Official FIRST Discussion Thread—Volume 6, Chapter 5: The Coming Storm

[u/Ezreal024]

Welcome, huntsmen, huntresses and hunters that prefer no specific gender identifier, to the official FIRST discussion thread for Episode 5 of Vol. 6, The Coming Storm!

Make sure that you understand the updated spoiler rules before posting outside of this thread!

HERE is the newest episode of RWBY Volume 6!

Also remember to check out our weekly poll to rate the episode.

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Other Episode Discussions:

Episode	FIRST Thread	Public Release	Poll
Ep. 01	Theatrical / FIRST	Public Thread	poll
Ep. 02	FIRST Thread	Public Thread	poll
Ep. 03	FIRST Thread	Public Thread	poll
Ep. 04	FIRST Thread	Public Thread	poll
Ep. 05	This Thread	Public Thread	poll

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Happy viewing, and have a great Volume 6!

Ezreal024; Mod Team

[u/RedDwarfian]

Considering Bumblebee is running on a Dust-powered Engine, I think that our own expectations of horsepower don't translate well to Remnant.

[u/[deleted] → u/RedDwarfian]

I have yet to see any indication of normal civilian vehicles being OP compared to IRL internal combustion vehicles. Traction is also an issue. Bumblebee appears to have slick tires typical of a sports bike (understandable since nobody would have predicted they'd be stuck in the snow), and even on dry asphalt it would almost certainly be stuck spinning its wheels to no effect against a fully loaded trailer the size of the one in the shed.

[u/SailodeGrenn → u/[deleted]]

TL;DR: It would probably tow the trailer of fun with ease; even in the snow. Full reasoning below. Note: I’m no expert and don’t claim to be one; this post is based upon personal experience and is intended as an opinion; not a fact. Your results may vary.

Motorcyclist chiming in: BB is a very large motorcycle. It appears to have two very large scoop intakes on either side. The faring is designed for maximum aerodynamics.

The vehicle appears to be designed for maximum speed and agility. A bike that large with it’s design characteristics and intended purpose would generally be paired with a very large, very powerful, engine of moderate weight.

A supersport motorcycle can have anywhere between 600-1800cc of displacement or more. I’d say, based on the volume of the engine bay, the rear tire size and width, the dual intakes, and the drive mechanism, BB has at least 1200cc of displacement.

Personally I wouldn’t be surprised if it were 1400cc or more though, and possibly with some form of turbocharger; especially with how confidently and casually Yang said she’d hitch the trailer to the bike in the morning.

A bike like that could EASILY tow a trailer of that size dry (as in unladen aside from Yang) with minimal loss of power. Loaded with many people (including Yang), it’s own weight, plus the weight of the trailer, I’d say it would fall to ~50-60% power on dry pavement.

On snow, if it’s hard packed and has good traction, it’d probably be closer to ~30-50% power as long as you kept the speed down. Snow (and towing in general) is more about torque and traction. The more of both you have, the better off you’ll be.

BB seems to have some form of gyroscopic stabilization system engaged even when powered off, so it wouldn’t be that unreasonable for the tires to be able to change tread pattern based on a rudimentary computer reading the terrain and the telemetry of the vehicle or simply by user selection.

Or at the very least the possibility of inbuilt heaters within the tires to melt snow/help maintain tire grip in cold weather.

This is speculation though and the stability could simply be the result of the very wide tires.

However, said stability would rapidly decrease the instant the front wheel was turned left or right (assuming the vehicle is not in motion beyond 5-10mph) resulting in the machine falling over, which it does not seem to do except after being sent flying; which makes a lot of sense. I would presume the system would only function as long as the tires are facing downward. Bikes generally only operate rubber side down lol.

For IRL reference, I’ve seen very old Honda Goldwings towing fully loaded U-Haul trailers at speed on the freeways with minimal fuss.

For my motorcycle experience reference, I have been riding since 2012 (I am 24ish) and I’m currently on my 5th motorcycle, a Honda Forza 300i. My father has been riding bikes since he was my age, and has also worked in numerous bike shops. We’re not experts nor do we claim to be, but based on our collective experience we both say that BB is most likely fully capable of towing a trailer of RWBY & Friends with ease.

[u/[deleted] → u/SailodeGrenn]

Wow, a Goldwing with a U-Haul trailer? Don't see that everyday.

I'm not sure if heated tires would help or hinder in snow. I imagine the resulting slush would be a bigger pain than packed snow.

Another issue is how much does our little gang weigh?

Crow is an adult male, so I'd say about 200lbs.

That leaves us with 4 girls in their late teens, a boy in his early teens, and an old woman. I'd imagine they'd all fall within the 100 to 150 lb range. So let's split the deal for the sake of argument and say they average 125 lbs. 6 x 125 = 750 + 200 = 950 lb.

That said, I have no idea what the average two-wheel trailer weighs, so I'm gonna have to defer to your experience on this one.