The TOG 0-60 challenge: Results

Anyone who happened to be accidentally paying attention a couple of days
ago may recall that I made the bold and, some would say, foolish, claim
that I thought my 4-stroke 125cc would probably make 0-60 mph in about
10 seconds. TOG suggested that it probably would not.

Well, I gaffer-taped a handheld GPS to the bike at the weekend and made
two attempts. The first thing I discovered was that my portable GPS is
far from ideal for the job, because it doesn't log more than one
trackpoint per second, even when set to log a trackpoint for every 10ft
of movement. So the speed measurements are all over the place a bit;
Even though I was constantly accelerating, the logged speeds waver up
and down my several mph per logged trackpoint. So I doubt these results
are all that accurate, but they're probably close enough.

The first of the two runs was the fastest, so that's the one I've used.
I stopped accelerating once the GPS showed a speed > 60mph (about 65ish
indicated on the speedo), 'cause I was in danger of running out of
straight road and patience.

If you don't want to know the results, look away now...

Highest logged speed: 60.14 mph.
Speed after 10 seconds: 46.08 mph
Time taken to get to >60mph: 19 seconds (to 60.1056 mph)

So TOG was right. The 0-60 time is 18-point-something seconds, not the
10 seconds I was hoping for.

Maybe I could shave a second or two off that by removing all the
unnecessary bits of plastic from the bike, running with less fuel, and
going for a big fat dump first, but not enough to get anywhere near 10
seconds 0-60mph.

There are a couple of pictures, some raw data, and a pretty chart
showing a logarithmic trendline for the acceleration rate at
http://freestuff.grok.co.uk/ukrm/

It kept me busy for half an hour, anyway...

 

<snip>

Interesting.

What happened between seconds three and four? A muffed gearchange? 'Cos
you lost about 4mph. Or was that the waypoint problem you mentioned?

Either way, it means a basic four-stroke 125 is pretty nippy up to maybe
30-40mph, but runs out of puff rapidly thereafter.

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, The Older

And the best thing is, we get to read it here first, for free. Those who
are going to pay to read it next month will get a much worse deal.

--
Wicked Uncle Nigel - There are few things in life more sinister than a
public toilet with the lid closed.

WS* GHPOTHUF#24 APOSTLE#14 DLC#1 COFF#20 BOTAFOT#150 HYPO#0(KoTL) IbW#41
SBS#39 Enfield 500 Curry House Racer "The Basmati Rice Burner",
Honda GL1000K2 (On its hols) Kawasaki ZN1300 Voyager "Oh, Oh, It's so big"
Suzuki TS250 "The Africa Single" Yamaha GTS1000

 

Cnut

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, The Older

He shoots! He scores!

<tears shirt off>
<thinks>
<puts shirt back on>

--
Wicked Uncle Nigel - There are few things in life more sinister than a
public toilet with the lid closed.

WS* GHPOTHUF#24 APOSTLE#14 DLC#1 COFF#20 BOTAFOT#150 HYPO#0(KoTL) IbW#41
SBS#39 Enfield 500 Curry House Racer "The Basmati Rice Burner",
Honda GL1000K2 (On its hols) Kawasaki ZN1300 Voyager "Oh, Oh, It's so big"
Suzuki TS250 "The Africa Single" Yamaha GTS1000

 

Definitely not a missed gear, no. All the gear changes were pretty much
"blink of an eye" (the clutch is very light, and the gearbox is pretty
well behaved) and I don't believe I stopped accelerating at any point
before hitting 60. I'd be lying if I said I fully understood why there
are some dips in the logged speeds, but I can only assume that the there
isn't exactly 1 second between each of the logged points (i.e. some of
them are very close together and some are almost 2 seconds apart).

Both runs had the same sort of anomalies. It's got to be down to my
fairly basic GPS, I think.

Yup, agreed.

 

You left the mirrors on? Amateur!

Now, all the changes were clutchless as you were flat on the talk with
your left hand on the forks, right? Looking at the graph your changes
look very slow

Go back, try again tomorrow.

Don't stop until you hit 10.

--
Gyp BOTAFOT#99, BotToS#4, UKRMT5BB, DIAABTCOD#28, HYPO#4
'81 R65RS - SORN but not forgotten
'89 R80RT - intercontinental ballistic tourer
'97 XLH1200 - weapon of muff disruption
'04 Z750 - oh look, something from this millennium
Take out the chemical loo to reply

 

Too late. I feel sick now.

And slightly aroused.

 

Nah, I used the clutch. The chances of me getting five clutchless
upshifts spot-on in a row would be... um... minimal. I've tried them in
the past. My chin was pretty-much on the tank though.

I think it would be easier for me to finally get my lazy arse into gear,
get my full licence, and buy a faster bike.

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, MattG

<peeps nipple through shirt>

--
Wicked Uncle Nigel - There are few things in life more sinister than a
public toilet with the lid closed.

WS* GHPOTHUF#24 APOSTLE#14 DLC#1 COFF#20 BOTAFOT#150 HYPO#0(KoTL) IbW#41
SBS#39 Enfield 500 Curry House Racer "The Basmati Rice Burner",
Honda GL1000K2 (On its hols) Kawasaki ZN1300 Voyager "Oh, Oh, It's so big"
Suzuki TS250 "The Africa Single" Yamaha GTS1000

 

<waves grease gun at nipple>

 

If you get it below 10 seconds there'll be a lot of chins on tanks.