smoked on the first run!!!

[DMPLATT]

Something that some GSers may be overlooking. Some of the custom V-Twins are running relatively high perfomance engines producing 100 hp+ with about that many ft. lbs of torque. IMO it may take more than better technique to smoke one. Ft. Worth is the home of American Iron Horse and I've been surprised more than a couple of times. 8O

I agree, those things are deceivingly quick. I rode a sportster a few years ago and couldn't believe the quickness of it.

I was behind 2 harleys the other day and when the light turned green, I didn't stand a chance. Of course I only have a 750.

Dave

[moto_dan]

Something that some GSers may be overlooking. Some of the custom V-Twins are running relatively high perfomance engines producing 100 hp+ with about that many ft. lbs of torque. IMO it may take more than better technique to smoke one. Ft. Worth is the home of American Iron Horse and I've been surprised more than a couple of times. 8O

I agree, those things are deceivingly quick. I rode a sportster a few years ago and couldn't believe the quickness of it.

I was behind 2 harleys the other day and when the light turned green, I didn't stand a chance. Of course I only have a 750.

Dave

Now don't misunderstand me...I've never been smoked by a HD of any size including the new V-Rod even on my 750, but the custom V-Twins running, built RevTech and S&S engines are a bit more of a challenge.

[scotty]

Dan
i have seen and heard Daves 750. It is buy no means a pusseycat. I just think Dave may need to get used to it. Believe me it was a sweet sounding motor just asking for a chance to show its stuff.
When i hear a good running engine my heart starts to pound :twisted:

Just a note on racing with big inch bikes. You have to do it from a dead stop and KNOW FOR SURE where your shift points are. if you change up too quickly or start from second from a normal start, the cubic inch rule comes into effect.
My 650 yammy took a beating because i was just fooling with a full sized harley and tormented him with rev noises AFTER i was in second and way too early. My 650 is bone stock with stock exhaust.

There is no substitute fro cubic inches after a point.

[DMPLATT]

i have seen and heard Daves 750. It is buy no means a pusseycat. I just think Dave may need to get used to it. Believe me it was a sweet sounding motor just asking for a chance to show its stuff

Scotty,
Your right. I also forgot to mention I had to get around a car, which didn't take too long, but gave them a bit of a head start. I'm still not used to these high reving engines, plus as Hoomgar put it, I'm not a dragster and my start time is pretty slow.

Guess I'll have to practice a bit. :twisted:

On a side note, I've tried UP shifting without the clutch and it actually is pretty smoothe. I will still use my clutch however. Makes feel better? :roll:

Dave

[Nerobro]

I agree, those things are deceivingly quick. I rode a sportster a few years ago and couldn't believe the quickness of it.

I was behind 2 harleys the other day and when the light turned green, I didn't stand a chance. Of course I only have a 750.
Dave

You're 750, with a little bit of skill should be able to keep ahead. You have 73hp, and are very slightly lighter than the sportster. So even if it is a 1200 sportster you should be able to stay ahead.

As another note. the most horsepower you can reasonably expect to see coming from a harley is the mid 120's. And in that case we're talking about some serious hardware. That 45deg Vtwin is a ghastly design. It has more in common with a lawnmower than a proper bike engine. People complain about buells blasts sounding like lawnmowers, they're effectively half of an 883 engine.

Some numbers to chew on. http://www.amiwrench.com/brute_results_2004.html

[DMPLATT]

Well, after a little coaching and coaxing from Scotty on saturday I did it (a little bit). I was at a stop light and this big fatboy HD looking thing pulled up next to me. I starting asking him about it (I always talk to people, don't care what they are riding). He told me it was actually a 2002 1500 Kaw. It was tricked out. Straight pipes, racing rear wheel. Just a really nice bike. Well, light turned green and he hit it. As emabarassing as this is, of course I miss shift and missed 2nd. I was laughing remembering what snowbeard said.
Next light I pull up to him and told him what a sweet sounding bike it was. Light turned green and he hit it, this time I didn't miss shift. He beat me off the line, but that's it. I think I suprised him a little. Next light, same thing. Man, this 750 was screaming. Now I know what you guys (and especially Scotty) are talking about, that the power band seems to be at really high RPM's. I could hear the engine noise change, as in some serious power kicking in. This could all just be adrenaline, but I remember my Nighthawk was similar, but not at THAT high of RPM's.

I'm still not a racer, or dragster, but it's good to know it's there and it was just the timid little rider holding her back.... :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

By the way, I don't like riding side by side in city traffic, may be why I let him go first. :twisted: :twisted: Being the nice guy I am and all.

Dave

[scotty]

The infection spreads slowly Dave.

[Hotblack]

To my knowledge the only stock Harley that can tough a 750 is the V Rod, which can skunk it (well ridden that is). That goes for the older 2 valve 750, which I imagine sport a few ponies less than the TSCC ones. I don't know what to believe for HP ratings for my bike. I've seen anywhere from 60 (of which I'm skeptical) to 72 (of which I'm also skeptical). I'm guessing the truth lies somewhere in between. Either way it's a mondo fun ride, it has just enough bottom end to be easy to ride in most any setting, and enough top end to increase your sleeve length a size or two. Who could ask for anything more? OK so I haven't tried a 1000 yet...

