Why limit motorcycle speeds when there is no discussion about limiting speed of automobiles and trucks?

Question

Germany started the pressure and now all of the motorcycle manufacturers have agreed to limit new motorcycles to a top speed of 186 mph.
Nobody seems to worried when cars as common as corvettes can reach nearly 200ph! if a car gets out of control at that speed, the damage it can do is far greater than whatever any bike can do, just because of the laws of physics (mass and kinetic energy, all that).
Why the uproar? EVERY SINGLE VEHICLE SOLD IN THIS COUNTRY CAN BREAK THE SPEED LIMIT!
so why the arbitrary number of 186 for bikes?

Robert R: very few cars develope downforce. In fact, that is one of the biggest reasons for limiting the top speed of a car is the lack of downforce. I have never heard of ANY motorcycle leaving the ground do to lift. If you have, point me to that info.

Answer 1

the main reason is accessability-180mph cars are prohibitivly expensive-175 mph motorcycles can be had for 3000 or less-actually you can go 230 mph for $4000 plus the cost of a zx11 kaw -some outfit in houston will turbo your zx11 and it will go an honest 230-lots of fools can scrape up 4 grand but it takes a cool million to buy a 230mph car

Answer 2

Simply put, even a small displacement motorcycle can easily outpace most cars. And, for what it's worth, most cars ARE limited. I found out that my wife's Grand Am GT was limited to 110 when I lived in Germany, and drove on the Autobahn. At 110, it stops making power, and coasts back below that speed. Same with my Mazda P/U, which I think is limited to 90 MPH, if I remember correctly. So, really, limiting a bike to 186 is not a problem. There is no reason anyone outside of motoGP should even get remotely close to that speed, so who really cares?

Answer 3

Because of the design of motorcylcles, as speed increases, their downforce, or ground weight, decreases. Cars are designed to promote downforce at higher speeds. Example: An 800 lb Harley with a 200 pound rider, at 100 MPH weighs "7" pounds ground weight. Very easy to lose control of two wheels.
You are right, all vehicles can break a speed limit somewhere. How often do YOU need to ride a bike at over 100 MPH ??

Answer 4

The manufacturers did this to forestall other restrictive motorcycle laws in Europe. The magic number for the govts was 200 mph. I didn't do the math, but 186 probably corresponds to an even number of kph.

Motorcyclists ride faster in Europe than in the US or Asia, according to recent research.

Answer 5

The very last picture I saw of an accident scene was of a Corvette that was torn in half from a high speed accident as a result of street racing. There's a time and place for everything, people just can't judge that well so you have to start somewhere. Innocent people are getting killed from others indiscretions

Answer 6

The limit is 300KPH which is pretty close to 186MPH. You can buy a (used) bike cabable of that speed for a couple of grand, you have to be loaded to get a car that fast, so poor people shouldnt have any fast fun, plus of course, the 'safety' issues of all the 'young' kids chasing around at nearly 190 (you can get electronic de-restrictors from Japan)

Answer 7

That's what the industry set, it also has to do with insurance companies, along with the rest of the reasons mentioned.

The main question is: Outside of a gran prix type road race, what reason would you need to go over 100 or even 85 mph. It's your *** when you eat the pavement.