100 HP on the street...why?

[Triple J]

my friend took his 1098 out today for some commuting. He said he nearly shit his pants. its too much power to be riding on normal streets, said he doenst even know about how it would work when u get to twistys and the track...

Tell him your S2R is much more suited to those tasks...and you'll trade him!

[Popeye the Sailor]

how much more having fun and handling it can your body take, Dolph? 

Bully.

[He Man]

Tell him your S2R is much more suited to those tasks...and you'll trade him!

ahaha. I like that idea!!!! though i already shat cookies after riding that bike and mixing up shift patterns. (mines GP)

[Preisker]

Here's the thing about that . . . I actually like shifting. I think it is a part of the motorcycle riding experience. I ride a 620 and when doing the 30-80mph twisties that are in abundance around here I'm using my clutch friggin' constantly. Much more than even with my 750. I think I would miss that challenge of setting my gear/speed/revs correctly before entering a corner. Its difficult on a 620 to come into a corner with enough speed and still have power left to pull out of it. Its fun to laugh at my self when I go screaming through a tight corner and then get on the throttle and have nothing there. If I want to go faster I'll just have to use better judgment next time.

I'm damned and determined to max out my 620 on the road before I get a bigger bike. Some basic mods will help me go faster, but really, the only way I'm going to keep up with bigger bikes in the corners is to become a better rider. I feel like having unlimited power is taking a short cut.

As the saying goes, "I would rather ride a slow bike fast than a fast bike slow."

sac

Well Sac, you've got yourself convinced.     Myself, this Duc, the S4, is the 37th out of 39 bikes that I've actually owned.    It's not over 100 hp, true dyno numbers, is 95hp, and 67 lb ft of torque, or as Jeremy on Top Gear would say, "67 Torques".   As long as the road doesn't open up too much, it runs with most anything.     If there is much of a straight coming up, I'll get motored on.  I know a couple of SV650s that just flat out  get it on, and they are faster than your 620, which is more or less considered a starter bike.   They will keep up with the big bores, until the road speeds get up there.   Over 100 or so.   The S4 keeps up until 120, more or less, then I'm beating on it pretty hard.   It will still turn under a lot of people when things tighten up, except for those damn Supermotos.  

But hey, have fun.   That's what it's all about.   I know some big bore riders that will kill a rear tire in one afternoon of hooning.    My bike gets a little more mileage out of the rears than the big power bikes, but it still eats them.   Little bikes are pretty good on tires actually.   When I had an SV, it got great tire mileage.   I wish I still had it, real fun bike to ride.  

I wish I had one of everything.   Right now, I'm working a trade for a ZX-10, for my YZ450F and some cash.    That's what I really NEED, a 190mph bike.    Yeah, that's the ticket.

Or, if I can sell it, I've got another line on a 10,000 mile ZX-12 that went an honest 198 at Bonneville, he rode it out and back after that run, from Ca, and it's less than $4000.     I just might consign my YZ if I can't come to an agreement for the ZX-10, which only has 5100 miles on it. 

[LoneStar]

I'm sure if you were to look at the data from Casey Stoners' GP bike that he hardly uses 100 of his 200+ horsepower in the corners.  All those horses are used compressing time on the straights between each corner.

I assure those of you who are riding too high and too fast on confidence on the street will be in for a shock when the moment occurs that something goes wrong.  People say that things slow down all of a sudden.  I think that's true for the split second when you realize your fate and, if youre lucky enough to remember all the oh-shit thoughts you have at that moment.  But, I can assure you from experience that you are desensitized to the speed while you're flowing through the corners.  It's only when you run off the street/track or need to stop quickly when you realize how blazingly fast you are actually going.  It's only after you hit the pavement and roll and roll and roll.... And roll and roll and roll seeing sky .. Pavement .. Sky ... Pavement repeatedly that you finally know how fast you were going.  

That has happened to me on the track.  No guardrails or squared off curbs to hit.  I swear I never want to be in this situation on the street.

50HP can easily put you in that situation.  Using all of 100+ horsepower on the street is ludacrist.  

I hope to see you at the track.  A place where you really get to toe the line, challenge yourself to learn the character of your bike and build a relationship of trust and respect for it.

Sounds strange but there is a reason why Rossi kneels next to his bike and holds it's footpeg.  If you don't respect it, it will surely ask you to leave ... (Keith Code)  

[He Man]

If you ride a bike to "save money", i've got some land i want to sell you,

Million of people do it everyday brother.

<- me included. Ive got 12,000 miles on my rear Pilot Road 2ct tire. 3 trackdays.  It avgs 35mpg in shitty NYC traffic. and saves me a lot of time and misery of waiting on the train...

[Popeye the Sailor]

After all that has transpired over the past couple of years , I'd say I doin' pretty good to be able to go out and ride like hell for 5 hours ( w, 5 minute breaks evry 30-40- miles ) riding hard.

At age 61 I doubt my body can take too many more crashes like I've endured before I won't be riding.

I feel like I don't have that many years of fast riding left so I'm going to try and get as much out of it while I still can.

Riding fast has taught me a lot about HOW TO ride FAST.

Judging how fast I can enter a corner , how much lean my tires will go and still have good traction in a corner, knowing braking distances for setting up corners, knowing that I can't let my focus leave the road in front of me for even a second, being aware of everything in my panorama of vision, Deer, falling trees, vehicles pulling out of hidden lanes or driveways, on coming traffic from as far away as possible, a quick glance in my rearview mirrors every so often, and body postion.

