98 hp? doesnt quite feel like it....

[redkow97]

I just can't see spending the extra money on the bike and insurance to warrent having a bigger bike.

yep. Unless the bike is used primarily for touring, with a few jaunts through tighter roads.

about once a month I convince myself I want a touring bike, and I'll shop bandit 1200/1250's, or SV1000's with clubman bars, etc. Then I realize that I really don't have the time to do much distance riding, and I prefer to spend my weekends racing anyway.

It's never a question of "which bike is best?" It's a question of "which bike will be best for the type of riding I do most often?"

[Disclaimer]

I'll shop bandit 1200/1250's, or SV1000's with clubman bars, etc.

Have you ever ridden one with clubman bars? It feels squirrely to me. TPoppa has/had some on his SV.

[redkow97]

I haven't; I just anticipate that being one of the mods I'd do to make it more comfortable.

squirrely in what situations?

[jporter12]

Who buys a sportbike for long distance rides? I hit twisty roads with mine and MAYBE hit a few different gears. I haven't really found a need for 170hp on the street and there are very few people (uncle punk excluded) that ride through twisty roads on a 1000 that can keep up with a 600. They just rely on the straights to catch back up what they loose in the corners. I just can't see spending the extra money on the bike and insurance to warrent having a bigger bike.

I can name a handful of others down this way that can ride their 1000's through the twisties that would embarrass most that would try to keep up with them.

[redkow97]

I can name a handful of others down this way that can ride their 1000's through the twisties that would embarrass most that would try to keep up with them.

I love when those guys come to the track. Even with helmets on, you can see their jaws drop when the guy on the 250 two-stroke passes them.

[Ringo]

Well I feel sorry for ya man. Buells are expensive and it sounds like yours is a little anemic for your size, but to each his own. My point is I want some acceleration that I can really feel. I want something scary. I also want it to be controllable tho. No point in having all that power if you can't put it to use.

scary AND controllable. GL

[Ringo]

Who buys a sportbike for long distance rides? I hit twisty roads with mine and MAYBE hit a few different gears. I haven't really found a need for 170hp on the street and there are very few people (uncle punk excluded) that ride through twisty roads on a 1000 that can keep up with a 600. They just rely on the straights to catch back up what they loose in the corners. I just can't see spending the extra money on the bike and insurance to warrent having a bigger bike.

LOL you clearly have not ridden with the guys from newark.

[Hutch]

I'll be the first one to say it those who think we ride fast has never did a track day. We are getting passed by 600's and even prolly by smaller bikes all day long. I believe there is prolly close to 50 of even more Ohio riders that don't ride street much that would hand us are ass in the twisties.

[shadyone]

i think being able to rip through the twistys has more to do with road knowledge than skill. Its like this You've ridden the road a few hundred times. Someone comes in and thinks your super fast because they are on it for the first time. but give two fast people a new road with someone who is quick but knows the road better and the quick will outride the fast ones... just my outlook..

[Disclaimer]

I haven't; I just anticipate that being one of the mods I'd do to make it more comfortable.

squirrely in what situations?

I dunno really how to describe it, maybe I needed more seat time, but I also think cruisers are (aka the Vrod I rode was) squirrely too.

I think my definition boils down to my comfort-level with the bike responding as quickly to my inputs as I want it to, or in some cases as slowly as required when at speed.

I guess I'm just so used to "sportbikes" now or bikes with similar chassis/handling characteristics that anything that doesn't similarly respond feels dangerous to me. That's why I said it may just be me.

[mgbgt89]

I don't think you're going to hear anyone argue that torque isn't highly desirable for any form of street riding, but liter sport bikes take outright power to excessive levels.

I'm not saying that's a bad thing; it's just not absolutely essential.

if you're into distance touring, a bigger engine will certainly cruise at highway speeds at lower RPM, and give you more torque without down-shifting ...but I like shifting. It keeps me involved, entertained, and ultimately I have more fun dropping 2 gears and pinning it than simply being lazy and rolling on in 6th.

It's like driving a Honda S2000; the first couple years before they bumped the displacement to 2.2 liters. The more you rev the piss out of that car, the more fun it is. Drive it like you hate it, and you'll love it. I view 600's in the same light. the more you work them, the more you love them.

Which is why i'm in love with my CB350F. Its a dog turd of a bike, but you can wail on the thing through twisties, using 4, sometimes all 5 gears where an average bike would only be using 2, or maybe 3. Flying through a corner, WOT, 2nd gear screaming at 10,000 rpm, sliding the back tire is probably the most fun you can have this side of a motard. It feels like a 34 horsepower bmx bike.

[Gixxus Christ!]

Wow, this has become an epic, semi-on topic thread. I have decided to keep my 600 and mod it to handle better and accelerate a bit better. I will replace the back seat with a cowl and it will be just for riding back and forth to work and whipping through the twisties on the weekends. My Honda 850-four build should be nearly done by the middle of September and then I can take my ole lady on nice cruises through the pretty fall leaves so she doesn't club me with a rolling pin. Still need to sell the seca to make room in the garage to work on the Honda...

[Pokey]

I can ride my DR650 in the twisty bits a helluva lot faster than I can on my C14......and it is effortless to do so. I can go offroad and get muddy, then hit the twisty's and fling it all off!

[mgbgt89]

Wow, this has become an epic, semi-on topic thread. I have decided to keep my 600 and mod it to handle better and accelerate a bit better. I will replace the back seat with a cowl and it will be just for riding back and forth to work and whipping through the twisties on the weekends. My Honda 850-four build should be nearly done by the middle of September and then I can take my ole lady on nice cruises through the pretty fall leaves so she doesn't club me with a rolling pin. Still need to sell the seca to make room in the garage to work on the Honda...

