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Road Temp or Wind Chill Info Anyone?


Zfrebird4

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When I bought my first 86 Ursula Gold on Black, I found a temp strip to stick to the bottom of my left mirror. Anyone know where to find those? Or is there something else? Actual road temp is impossible due to wind chill, but wind chill DOES give some warning before one runs into Colorado black ice.

 

Now, don't let that discourage you from coming to CO. Today it was in the mid 50's and I putt in 55 miles in the foot hills of the CO eastern front.

 

Thanks for the info from anyone.

 

JackZ

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When I was driving truck OTR I had a stick on temp strip on my drivers side mirror. Same thing that you use on a fish tank. (any pet store)

 

That was before modern technology with digital displays for outside temps and heated mirrors came along. Not so great for wind chill but itgave you an idea of what to be prepared for when you opened the door. :cold:

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I found myself a cheap indoor outdoor thermometer and used velcro to stick it on the dash. I ran the outdoor probe into the right hand air duct. If its a very calm day there can be as much as 3 degrees difference between indoor temp and outdoor temp. A windy day very little difference.

It is a great tool for watching for ice if the temp is below zero.:cold:

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When I bought my first 86 Ursula Gold on Black, I found a temp strip to stick to the bottom of my left mirror. Anyone know where to find those? Or is there something else? Actual road temp is impossible due to wind chill, but wind chill DOES give some warning before one runs into Colorado black ice.

 

Now, don't let that discourage you from coming to CO. Today it was in the mid 50's and I putt in 55 miles in the foot hills of the CO eastern front.

 

Thanks for the info from anyone.

 

JackZ

 

Wind chill only affects skin or other moist/wet surfaces, not thermometers.

So whether you are stopped or going 100 mph a thermometer will read the same.

 

The strip that you had, something like this?

 

As far as measuring the pavement temp, while moving, you could use one of the IR thermometers with the sensor pointing down and the display mounted where you can see it. You can pick up inexpensive IR thermometers at many hobby shops that cater to radio control aircraft.

Just remember that an overpass road surface can be a lot cooler than the road over solid ground and have a icy surprise waiting for you.

Edited by Flyinfool
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To expand on Jacks comments, I will try to go a little deeper. Wind chill is one of those things people hear occasionally, but many really don't understand. It is simply figuring the difference in cooling rate of an object that is warmer than ambient temperature, and the effect air has moving over it at given speeds.

An example of this is if the ambient temperature is 50º and you set a piece of steel that is 150º in still air, it will cool at a given rate. If you do the same thing and move air across it at 20mph, it will cool to the ambient temperature quicker. 40mph, even quicker. This is because air is somewhat of an insulater and the warm object will heat the air around it and have a warm shield. If there is air movement, then the shield is penetrated much easier.

In Jacks example of anything moist, then you also have the effect of condensing. As the moisture dries, you are also adding to the cooling effect.

Another thing to consider is, in reality there is no such thing as cold, it is simple the degree of the absence of heat. Now don't that just make you feel warm and fuzzy?

RandyA

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To expand on Jacks comments, I will try to go a little deeper. Wind chill is one of those things people hear occasionally, but many really don't understand. It is simply figuring the difference in cooling rate of an object that is warmer than ambient temperature, and the effect air has moving over it at given speeds.

An example of this is if the ambient temperature is 50º and you set a piece of steel that is 150º in still air, it will cool at a given rate. If you do the same thing and move air across it at 20mph, it will cool to the ambient temperature quicker. 40mph, even quicker. This is because air is somewhat of an insulater and the warm object will heat the air around it and have a warm shield. If there is air movement, then the shield is penetrated much easier.

In Jacks example of anything moist, then you also have the effect of condensing. As the moisture dries, you are also adding to the cooling effect.

Another thing to consider is, in reality there is no such thing as cold, it is simple the degree of the absence of heat. Now don't that just make you feel warm and fuzzy?

RandyA

 

heh... I can think of at least ONE thing better than that, that makes me feel warm and fuzzy ....

 

so, what you're saying is... if it's minus 10 but the windchill factor makes it feel like minus 20 that means I will feel the absense of heat a lot faster...

 

I think I'll stay indoors where it's warm and fuzzy...:D

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There is a unit available called Surface Patrol HD. It not only detects pavement and air temperature, it also measures relative humidity and dew point. The sensor gives real-time data and provides atmospheric and pavement readings.

It will be more bulky and expensive than the strip, but accurate for detecting black ice.

:2cents:

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+1 with aspen60.

If I remember correctly from the science days, wind chill is the Perception of temperature on exposed flesh. I believe this is why the meteorologists say, "its going to be 30 out there, but with the wind chill it'll Feel like 20..."

 

As for temp measuring, I velcroed a small digital thermostat that I got in an autoparts store to the inside of the fairing. Although, I did learn that you have to mount it as far to the outside edge as possible. I originally had it mounted near the handlebar risers and the wind pushing the heat up from the engine had it reading about 10 degrees over actual.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Bob

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... I found a temp strip to stick to the bottom of my left mirror. Anyone know where to find those? Or is there something else?...

 

You could always just do a quick calculation in your head...

