Too Much Power?

[ZXDavid]

When is too much enough? Many young men and some old mens dream is more and more horsepower right? At this point the sportbikes are putting out over 170hp stock to the rear wheel aka ZX14. Will it keep going up? Is there a limit? Am I just getting old? I love the old bikes but I love the new bikes also. You can like both cant you. Iam sitting here thinking that in ten years is my ZX12R going to be a slow bike by the new bike standards.It boggles the mind.

[Pat Kelly]

It's all a mind-game.
Power = status.
If I can say that I have more power that makes me better.
Remember when a 750cc bike was a big bike? 350-400 was a mid-size nd you could buy 100, 125, up to 250cc small streetbikes.
Now there are 400 and 650cc scooters (Suzuki Bergman comes to mind).
You can still find plenty of 100 - 400cc streetbikes, just not in North America.
My 1978 Honda Hawk (400cc) would do the 1/4 mile in 14 seconds. Top speed was 115 MPH. It handled like it was on rails. I got 65 MPG. Who needs more bike than that? That same year the XS1100 came out with a 1/4 mile time in the 11's, top speed of 140MPH and 35MPG. Legal speed limit anywhere in the US was 55MPH. That really puts the excess in XS.
My old 82 Honda XL250 with an 85MPH top speed (after all, legal max speed in US now is 70MPH). Don't know 1/4 mile time. Could go anywhere on or off road. Need more bike than that? No, people just WANT more. At a stoplight on the XL250 when a Buell pulls next to me, sneers and says "wanna run 'em?". I pointed to the field to our right and said "sure". He wasnt interested then.
They'll build bikes (and cars) with more horsepower because people will buy them. It's a marketing tool to seperate us from our money. Gotta buy the newest bike with the most HP so I can brag that I have more than the next guy.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey David,

I read 'somewhere' that the bike manufacturers put a moritorium on "SPEED" limits when the Hayabusa machines came out realizing that it was getting rediculous.

However the power limit may still be open? Did you see that concept bike/car that Dodge made out of the VIPER V-10 engine, 500 hp!? But of course it's not a production bike!

A fool and his money are soon parted.

Build it, and they will buy it!
T.C.

[ZXDavid]

My deal was I wanted the quickest bike available because I was into drag racing and street racing back in the day. I also wanted the biggest bang for the buck . In latter years after I had quit running around town looking for races I still get a thrill out of running a fast bike through the gears. I want the power to impress myself not other people. Its still a thrill and fun. Understand I do pick my spots and Iam not doing this stuff all the time. Iam old but not dead yet.
I also enjoy old bikes like the Z1 and the others. They are fun to ride also and were the sportbikes of the day. I can have fun putting around also on a scooter and riding a atv or dirt bike is great also. Iam not going to limit myself I dont have time for that. Its all good aint it.

[webbcraft2150]

Its not how fast you go, its how well you go fast.

I have a t-shirt "The older I get, the faster I was".

170hp bikes, 350hp SUV's, 500hp cars, build em and someone will buy em.

My XS pretty well satisfies my need for speed.

Sidenote: been chasin more HP outa my boats for years, pick up 2-5MPH for big $$$. I pretty much gave up that chase and came up with this;
"Theres faster boats and there are slower boats, and always some guy on the shore wishin he had any boat". Same holds true on bikes. How often can I run 65 in the boat?, not very often, how often can you wring out a current superbike to its 170-180 top end, not very often. The skill required to run 140+ on a bike is rare among street riders. Most of those that claim to have run that fast really haven't, and never will. They haven't a clue just how fast things come up. The difference between 100 and 120 is huge, between 120 and 150 to 170 is surreal, absolute warp speed, requiring total concentration and focus. Anything else and you are a statistic.

[TADracer]

Take it to the track

Is there ever enough HP? NOPE! It is just a function of the man's mind (and a few ladies too). But in latter years I realize that gobs of horsepower are nothing more than a 'feel good'. Still, I still persue them trying to get that last little bit out of the tune up combination I have. But in practicality, a load of HP is useless if you cannot use it.

Would I ride a Busa on the street? Yep! As long as it is still legal. But would I rather ride a Busa on the track where it can do what it's roots were designed for? Oh Man Yeah!!

[Snow]

The skill required to run 140+ on a bike is rare among street riders. Most of those that claim to have run that fast really haven't, and never will. They haven't a clue just how fast things come up. The difference between 100 and 120 is huge, between 120 and 150 to 170 is surreal, absolute warp speed, requiring total concentration and focus. Anything else and you are a statistic. [/B]

Heh...heh heh heh...at 155 (as indicated on GSXR1100 speedo) dotted lines almost look like a solid line.... It's really amazing that 155 on a GSXR feels like 80 on an XS11. About 140 on a VFR750 (Dan, don't tell my brother!) also feels like 70-80 on an XS11.

[Bauer]

Good points guys....

Being on the bottom end of this generation, (need for speed) I do have one thing to say about it all. It may just be my opinion, but it is what I am seeing as I grow older.

Bikes now days are coming off the assembly line capable of seemingly mach chicken and beyond for speed, yet the top number isn’t as appealing to the people buying the bikes anymore as it used to be. HP numbers are taking over the market more so now days then they were say 5 years ago. People are coming to realize through the ever tightening police enforcement, and the growth of the areas we ride in, it is as you say becoming ever harder to run the bike to the speed it was designed to be capable of.

The "strip" here in Bismarck (capital city of ND) is about 29 blocks long, with approximately 27 street lights, if you were guaranteed green lights and no traffic, you could possibly open er up, but the odds are as we know, quite unlikely.
However, for the light to light runners, the opportunity exists to see who can get a length (or 2 or 5) on the guy in the next lane over. When you bring this into play, that triple digit speed number your salesman was bragging about no longer means anything. Who cares about doing 175mph in a city block. However getting the power edge on the guy that’s in the other lane sneering at you is the key.

More and more I’m seeing people riding in on bikes that they have heavily modified to be faster in the 1/4 or 1/8 mile, yet the top speed is greatly reduced. Be this for at the track, or light to light, or just getting the adrenaline pumping as you accelerate through the gears, its fast becoming the way of life.

As I tear further and further into my 27 year old eleven, I keep trying to find ways to make it much faster on the get up, and not so much emphasis on the go. To me there is MUCH more of a rush feeling the bike practically rip out from under you when you twist the throttle, then there is watching the scenery blast by at a buck-50+

Sorry for the long winded post, but I figured Id throw in a 20 year old “kids” perspective on things.

Keep it between the lines and curbs. Ill keep dreaming of seat time up here in the frozen north.

[Pat Kelly]

Bauer,
Then build for torque, not horsepower.Torque will give you that rush. Yorque will get you off the line quicker.
Horsepower is what gets you to the top speed.

[Bauer]

haha, I was wondering if somebody was going to call me on that.

By saying HP, I was using it as a relative term, not so much the exact meaning of it. Besides, it was 2 letters, torque is 6 Every time I was spelling it out, I had to count fingers on 2 hands. Good thing it wasnt more than 10, or I would have had to take my socks off too.