| Author | Message | ||
     Sshbsn |
...is enough? Just read the new Cycle World comparo between the ZX14 and Hayabusa, and that's the question it left me with. I'm asking here because Buell riders seem to be pretty well grounded. So, no preaching, just numbers (and please leave the torque arguments alone), how much horsepower do you need to be happy? Probably 120 rwhp would keep me satisfied  | ||
| Iamike |
It all depends on how you like the way it is used. I bought a '97 CBR1100 a year after I picked up my '99 S3. The CBR dynoed at 142hp/85'# torque. Sure it was a nice ride and exhillerating when I got on it but it just wasn't as much fun as the Buell. At 70mph the grips started to buzz where the S3's was just right. If I lived where I could crank it up to 140+ regularly I may have kept it, but since it sat in the garage most of the time I got rid of it. | ||
| Iamike |
Oh yeah, a buddy has the ZX14. When we were riding in Arkansas he was having trouble because there was just so much power that the front end wanted to come up all the time and he was afraid of losing the rear coming out of the turns. | ||
| Kootenay |
This would seem an appropriate place to post this (shamelessly copied from another motorcycle site): Originally Posted by Gregg Esterbrook of ESPN Sayonara, Hayabusa: "It remains totally ridiculous, to say nothing of immature, that Ben Roethlisberger, or anyone, rides a motorcycle without a helmet." (From TMQ in August 2005.) The Hayabusa looks pretty sweet -- but it's a weapon on the roads.Helmet aside, this is what Roethlisberger was straddling when he wiped out -- a Suzuki Hayabusa, advertised by the manufacturer as "the fastest production bike on the planet." The Hayabusa has a 160-horsepower engine, same as the new Ford Fusion sedan. But the motorcycle weighs 478 pounds, while a Fusion tips the scales at 3,101 pounds. This means a Hayabusa throbs with seven times the horsepower-to-weight ratio of a modern car. Another vehicle with a 160-horsepower engine is the Cessna 172 Skyhawk, with a maximum takeoff weight of 2,450 pounds. Roethlisberger's bike had five times the power-to-weight ratio of an airplane, and minimum-weight criteria dominate aircraft design. The Hayabusa boasts a peak speed of almost 200 miles per hour, but since no street rider ever approaches peak speed, in everyday circumstances what the power is used for is acceleration. The bike accelerates from zero to 100 miles per hour in three seconds, which is astonishing. The new Corvette Z06, the fastest Corvette ever, accelerates from zero to 60 in 3.8 seconds, plenty dazzling enough. But the Hayabusa gets to 100 miles per hour faster than the best Corvette reaches 60 miles per hour. One-thousand-one, one-thousand-two, one-thousand-three -- your Hayabusa is now moving 100 miles per hour. Like all max-performance bikes, the Hayabusa is basically a big engine with two wheels and a seat. There are no safety mechanisms: no roll bars, no shoulder harness, no impact-absorbing beams, no air bags, not even bumpers. Acceleration of max-performance motorcycles is wildly disproportionate to driving needs. The only real use of the acceleration ability is road rage -- to drag-race from stoplights, cut others off in traffic, speed like mad. Perhaps you've been on a highway when a couple colorful high-performance bikes have roared past you at far over the speed limit. The people on the bikes may be morons, which is their problem. But their antisocial behavior is your problem, since vehicles moving significantly faster than the speed of traffic are a leading cause of accidents. This column isn't much of a fan of the tort bar, yet wonders why litigators have not put the Hayabusa and similar overpowered bikes out of business. High-performance street motorcycles are socially irresponsible, and designed without regard for the safety of riders. Roethlisberger and others who buy high-performance bikes don't wish anyone harm, they're just looking for an ego rocket. But harm is what they cause, and legislatures should intervene. The Constitution says you've got a right to own a gun and to read a newspaper; firearms and materials related to First Amendment political, artistic and religious expression are the only categories of purchases with specific constitutional protection. Race a mega-motorcycle on a private track? Sure. But public roads are subject to public regulation. Our nation's laws do not confer any "right" to operate on public roads a high-horsepower bike, anymore than there's a "right" to drive a bulldozer down the middle of an interstate. It is past time the high-horsepower motorcycle was regulated off the roads. The intended use of these bikes is lawbreaking! Now, please note that I don't agree with the guy's suggestions, but he DOES have a point about "The intened use of these bikes..." Hell, I have enough trouble keeping my license on my "boat anchor" Buell! | ||
| Socalbueller |
What are you planning on doing with the horsepower? 1-up street riding I'd say my bike is fine for that. I'd want more if I did a lot of 2-up riding or carrying a bunch of junk for touring. When I did a track day I wanted more. How much more? I'm guessing that would go up with experience. I demoed a Ducati 999 and that had way more power than you would use on the street 99% of the time. | ||