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/math/d/7/7/d770faf6b278b5fb4c5601c62dd7cdfb.png where http://upload.wikimedia.org/math/6/a/9/6a9532d022ece96ba3deae3b3aebfb47.png and http://upload.wikimedia.org/math/6/b/8/6b803a537e4ce3dc4bf2a39b06469245.png are measured in °F, and http://upload.wikimedia.org/math/7/d/f/7dffcf76b71e3e21b0a27e93ff551e79.png in mph.

 

[ame]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_chill[/ame]

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When I bought my first 86 Ursula Gold on Black, I found a temp strip to stick to the bottom of my left mirror. Anyone know where to find those? Or is there something else? Actual road temp is impossible due to wind chill, but wind chill DOES give some warning before one runs into Colorado black ice.

 

Now, don't let that discourage you from coming to CO. Today it was in the mid 50's and I putt in 55 miles in the foot hills of the CO eastern front.

 

Thanks for the info from anyone.

 

JackZ

 

Wind chill has no effect on inanimate objects.

 

If the air tempreture is 34 Deg F and you set a glass of warm water in this air, it will not freeze. If you start blowing air across this glass of water it will still not freeze. Temperature is still 34 deg. However the presence of this moving air will serve to accelerate rate at which the water temp drops to the air temp.

 

In reality, air moving across inanimate objects tends to raise their temperature due to the friction that is being generated. Effect is negligible at low speeds, but consider the space shuttle re-entering the atmosphere, very cold at those altitudes, but exterior of shuttle gets very hot due to speed of atmosphere moving past it. It doesn't matter that shuttle is moving and not the air, effect is the same.

Edited by dingy
spelling
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To expand on Jacks comments, I will try to go a little deeper. Wind chill is one of those things people hear occasionally, but many really don't understand. It is simply figuring the difference in cooling rate of an object that is warmer than ambient temperature, and the effect air has moving over it at given speeds.

An example of this is if the ambient temperature is 50º and you set a piece of steel that is 150º in still air, it will cool at a given rate. If you do the same thing and move air across it at 20mph, it will cool to the ambient temperature quicker. 40mph, even quicker. This is because air is somewhat of an insulater and the warm object will heat the air around it and have a warm shield. If there is air movement, then the shield is penetrated much easier.

In Jacks example of anything moist, then you also have the effect of condensing. As the moisture dries, you are also adding to the cooling effect.

Another thing to consider is, in reality there is no such thing as cold, it is simple the degree of the absence of heat. Now don't that just make you feel warm and fuzzy?

RandyA

 

Nicely put! Air is a fluid after all. Most of us just don't think of it that way.

 

And to add another little known fact. There is no such thing as centrifugal force either. Now try to wrap your head around that one.

 

Oh ya, those thermometers can be found at the local pet stores, and cheaper also.

Edited by a1bummer
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I'm sure it was an honest mistake and it's not the first time that it has happened. I merged the two threads. One was in first gen tech talk and the other second gen tech talk. I merged them and then moved the merged thread to General Tech Talk. That should cover it. :)

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...

And to add another little known fact. There is no such thing as centrifugal force either. Now try to wrap your head around that one.

...

 

EDIT: NOTE: I may have mis-interpreted what you mean by 'no such thing'

 

Just to clarify this. Centripetal and centrifugal forces both do exist.

 

Centripetal force can be defined as 'the force required to keep an object moving in circular motion'.

 

Centrifugal force is a pseudo-force [real term] (not to be confused with something that does not exist) that can be defined as the force an object would feel in a rotating reference frame as a result of the motion of the reference frame itself. That is, for example, if you are driving in a cage and you make a hard turn; inside the car, it feels as if you are being pushed in a direction opposite of which the vehicle is turning. This is due to the inertial effects on a body in a non-inertial reference frame. Your car is 'connected' to the road via the frictional forces between the tires and the road, and by contact with the rest of the vehicle, will go where the net force between the tires and the road cause the car to go. The occupants of the vehicle are 'bound' to the vehicle via the frictional forces between their behonkuses and the seat as well as a seat belt (and anything else in contact with the vehicle) but also obligated to abide by the laws of Physics. So the pseudo-force that the person inside the vehicle 'feels', 'pushing' them, inside the vehicle, IS the centrifugal force.

 

So, to clarify this, there IS such thing as a centrifugal force.

 

The term 'centrifical' is commonly used, which is often confused with 'centrifugal' and/or 'centripetal' which centrifical is the one that does not exist.

 

Hope this helps clarify things, :happy34:

 

- Rick (M.S. - Physics)

 

 

ANYWYAS, back on topic - one of those stick on aquarium thermometers would be a cheap solution to the 'what is the temperature outside' question. And I like the idea of the IR thermometer pointed at the pavement some fixed distance ahead of you. That seems like a handy way to get a heads up on what is coming.

Edited by LilBeaver
Added a note as I may have mis-interpreted the original statement
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Guest tx2sturgis

Thanks Rick, for taking up the cause for centrifugal force. I was letting the dust settle before I took the bait. I sometimes do that...a bit too eagerly I'm afraid.

 

When it comes to centrifugal force, wind chill, solar eclipses, and the speed of electrons, there are many people with incorrect information. I even had to TRY to explain to someone the other day, that fish ARE animals...he swore they were NOT animals! This is from an otherwise reasonably intelligent individual. I'm guessing some religious overtones were present in his statement...not actually sure...didnt ask...didnt care.

 

But yes, calling centrifugal force a 'psuedo-force' is not the same as saying it does not exist.

 

Ok...back to original topic....

 

 

 

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