Quote:
Originally Posted by visionary
....The figures for the rifle faired Vetter Challenge bike were a shock –Cd 0.3627.
This is way higher than I would have imagined for a streamliner.....
|
A Cd of 0.36 seems high to me as well, but several comments are in order:
1) The Insight has a advertised Cd of 0.25
2) At 35 mph, it coasts about 1/4 mile and ends up at about 20. This is an estimate so don't quote me on it.
3) My Honda VF500 only coasts about 1/8 mile and is not going 20 mph at the end. It has a custom full size fairing, and I would guess that it's Cd has to be closer to 0.8.
4) The car gets 40 more mpg than the bike in the summer (120 vs. 80)
5) The egg-shell fairings at the end of Craig Vetter's High Mileage Contest were good enough to achieve 480 mpg, so a motorcycle *can* be very efficient with fuel.
Jim.