How Fast Can You STOP?

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MotorizedBikeRider

MotorizedBikeRider

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Time and time again, I read about, or watch on Youtube, motorized bike builders/riders, speak of the top speeds they can obtain to. I have never as of yet seen someone talking about how fast they can STOP! You can go 35mph to 50mph (or faster), did you do anything to improve the brakes??
 
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Mossy

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I roll to a stop... Its all about defense driving... I time the lights and traffic so I don't have to work the bike hard... The best way to get hurt is to depend on brakes to stop you... Or power you don't have to pull you out of trouble... I've played the game of driving to the edge of disaster it's exciting to cheat death... The real question is how many times can you stop dependably and how many excuses can you make for assuming you can perform whatever move your trying...
 
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Mossy

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Ok so how much more wear is going on at 70 compared to 35mph ? 2x as fast = ? 4x at 50 9x @ 70? How much heat can the brakes take before they fade... how much braking can the tires hold before they fail... My old Buick wouldn't have any brakes until around 80mph so above that you could stand on them and do nothing but burn them out... Weight has a lot to do with it also... And where the weight is on the tread... It would be impossible to have identical conditions to include the road surface... The same question for how long does the clutch last? I can come up with many ways to improve something but no way to actually say a specific distance from a specific speed given a specific set of conditions...
 
MotorizedBikeRider

MotorizedBikeRider

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Mossy said:
I roll to a stop... Its all about defense driving... I time the lights and traffic so I don't have to work the bike hard... The best way to get hurt is to depend on brakes to stop you... Or power you don't have to pull you out of trouble... I've played the game of driving to the edge of disaster it's exciting to cheat death... The real question is how many times can you stop dependably and how many excuses can you make for assuming you can perform whatever move your trying...
Click to expand...
There are instances where a situation happens, someone pulls right in front of you (happened to me twice, driving a car, once driving a motorcycle), and stopping is accomplished not by brakes, but by impact. No matter what, you are slamming into the vehicle in front of you. There are times when a vehicle around you goes out of control, and slams into the side of your vehicle, and there is nothing you can do about it (happened to me once, while driving down a mountain road in my car). But there are times a driver can avoid the impact by maneuvering (saw a video on Youtube, guy on a motorized bike was going 35 or 40, phone camera in left hand, and a vehicle pulled out in front of him, he skid the back brake and pulled a hard right and avoided a serious accident, possible death). Sometimes it's just a matter of quick being aware of what's going on around you and quick reflexes. However, what if the brakes are not able to stop you? I saw a guy riding around town here in Cottage Grove, went up to talk to him when he was parked at Wal Mart, and he had NO working breaks.

As you say, defensive driving is most important. Once I was driving down the freeway in Southern California, I was on a Triumph Bonneville 750, going about 70mph, and a car to the left of me decided to swerve over to the shoulder, directly in front of me. I used my back brake to lock of the rear wheel and did a broadside slide at 70mph while the care was directly in front of me moving over to the shoulder. I had noticed him coming from the side of my eye and took action and avoided certain impact and probable death, due to being aware of what was going on around me (and God's mercy ).
 
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Tom from Rubicon

Tom from Rubicon

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Looking at your bike in your previous thread it has as much stopping power as the build can handle.
Contact patch will always be a limiting factor. I assume you know that already.
You needn't worry about the go fast boys. Darwin and the local constabulary are waiting for them.

Tom
 
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Mossy

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My favorite was doing 140 and came up on construction and standstill traffic... Rolled end over end for 600ft. Came to rest a few yards from the state police... Got out of what once was a nice 84 dodge pickup and because the trooper was so shocked nobody got hurt wrote it up as a under $500 accident and gave me a ride to work after... I-95 in Maine I've been in several accidents that nobody should have lived through with a scratch or nothing at all... 2 helicopters in the Marines...
I don't know how to exactly explain it... it's like a game of more likely or less likely subliminal alarm that gets my attention and with out any ego just get back to the more likely this is safer than dangerous place... If I'm out and totalled it's 100% my fault... If I'm on a bicycle... motor or not I'm asking someone to misjudge my speed and not even notice me at all...
I have to observe the traffic and people and always look for the save... An out ...where I crash hard talking myself out of the equation... I love the surprise when they think they hit or are going to.... Then it's just a miss... I try not to use lights and just black out which is dangerous... Its a 100year old technology with everything you could ever do mabe a 80year old... made for war torn WW2 Russia... Takes the same plug as a Volkswagen...
 
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MotorizedBikeRider

MotorizedBikeRider

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Tom from Rubicon said:
Looking at your bike in your previous thread it has as much stopping power as the build can handle.
Contact patch will always be a limiting factor. I assume you know that already.
You needn't worry about the go fast boys. Darwin and the local constabulary are waiting for them.

