streetbike vs dirtbike

[presterminator]

well i've never ridden a street bike but i have been riding dirtbikes, i have a kx 125 and recently had the chance to drive a honda xr 650 (supposely the fastest of fast dirtbikes). anyway, i took the 650 out on the street and floored it and it just didn't seem that fast. anyway to my point, i know that a streetbike will have a totally different feeling of acceleration compared to a dirtbike but for any of you that have ridden both how do they compare. ie. like a 250 2-stroke vs a gsxr 600 or sv650s.

thanks guys

[inspiron]

You're kidding, right?

[presterminator]

i'm not kidding. I have experience on dirt bikes and i'm no idiot and i know that they will be very different. ie. i've driven vipers and i've driven neons, and yes they are very different but i still have the abiltiy to compare them. if some one has never been in a supercar i can tell them what it is like through comparsion. that is what i'm trying to find out here. i said two stroke because i figured that more people here wouldn't have the modern 4-stroke bikes. i realize the differenace would be more dramatic.

so maybe i should rephrase my question, how does the acceleration of a dirtbike compare to a streetbike?

[inspiron]

Acceleration is the sum of a number of factors, including horsepower and torque, as well as the tires and road surface. I'm not sure you can compare the two kinds of bikes and riding conditions.

A streetbike like a Gixxer will accelerate *very* quickly ... faster than a Viper or Ferrari ... if you have the skill to control it. You have to get maximum power onto the track without spinning out the rear tire.

My bike (a GSX 1400) has massive amounts of torque, but has been designed for comfort instead of speed, so it only puts about 106 hp at the wheel. Yes, I can accelerate bloody fast, but an R1 (1000) or Hayabusa (1300) would be long gone... (if I ever was stupid enough to want to race them)

[Ride-or-die]

yeah u wont find a car on the road that can out accelerate a gsxr 600 or an R1 for example, ive raced and beaten enought ferraris, evos, scoobys to tel you that. comparing a sports bike to a dirt, now thats a different matter all together, clearly a sports would win hands down, a dirt bike tends to just throw the front end in the air, and thats what makes so much god dam fun!!!

[Clint]

To answer your question, new guy also from Minnesota, the dirbike may well accelerate as quickly as the street bikes you mentioned, but only to a point. They're geared to make maximum use of the limited power they make, so top out at what, 80? The sportbikes, especially the GSXR, will keep tearing up to 130, 140, 150... That's the difference.

My snowmobile is as fast as a 600 sportbike, but only when it has traction and only to about 50 mph. It tops out at 98, but it takes a while to get there. That Gixxer, though, will be at 100 before you can say ring-a-ding-ding.

[LayinLo]

Rowdy said it right. The dirtbikes feel like a streetbike acceleration wise. But the dirtbikes don't have the legs to keep up with the sportbikes after a certain point.