Bike minimum ST

[WingedKagouti]

Originally Posted by Donny Brook

My personal opinion is that no-one should ride a motorcycle that she cannot pull upright by herself in the event of a tumble. That would mean the bike's weight cannot exceed half of the character's Extra-heavy encumbrance. So a 400 lb bike would have Min ST of 10.

I just noticed that you made a mistake here, half of Extra-heavy encumbrance for ST 10 would be 100 lbs, not 400. Did you mean double EH?

Originally Posted by Rolando

those techniques and experience seems a lot like character points invested in the motorcycle skill, and/or an skill technique defaulting to the bike skill.

A person with the minimum ST or more will have an easier time than a low TS one. Handling the bike also means balancing the heavy weight and keeping it steady at low speed.

Balancing a maintained motorcycle at low speeds is actually extremely easy regardless of weight and can be taught in an hour or so. How the bike is loaded has a much bigger impact than the weight of the bike itself.

Physical strength only really comes into play if you haven't been taught how to ride or if you're trying to forcibly prevent it from falling over if it starts tipping at low/no speed.

If my scrawny "ST 10 is almost certainly too high" arse can handle a 300 lbs bike with 80+ lbs worth of luggage + my own weight, strength is not a factor.

[Opellulo]

For what I know the main problems in handling a motorcycle are about experience (ie skill) and height. My sister had to replace the seat on her Honda Hornet because she was unable to firmly touch ground with both feet and I had really bad experiences with both a KTM Adventure (where I was feeling i was riding a ladder) and a 2 strokes competition dirt bike that was basically trying to kick me away at every shift change.

But if you are looking for the weird spot between game rules and real world you can assume that most bike ST requirements would land on 9-10 ST and maybe consider 11 or 12 only for competition/off-road/weird mad max inspired monstrosities.

[Tomsdad]

Originally Posted by WingedKagouti

It's a good rule for how big a mc you should purchase irl, but it has nothing to do with Min ST for handling the bike during normal operation. There are also various techniques you can learn that will help you right a crashed bike, even if it above what would be your Extra-heavy encumbrance.

The vast majority of modern motorcycles can be handled by anyone of the apropriate size regardless of their physical strength. They rely on technique and experience instead of force. Even if you could bench a specific bike, you'd have issues riding it if you're notably smaller or larger than the intended rider.

Maybe have your motorbike skill add to ST for this purpose?

[Plane]

Does anyone remember anything about wielding bikes as weapons?

Closest I could find was Zombies 44's use of a 25-lb Lawnmower as a DB2 shield requiring ST 10

[Donny Brook]

Originally Posted by WingedKagouti

I just noticed that you made a mistake here, half of Extra-heavy encumbrance for ST 10 would be 100 lbs, not 400. Did you mean double EH?

Yes. Mea flubpa!
I mean you can upright a bike of weight twice your Extra heavy encumbrance because you only have to lift half it's weight.

[JazzJedi]

If you go with the rule that the min ST should be roughly twice extra-heavy encumbrance, then use the square root of (Bike weight/4) to find the bike's min ST, rounding up. So a Honda Rebel 500, which is 420 lbs, would have a min ST 11.

As mentioned by others, there could be other considerations when determining min ST.

[Dexion]

Yes, I like this house rule !

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by Dexion

I have a question about bikes.
In the Basic p.188 in Driving Motorcycle,
It's specifiy that large motorcycles often have a Minimum ST, just like a weapon.
As a biker, I agree with this. But where I can find this stat ? Because I looked for in the Basic and High-Tech and I can't find it.

That's a very old line of text and the answer of where to look might be in Gurps 1e or perhaps the first Gurps:Autoduel. I do sort of remember something from the era but it's probably been simplified out of the system.

[Gef]

I saw the thread title and thought it was about bicycles. Past my prime, I'm below the Min ST to ride up a long steep grade; I'd say percent grade equals Min ST would be fair, with extra effort rules explaining how to get up a short steep rise. Of course it's really about power-to-weight, so penalize for obesity or cargo, give a bonus for quality (like a carbon fiber frame) and for Skinny. I just bought an ebike and am having a blast riding daily on hills that defeat me on an accoustic bike; it won't make me younger but will hopefully slow the deterioration. How much help it gives changes as the battery discharges.

[Polydamas]

Originally Posted by Gef

I saw the thread title and thought it was about bicycles.

It could be a false friend. The German-speaking New Country has pubs along bike lanes with a big BIKERS WELCOME sign in English. I don't think that means what they think they mean.