Tom
Click to expand...
The motorized bike I put together, o(riginally had disc brakes front/rear. When I purchased the bike, I did not know that the sprocket would not fit with the disc brake in place. I have a sprocket adapter, don't like the idea of bolding the sprocket to the spokes). I would not have purchased this bike for this build if I had known that. Anyway, I decided to put the sprocket on in place of the disc for the disc brake. I added on the caliper brake, but I am not happy with stopping power it provides. I am going to put on a v-brake setup, which has better stopping power. I looked at a bracket for doing this, it costs $77. I though to myself, I can make the bracket, and am doing so.. I am waiting for the v-brake bosses (posts) to arrive, supposedly Saturday. I will drill and tap holes for the bosses, and mount the v-brake on the bike, and see how it goes. Mountain bike v-brakes have a long arm for a lot of power, and I can position the arms for maximum pressure/power. We'll see. This is my first build, learning a lot. Most of stopping is done with front wheel, but without the rear one might take flight over the handle bars :) . Anyway, got me thinking about brakes and stopping ability. I didn't know if anyone was interested in the topic of stopping, but it is more important than moving, if it cannot stop properly it should not go.
 
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MotorizedBikeRider

MotorizedBikeRider

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Sep 19, 2022
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Cottage Grove, OR
Mossy said:
Ok so how much more wear is going on at 70 compared to 35mph ? 2x as fast = ? 4x at 50 9x @ 70? How much heat can the brakes take before they fade... how much braking can the tires hold before they fail... My old Buick wouldn't have any brakes until around 80mph so above that you could stand on them and do nothing but burn them out... Weight has a lot to do with it also... And where the weight is on the tread... It would be impossible to have identical conditions to include the road surface... The same question for how long does the clutch last? I can come up with many ways to improve something but no way to actually say a specific distance from a specific speed given a specific set of conditions...
Click to expand...
There is an equation for impact: velocity x mass = impact. Impact goes up exponentially with speed. I suppose the same goes for braking, the braking need goes up exponentially, as does stopping distance.

I have an old Buick too. Park Avenue.
 
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Mossy

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Mine was a 69 skylark GS 350 coil springs all around wide Trac... Been sitting at a friend's house for 15 years...
 
wrench

wrench

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MotorizedBikeRider said:
Time and time again, I read about, or watch on Youtube, motorized bike builders/riders, speak of the top speeds they can obtain to. I have never as of yet seen someone talking about how fast they can STOP! You can go 35mph to 50mph (or faster), did you do anything to improve the brakes??
Click to expand...
Good pair of sneakers is the worst
Front and rear rim brakes is not bad but not too good
Coaster brake only is not so good
Coaster brake with front rim brake is OK
Coaster brake with front drum brake is OK
Drum brake F&R is good
Disc brake F&R is best

Yes upgrade your brakes

Myself I got Worksman Cycles F&R drum brakes on a Whizzer
She can stop, but ride defensively
 

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MotorizedBikeRider

MotorizedBikeRider

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Cottage Grove, OR
wrench said:
Good pair of sneakers is the worst
Front and rear rim brakes is not bad but not too good
Coaster brake only is not so good
Coaster brake with front rim brake is OK
Coaster brake with front drum brake is OK
Drum brake F&R is good
Disc brake F&R is best

Yes upgrade your brakes

Myself I got Worksman Cycles F&R drum brakes on a Whizzer
She can stop, but ride defensively
Click to expand...
I am looking at Worksman drum brakes, perhaps someday.
I may buy a Sportsman bike, maybe or maybe not my next build. Possibly a Micargi Slugo B ? Price for either about same.
Whizzer, yes, very nice, the ultimate ride. Considered a Moped in Oregon.
 
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wrench

wrench

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Yep I got a Moped plate, I keep it in my saddle bags LOL Just in case
DSCF6258.JPG DSCF6256.JPG
I like my embossed Whizzer plate much better,
DSCF6260.JPG
A 49cc is also suppose to have a Moped plate in CA
Mopeds pay a one time fee of $23 and no insurance.
 
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Sidewinder Jerry

Sidewinder Jerry

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With front and rear discs using Kool Stop pads, I can stop fairly quickly. Where I ride good brakes are a must up to 30° grade going downhill, narrow, curvy roads with 50+ foot mountain stone walls on one side of the road and 50+ foot straight drops on the other side of the road.
 
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Mossy

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wrench said:
Yep I got a Moped plate, I keep it in my saddle bags LOL Just in case
View attachment 111400 View attachment 111399
I like my embossed Whizzer plate much better,
View attachment 111401
A 49cc is also suppose to have a Moped plate in CA
Mopeds pay a one time fee of $23 and no insurance.
Click to expand...
I got a magnet... You can get vanity imbossed plates and the wheaties cereal ones because in new Mexico it's concidered a bicycle... Light at night if you feel like it required...
 

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