This Oliver is not waterproof

:) Although my numbers stand corrected I think my point stands unblemished. The hour is too long a period to measure something as instantaneous as speed. The old imperial units were designed to keep the numbers relevant to the scale of the measurand. Metric falls down spectacularly on this. Although it turns out that millimetres are the ideal unit to measure a length of wood when you're cutting it, and kilometres are prob ok when you get used to them, when getting down to precision engineering the micron turns out to be uselessly small, but the 'thou' (1/1000 inch) is exactly the right size. Scale mattered before the computerisation of the world, now it's an irrelevance. I think we lost something there.
 
In a car on a road, knowing that the junction is 5secs away is more useful I feel.

So when you?re approaching an intersection are you checking your speedo, measuring the distance to the intersection, calculating that you have 5 seconds until you get there and subsequently calculating the necessary rate of deceleration and the resulting amount of pressure on the brake pedal so that you can stop in time? :mrgreen:
 
So when you?re approaching an intersection are you checking your speedo, measuring the distance to the intersection, calculating that you have 5 seconds until you get there and subsequently calculating the necessary rate of deceleration and the resulting amount of pressure on the brake pedal so that you can stop in time? :mrgreen:

See the bike in my avatar? It's 1976. At 70mph in the rain it takes 3 seconds for the brakes to have any effect AT ALL. Yes I do know how long I need to have! In general, AFAIK on any long distance trip the average speed is around 50mph, always has been. A big egg-timer would be as useful as the speedo :p

ps This reply may come in late, I'm still being moderated.
 
Yeah but unless the perception of some human beings is fundamentally different from mine, when you ride your bike you judge speeds and distances with your senses. Even if your bike supplied you with all the figures I mentioned above they wouldn?t really help you. You watch the road, and have a rough idea how long it will take you to stop.

And my average speeds on longer trips do vary, quite a bit actually, but they are rarely near 50mph. When I drove to my parents? house for christmas eve I had an average speed of right around 95 km/h. Because the first 70kms of the motorway were completely covered with snow. The last time I drove home from the ring I drove late at night, great weather, and almost zero traffic, my average speed was 182 km/h.
 
The last time I drove home from the ring I drove late at night, great weather, and almost zero traffic, my average speed was 182 km/h.

There are words to describe German autobahns. They include all the deadly sins except sloth :)
 
Just trying to make a point :)
Even if you drive long distance in any other european country your average is affected by lots of stuff. And if you?re driving along one of those Swiss motorways where you know that you?ll be doing exactly 120 km/h until you reach your destination, and you know how far away you are, you know when you will get there.
 
I like the way this thread has somewhat spiralled out of control. In my case I prefer someone's height in feet and inches, but for smaller measurements I prefer cm. Miles are a must but liquids must be in litres, unless we're talking about fuel prices or consumption in which case gallons and litres will be used. Mass is kg or tons.

Yes, we're all messed up with our measurements in this country but I like it that way. :D

LonesomeTwin: Where have you been for 5 years?
 
Stay tuned for my next art thread, in which I give the dimensions in ?ngstr?ms.
 
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