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In the star wars universe the speeders bikes was almost as fast as the pod racers went. Example the 74-Z speeder bike, had a top speed of upto 500km/h, where the pod racers went upto 900 km/h, but only at max speeds

Quoted from the wiki: "Because of the reflexes needed to control the pod as it raced around the course at breakneck speeds, as well as the dexterity needed to control the Podracer, all known Podracers, apart from Anakin Skywalker, were non-humans. Inhuman physical attributes, as well as extra pairs of hands, came in handy when trying to control the pod at its top speed of around 900 km/h."

Seeing that the storm troopers were so poorly trained that they could not even hit simple shots with the blasters, how could they manage the speeder bikes?

Oil
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    "..almost as fast .. upto 500km/h, where .. went upto 900 km/h" If you traveled at 100 Km/h then 180 Km/h, I think you'd realize the first was not 'almost as fast' as the 2nd. In terms of physics alone, a (fragile) human body would possess over 3 times the kinetic energy at the higher speed than they would at the lower. You would be approaching stationary objects 1.8 times faster (with around 55% of the possible reaction time). .. – Andrew Thompson Dec 04 '15 at 13:09
  • top speed UP to, not safe operating speed – phantom42 Dec 04 '15 at 13:10
  • @AndrewThompson My reference is to the speed that both can run, and both being agile at that speed still, Pod racers can go upto 900, but they barely ever do, only when they hit long straights, which does not really require reflexes, speeder bikes were driven in forests between trees which requires alot faster reflexes than the course the pod racers went through in Episode one – Oil Dec 04 '15 at 13:17
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    Using your "almost as fast as logic": Speeder bikes are almost as fast as pod racers. F1 cars will go over 300km/h so they're almost as fast as speeder bikes. My car will do over 200km/h so that's almost as fast as an F1 car. So basically I'm pretty much good enough to be a pod racer. – Moogle Dec 04 '15 at 13:18
  • @Moogle again, your don need any reflexes going in a straight line, your car cant go around corners at 200km/h, and neither can a F1 car. – Oil Dec 04 '15 at 13:19
  • Someone should rewatch that scene to make a reasonable guesstimate of how fast the bikes were actually going. Without that, this is all speculation. – Mr Lister Dec 04 '15 at 13:37
  • Riding and shooting are two different skills, with near zero in common, except you use your hands in both activities. Clever attempt at analogy though. – Athena Widget Dec 04 '15 at 13:46
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    Stormtroopers are perfect for speeder bikes because they never hit anything. – thegreatjedi Dec 04 '15 at 14:19
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxK2whfS-Rw ...I mean...That's about in line with their blaster skils – VapedCrusader Dec 04 '15 at 14:20
  • We can reasonably assume that there is no terrain following guidance system allowed in pod racing, whereas there could easily be said guidance or obstacle avoidance systems in speederbikes. – Moo Dec 04 '15 at 14:30

2 Answers2

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There are two false assumptions you make here.

  • The first is that Storm Troopers are poorly trained soldiers. This answer goes into that in depth:

    In short, the times when we see Stormtroopers 'sucking' are all times when their hands have been tied by politics, overarching military strategy, or their superiors incompetence.

    The times we see them doing their jobs without such problems, they perform exceedingly well.

  • The second is that the speeders' regular usage requires the same breakneck speeds that podracing required. My car's top rated speed is 180km/h, but I rarely drive it higher than 100km/h, and I know that even between 100 and 140km/h, the reflex speed needed for safe driving are entirely different - for much of the reason I avoid driving at those speeds.

So to answer your question, I can see no reason why it wouldn't be possible to ride a speeder at a reasonable 300-400km/h, especially for well-trained stormtroopers.

Community
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Avner Shahar-Kashtan
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As some have already mentioned, the bikes are rarely driven at top speeds, making control by a normal (non-Jedi) human possible.

In addition, though there is no evidence of this in the films, it may be possible that there is some sort of technological assistance involved. Speeder bikes may have onboard computers that provide some sort of assistance to various aspects of flight and navigation during normal operation.

A very logical response then is, "but what about the times when we clearly see bikes being driven into trees, etc.". Again, being speculative, we can assume that those catastrophic results occur when full manual control is attempted by the rider at extremely high speeds, vs. computer assisted control at lower speeds.

Darkstar
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