Minimum bhp?

[Whosthedaddy]

Ok, what would you think is the minimum bhp needed for a commute?
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Current : MSX 125 Past : CBR 900RR Monkeybike : c50 LAC : ZXR750 H2 : FZR600 : ZX7R P3 : YW100 : TRX850: Trophy 900 T309 : GSXR 600 L0: Monkeybike : XJ6S Whosthedaddy

[Bikeless]

3?

[Livefast123]

Depends what colour powerband you have

Think around 5 with a pink one, around 30 with a brown one

Seriously though I use a 28 Bhp 250 for my commute on dual carriageway and A roads and it just laps it up and comes back for more as well as doing 88 MPG.
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[ncrn]

Depends where are you riding? If in town (30's) not a lot, 8? If you are commuting on motorways a bit more but not tons, if you are on fast A roads you might want a bit more again for overtakes?
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[kingsknight]

1

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remember to keep it topped up with oil and dont keep it in the red line for too long!
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[G]

150rwhp in a light sporty chassis for the most comfortable experience. (What I found best for 30s/40s.)

A push bike if you don't care about ease of getting from A to B quickly .

[locked]

33bhp, its enough for tooting around and enough power to keep up with motorway speeds.
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[truslack]

20bhp is a nice figure - MZ250.
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[The Shaggy D.A.]

I used to commute 80 miles a day on the Enfield. With the mods I think it had a whopping 20bhp.
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[Rogerborg]

If you "need" more than 20-25hp, you're not commuting, you're having a ride out.

[blurredman]

10 for town, 30 for motorways. Simples
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[G]

If you "need" more than 12hp you're not commuting, you're having a ride out. Could also be just as 'sensible' a statement .

For me, commuting is about getting from A to B as quickly and as easily as possible - more power and lighter weight means it's not a 'ride out' 100% concentration on riding the bike to it's full abilities thing.
With a broad range of high power I can easily manoeuvre the bike to go where I want to be with minimum effort.

[chris-red]

My TDM has 90 give or take. I wouldn't want any less. Besides It's not how much power, it's the character of the power. My S4 has more power than the TDM but it is mostly in the top end the TDM has Lots of power from 2k RPM which is better for commuting. I wouldn't want to commute on a low powered bike that I have to rag the shit out of to get anywhere. I reckon 90% of my Journey i use under 40bhp but it is low in the revs just pootling along as opposed to nearlly at the redline like a 500 twin would be.
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[MarJay]

My MZ has about 16-20 or so and that is fine for motorway work. Anything less and you'll be struggling to keep up.
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[Paxovasa]

Depends on what type of commuting, if B roads and town/city riding, then you need less bhp than motorway and A road commuting.
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[The Shaggy D.A.]

[Whosthedaddy]

Ok, the ball park figures do go hand in hand with what I was thinking of...17 and upwards depending on money.

[nowhere.elysium]

[truslack]

[Teflon-Mike]

It's not the power you MIGHT have, its the power you can use.
Mito may have 28bhp, but stacked in a 2000rom powerband, its not very 'available'.
100bhp R6, on the other hand probably had 28bhp 'available' from anything over 2000rpm, despite its revvy motor.
MZ 250 might only have 20bhp, but it'll have most of it available right accross the rev-range.
Power USED is directly proportional to speed, so how fast do you want to commute?
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[Kickstart]

Hi

Depends where I am commuting. Currently it tends to entail about 85 miles of motorway each way (and about 10 miles of non motorway). I want something to cruise at a decent speed with plenty in reserve in top without having to stir the gearbox. The ZZR600 I use sometimes has barely enough for this (but plenty more if I do stir the gearbox, but which is useless as I really do not want to bother). It probably has about 50hp at cruising speed in top, with about half of that being used to maintain cruising speed and the other half available.

Commuting round town then less power would be fine, but again a power delivery biased to low down power would be wanted.

If commuting 30~60 mins on back roads then something which is more fun to ride would be preferable. And a 125 2 stroke would be quite fun and practical.

All the best

Keith
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[G]

[Whosthedaddy]

[Al]

I wouldn't want to commute on anything that couldn't do just over the speed limit I'd be riding in.
My commute is mainly 30-40mph zones and my Vespa just about manages an indicated 60 mph so this is fine for me.
I just searched to find out how many BHP it has and I'm a little disappointed to find out its only 7.6bhp

I'd probably want about 20hp for motorway riding.
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[dextersaurus]

i'm happy enough with what the GPZ has to offer, but then again i was happy enough with what the CG had to offer.

I'm actually thinking i preferred the CG, it was a lot more fun.



Though i would have been perfectly happy with a 20bhp bike to take me to college and back. Good fuel economy too

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