| Ducxl |
When talking of the high horsepowered Hayabusa and ZX-1400 don't forget the 535 pound weight.I don't care regarding Weight to HP ratio,that sucker will be strenuous on the muscles tossing around.But if i could have 130 HP with about 385 pounds of bike i'd be happy  | ||
| Old_man |
I probably weigh 245 lbs. with gear. My XB9S has all the power I could ever use. It will never see the top speed it is capable of with me at the controls. It accelerates faster than 99% of the vehicles on the road. I don't need any more. | ||
| Cochise |
Oh yeah, a buddy has the ZX14. When we were riding in Arkansas he was having trouble because there was just so much power that the front end wanted to come up all the time and he was afraid of losing the rear coming out of the turns. That and there was this guy on a Buell who kept taunting him, and wouldn't let him pass.  | ||
| Chainsaw |
Our nation's laws do not confer any "right" to operate on public roads a high-horsepower bike... Laws don't give cars the right to speed either. Let's limit all cars and trucks to a maximum speed of 85mph (I think that's the highest current speed limit in Montana)  I've never thought my XB9 was slow. I love the acceleration and bitchin' gas mileage. I think it has enough ponies for me. The ability to go over 100 mph is pretty well wasted on me. | ||
| Josh_ |
126RWHP is not enough, I know that. | ||
| Seth |
What ever my S-1 came with stock is just fine with me. . . . ...really, how freakin' fast do you need to go? I've never been impressed by a dead squid. | ||
| Rocketman |
Jarrod 'Jack' Frost of Holeshot Racing, Britains fastest two wheeler, reckons 350bhp tops is it on a street bike. Rocket | ||
| Kdan |
Gregg Esterbrook is a penis. I'm a menace on my motorcycle at speed? He ever driven around North Metro Atlanta in the afternoon with the Ephedrine Soccer Mom Brigade with their H2's and cell phones? | ||
| Staindus |
I power wheelied shifting into 2nd on my stock XB9 for the first time yesterday. It felt really good, I am completely happy with the power it has, but for how long? I grew out of my 883R pretty quickly, but theres something about the acceleration that is different from any other bike I have ridden (Ninja 500R, Katana 600, Ducati Monster and 750SS Harley softail). I dont think I will want more power, for me (like others on the board) its not about the speed its about diving into corners and hitting the apex perfectly, getting a grin on your face when you twist the throttle and hear that muscle. Sorry for rambling Rob | ||
| Skyguy |
I would like about 130 horsies for my bike. It seems like a good amount of power for track days and not to scary on the street. Crazy R-1 horsepower is just one more thing to manage in the crazy world of street riding and canyon scratching. | ||
| Midknyte |
There are times when a little extra horsepower is handy, and other times when it is just plain necessary... Warning - above links are not safe for viewing at work, with any amount of liquid in your mouth, or for that matter, any matter still left in your stomach. But they are funny... | ||
| Jimduncan69 |
is there a bike in those pic's some where? lmao  | ||
| Skyguy |
Isn't there an Association for the Ethical Treatment of Motorcycles somewhere that should be notified of this gross abuse? | ||
| No_rice |
we had a guy trade in an 05 GSXR 1000. so needless to say i always have to take that kind of stuff for a spin. i've ridden alot of bikes, but they always keep getting faster. the thing did just shy of 100mph in first while carrying the frontend. we also figured out that once i got it wound up i was covering about 3.16 miles a minute or a mile in about 18 to 20 seconds. not taking into account speedo error, since obviously there is probably some. | ||
| Blake |
I can still scare myself on my 100 RWHP Cyclone. | ||
| Darthane |
The best my bike ever dynoed was a shade under 83HP...so I'm going to go with 80, because it can still do a lot more than I can. | ||
| Wes12185 |
I don't like people like that ESPN columnist. The last police report I read, granted it was right after the crash and may have been amended, I lost interest in the big ben story as fast as everyone else, had ben doing within 5 of the speed limit. Now, he still did two stupid things: riding without a helmet, and riding with an expired permit, but the busa didn't contribute a thing to either. That'd be like someone backing a ferrari backing into another car and everyone blaming it on the ferrari's excess horsepower. Actually, it'd be more like someone backing into a ferrari and blaming it on the ferrari's excess horsepower....  And I'd say around 130 too, plenty of power for a 1-up track day ar hight speeds or a 2-up touring day at almost legal speeds. | ||
| Betzy |
How Fast? 1-Leaving from a stop sign? 2-Diving into a turn that suggests 20km/hr? 3-In all too frequent rush hour? 4-At midnight coming home on a country coon and deer, dark road? 5-On roads posted 80km/hr or even 100km/hr? Average on all of the above......80km/hr. That said I'd love to try the new ZX14 for a while to realize my X1 rules!!! | ||
| Sandblast |
