How pathetically weak humans are.

[VegasJen]

I have a little scooter I use to commute back and forth to work. It's a 49cc because according to state law anything <50cc doesn't require registration or a motorcycle license.

On the way home from work the other day I looked down and noticed I'm buzzing along at 45+mph. A quick conversion reveals that 49cc is approximately 3 cubic inches. And this little scooter will do 45mph on flat ground as long as it has gas.

By contrast, I ride a 10 speed bike regularly to stay in shape and try and lose weight. On flat ground without a head wind I can sprint to around 35mph for about a mile before I'm winded.

So even with torque multiplication and being pretty dang strong I am not even 3 cubic inches strong. Not even momentarily.

Three cubic inches. Wow.

 

[denpo]

In my youth, all I could legally drive was a 50cc moped.
Let me tell you I squeezed all the hp I could get from that little engine.
Lastest iteration was liquid cooled and I could reach 60mph before the ignition quit due to too much rpm (above 10k).

 

[mrvette]

~60 years ago, if we wanted anything with a motor on it, we had to make it ourselves...so we did, reel type mower engine, horizontal shaft, centrifugal clutch fan belt, 2 wheels, and done obviously the steering was rather of a challenge, :beer:

 

[68/70Vette]

I have a little scooter I use to commute back and forth to work. It's a 49cc because according to state law anything <50cc doesn't require registration or a motorcycle license.

On the way home from work the other day I looked down and noticed I'm buzzing along at 45+mph. A quick conversion reveals that 49cc is approximately 3 cubic inches. And this little scooter will do 45mph on flat ground as long as it has gas.

By contrast, I ride a 10 speed bike regularly to stay in shape and try and lose weight. On flat ground without a head wind I can sprint to around 35mph for about a mile before I'm winded.

So even with torque multiplication and being pretty dang strong I am not even 3 cubic inches strong. Not even momentarily.

Three cubic inches. Wow.

I'd say doing 35 mph as compared to the scooter 45 mph is very good. If you read some articles about people building human powered airplanes or helicopters, you'll be able to read about the max horsepower of a human being. There have been marginal flights with human powered aircraft and helicopters.

Just setting in a chair, a human produces about 100 watts of heat.

 

[JPhil]

I remember many many years ago reading in Hot Rod Magazine about a Cox 0.49" model plane engine powered "motorcycle" running at Bonneville. Can't find any info on the interweb now, but if I remember right, it set a speed record for its class. Probably because it was the only vehicle in its class. I remember they said it took a long time to get up to speed.....!

 

[7t9l82]

a buddy of mine and i up in Virginia were riding our bicycles in a residential area going down a pretty good size hill we were pouring it on at the bottom of the hill sits a Local Cop with a radar gun. we passed him and made the top of the next hill and the cop pulls along side we were so winded we could hardly breath and he rolls down his window and says you were doing 38 in a 25, but i didn't have the heart to stop you at the bottom of the hill. i would see him at the local 7-11 and he would always say the speed limit is 25.