Which One is Faster: a Racebike or a Racehorse?

Have you ever wondered if the modern ways of transport are actually better than ones in the olden days? Yes, they can achieve higher speed, but this doesn’t mean that they will get you from point A to point B quicker.

Horses were the main transport from ancient times, and they were used for transporting stuff, carrying more people, or conquering territories. Horses are majestic creatures that can achieve a high speed of 55MPH on a rough surface, which is why there are many horserace events like the Kentucky Derby.

In fact, the Guinness World Record for the fastest horse on the planet was recorded on such events.

On the other hand, we have motorbikes that were invented by Gottlieb Daimler back in November 1885. At that time, motorbikes were slow and unbalanced, basically a recipe for disaster.

However, nowadays motorbikes have advanced so far that they can reach up to 273mph.

So, now you might think about how can a single horsepower horse can outpower a racebike with 200 horsepower.

Well, there is a lot more than just straight-line speed. There are many things that can determine the outcome of the race between the race bike or the racehorse, and we will highlight them all.

Surface

Horses are much more adaptable to the surface they are on compared to motorbikes. They can run on rocky surfaces, dirt, mud, and smooth tarmac. On the other hand, you need to choose the right motorbike for the surface.

For example, if we put a sportbike with smooth tires on a rocky and muddy surface, chances are the horses would lap the bike many times in one race. In order to get a more equal result, we need to compare dirt bikes and horses. This will be a race to see and the outcome will be unpredictable and it will depend on the type of track.

But, if we compare a racebike with a horse on a smooth surface, obviously the horse will lose.

Cornering

This is where the horses gain a massive advantage. When it comes to cornering, racebikes have trouble finding the necessary grip to pull out a high-speed cornering. With that said, most racers need to slow down if they come across a tight corner.

On the other hand, horses can change direction very fast. This gives them the advantage if the racecourse is full of tight corners. On top of that, if the race is organized on a rough surface horses would find way more grip and slow down quickly and accelerate quicker.

In fact, horses can get from 0 to 60km/h in 5 seconds on a dirt surface, which is almost impossible with racebikes.

Distance

This is another important thing to address. Since we are talking about the live animal, the horse cannot run forever. Typically horses can reach around 20 miles or more in one day if they are walking, and only 2 miles at a fast speed. No wonder why some of the most popular horseraces like the Kentucky Derby are only 1 ¼ mile long. After that, they are exhausted and they need to rest.

On the other hand, motorbikes have a range of 120 to 200 miles on a tank of gas depending on the size and riding conditions.

This means that if we are talking about a long-distance race, the horse will lose every time.

Final Words

Comparing racehorse to racebikes is not outrageous. As we mentioned below, it all comes down to race conditions. If we take a racebike and put it on a racetrack designed for horses, it won’t perform that well, and that goes the other way around for horses.

Horses are incredible creatures that have extraordinary abilities: if you are not familiar check out the 2021 Belmont Stake contenders, one of the most important horse races happening next month.

They can run on every surface possible (even go through water), jump over obstacles, corner at high speed, and achieve high speed in seconds.

On the other hand, racebikes can reach higher speeds and travel a long distance, but they are limited in terms of usability.