went through the same set of 'S' turns in 4th, then 5th, then 6th gears. At the same speed. The bike turned easier in the higher gear." Explanation: With the crank rotating in the same direction as the wheels, the heavy crank had a lot of gyroscopic effect, and was hard to change direction. Lower gear meant the crank was spinning faster, so more gyroscopic effect. A lighter crank would mean less gyro effect at higher RPMs, so easier to change direction.
I'm in awe of guys like that.
Contrast that to the fact that many of the times when a student brings in their bike for my motorcycle maintenance class, the bike has less than 10 PSI of tire pressure. I ask them if they rode the bike to class, and did they notice any odd-say for example that the bike handled like a drunk pig on a water bed? "No, it's fine" is always the answer.
Long answer to a short question. Depends on how good you are.
|