850 four? What you talkin about Willis?

[Helmutt]

850cc 4-cyl.?? Just guessing......I see CB750 next to his avatar, so typo??

[Gixxus Christ!]

No typo, 850 is what you get when you bore .178 over. Got the Kit here: http://www.cyclexchange.net/Engine%20Parts%20Page%20(Non-Cafe).htm scroll down about half way. Cycle x is awesome, they cast and machine their own pistons and even make side-cover badges that say "850-four". When I'm done with this motor it will make Harley guys cry. Imagine getting your $10 grand brand new bike completely dusted by a 40 year old piece of "jap crap'. This big bore kit plus a long-duration cam, re-jet, velocity stacks and header ought to make about 86-90 HP. Not bad for an ancient engine design that went from drawing board to showroom floor in less than a year.

[Helmutt]

new age 600's are definitely phenomenal machines when compared to 10 year old 600's, much less the mid 90's bikes.

If you're getting 98 BHP from your bike, I'd be proud - that's excellent power for that model year.......my buddies F2 dyno run bested at 89HP after full system/tune/valvetrain adjustment and -1/+1 gearing change.

Definitely a lot you can do to increase your bike's performance -- gear it up a bit, you'll shift more often but your butt dyno readings will increase substantially.......if it's not got a full system exhaust, there's another 15HP ( give or take ) to be found once it's installed and properly tuned........have someone ( with mechanical inclination ) help to get your suspension setup for YOU - better the bike handles, the better it will perform for you. Pretty much a concensus from what's been said here already........but as we all know........there's no replacement for displacement

Edited August 21, 2011 by Hellmutt

[Helmutt]

No typo, 850 is what you get when you bore .178 over. Got the Kit here: http://www.cyclexchange.net/Engine%20Parts%20Page%20(Non-Cafe).htm scroll down about half way. Cycle x is awesome, they cast and machine their own pistons and even make side-cover badges that say "850-four". When I'm done with this motor it will make Harley guys cry. Imagine getting your $10 grand brand new bike completely dusted by a 40 year old piece of "jap crap'. This big bore kit plus a long-duration cam, re-jet, velocity stacks and header ought to make about 86-90 HP. Not bad for an ancient engine design that went from drawing board to showroom floor in less than a year.

Schaweet!! Get some pics of the build put up in here!!

[Gixxus Christ!]

I did some research and the bike is actually rated at 87-91 bhp. Here is where I'm at with my motor build, waiting on a base gaskets and cam chain tensioner guts and I can put the jugs on.

[mgbgt89]

No typo, 850 is what you get when you bore .178 over. Got the Kit here: http://www.cyclexchange.net/Engine%20Parts%20Page%20(Non-Cafe).htm scroll down about half way. Cycle x is awesome, they cast and machine their own pistons and even make side-cover badges that say "850-four". When I'm done with this motor it will make Harley guys cry. Imagine getting your $10 grand brand new bike completely dusted by a 40 year old piece of "jap crap'. This big bore kit plus a long-duration cam, re-jet, velocity stacks and header ought to make about 86-90 HP. Not bad for an ancient engine design that went from drawing board to showroom floor in less than a year.

Ah, Figured you were going big bore, Most kits are 836, forgot about the cyclex kit. Have you checked out their ignition system? It's bad ass, Uses an optical trigger wheel in place of the points plate and GM ignition components.

My 750 is getting one, and eventually i'll be using that trigger wheel to signal a microsquirt EFI setup.

[Gixxus Christ!]

Yeah, that optical ignition is bad ass but way spendy! If you look closely you can see my dyna-s inductive pickups, that's enough ignition upgrade for me. May go with some bigger coils tho. Idk if I would put the money into a fuel injection setup for a motor that old tho, I feel kind of bad about sinking $700 into needing this motor up.

[mgbgt89]

The thing about fuel injection is you can do it for about what a set of Keihin CR's Or Mikuni Flatslides will cost you. There's a handful of 750s out there running EFI already. One guy built one and the only expensive part was the micro squirt computer, which is only about 250 bucks. Everything else came from a pull-a-part junkyard. Hyundai injectors, ford escort TB, various GM sensors. Other guys run TB racks off newer sport bikes, which is probably the route i'll take.

CB750's run forever, don't feel bad about putting money into it. I just spent 250 bucks just in gaskets for my 350F.

[Gixxus Christ!]

I've seen a seca with gsx-r 600 tb and micro-squirt setup. My 26 mm keihins flow more air than the 28mm mukunis acording to an old article I found on sohc-4.net. just can't see gaining enough power to justify the cost, unless you're doing it just to be some totally fucking awesome Mr. Wizard type shit, then its fully justified. If I were going to efi any of my bikes it would be my fzr, I think I'd get the biggest return from it.

[Gixxus Christ!]

my thread died.... it was doing so well....

[SpeedTriple44444]

Ah, Figured you were going big bore, Most kits are 836, forgot about the cyclex kit. Have you checked out their ignition system? It's bad ass, Uses an optical trigger wheel in place of the points plate and GM ignition components.

My 750 is getting one, and eventually i'll be using that trigger wheel to signal a microsquirt EFI setup.

Are you sure that the charging system is up to running a fuel pump? Some of those old Honda barely had enough to run the headlight. I've looked into it on my CB350 twin.