Article #23: Metric conversions, not exactly a gender change - PocketBikeForum.com

Admin · 06-14-2006, 02:16 PM

Since a lot of us see ratings in KW and NM I figured it would be a good thing to post an article on how to convert this to "useful" numbers.

First some definitions.
Lb-Ft = Pound Feet
Nm = Newton Meter
Kw = Kilowatt (kilo meaning 1000)
Hp = Horsepower
R/MIN (RPM) = Revolutions per minute

Now for the formula's

Code:

1 Lb-Ft = 1.35582 Nm
1 Nm = 0.737561  Lb-Ft

1 Kw = 1.34102209 Hp
1 Hp = 0.745699872 Kw

Taking an example from a manual for a Quad we see
MAXIMUM POWER 6.0KW/8500R/MIN
MAXIMUM TORQUE 14N.M/6000R/MIN

This quad produces 8.046 Horsepower @ 8500RPM and 10.325 pound feet of torque @ 6000 RPM.

Now there are no more mysteries thinking that your 1.5KW pocketbike can do 90 miles per hour (maybe off a cliff).

This article was written by Bruce Peresky for pocketbikeforum.com. Copying is permitted provided you give credit to http://www.pocketbikeforum.com

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