Giacchino gives us empirical evidence that can help persuade your significant other that buying your dream bike is a good deal. See how impressed they are when you tell them that the
Ducati 1098 you’ve always wanted only costs $115 per horsepower.
If I may offer you, the reader, a bit of experience-inspired financial advice, it would probably be the following: Be cautious when swilling coffee in the presence of auto-enthusiast mathematics majors - especially in periods of economic downturn.
Case in point, late November, 2008, constant northern winds, below-freezing temps and steady snowfall made a Friday afternoon coffee shop session an automobile-only affair (preferably SUV should you have one). As it turns out, I do thanks in no small part to being quite unable to unload it as gas prices neared $4.00 per gallon. Now that fuel costs have been on the decline, its charms are slowly becoming once again appreciated by yours truly. But I digress, I started by telling you to be cautious around those rare individuals who combine a passion for internal combustion with a strong grasp of mathematics, and this particular session fully illustrated the risks.
“What kind of horsepower is that Trailblazer of yours putting out?” asked my buddy Adam over a mouthful of Italian Wedding soup.
“Hmm,” I responded while trying to recall the specific stats. “Well, she’s got a 4.2 liter in-line six cylinder with a bore of 93mm and 102mm stroke, 10.1 compression ratio, double overhead cam, variable valve timing/camshaft and four valves per cylinder.”
“Uh huh,” he said, clearly aware of my stalling. “And?”
“275 horsepower at 6000 rpm. Why do you ask?”
“And do you remember how much it cost?”
“Before or after interest?”
“Sticker price will be fine.”
“25 G’s give or take.”
“Not too bad, you paid $91 per horse.”
“Not bad at all,” Mike interjected. “I figure I paid closer to $123 per horsepower with my ride.”
“So what are we talking about this for?”
Sure, owning a Lamborghini would be nice, but at $455 per horsepower from an engine with 522 horses, well – you do the math.
The answer, as I would soon discover, was an interesting debate about how high gas prices may affect the future of performance engine development. It takes no industry insider to notice that horsepower is up and it's been rising for decades. Even in those few dark weeks of $4.00 per gallon gas prices, my friends argued the point that hybrids and plug-ins could never put a permanent end to high performance cars.
“Performance autos appeal to a different demographic,” they said collectively. “You know, the individuals with disposable income and Swiss bank accounts. Whether gas is $4 a gallon or $1.40, I don’t think the guy picking up his new Ferrari really cares.”
Interesting enough reasoning but, as is always my nature, I began to immediately plug this logic into the realm of motorcycling. Sure we have our fair share of performance enthusiasts but even the highest performing bikes typically boast fuel consumption numbers closer to what we consider frugal cars and trucks. Maybe that’s why there’s so little talk of hybrid bike development or full plug-ins.
“So what’s the formula for the dollar/ horsepower conversion?” I asked.
“1 US dollar per horsepower = 0.00134102209 m-2 kg-1 s3 US dollars.”
“Say what?”
“Just divide the price of the vehicle by its horsepower.”
“Now that I can do.”
At only $75 per horsepower, the
Kawasaki ZX-14 is a relative bargain.
In that line of thinking, the amazing bargain of today’s motorcycles starts to come into sharp focus. Take the
Kawasaki ZX-14 for example. At 161 horsepower and an MSRP of $12,099 we arrive at $75 per horsepower. A
2008 Suzuki GSX-R600 boasts 109 ponies for its $9,399 price tag or $86 per horsepower. Think the Italian charms of say, a Ducati come at a high premium? Think again. A
2008 Ducati 1098 puts out 139 horsepower and comes in at $15,995 or $115 per hp. In comparison, a Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 with 552 horses and an asking price of $251,000 means $455 per hp. Ouch!
You do realize of course that these numbers only further demonstrate a theory that I’ve suspected all along- it could very well be time for me to start shopping for a new bike. And to think, until now I’ve had to use to the MSRP to try to convince my fiancé that it was a good idea!
