Is Top End Speed On The Road Important To You?.

[ZX-7R]

Back in my teens and 20's it was a big thing,trying to outpace your mates,had 170 on the clock of my GSXR750 many a time back in my younger days.

Now i am approaching 50 it don't bother me.Too many cameras and speed traps,and straight to jail if getting caught at the big speeds.

Now i just like the acceleration to 100 over higher speeds as its just too risky now.Its why i think today's litre bikes are pretty pointless on the road now.200+bhp is never gonna be useable on the road.

Even my 15 year old ZX-7r can get me banned in 3rd gear on a motorway

[Dave V4]

[Albigularis]

Only because it's indicative of power. Bikes I find fun are generally able to do over 180mph. I seldom take them over 150 though, so the specific number is unimportant.
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Biking history so far-
Aprilia RS125 - Kawasaki ZXR400 - Triumph Street Triple R - Suzuki GSXR1000 L3 - BMW R1200GS - Kawasaki Z1000 - Kawasaki ZX10R C1H - Ducati Multistrada 1200 S Touring - Suzuki Hayabusa

[redeem ouzzer]

Not really. I ride my 130bhp bike like a clergyman most of the time and enjoy the easy power. I find myself more indisposed to do silly things on lighter bikes with half the power. Large cc bikes are more useful for commuting and covering distance on, but fun to ride, i'm not so sure. On the occasions i've wrung the 1100's neck i've spent the next 24 hours peeping through the curtains thinking every car outside is a police car here to frogmarch me into custody.
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Be a REAL MAN!

[talkToTheHat]

If you're finding the top speed of a litre bike, you're on the wrong roads. I have a friend a few years younger than me who has just started riding. He's got an r1 and a luggaged up vfr. I like the vfr, it's plenty quick but not unmanageable on my favourite bits of backroad. All his motorcycle stories go "so i was doing one hundred and {many} on the M{something} and {near loss of control}"... Why? Motorways and dual carriageways are boring, even flat out on a fast bike. If a road doesn't have braking events and corners that require shoving the bars around and risk of pegs scraping then its too straight. Granted the run past the test centre i. Rotherham past Magna to the M1 junction had a handful of peg-scrapers last time i went that way 2-up on the 535...

When i take the bandit for some kind of recreational trip, if i need to change up from 4th gear, its a sign I'm doing it wrong, and 4th is probably being kind to the bike. Perhaps i like my twisties really twisty, but on the roads i find fun to ride, with the tacho needle on the right of vertical, hyperbike speeds must aren't achieveable. On roads where they are, there is either too much traffic or it's boring.
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Bandit. does. everything.

[gorillaonabik...]

You kidding me? Back in the day I was determined to be the fastest rider on the road on my blade. It was death before dishonour and dishonour meant being overtaken.

These days, I want a nice, comfy seat, heated grips, upright position and a cup of cocoa while I ride.

Someone put me down before I start to dribble...
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FZR400 (blown engine), ZXR750 (blown engine), ZX6R (accident), CBR600 which had engine issues after which I learned to change gear..., CBR900, CBR924 (stolen), CB600, CB1300 (everything blew up), BMW K1300GT (written off, hit from rear while stationary), Bandit 1250 for a couple of months, Triumph Sprint ST 1050 (nicked) and somewhere in there, I wrote off a Ducati 748 at Cadwell.

[Alan1986]

And I almost crap myself going 40 on my cbt...
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Cbt Done, Currently wobbling around on a Cbf125 and love it
DAS some time soon

[yen_powell]

[Taught2BCauti...]

Speed doesn't bother me, but it's comforting to know that I can keep up with the flow of traffic in all conditions.

If you are an important person, people will wait for you - if you're not, nobody will care if you are late.

Better to arrive late in this life, than to arrive early in the next.

