Determining top speed?

[Espresso]

Maybe a bit of a touchy topic for obvious potentially legal reasons but how would someone actually find out how fast their own bike can in reality go?
Going flat out on a stationary roller-style machine would just provide numbers I guess, is there a track with a long enough straight to get a sport bike to top speed, ...?
It'd be nice to know how fast she can go.

[nallac]

Go for a ride with Carver...he'll have ya bouncing off the limiter in top.

Do a track day at puke would most likely be the safest way.

[kiwifruit]

Put it in top use the revs to estimate what it would do redlining in top. For example, if its doing 100kmh (indicated) at 4000rpm and redlines at 12000rpm then it would, in theory, do 300kmh (indicated). Subtract 10 to 15% speedometer error. 300kmh indicated = 255 to 270kmh actual.

:)

Or you could take it to a flying 1/4 mile event and find out. I did 299 on a stock busa, 250rpm off redline in top, speedo was indicating over 340kmh.

[The Pastor]

a dyno could tell you

[PirateJafa]

Surely you should know the top speed after an Auckland commute?

[bsasuper]

Post up if you do it on a public road, ill be waiting with a shovel to scrape up the mess.

[naphazoline]

Wairarapa flying quarter mile.:cool:
Google "Gladstone cliffhanger".They've got it on that website.

It's on twice a year,and i think the next one is in october.:headbang:

[Gremlin]

You should be able to get near the top of your bike down the back straight of pukie, assuming you a, accelerate fast enough, and b, brake hard enough :cool:

[MarkH]

Maybe a bit of a touchy topic for obvious potentially legal reasons but how would someone actually find out how fast their own bike can in reality go?
Going flat out on a stationary roller-style machine would just provide numbers I guess, is there a track with a long enough straight to get a sport bike to top speed, ...?
It'd be nice to know how fast she can go.

I am not to sure what the legal reasons are that make it touchy to ask about finding a track with a long enough straight to achieve top speed. Certainly on a public road you wouldn't want to get an R1 to top speed - I would guess that would be a rather dangerous speed.

I doubt a dyno would be much use - at over 200kph the wind resistance would be quite high and a stationary speed on rollers would not be the same as what could be achieved while moving.

I would say the straight at Pukekohe would give you some indication of what the R1 is capable of, though you wouldn't get up to the absolute fastest possible.

If you do want to try on a public road then consider the risks and also the severity of legal charges you would face if caught. I would expect the penalty would make $1000 fine and 6 months loss of license look like a slap on the wrist. If any thing went wrong at a speed well in excess of 200kph then at least it would be almost certainly a quick end without suffering (though IF you did survive it then it could be a rather long and painful recuperation). Do what you like, but I would advise not travelling any where near the top speed of an R1 on a public road.

[Swoop]

Just post on KB "I can get my R1 up to xxxkmh" and there will be a deluge of people throwing numbers at you...

Would any of them be correct, is another matter.:rolleyes:

[cowboyz]

oh for crying out loud. go find a striaght piece of road and wind it on.

[BMWST?]

i reckon you would need two to three kilometres to get to absolute top speed and stop with room to spare.

[wbks]

I doubt a dyno would be much use - at over 200kph the wind resistance would be quite high and a stationary speed on rollers would not be the same as what could be achieved while moving.

Most sportsbikes will get on to the limiter in top with or without wind resistance, so what you would see on a dyno would be pretty much what a real world top speed would be. With stock gearing, anyway. So if really wanted to know, just make sure it can get to the limiter in top (or take note of what rpm you get to) on the road, and then dyno it to get an accurate speed. Otherwise, you could just find a decent straight (there should be plenty long enough to top out even a thou), but it would be pretty inaccurate (like others said). If you're only asking about tracks to get the do gooders off your back, then I'll just make a suggestion: Why don't you just find a long road if you don't care for it to be very accurate?

[Hiflyer]

Don't they do top speed runs on a private road in Canterbury? Take a GPS along with you and then you get a nice rode to the rpad, an accurate reading and safe(ish) road to do it on and a nice ride back

[munterk6]

Have ya seen Ghost Rider? :first:

Just copy him. :clap:

[kiwifruit]

Have ya seen Ghost Rider? :first:

Just copy him. :clap:

You mean gear the bike down so its showing 30% faster than actual speed? :jerry:

[Headbanger]

meh, If I can crank my HD up to 200km/h and hold her there then it should be piss easy to do it on a sprots bike.

If you want just send me the bike, ill return it with a nice little certificate showing you its indicated top speed with me on it.

[Mikkel]

Ask the police for help, then you'll figure out your speedometer deviation as well. Won't cost you too much either...

[bogan]

as with all such things, google it :slap:

[ukusa]

crate her up, we're off to Bonneville

[ducatilover]

An 02 r1 will do the speed limit. Nothing like a gt250p hyosung though :Oops:

[Flip]

Hows about you go to the race track. Do your speeding there and get it out of your system.

[hospitalfood]

i have only ever used the tried and trusted method of finding a straight and speeding.
neither of the ones i have at present go very fast.
nothing over 220 indicated

[Subike]

meh, If I can crank my HD up to 200km/h and hold her there then it should be piss easy to do it on a sprots bike.
.

shit im just changing into 5th at that speed! and its not even a sports bike
just a 30year old jappa!

move to a rural zone, find a good straight, learn the habits of the local cop, bide your time, and on a night when the moon is full, do you stuff.

otherwise look out for spped trials days, Im sure there are several events around the country each year where you can do this test.
Like South Erie Rd in Nth Cant, where they close the road off once a year for this very reason.

[TOTO]

Wairarapa flying quarter mile.:cool:
Google "Gladstone cliffhanger".They've got it on that website.

It's on twice a year,and i think the next one is in october.:headbang:

faking brilliant. I'll be there :D

[ready4whatever]

mate go to the matata straights in eastern bay of plenty. 13 km of straight flat road

[longwayfromhome]

The use of the qualifying phrase "in reality" means you can't rely on your speedo. General method these days is a GPS, else the suggested dedicated meets which have radar.

When doing this for the LT in the US, I even had the luxury of one of the riders with me being a cop....made it all official-like....kinda satisfying.

[vifferman]

Most sportsbikes will get on to the limiter in top with or without wind resistance, so what you would see on a dyno would be pretty much what a real world top speed would be.
You should have said "many", not most. Many sprotsbikes are actually overdriven in top gear for economy reasons, and won't pull redline.

The other thing is drag is actually exponential rather than linear in nature, so it takes a surprising amount of horsepower to oversome wind resistance and reach huge velocities, which is why so few production bikes (apart from those of most KBers, of course) can actually crack 320km/h (200mph).