On my Buell I almost never use all the power available. I seriously think I have only hit the rev limiter once since I've had it. But I have ridden the new "liter bikes", (not all of them obviously), and they are a lot of fun. It may not take an ounce of skill to point a huge horsepower bike down a straight road and haul butt, but it is fun to do sometimes. Still, 150 horsies leaves me too much to manage I think. So I'm with Sky guy and Wes, 130 RWHP, in a Buell sized package, dead reliable, and I'm in. | ||
| Iamike |
Cochise, Yeah, but you didn't have any roads that had a straightaway long enough for him to wind it up. | ||
| Sshbsn |
130 rwhp seems to be a benchmark here. I figure with the mods to my bike that's probably about where I'm at, and I also figure that I could be pretty happy with a LITTLE less, so I took 120. I asked this question because I haven't met anybody who would actually buy the ZX14, and I wonder who it is made for. 22 year old riders in the desert, maybe. The bike seems a little irrelevant to me, but I guess I'm glad they make it. Still, nobody seems eager to throw that kind of power around on the street. | ||
| Slaughter |
My threshold of fear is pretty low. Takes less than 100HP to scare me. In fact, I know I've been terrified at 68HP | ||
| Ctyxrnr |
i would defenitely say 120rwhp maybe 130. i like the power of my 9sx. just wish i had more sometimes. i also like having lower horsepower it helps keep the speed down. just what i "need" a bike that can go over 150mph. | ||
| Blake |
Steve, I scared myself riding Jerry's scooter in the dirt at Laguna last year. Who was I racing, I cannot recall. Some crazy hooligan. ![: ]](http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/clipart/proud.gif) | ||
| Diablobrian |
Current day motorcycles are capable of far more than what 99.9% of riders can use. That's not a put-down or anything, I'm in that group. It doesn't make us want less, We ALWAYS want more. For the most part we don't NEED anything more. Be happy that Ralph Nader hasn't leveled an anti-motorcycle campaign at us like he did the Corvair because of safety deficiencies. That day is coming. If we don't fend it off with good reasons to keep our motorcycles, like fuel efficiency, and as solutions to parking lot crowding in the cities. Before the Loud Pipes groups get us legislated off the roads that way. Sorry I got off on a rant there, anyway 100rwhp is plenty for street riding. (most of the time ) | ||
| Slaughter |
We need to fend off regulation by our BEHAVIOR. Here in CA, we kill and maim TOO MANY sportbikers just in 2 of the main mountain roads EVERY WEEKEND. It's coming. Double fine zones and multiple violations mean fines now can exceed $2000 for a single stop on Angeles Crest for unsafe + speed + crossing the double yellow - add to that additional equipment violations that one or two of us "might" have... and it's ugly. That's just enforcement. The locals are complaining about noise, excessive speed, the usual letters to State representatives. Not meaning to be too preachy but we ARE bringing it on ourselves. Like Mike Hailwood is supposed to have said: "The throttle works both ways." (Message edited by slaughter on August 10, 2006) | ||
| Iamike |
Speaking of Ralph Nader, Iowa is taking away the license plate of a '61 Corvair owner that says 'F Nader'. The ACLU is backing the car owner. | ||
| Ptown |
Well for now I am living in Ankara Turkey, and I don't know how many on the board is familiar with Ankara.As far as it goes about rules of the road and so forth , nothing really gets followed here. I have seen on many occasions traffic cops /cops on there BMW's in town and also on the open road with no helmet or just a baseball cap on. Here they also make use of a lot of smaller motorbikes for delivery purposes and 9 out the 10 times no helmet is used. also on 2 occasions seen these guys also using a cell phone will driving in the traffic. quite amazing to think this kind off behavior is the norm and taking in account that using a cell phone is normal for cage drivers and not stopping when a robot turns red. One-way streets changes to duel carriage as needed. I don't thing there is many other places in the world that can compare to this.. | ||
| Tramp |
my scoot likely has under 60 ponies, and it's actually enough for me....esp. when i pass weekend duhamels astride big-horse mounts in the twisties | ||
| Glitch |
I think my bike has enough HP until I can get some go fast goodies. The power is good for the street, the only real power issue I have, is sometimes I feel it doesn't spin up fast enough. So maybe 5 to 10 HP more ought to do the trick. The last time I dyno'ed, it had 85HP. | ||
| Jandj_davis |
My bike has probably 40-50 HP (55 at the crank from the stats) and it was plenty until I rode something with more. Heck, a Ninja 250 has enough HP until you ride something with more. For me, the XB9 has the perfect amount of power. But, I also pay a lot of attention to how that power is delivered. I love the fact that the torque is ready to go right off idle on an XB. My NightHawk needs at least 3K rmp's to launch slowly, 6-7K for a fast launch. I just don't enjoy that as much as launching hard from idle. So for me, the question is not quantity, but quality. | ||
| Tramp |
for far too many riders, HP is a shortcut to actual riding skill. |
