General questions here. I weight 250 lbs. (I won't say how many kg because it's depressing enough in pounds). Well, on my T-dub, the speedometer is colored red past 55 mph. It has stock sprockets. So, does that mean that if I hold 60 mph at high rpm for 5-10 road miles, the bike is being abused or pushed beyond its normal limits? It would not be prudent to beat the little machine to death, because I really like it and keep it looking like new. I usually ride at 48 mph because it is comfortable sounding at that speed. Thoughts ?
You can ride it as fast as it will go. The redline at 55mph isn't really redline, it was the 80's and the national speed limit was 55, so speedometers looked like that. No worries.
Thanks guys! I was worried about over revving or over heating the engine and causing premature wear. I'm still not going to beat the T-Dub to death, but I feel better about doing 60 mph now. I'm used to my BMW boxer engine which is lower rpm and more tractor like. Hearing a motor wind up to the high rpm's that the T-Dub does makes me worry. The German WWII DKW NZ-350-1 only has 11.6 HP, but rides at 55 mph without sounding like it will throw the piston.. and it's 73 years old. The T-Dub seems to scream a bit louder.
Even when ole TDub will go faster, it feels iffy to me to do so -- like I don't have the needed control. What I don't understand is why they never had a tachometer like the XT350 does.
I still, when over 50mph, keep trying to shift into a higher gear just by instinct. My ears hear that poor little engine just screaming it's heart out and my body tries to shift into imaginary 6th gear.
I usually ride my BMW R90 and going from a weeks worth of commuting Im looking for that "Higher" gear all the time it seems,
While I will say the TW is the most fun to commute with,
The BMW is still the calm commuter,
General questions here. I weight 250 lbs. (I won't say how many kg because it's depressing enough in pounds). Well, on my T-dub, the speedometer is colored red past 55 mph. It has stock sprockets. So, does that mean that if I hold 60 mph at high rpm for 5-10 road miles, the bike is being abused or pushed beyond its normal limits? It would not be prudent to beat the little machine to death, because I really like it and keep it looking like new. I usually ride at 48 mph because it is comfortable sounding at that speed. Thoughts ?
Thats where the 45 tooth rear sprocket is nice. I can do 118 km/hr but easily cruise at 110 km/hr for hours. Ok I'm also 165 lbs.
HOW FAST DOES ONE PUSH THE T-DUB?
I try to avoid pushing it at all personally, but sometimes I leave the key in there and the battery dies. [Luckily it is so undesirable the keys can be left in there and no one will steal it.] Fortunately for me though Yamaha in their infinite wisdom decided a kicker was wasted space so occasionally I do get to push it. My estimate is I push it about ~4-6 mph. Just fast enough to start the damn thing and make me get out of breath at the same time.
Get a cheap tachometer. The redline is 9500 rpm. You can go 8800 to 9000 rpm (I believe in a 500 to 700 rpm safety cushion) forever and ever regardless of the sprockets you have just make sure the engine is full of oil. Cheap tach on ebay for about $10.
I occasionally hit 60, but the sweet spot is definetly 50 with the stock gears for me. I am confident the motor can handle 60+ for a long while, my ears just tell me to stop. I am always amazed when the piston slap is louder than the full knobby front tire and the exhaust!
I have to hold back to 64. My geezer cheeks start flappin in the wind at 65 in a headwind. If I could stop the grin that might bump up to 72, but right now nobody wants to see that.
I think I got my carb set up better today because prior to today when I heard guys talking about going 65+ I was thinking to myself - no way. But today I hit 65 no problem and it woulda kept going, but I just can't do that to it now that it's running better.
It was the 2 and a half turns on the pilot screw. So thank all of you who have hammered that point home - you know who you are. It was the first thing I tried. I can't believe how crappy it was running before. The difference feels like a 25% HP gain, but I'm sure that's an exaggeration. I do know that there was no way it would have hit 65 even down hill.
Ken they are little Mountain Goats, Second gear is like first gear originally was, most of the time I start off in second and use first more like a Granny gear.
If they were road on the streets it would not work, but maybe with a 6 speed it would.
On flat roads, I've gotten the bike up to 65MPHs, but it wasn't comfortable for me or the motorcycle. Vibrations and high RPMs limited this speed experience to about 20 seconds, or so.
Most comfortable range (smooth, in 5th gear) is 45--50 MPHs. Bike starts to get bad vibes above 55.
Indicated 77 MPH in a 70 MPH zone on Nevada highway 95, south of Cold Creek...same indicated speed on two other occasions.
Stock bike other than pilot screw adjustment and a regimented break-in.
Might have done another 1-2 MPH, but I was closing fast on a car and backed-off.
After riding Sportsters, I did not really notice vibration.
What is more important was being able to count on it for 55 up a 6% grade at 7,000 feet elevation.
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