Will my weight effect the performance of a 600cc motorcycle?

This is the MOTORCYCLE RACING category.

Of course weight is going to effect the performance of a motorcycle. Weight effects the performance of all motor sports.

It is called the "power to weight ratio". The more power you have in relation to your weight, the faster the bike, car or boat will be.

It isn't just your weight that matters, it is also the bikes weight. This is why racers spend thousands of dollars on titanium and carbon fiber to lower the weight of their motorcycles, cars and boats.

If you have two motorcycles with exactly the same engines, two riders with the same skill level, but one bike has a rider that is 50lbs lighter, the lighter rider will win the drag races. The lighter rider will also stop sooner than the heavier rider, because there is less mass to stop.

So, will your weight effect the performance? Yes it will.

Hey Sam, Your weight will affect the performance to a small degree but your question is of some concern so let me explain why briefly.

You are looking at your first bike with a lot of power and speed that you can manage. A 600 is not a beginners bike , you have to learn the skills involved in riding a bike fast; you weren't born with them, and even in the off chance you don't crash it in the first 6 months you still won't have the skills to keep you safe and alive.

The way to get those skills is to buy a bike that suits your ability and develop the skills by learning how to ride it properly, braking, cornering and road craft skills. Then you will be able to ride quicker and when you have the skills to get a 600 you will be confident to work the motor, gearbox and braking to the best of what the bike has to give you; you will be faster than an average rider on a 900 bike.

But that is after you have learned how to ride well; so don't become a 'yesterdays hero - wow, new super sports bike one week then, so sad, hospital the next'.

Think about starting where all good rider start -- at the beginning.

Your first bike ? your weight wont make any difference to you. your never going to get anywhere near the performance levels of the bike.

@ John R, while I agree with the drag race, I disagree with the stopping

the same question is often debated in MotoGP, Dani Pedrosa is the lightest rider by far but is often done on the brakes. I understand the basic argument, but we are not talking sliding weights to a stop. there is the angle of the deceleration to take into account and the grip of the tyre. more weight pushing down stops quicker than lighter weight moving forward. normal physics equations are thrown out of the window. On a bike - More weight will stop quicker. The weight deforms the tyre giving more contact patch, so more grip. On a circuit its balanced out with the lighter rider accelerating out of the corner quicker and getting slightly more speed on the straights. My best argument would be Valentino Rossi has never been the lightest or smallest rider on the grid.

your weight will have a marginal effect on the performance of your bike, but you'll not see the difference unless your riding it like a MotoGP rider on the streets. and i can guarantee you wont be!!

However, your weight WILL have an effect on the handling (in particular cornering) of your bike, because your weight will make the bike behave differently to how a rider 80 pounds lighter would make it behave. Braking may be slightly effected too, but not much.

You are asking questions about a street bike.

This section is for RACING bikes.

Your question would be better suited to the Street Bike section of Yahoo Answers.

You can

find the Street Bike section under Transport, Here : http://answers.yahoo.com/dir/index;_ylt=AmKT9S3cS3...

This section is for Motorcycle RACING.

Good luck, I’m sure the users in the Street section will help you out.

Of course it'll make a difference, but your weight isn't excessive so 600cc could be OK - but why don't you get a bigger engine and make sure.