lenny82 wrote:
he said he did 115
I had a speedometer like that once myself. LOL.
I went into the MoCo homepage and checked the gear ratios of bikes like my 48, a Nightster and the new Custom 1200. It's the same transmission. If there is any difference (and I do not know if there is) it's the final drive on Custom. It's billed as a touring bike.
Early on I remarked at the shop that despite the war stories I felt "the ceiling" when pushing 95 MPH on the open road, with good barometric weather, nice pavement, my new slim body, fresh rubber, no corn fuel, and my spiffy new driving gloves. I got similar stories.
It dovetails the old joke we used to tell about the mythical 175 MPH Sportster. The faster the braggart tells us his Sportie goes, the shorter the time he's actually ridden.
I considered the Buell upper end. My shop has done several of these upgrades, along with changing out big twin motors to the 120R. I never saw any
personal advantages.
Betty goes fast enough and hard enough to scare me now. The average
comfortable cruising speed for me on Spinner on the slab is an indicated 73 MPH. In fact, if I let her settle down and find her own comfort zone without deliberately setting the speed, she is running at 73 MPH when I look down at the gauge.
As is my custom, I wind up spending more money on the bike's supension than I do on the engine. It's been my experience that a bike that "goes" but cannot "stop" or "dampen" is spooky and hence never wrung out. The best thing about my 48 is that heavier front end and her new Progressive shocks.