Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire OK motorcycle guys, how much HP is TOO MUCH for most riders...

The thread about the 300HP motorcycle, which dove off into photos of 500 and more HP turbocharged and supercharged super bikes and then even to the V-8 powered Harley trikes (with a really horrible track record of killing thier owners) got me to thinking, and asking myself this question or at least putting it out there.

For a moderately experienced rider who wants a 'performance' bike or as some call them "Crotch Rockets" how much is too much or just right to be way fun but not deadly.

Assuming good disk brakes at both ends and good high performance tires, a sufficiently rigid frame to handle the ponies and good handling characteristics, where do you draw your lines for 'enough' or 'too much'. I know that Gun Geek aka Kevin Gibson says that he very rarely cracks the throttle all the way open on his 175BHP bike.

As for me, when I modified my Sporster (an R model with dual disk brakes at front and rear) to make mid 70's Dyno'ed HP with translates to apx mid 90's BHP on a 450lb bike it became a bike that IMO only a pretty experienced rider should be allowed to test ride. If one is not holding onto the handlebars pretty well and you twist the throttle to wide open in a lower gear it will try to either dump your butt on the ground as it rises up or, pull its handlebars from your grasp with acceleration G force. Yet, after riding it that way for a year or so I still wanted "a bit more' so while I cannot ride anyway due to gout pain and other health issues (I haven't been on it in several months) I am very slowly and with lots of help from friends adding a low PSI (8lbs) turbocharger. By the time I get a new kidney and have recovered some from the surgery it should be about ready to ride again and theoretically should make about 135-145HP. When we dynotune it after it is all set up an accurate number will be had and I will report back if any of you want to know. For me, that will be enough and then some. I am pretty danged sure that this last mod will give me 'enough' and then some. I doubt that I would ever open her all the way up to run all out except on the drag strip track. Even there the pucker factor should be well into the ginourmous grin range.

What say ya'll? When do we get to enough or too much for most riders? For you, personally?

I know that personally, I've had enough.



Travis

That's not what she said!

Except for Harley type motorcycles, (whose biggest obstacle to safety for new riders are their weight, not HP,) on all other types of bikes anything over 90hp is too much for most new riders to safely handle without having an off.

Though guilty of owning one, I always liked the saying:

"Harley-Davidson, the most efficient way to turn gasoline into noise without making horsepower".

Ohhh, that's rich. I'll have to share that with my Harley riding friends.

I'm not sure hp is a true measure of safety on a bike. I've know people who could kill themselves on a moped and others who could handle any amount of hp you could throw at them and come back grinning.

I'm thinking the better question is- "what does it take to handle stupid amounts of horsepower on a bike" (or any other conveyance)?
IMHO, the answer would be tons of experience, self control, and a bit of training (by people who actually have done it).

Bob

It's like the saying with the piper cub: "the safest airplane in the world ... it can only barely kill you." Same is true for a "tiny" 250cc bike making 25 hp.

I worry more about the "golden bb" these days when I'm riding ... that some small event out of my control will happen and cause an accident. the more prepared, careful, and trained you are, the more you will mitigate the risk. regardless, a left-turning cage or distracted driver can ruin your day in an instant.

(I've been riding since 1964). I've worked security at the Ralley at the Buffalo Chip and lived in the Hills for many years. The first year in living in Sturgis (1979) for me was an eye opener. I was amazed at the people who rode Harleys that should never have gotten off their lawn mowers.
The range of abilities for riders in my opinion is immeasurable, I gotta agree with Sheister.

Example:
Traveling to Sturgis from Deadwood one day a guy passed me doing well over 100 MPH where the road was straight for about 1/2 mile. Where the road turned, he didn't and I'd estimate he hit the rock wall at a very high rate of speed, perhaps 100 MPH. He never lit up the brake light and never did again.

"If you're not skeered of it, it's not fast enough"

YMMV.

Most bikes of any size today are already too fast for traffic........way easy to over-ride, IMO.

MM

There's no magic number, what matters is what's between your ears, not whats between your legs. Plenty of riders are in wheelchairs and 6' under from bikes under 100 hp, as well as those over 100 hp.

I'd venture to say for a sport bike, at 100 hp many can't ride the bike to it's potential, the closer you get to 200 hp the field is narrowed to very experienced racers that can actually put that power to the ground, over that amount, a select few can control it.

He said, she said, Its too much.

I rode a GSXR750 that made about 150HP at the crank. More power than I could use on the top end. It was a pussy cat until the revs built, then it it was a beast. Easily the fastest bike Ive riden.

My last bike was a 1200 Bandit. 100 or so Hp. It was fun with a smaller front sprocket.

HP has little to do with safety. As mentioned, scooters have enough HP to kill ya. Its all about whats between your ears.

I, too, am guilty and I love my Harleys! After modifying my now 1230cc HD R Sporster a bunch to just get TO almost 100HP, there is some truth to that with early factory bikes. Although I hear the new twin cam Fuel injected 103 c/i bikes make lots of power. I gotta try one out one of these days. I will probably get one in Super Glide trim when I tire of racing and having my Sporster beat me up on longer rides.

Good points, and about right on the HP thing or mark IMO. Since bringing my 450lb sporty up to the mid 90's in HP, the only person who has ridden it is the mechanic who helped me put it together. I used to enjoy letting others ride it, now it is a very bad idea to do so. RE the weight thing. Sherri (Asphaltangel) is considering a Harley but her first, if we ever pull the trigger on an upgrade, will be a Sportster for sure. Her single piston Suzuki Savage 650 vibrates like a jackhammer already, so a Sportster will feel like a Cadillac to her and only be about 100lbs heavier with still nimble handling.

458Lott also mentioned 100HP on a sportbike, and I would tend to agree there.

Good question.
I have ridden motorcycles since I owned a 250cc Ossa Pioneer back in 1970.
I could ride in the ditch alongside Hwy 10 and keep up with freeway traffic.
I rented a Harley Davidson VRod with 125 HP and put 350 miles on it in one day.
It could have used more.
It is funny to hear you refer to a vehicle with three wheels and a Chevrolet V-8 as a "Harley trike".??
whelennut

Quite an avalanche of responses here.

I don't have a clue about HP. But I know that a lot of riders would be better off if they learned to effectively ride at slow and moderate speed than worrying about HP. Lots of guys can drive fast down the highway but few can make a U-Turn without needing 4 acres and no traffic to get it done.

That's the truth. I've seen people that couldn't navigate a parking lot.

I watched a new guy drift into the gravel and slide it on a gentle left hand sweep simply because he froze up. We were doing maybe 35mph in a 50 zone. He simply had no clue how to handle a bike. HP had nothing to do with it.

These days if you have room on your credit card you can go into any Japanese bike dealership and walk out with a showroom stock street bike that has the capability to outrun what King Kenny rode to win F1 world championships.

I don't know a precise HP number, but there are a whole lot of folks out there with too much machine for their personal capabilities.

You have more than one.