Horsepower. How much is enough?

[Kickaha]

10HP is a shit load of fun.

The bikes I've had the most fun on have all had less than 20hp

[Boob Johnson]

For starters I like to ride a bike that scares me, that's half the fun.

Also would much rather ride a gruntier bike slower than a slower bike balls out.


How much is enough? Agreed around the 180bhp mark is a tad OTT

[SPman]

"Too much is not enough"..........


Great fun can be had on a low powered bike - I had a ball on a 125cc scooter once and 250's, ridden well and hard, give all the enjoyment and satisfaction of a bigger bike, without (generally) the same insane road speeds.
A website I used to frequent 8-9 yrs ago (The Interactive Motorcyclist) used to reckon about 100 hp was the usable limit for a road rider on a road bike.

Still, there is a certain addictive quality about riding a bike that, as you wind the throttle on, warps the horizon towards you like a scene from Star Trek - if only I could afford to have one in the gargre for those days, when you just have to have that fix .........

[riffer]

I'm in two minds.

I had a huge amount of fun on Frosty's ER-6N.

Buckets are cool too. And dirt bikes.

My RF has about 110-120 HP.

GSXR1000's are great fun. B-Kings are great too.

So maybe there is no enough. But you can tell when there's too much. It's usually accompanied by blue-grey-blue-grey then the ambulance.

[jtzzr]

Horsepower are for the one`s who can`t corner , God i love my horses

[beyond]

Trouble with us humans is that no matter how much power is wrung out of these machines, it's never enough.

We get used to power so quickly that after a while you think your bike has dropped a plug or something.

Speed is the same. Once you hit those upper speeds you get used to them very quickly and it's harder and harder to get your fix.

That's why there will always be people lining up to buy the latest most powerful hardware and why after market turbos and super chargers and big bore kits and hot cams and and .... are always so busy making someones machine that much quicker.

Yep, power, speed, thrills, it's all so addictive and always will be.

[98tls]

No matter how many horsepower one has if theres an asspower riding it it wont amount to much.Seriously though i guess if it makes you smile then whatever HP it has its enough.

[Motu]

Yep, power, speed, thrills, it's all so addictive and always will be.

I obviously don't have an addictive personality - I've never been addicted to anything....and certainly not power and speed.I just like a bit of fun - and power and speed are not essential for that.

[Goblin]

If you want to be the fastest round Puke then HP is gunna be quite important but for road use it's just wank factor.

[beyond]

If you want to be the fastest round Puke then HP is gunna be quite important but for road use it's just wank factor.

True
So it's all about torque for the road then. Ummm GSX1400 seems to come up in the conversation yet again........might be onto something here eh? eh?

[rat biker 08]

Mine runs 74 hp at over 240 kph how fast do u want to go .BTW it gave me the shits to know my bike can go that fast. Im now happy to do 100 kph

[Headbanger]

I'd imagine the vast majority of bikers don't hang their ego on the amount of horses they have, Otherwise we would all be in retard suits on the latest sports bike....and this clearly isn't the case.

[blossomsowner]

I like to have enough power that theres some in reserve most of the time. Can get the fun i want without having to constantly thrash the bike.


but many years ago i had a honda cb100 with a xr200 motor bolted in. Geared up, high compression piston, cut off exhaust.......... it could beat nearly anything until about 90kmh , I had an awful lot of fun on it.

[Chrislost]

For me, id like at least 230 HP.


preferably on a bike thats about the size of a RS125 with traction control and wheelie control...


in reality, give me a 120 HP V4

[madbikeboy]

Dear Lord,
As I lay me down to sleep,
Thank you for GSXR's, understanding partners, chickenshit bank managers, and Pops Yoshimura.
Amen.

Enough? Never quite. Almost. But, for most people, there is a moment where even modest amounts are too much.

Is this sounding too philosophical? 105 hp on a 600 is all you need. 750 (125hp) is overkill. 1000cc (180) is neat.

Complete overkill is barely adequate.