[Anonymous]

Don't mean to burst anyone's bubble.....but I was toying around with a buddy of mine on his new 1200 Sportster. We pulled away from the light easy, then hit it...hard! I took 1st, 2nd and 3rd all the way up to 9k, and clutchless speed shifting. He was right beside me the entire time!!!!! I have an 1100 shaftie which is by no means a slouch, but that HD impressed the $hit out of me. I never expected a 1200 twin to keep up with a high revving 4. Maybe it was my bike, or maybe it was me, but it still disappointed me a bit
I have another buddy with a 1340 Fat Boy. He says that he walks away from the 1200s.
I guess what I am trying to say is: don't kid yourself, those V-twins can run up against these old standards quite well!

[Hotblack]

Don't mean to burst anyone's bubble.....but I was toying around with a buddy of mine on his new 1200 Sportster. We pulled away from the light easy, then hit it...hard! I took 1st, 2nd and 3rd all the way up to 9k, and clutchless speed shifting. He was right beside me the entire time!!!!! I have an 1100 shaftie which is by no means a slouch, but that HD impressed the $hit out of me. I never expected a 1200 twin to keep up with a high revving 4. Maybe it was my bike, or maybe it was me, but it still disappointed me a bit
I have another buddy with a 1340 Fat Boy. He says that he walks away from the 1200s.
I guess what I am trying to say is: don't kid yourself, those V-twins can run up against these old standards quite well!

Weeeeeeell I'm only going by road tests, not experience, but I've yet to see any numbers from any stock Harley except a V-Rod that can touch what a stock 750 can do in an all out contest of speed. I'm sure that the larger bikes are easier to accelerate with, at most revs and in most gears. But you open the 750 up and forget it. According to magazine road tests anyway. Actually comparing my 750 to my friends Shadow 1100 more or less bears this out. That thing has a good punch any time you whack the throttle, pretty much in any gear at lower revs. In a top gear roll on it will walk right away from the 750, but if I lose a couple gears and drop the hammer he's just a distand memory. When the Shadow engine is sighning off mine's just getting interested. Obviously the Big Twins (the ones that don't weigh a zillion lbs.) will have more torque, making them even more of a bear on the street, but I think the all out advantage goes to the 750. Heck the 650s and 550s are supposed to be able to post better 1/4s than a lot of cruisers twice their size.

[Hotblack]

I just found some numbers on the newest 1200 Sporty, and they're pretty good. I didn't reallize that it's a good bit quicker than the old one, according to Motorcycle Consumer News anyway. It boasts 68.7 hp, weighs 585 lbs., and gave them a 12.99 1/4 mile and top speed of 124 mph. Actually sounds like a very close match to the GS750 to me. The GS is a little lighter, probably explaining the slightly better 1/4 mile (12.75) but that Sportster with its new rubber mounts has to be a HELL of a fun ride! Again with the Sportster's big fat bottom end you'd have to do EVERYTHING right on the GS to edge by it, or else forget it. For me that means forget it but I still don't think it's much of a threat to a well ridden well tuned GS 1000 or 1100, which are down in the 11s. I don't think they're too shy on the bottom end either. I think the V-Rod is still a little quicker than them stock, isn't it?

Oh and MCN got a best 1/4 of 13.45 out of the Fat Boy, They got a better 13.13 from a softail. That's still enough to dive out of the way of SUVs and dump trucks, which is what it's really about, for me anyway.

[Hoomgar]

Don't mean to burst anyone's bubble.....but I was toying around with a buddy of mine on his new 1200 Sportster. We pulled away from the light easy, then hit it...hard! I took 1st, 2nd and 3rd all the way up to 9k, and clutchless speed shifting. He was right beside me the entire time!!!!! I have an 1100 shaftie which is by no means a slouch, but that HD impressed the $hit out of me. I never expected a 1200 twin to keep up with a high revving 4. Maybe it was my bike, or maybe it was me, but it still disappointed me a bit
I have another buddy with a 1340 Fat Boy. He says that he walks away from the 1200s.
I guess what I am trying to say is: don't kid yourself, those V-twins can run up against these old standards quite well!

1200 sporty? Yes browndog, we gotta get you a tune up
Trust me on that.

[Nerobro]

Lets put this all into perspective here. One of the quickest (note I did not say fastest) street cars ever released was the camaro SS. with a good driver, on a good day, they could get a 12.9 seccond 1/4. Off the top of my head I can only list a half a dozen cars faster than that. The viper, Corvette, anything BMW, and Mercades are all solidly 13 seccond cars. (If my memory holds right :-) )

Even with my 550 pulling a low 14 seccond 1/4 would leave most cars in my dust.

[Hotblack]

Not many Camaro SSs could do that, either, only the top optioned ones could come anywhere near that. Actually that sounds more like COPO territory than 'normal' SS territory. The Viper, by the way, can do low 12s, even quicker than the 427 Cobra. There are some Vettes that can get down there too.

[earlfor]

ummm, 79 750E about 67 hp, I do believe. :-) TSCC models, a couple more.

Earl

[quote="Hotblack"]To my knowledge the only stock Harley that can tough a 750 is the V Rod, which can skunk it (well ridden that is). That goes for the older 2 valve 750, which I imagine sport a few ponies less than the TSCC ones. I don't know what to believe for HP ratings for my bike. I've seen anywhere from 60 (of which I'm skeptical) to 72 (of which I'm also skeptical). I'm guessing the truth lies somewhere in between.