This wouldn’t be a race, it’d be a slaughter…But I think Mordeth would like to stack the odds in the scooters favor…Ok fine. How about the first 3km past the “entrance gate” and the 5k stretch of Beihen around the dam (not shrmen)? They are the twistiest sections of the 7, and if a scooter will have any chance it will be on those two sections.
Mordeth, if there is any more than 50 meters between corners, up or down the scooter will be toast.
Sandman, I’ll join the two of you for that beer, been lusting to see his bike anyway, and we can listen to the little two stroke as it winds it’s way up the valley…
I went for a ride once down to Hualien. With about 40 or more bikes. We broke into roughly 3 groups…fast, middle, and slow. There was a guy on a scooter…the only scooter…and I gave him my backpack since he could fit it on his scooter. I then rode with the middle group since I had a female passenger and didn’t want to push it.
So we arrive at a rest point…the middle group stops…the slow group catches up…and I notice there is no scooter. I say to my girlfriend “Told you he couldn’t keep up…damn…hope I get my backpack back later…”
We arrive at our destination only to find that the scooter was in fact riding with the “fast” group.
He would just max out his scooter at 110-120 and NEVER go below that speed. He picked good lines and cornered well.
I rode my scooter from Taipei to Kenting…and I counted how many times people passed me…it wasn’t hard…the total was zero…don’t believe me if you want…but remember I’m the guy that admits not being able to keep up with scooters on my sports bike. I’m not trying to prove anything…
Hey man…I’d be willing to bet the scooter will LAP the big bike. I’ll put money down on that as well. But I don’t think plasmatron will take me up on any challenge…so I might as well give it a rest.
Shesh…plasmatron said that a big bike would beat a scooter on the “tightest of tight roads” which in my mind is a go-kart track. But he started whining about that. So, fine…I want to pick the windiest mountain road to have the race. I’m just trying to meet the requirements of the statement that plasmatron made himself…a big bike vs a scooter on the “tightest of tight” roads. So I’m not trying to create an unfair match…I’m just trying to re-create the situation that plasma himself described…absurd as it may be.
On the Suao gong lou? Not a chance in hell a scooter would be within 5 km’s of the big bike by the time you hit the bridge at the Taroko entrance…Assuming of course both riders have equal familiarity with the road.
I did this route twice in the last 7 days…and well over 30 times by motorcyle over the past 18 years. I know every corner by heart.
This is about the worst case ride you could choose for the scooter…That road is a big bikes wet dream.
Just becuase I’m bored and the road is fresh in my mind I’ll even tell you how the race would go down…
Suao-Dongao: Plasmatron opens up 100meter lead before the first corner…That distance would be opened up slightly in the next few turns, then the road opens up with medium twisties for about 3km…Plasmatron at this point would probably have a 500meter lead before the top of the pass. On the downhill slope into Dongao there are some very sharp corners, but enough straightaway that Plasmatron would open up another 200meters at least before even hitting the town. Dongao itself has about a 2km straightaway before starting to climb again…Another 200meters opened up.
Dongao-Nanao: The climb out is probably has the tightest twisties of the entire route, but again all uphill. Plasmatron opens another 100meters or more, and once at the top there is a 2km long one way tunnel where the big bike can really open up…Another 200-300meters for Plasmatron. The descent from there has fairly wide sweeping corners that would favor displacement and superior brakes, another 100meters minimum. Nanao is flat and four lanes for almost 3km before a 4km flat open section with sweeping turns…Say another 500meters for Plasmatron.
Nanao-Hemei: The climb out would favor the big bike as the turns aren’t that tight and it’s a steep grade…Say another 200meters for Plasmatron. Once at the top, the road gradually descends down to the Hemei flats, which at 6km of straight 4-lane open road should give Plasmatron ample time to suck down a beer while waiting for the scooter…Then it’s back into a huge long straight tunnel…500meters to Plasmatron or more providing he doesn’t miss the deceptive looking corner and crash in the tunnel. From there, it only gets worse for the scooter as the road levels out into 4 lanes for most of the remaining run to Taroko itself, with the exeption of the Ji Chi cliffs…
I don’t see how a scooter would have any chance against a bike bike on this road, or even a car…
I’d suggest timed runs from Daxi to Shang Balin as mentioned, and then timed runs the other way. Lowest total elapsed time will tell all. This will sort out any argument about up/downhill advantages.
Rules: No riding on the wrong side of the road or overtaking on blind corners.
This is Taiwan, so I’m gonna suggest adding some extra riders to the mix. OK…
Two ancient old men on dinosaur-mobile rustbuckets, four families of five + dog (per scooter), three scooter morons dripping gallons of betel nut juice with no helmets, two pudgy middle aged guys on tricked-up Dinks, three “hardcore” foreigners with wraparound shades, muscle tees and skimpily dressed Taiwanese girls on the back of their Zing 150s, two old grannies each on a “mini” (scooter carrying about 1.5 tons of garbage), 6 scooter babes, an old guy on a motorised wheelchair and two propane delivery guys.
Now who’s gonna take the prize?
