i started riding a CB500F, it has a flat torque curve, pretty much the same torque at 3k and 9k rpm, then why does the bike (in the same gear) accelate much faster at higher than lower revs?
In: 88
This idea that torque determines acceleration isn’t a very helpful way of understanding what’s going on. It’s not wrong, exactly. It’s easy to see that the forward force at the drive wheel(s) is directly proportional to torque, and acceleration is directly proportional to the forward force. But that static view masks a lot of important details.
A better way to understand engine output and acceleration is that the average acceleration between two speeds is proportional to the area under the power curve between the corresponding two RPMs. Forget torque, it’s just a secondary indicator of the shape of the power curve. The shape of the power curve is what matters.
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