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Horsepower is top end how fast you can go,
Torque, at least partly, is how fast it'll get you to that speed

For example, my VTX has about 100 hp and 110 footpounds of torque. Lets compare to a sporty with high HP but lower torque. My torque will give me a bigger lead as we launch off the line...probably up to about 30mph when the sporty can get into his higher rpm area, and then he will shoot infront of me. But, torque got me and my 300+ pound heavier bike ahead of the sporty until the next red light.

Its more confusing than that, but thats the easiest way I think of it.

Torque is a measure of how much force applied to an object , causes the object to rotate.

to really understand what the 85.5 lbs/ft means in the intellectual sense you need to check out the calculus behind it. which i wont do because numbers make my head hurt.

i translate torque into, crap gravel on the road! let off the gas.

roscowgo wrote:Torque is a measure of how much force applied to an object , causes the object to rotate.

to really understand what the 85.5 lbs/ft means in the intellectual sense you need to check out the calculus behind it. which i wont do because numbers make my head hurt.

i translate torque into, "crumb" gravel on the road! let off the gas.

yeah, i already know that torque is the force that spins the wheel.

but what i don't get what 88.5 ft lbs actually means... does it mean like there's 88.5 lbs of force applied per feet travelled by the wheel?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torque


erm. numbers. i Hate numbers.


god radians, newtons, joules, i knew there was a reason i went into computers instead of taking calculus in school.

Torque is probably simpler to visualize than explain.

The longer a fulcrum is the easier it is to push down on it. The shorter it is that harder it is. To standardize the "measurement" of torque it was decided to use a fulcrum with a length of 1 foot.

Imagine you have a 1 foot long rod which is fixed at one end. A fulcrum. Then you press down on that rod with a certain amount of force... say 88.5 pounds. That is the "torque" expended on the 1 foot long fulcrum. Or 88.5 lbs of force on a 1 foot fulcrum = 88.5 ft/lbs.

This is over simplified, but this is esentially how it works.



Hope this makes sense

Mikeydude wrote:Torque is probably simpler to visualize than explain.

The longer a fulcrum is the easier it is to push down on it. The shorter it is that harder it is. To standardize the "measurement" of torque it was decided to use a fulcrum with a length of 1 foot.

Imagine you have a 1 foot long rod which is fixed at one end. A fulcrum. Then you press down on that rod with a certain amount of force... say 88.5 pounds. That is the "torque" expended on the 1 foot long fulcrum. Or 88.5 lbs of force on a 1 foot fulcrum = 88.5 ft/lbs.

This is over simplified, but this is esentially how it works.



Hope this makes sense

that makes sense to me when i imagine that there are wheels connected to that fulcrum.

thanks.

now to find out how much force is generated at the point where your rubber touches the road all you have to do is find the distance between your axel and the pavement. measure it in feet, it will likely be less than one unless you have very large wheels. multiply your torque spec of 88.5ft/lbs by this number and you have it. Well you BASICALLY have it, you also have to tak into accout the material flexing that naturally occurs in the chain and the cogs and gears and the spokes to the wheel and the rubber... but in generall this will give you the most reasonable answer. Now if you wanna get into the forces and physics behind why your gixxer wheelies so easily......