C50T Boulevard 'Go Fast' bits?

[Rhubarb]

I have a C50T - I love it.

However, I did a wee 800km ride in the weekend and found myself trying to change into a 6th gear that doesn't exist. This happened many times.

I don't want to go everywhere at 160kph but I do find acceleration up to 104km (officer) is a bit sluggish, especially two-up or when loaded with rally gear.
When climbing many of the high South Island passes the C50 is especially snail like.

The obvious answer is buy a C90T.

I got the C50 for an absolute bargin and my lovely wife thought it was a great idea to buy it. However, adding performance parts to the C50 is easier to 'skim off' the house keeping budget as repairs and maintenance than the outlay of trading in and upgrading.

A C90 with panniers, screen, light bar, back rest, carrier and heated grips is worth almost twice what I paid for my C50T.

What parts are available?

Have you fitted any of them to your C50?

Do you recall what it cost?

Where did you buy them?

Have you noticed a diiference?


I look forward to your suggestions and I appreciate your help.

[Edbear]

Sorry, I never found mine lacking in "get up and go" and topping out at 170 two-up with all the gear on board was plenty for us.

In the US a popular conversion was the C90 diff which raised the gearing to almost exactly half-way between the C50 and C90 and made a big difference to motorway cruising, but I haven't heard of any good performance upgrades aside from pipes and that's mainly for sound effects anyway.

The C90 has a bit more torque but not much dfference in overall performance. You really need a C109... :innocent:

[Rhubarb]

topping out at 170 two-up


I don't get anywhere near 170 one-up, let alone two-up! I'm peaking at 145-150!



You really need a C109..

I wish ..........$20K + is a bit out of my realm of reality.

[Edbear]

I don't get anywhere near 170 one-up, let alone two-up! I'm peaking at 145-150!




I wish ..........$20K + is a bit out of my realm of reality.

Sounds like it's only running on one cylinder! They've got grunt to spare normally. I'd get it checked out pronto! Something's definitely not right.

[awa355]

Just for comparison, My XVS650 Dragstar only puts out about 40hp and weighs 240kg, but, It will pull from 50kph in top gear, Max torgue at 3000revs,

At 100k's. it's doing 4000revs.( according to overseas info) Tried for a top speed once, and got about 140kph. Actually, I dont think I'd want to be doing a panic stop from 170 on a cruiser, with its weight and brakes.


Top speed is a bit disapointing, but then I'm happy with being able to leave it in top gear for all my open road riding. Going up the Kaimais it will pull out, to pass, at 60k's and just pull away in top gear. This low down pull is what makes a cruiser just that,,,, a cruiser.

As Edbear says above, pipes will make more noise but more power comes with more cubes.

[The Lone Rider]

If there is nothing wrong with your bike (I agree.. get it checked), the usual change overs I'd say would be performance air filter and new exhaust. More air in and out.

Get it dynoed as well.

You should expect about 160-170kmph two up on a C50.

[Edbear]

If there is nothing wrong with your bike (I agree.. get it checked), the usual change overs I'd say would be performance air filter and new exhaust. More air in and out.

Get it dynoed as well.

You should expect about 160-170kmph two up on a C50.

Yup! Mine's stock and after doing a Miranda-Coro-Kaiaua run, my mate on his 1200S Bandit couldn't keep up and my other mate on his GSX1400 asked me if it was a thou. When I assured him it was "only" 805cc he asked if I'd hotted it up! We were all two-up. In "suitable" conditions, two-up it would just knock on 170 on the flat with good acceleration from 140 up. Any speed over 55km/h was okay in top gear and you could generally ride it everywhere in 5th without needing to change down for towns or overtaking.

[Big Dave]

Ed. It's good to have friends who are kind to you. I'm not :-)
Take your Bolule to Hampton Downs, I'll take your mate's 1200S and I'll lap you within 4. And that's cutting you some slack.

My guess is some pipes, a power commander and a K&N would bolt on about 10 horsepower to the 50 if done right.

The optimum answer was in the OP - trade it on a C90T.

[Edbear]

Ed. It's good to have friends who are kind to you. I'm not :-)
Take your Bolule to Hampton Downs, I'll take your mate's 1200S and I'll lap you within 4. And that's cutting you some slack.

My guess is some pipes, a power commander and a K&N would bolt on about 10 horsepower to the 50 if done right.

The optimum answer was in the OP - trade it on a C90T.

You'd prolly lap me in a bit over three actually. :innocent: John wasn't the best rider and his Missus wasn't the best pillion either. My mate on the GSX1400 is a good rider and his Missus a great pillion so I had to work a bit harder to keep up when he decided to tweak the throttle. He was though, impressed with the pace of my bike, even though he could drag me off relatively easily on a straight stretch.

My point was that on the road in real-world conditions, the C50T is a good bike and gives away little to other bikes much larger. If you were on a Harley Softail or Low Rider you'd have to work hard to keep the C50T in sight.

[Zamiam]

... If you were on a Harley Softail or Low Rider you'd have to work hard to keep the C50T in sight.

