03-07-2015, 07:57 AM
That's an excellent demo of the difference. The sportbike has to wind up to higher rpms to deliver enough power to equal the Harley, which delivers a lot of torque at low rpms. That takes time. If the race was a bit longer (like a 1/4 mile or more) the Honda would easily take the Harley.
Back in my racing days I used to run my Kaw 750 twin against the Kaw/Hon/Yam/Suz 750 inline-4s. My bike delivered most of its torque at just above idle speed, but only made about 55 hp at the crank compared to around 70ish for the 4s. It used to drive them crazy on our tight road course that my "slower" twin could routinely pass them by in the long series of tight turns. When we hit the long straightaway, they'd be able to wind up their 4s and the superior hp would allow them to catch up. It was an excellent demo of low end torque vs. peak hp.
Back in my racing days I used to run my Kaw 750 twin against the Kaw/Hon/Yam/Suz 750 inline-4s. My bike delivered most of its torque at just above idle speed, but only made about 55 hp at the crank compared to around 70ish for the 4s. It used to drive them crazy on our tight road course that my "slower" twin could routinely pass them by in the long series of tight turns. When we hit the long straightaway, they'd be able to wind up their 4s and the superior hp would allow them to catch up. It was an excellent demo of low end torque vs. peak hp.