If you went to the track 3 times a week for 5 hours at a time , I think you would improve your riding skills markedly.

In the past 2 months of cooler weather I have been able to ride 3 times a week and my " track " is a 160 mile loop of familar roads ridden in different stretches but all familar and all ridden " hard. "

I think by riding these same roads so many times at speed I know the corners ...but make no mistake....there is plenty of danger at high speed.

Gravel, Deer, traffic, a blowout,  , a mechanical malfunction, a mental error, .....but a lot of that can be thought of as FEAR and if you are afraid....you have no business getting on a bike.

Confidence and putting my faith in the Lord to bring me and my bike home safely allows me to go ride hard.

Dolph     

I hope you don't hurt any one else next time you crash.

[ducatiz]

 

[Preisker]

  Insurance is cheaper.  Registration is cheaper.  Trips to the gas station are way cheaper.  The cost of tires negates all of this???

A lot of that depends on how old you are, how many tickets you've got, and how you ride.    I get 3000 miles out of a rear tire, it really doesn't matter which one, pretty much 3000 miles out of anything.    Right now, there is a Pirelli Diablo Superbike slick on there that someone gave me, that has about 1500 miles on it and is about toast.   But the stick is unbelievable coming out of corners, it was fun  while it lasted.   

I'm 48, going on 49, and still act like I'm 18.   My insurance for the Duc and the KZ1000 is about $400/year.    That is having been licensed since I was 16 to ride a motorcycle.   I can't imagine what a 20 year old with a 2 year license would pay for something bigger than a Ninja 250.

As far as riding to save money, gas mileage is so-so, about 30ish.    My 900RR got real close to 50.   Tires are about $150 to $200,  I tend to buy what is on sale.    The insurance thing.    Ducati parts are outrageous, but I really haven't had to buy much, other than filters and oil, and tires.   Belts coming soon, and whatever the valve adjust is going to need, gaskets, shims, whatever.  I'm sure a Ninja 250 is pretty cheap to run, probably 65 mpg.   No tires, no chains, low insurance costs.   

But most hotrod bikes aren't cheap to keep.

[Veloce-Fino]

Preisker:

a 22 year old on a 696 pays ~$500/yr for a 696 full coverage (lean on bike, full coverage is required)

not too bad... cheaper than my car which is about ~$1,000 /yr

If I go up to an m1100 or 848 price more than doubles, more-so for the 848

[El Matador]

I'm 48, going on 49, and still act like I'm 18.   My insurance for the Duc and the KZ1000 is about $400/year.    That is having been licensed since I was 16 to ride a motorcycle.   I can't imagine what a 20 year old with a 2 year license would pay for something bigger than a Ninja 250.

3k for a 695

9k (!) for a 996
 

[derby]

3k for a 695

9k (!) for a 996
 

Hehehe...

Back in the late-90s, progressive wanted $7k/yr to insure my gsx-r750... That's basically what I paid for the bike.

I took that as their polite way of saying they didn't want to insure me and promptly went elewhere for full coverage in the $1200 range.  

[Betty]

Gravel, Deer, traffic, a blowout,  , a mechanical malfunction, a mental error, .....but a lot of that can be thought of as FEAR and if you are afraid....you have no business getting on a bike.

I call bullshit! FEAR is the only thing that allows me to get on a bike. I would dearly love to dissect some of your posts piece by piece to explain my views but I 'fear' it may become too personal.

Everytime I get on my bike I am fearful that I may be taken out by traffic, wildlife or anything unforeseen ... but it is this fear that I think gives me a chance. I live 'a little out of town' and avoid traffic as much as possible but where I choose to ride is where bikers prefer to ride ... honestly, my biggest fear is being taken out by a fellow motorcyclist, travelling in the opposite direction who has ridden beyond the limits.

Some of these posts have reinforced what I am up against. Riders with an apparent death wish, constantly pushing boundaries who feel they are running out of time and placing their safety in the hands of the Gods ... your God may be looking after you one day that they are not really concerned about me.

[Betty]

But now in answer to the thread's question ... no I don't think 100+HP is needed on the street but that doesn't mean it is not welcome on occasion.

I am man enough to admit that I ride a 'girls' bike ... but honestly she is all that I 'need' for the street. I have never had an interest in going fast in a straight line and my riding has developed to a point that I don't have the desire to ride corners faster than I do ... in fact I don't corner any faster on the 999 than I do on the Monster.

So although the greater power pulls you out of the corner faster it is really only helpful for those effortless, multi-vehicle overtaking moves that don't even require a gear change ... but I can understanding the attraction of the intoxicating feeling. In the end none of this really matters because the Boss is still faster on her 620 (and no its not a Capirex) ... and I love that.

[Speeddog]

~~~SNIP~~~ 
 Tires?  Well let's just say the ones on the truck didn't last forever either.

~~~SNIP~~~

I put a set of Michelins on my Dakota for $580, nearly 3 years and more than 80k miles ago.
And they're not finished.
0.007 $/mile and falling....

My bike is very close to 10x that, 0.07 $/mile.

At 45 mpg, the fuel cost is about 0.07 $/mile.

So my 45mpg S4 is about the same expense to ride as my 20mpg Dakota.