We Harley riders certainly wouldn't be able to keep you in sight as we don't ride with inferior product

Just stirring - I most commonly ride with a mate with a Honda VT750

[Edbear]

We Harley riders certainly wouldn't be able to keep you in sight as we don't ride with inferior product

Just stirring - I most commonly ride with a mate with a Honda VT750

Ha ha! I do actually like Harley's... Through the Waipoua Forest in company with a Low Rider 1450, a Softail 1340 and a Softail 1600, we walked away from them. All two-up. In top gear acceleration I could match the 1340 and 1450, but not the 1600 or my Bro-in-laws 1500 C90. The 1450 could just edge away up hills but that was fixed by dropping down to 4th in the C50T. Even in 4th, I couldn't keep up with the 1600 up the steeper hills. In some situations there is really no substitute for cubes.

Throw some bends into the mix and none of the others could keep up but for my Bro-in-law on the C90, but he could probably still outdo me if we swapped bikes.

One thing I've always admired about Harley's is their fuel economy, so even bigger cubes can give the same economy as my little C50T.

[Big Dave]

A 2011 Harley wouldn't have to work too hard to keep up either. You'd be grinding hard parts to get away from the much smaller capacity OHC motor though.

Of course this is what Cruisers are all about huh.

[Edbear]

A 2011 Harley wouldn't have to work too hard to keep up either. You'd be grinding hard parts to get away from the much smaller capacity OHC motor though.

Of course this is what Cruisers are all about huh.

Oh definitely! What I love about the C50T is that one can dribble along at 90km/h in relaxed style and see the sights without breaking your neck and hurting your knees, or if the mood and company are of a different type one can wick it up and not be too disgraced. The Boulevard has a lively turn of speed it you get the revs up a bit.

It is probably one of, if not the, best handling cruisers with much better cornering ability than many others. I did jack up the rear shock to max though, made a huge difference!

[PeeJay]

Ha ha! I do actually like Harley's... Through the Waipoua Forest in company with a Low Rider 1450, a Softail 1340 and a Softail 1600, we walked away from them. All two-up. In top gear acceleration I could match the 1340 and 1450, but not the 1600 or my Bro-in-laws 1500 C90. The 1450 could just edge away up hills but that was fixed by dropping down to 4th in the C50T. Even in 4th, I couldn't keep up with the 1600 up the steeper hills. In some situations there is really no substitute for cubes.

Throw some bends into the mix and none of the others could keep up but for my Bro-in-law on the C90, but he could probably still outdo me if we swapped bikes.

One thing I've always admired about Harley's is their fuel economy, so even bigger cubes can give the same economy as my little C50T.

Did the other guys know it was a race?

[s8306]

Did the other guys know it was a race?
Now thats funny lol.Sorry Edbear but that sounds a bit far fetched mate.

[Edbear]

Did the other guys know it was a race?


Now thats funny lol.Sorry Edbear but that sounds a bit far fetched mate.

LOL!!! It was definitely genuine. The guy on the Low Rider was over 5min later than the Softails which were about 5min slower than me and my Bro-in-law. When the Low Rider finally appeared, he moaned, "Now I know why it's called a LOW RIDER!!!"

We weren't racing, though, just cruising normally. On the rest of the trip we were all pretty even, but it was notable that in the twisties the Harley's usually fell back a bit. Not saying all Jap cruisers are better, some have appalling ground clearance, it's just that the Suzuki's do handle very well for cruisers.

[Festo]

Had my C50 for 18 months now and never felt it lacking in the power department. Gets up and boogies when the throttle is given a twist. Been right round south and north islands and this is a very capable bike even when loaded with gear. Kept up with the other cruisers in our group (Harley electra glide, Dyna, Yamaha vstar 1100 and Honda shadow). Obviously doesnt have the power of a C109 or 90 but they CRUISE extremely well and in excellent comfort for the money.

[Zamiam]

One thing I've always admired about Harley's is their fuel economy, so even bigger cubes can give the same economy as my little C50T.

Another thing to admire is how they manage to get the same amount of horsepower out of all those cubes as you "little C50T" (or close to probably)

[Edbear]

Had my C50 for 18 months now and never felt it lacking in the power department. Gets up and boogies when the throttle is given a twist. Been right round south and north islands and this is a very capable bike even when loaded with gear. Kept up with the other cruisers in our group (Harley electra glide, Dyna, Yamaha vstar 1100 and Honda shadow). Obviously doesnt have the power of a C109 or 90 but they CRUISE extremely well and in excellent comfort for the money.

Yup! I love mine and am gutted to have to sell it. Gonna be the saddest day of my life when I see it ridden away... :bye:


Another thing to admire is how they manage to get the same amount of horsepower out of all those cubes as you "little C50T" (or close to probably)

True, the C50 puts out 62hp, so it's not lacking. Not quite the torque bigger cubes give you, but when you look at what I got for $14,600 on the road brand new, they are a bargain!

[The Lone Rider]

Going by the Bikez database, my 750 V4 puts out 83hp compared to the 1450 twin at somewhere around 65hp.

One thing to consider though is the power to weight ratio. Small engine and heavy ass bike won't do you any good. If you're a modder and customizer though, taking shit off a bike to cut down the weight is somewhat easy.

First thing I've done on my bike is bitch seat off, big mufflers off with stainless 2" baffled pipe replacing them.

I'm sure someone lighter than me could squeeze more snot than 170km out of my bike though. I've been thinking time to upgrade with a jet kit.