How fast do you want it to go

M

Mikestib1_imp

Running like a top
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A very good friend of mine in the 70's was crazy about motorcycles from Triumph 650 choppers with hard tail frames, to CB750 Sohc engines to stroker iron head Sportsters who was also a good mechanic and an amateur drag racer told me it all depended on how much money you could get your hands on. Luckily I only wanted my CB 750 K1 to be able to whip my little brother's 1973 Z-1. Back then it took a Kenny Harman cam,valve springs, rejetted carbs with pod filters and a 811 piston kit. It left Z-1's for dead. Luckily I was parts manager at a Honda shop and got everything for cost and labor for free. The good old days.
 
Mikestib1_imp said:
A very good friend of mine in the 70's was crazy about motorcycles from Triumph 650 choppers with hard tail frames, to CB750 Sohc engines to stroker iron head Sportsters who was also a good mechanic and an amateur drag racer told me it all depended on how much money you could get your hands on. Luckily I only wanted my CB 750 K1 to be able to whip my little brother's 1973 Z-1. Back then it took a Kenny Harman cam,valve springs, rejetted carbs with pod filters and a 811 piston kit. It left Z-1's for dead. Luckily I was parts manager at a Honda shop and got everything for cost and labor for free. The good old days.
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These days you can already buy a fast bike and then reflash it to make it even faster. No need for cams and all that. I've got a 2015 ZX-10R, 170 at the rear wheel, but 185 with just a Guhls reflash. Hook up a computer, takes a few minutes and $350 or so. I don't need 185 HP so I kept my money for tires.
 
I'd venture to say 80% of the bikes available today are capable of easily exceeding the skill level of 90% of the riders (and increasingly, the reaction speed of the aging rider that had skills) that there is a real world gap between how fast you want it go and how fast are you capable of safely going.

Then there is the sister question that may be more relevant; especially for those of us packing on the years: How quick do you want to be? My Griso has taught me that perhaps she is quicker than I am comfortable (the longer I own it though I'm getting used to it so maybe I should sell it so I don't get caught going too quick and fast :D ).
 
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If I had a Griso I'd be in Heaven. As for ZX10 r's it's not the same as the 1971 CB 750 made 52 stock. You have no need to make a bike with 160 any faster as few riders can even use the stock power. Bumping up 170 to 185 might be good for bragging rights, unless you are a professional road racer, then it might be worth it. I was talking about old air cooled engines.
 
hahahahahaha

I remember those days.

faster faster faster

Now, all of mine will go faster than I want.

Yep - the good old days !

Cheers !
 
Faster than the sports car next to me that cost him 6 times what my bike did, although maybe that's "quicker" not "faster".

120mph is as fast as I want it to go. 100mph is as fast as I ever went to go.
 
I just want to go fast enough to enjoy myself. Seems to be around 60-62 mph most of the time.
 
80 tops . had a unrestricted / tricked out 2000 [ built 12 / 1999 ] and a TurboBusa and so glad they are gone.
each ride on this CB1100 leaves me well satisfied and happy a speed limit
 
80-90 is fine with me. That means I can cruise all day at 70 and not feel like I'm wringing the poor bike's neck. Saw 155 indicated on my K1200RS once, and that was plenty. Used to frequently cruise the Colorado, Utah and Nevada backroads at 100-120 mph, but I'm over it.
 
A more real world application of speed is acceleration rather than top speed. Realistically, who regularly runs around at 100+mph on the street?

Now, a quick 0-60 jaunt getting on a freeway on-ramp can be pretty fun, or just scooting away from traffic at a stoplight.

I also like to use the superior (to most cars) acceleration on the freeway to stay away from wolf packs and stay "in the pocket".
 
In a perfect world it'll go as fast as it's safe to go w/o ever getting a ticket. Which is kinda what it actually works out. I used to go 100 every day; no mas.
Everybody exceeds the speed limit. I just drove cross-country in a new big-a** Ford and the speed limit was 80 from South Dakota to LA; 88 mph was the sweet spot!
How fast to ride depends a lot on road conditions where you traveling. "Don't shat in your backyard" is smart sense. Sport-touring on fast back upstate roads I'm hustling w/o a doubt.
 
I agree with Rebel...except that the question was "want it to go" I want it to go 125 and I'd like to ride it to 100 once to say I did (95 or so is my max on this bike to date), but I don't need it to do that. I just want to be able to accelerate quickly and hold a comfortable 80mph when the speed limit allows us that much.
 
I agree with the geezers , I am 62, any thing over 70 mph seems like I am just hanging on , both on the CB and my Road King .
 
EmptySea_imp said:
I agree with Rebel...except that the question was "want it to go" I want it to go 125 and I'd like to ride it to 100 once to say I did (95 or so is my max on this bike to date), but I don't need it to do that. I just want to be able to accelerate quickly and hold a comfortable 80mph when the speed limit allows us that much.
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Yeah, I've hit 100+ on occasion, but it was only briefly. With my 6th gear, I can cruise all day at 80mph at 3400rpm.
 
I'm old, I'm slow and the CB is a much better bike than I am a rider. Think I've had it all the way up to 5,000 RPM's once or maybe twice and that was not in 6th. :rofl:
 
If I wanted fast I'd have bought a sport bike. The CB can cruise with the best of them and over the years I discovered that putting around is my favorite kind of riding. Sure, brutal performance is fun but I don't ride to add stress (and back pain) to my life. That's why I quit commuting on the bike. Now it's nothing but fun fun fun.
 
MM300_imp said:
If I wanted fast I'd have bought a sport bike. The CB can cruise with the best of them and over the years I discovered that putting around is my favorite kind of riding. Sure, brutal performance is fun but I don't ride to add stress (and back pain) to my life. That's why I quit commuting on the bike. Now it's nothing but fun fun fun.
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You know, it sure can. I got the freeway today and it zips right up to 80-90 mph, plenty of torque. That's really where it's in its element, cruising speed. Just loafs along.
 
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