Don't ride faster than your guardian angel can fly.

etc....
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Honda Varadero XL125(V8)
www.TheFutureIsHere.eu

[MarJay]

As long as it can do 100mph easily I don't care. As someone else said though, top speed is often indicative of power. However, if the bike has been geared for top end speed rather than low end punch I think it's a waste. I could use the low end on the road, but I'm never going to be going much faster than 100mph realistically.
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F; Cheap project: CBR900RR FireBlade
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[stevo as b4]

No one needs a 200bhp bike on the road, and the person saying all the bikes they find are fun have top speeds over 180mph, is probably really missing the point, or just lucky they still have a licence for now.

I had a mate years ago with a blackbird that he used to like to try and max out on long straight bits of b-roads, even over cattle grids etc, but he was an adrenaline head only, and tales of going to le-mans on the autoroute at 170mph with mates was just normal riding to him, he had no other use for a bike.

Small bikes are fun, where big bikes can never be. Its the same with a light revvy hatchback that really handles well and the chassis is too good for the power available. This equals fun, where as a huge German saloon that can power to 155mph in near silence is totally boring to the point of death.

[MarJay]

[Kris]

Yes.

Sometimes I like to scare myself shitless and cover ground at 80 metres per second. It's fun.
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NSR125RR - ZXR750H1 - ZX9R E1 - GSF600S - GSF600SK3 - VFR400-NC30 - SV1000N - ST1100-R - CBR900RR-R - GSF1200SK5 - GSF600SK1 - VFR1200FA - GSXR1000K2 - ZZR1400 D8F
www.prisonplanet.com

[The Shaggy D.A.]

[stevo as b4]

I know people sometimes like these big hyper tourers with 200bhp, but I think that's more for the low down grunt when loaded 2up with luggage or maybe for the few that commute on such bikes, as if they have a smooth throttle action or soft map, then you can probably ride them near tickover in the big gears on slippery roads etc to make it easier/smoother.

200bhp in a modern 1000cc pointy sports bike, where you have to rev to 11000rpm plus like a 600 to access it is useless on the road to my mind, and the long gearing these bikes have mean they probably don't like slow town riding in high gears or have no much better drive from town speeds than a new 600.

[Rogerborg]

[Tierbirdy]

No, because I like having a driving licence As long as I can happily cruise along at 80 with the occasional burst of more oomph when I need to do some spirited overtaking then I'm fine.

I had enough close calls when I was going through my boy racer GOTTA GO FAST Phase in cars, if I'd had a proper bike at that time I'd probably be dead

[el_oso]

No. Not usually. As long as I can get upto NSL then I'm good.

I much prefer thrashing the CBR250 up to the limiter than opening up the gixxer but not getting into it's fun zone.
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Duke 390
Previous: '05 XR125L | '96 XJ600S Diversion |'05 Suzuki GSXR1000 | '05 Honda CBR125-R | '97 YZF 600R Thundercat | '11 Honda CBR250
Car: Jeep Wrangler 4.0L

[craigs23]

I can't stop having fun riding my MSX125, so no, not really.

[stinkwheel]

If you are going to go Euro-touring, it can make a big difference.

If you take a bike that can do 130mph and another that can do 160mph and are planning to do Calais to Prague in a day. The first one is going to be hanging out of its arse by the time you get there.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Skudd]

My 1lt bike is tuned for low end grunt and I love using it. Top end isn't that fast but fast enough on these roads.
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Famous last words of Humpty Dumpty. " Stop pushing me "
Petty Anarchists look at "1984".............. The Visionary looks at "Animal Farm".

[stevo as b4]

[G]

[Albigularis]

[stevo as b4]

It was an overly simplified point, but the spread of power is obviously important too. But again oversimplifying it to say that bike a, makes 190bhp at 4000 and say has a 1-2k range of overrev past peak without a big power drop, and then bike b, has peak power at 12k, but no torque worth mentioning before 8000rpm, then in low speed day to day riding, and banging open the throttle for an overtake or leaving town centre speedlimits, then the bike making the numbers lower means it can respond more quickly generally.

Of course always being in the right gear for maximum drive out out every bend or situation like you would at the TT races would see no advantage, but riding 2gears too high in town traffic like many people would out of laziness or wanting to keep howling open pipes from being too antisocial then there is an advantage I would say.