The Theory of Relativity Or 'What goes faster? A Ninja or an R1?'

So... I've been doing the Theory of Relativity again. General Relativity I get. Space is flexible. Pretty straightforward. I even get E-mc2, 'Energy is equal to mass times the speed of light squared'. And I can explain that in the form of nuclear fusion. (Whack a couple of particles together, that equation will tell you how much energy they'll release)

But Special Relativity?? What was Albert going on about??

Okay, so this is the one to do with speed and time. So, take a Ninja and an R1. The Ninja is travelling at 50mph, the R1 is doing 100mph. To the Ninja rider the R1 only appears to be doing 50mph, but when the Ninja stops at the lights and the R1 doesn't, the R1 now appears to be doing 100mph to the Ninja rider. Perception of speed is relative to your own speed. Get that bit, it's not too complicated.
But if the R1 is now doing the speed of light, and the Ninja is still at the lights, when the R1 stops in ten minutes time, the two clocks will no longer match. The Ninja will say ten past one, but the R1 will say 5 past one. Or something like that.

Huh??

My conclusion: Fit you bike with Nitrous and you'll never be late for anything ever again. Well not by your watch anyway. Maybe by everyone else's!



Disclaimer: Figures here are wildly inaccurate. This is due to attempting to explain one of the most complicated bits of Physics using a silly example with motorcycles. Please don't take it too seriously.