This program will
give you an estimate of the horsepower produced by your bike if you know the weight of the
bike, a quarter mile ET (elapsed time) and the quarter mile speed in miles per hour. With
these numbers, calculations can be performed that can provide a good guess of what the
rear wheel horsepower is for your motorcycle. While these numbers are not very accurate,
they can give a general idea of the power the engine is producing.
The default values listed are approximate numbers for a
stock FXR, FXST or FXD.
The weight of the average FXR, FXD, FXST with a rider is about 820
pounds. Sportsters are 100-150 pounds lighter, Dressers are 100-150 pounds heavier. For
other bikes, look up the numbers in the owners manual.
To calculate the weight of a motorcycle, take the listed weight of
the bike, add the weight of the rider, then add 35 pounds for lubricants, fuel, etc. This
will give you a fairly accurate running weight for any bike.
These figures are calculated based on two formulas that estimate the
rear wheel horsepower it takes to travel 1/4 mile. One method uses the elapsed time (ET)
to determine horsepower, the other uses the miles per hour (MPH) at the end of the run.
