Motorcycle Safety & Driveability: Motorcycle Stopping Distance, motorcycle safety course, bike brakes

Question
I took a motorcycle safety course during my final semester of college in 1980. At that time I recall the instructor making a statement that the stopping distance of a motorcycle is greater than that of a passenger automobile, assuming that both were traveling @ the same speed on the same road. I have a friendly bet with a colleague of mine on this issue. I searched the web and could not find research specifically pertaining to this issue. However, I noted that several web sites mentioned the fact that motorcycle braking systems have been greatly improved over the last twenty years. Can you resolve this bet? Is it possible that in 1980, my instructor's statement mentioned above was accurate but with the improvements to motorcycles' brakes now in 2006, the correct answer has changed? Any information you provide will be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Answer
Ah, the debate rages on.

It was probably true in 1980. And it is probably true that bikes can stop faster than cars today...BUT.

Modern bike brakes are fantastic. But modern car brakes, especially with the advent of antilock braking systems, are fantastic too. So let's qualify the answer.

Take an average rider and an average driver on/in modern machines, the car can probably stop faster. (One thing though is that it depends on the car in question. If the car does not have antilock brakes, this may go the opposite way.)

Take an expert rider and an average driver on/in modern machines, the bike can definitely stop faster.

Take an expert rider and an expert driver on/in modern machines, and the car can probably stop faster....but that would be close, and probably again depend on the car.

Much of the rhetoric about bikes being able to stop faster than cars is, in my opinion, old public relations tactics (to wake people up to the fact that riders need plenty of room) that have taken on a life of their own--repeat something enough times and it becomes "true" in the minds of most people, even though reality may be different. It's still a good idea to tell drivers that bikes can stop faster, in order to get them to not follow so close....

I probably didn't give you the answer that you wanted, but I'm sure there are tests out there between, say, Corvettes and GSXR 1000s that have actual data to help solve the debate.

Have fun with it, anyway.

P