I recently purhcased a TW and am using it to commute to work and back. I find it to be comfortable to ride top end around 40MPH. Anything faster and the bike seems a bit squirrley. I know a fellow that has a TW also and he says he can run it 60MPH with no trouble. So I am wondering what others out there are comfortable running their TWs at on the highways. 35-40MPH and it's great but anything faster for me seems a bit hairy. What say you all?
Curious about highway speeds
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If YOU are not comfortable with how the bike feels over that speed, then that should be the limit.
Play with your tire pressure then ride to see how it responds. Find a quieter county road/highway/interstate or a quieter time of day to ride and continue to learn the bike and get a better feel for it and increase speed when a higher level of comfort comes to you.
I commute 26 miles, half on a 55mph road and the other half on a 70mph interstate and I keep up with traffic (to a degree...I don't speed that much). I wouldn't recommend 70mph interstates until the bike has been modified to recover its speed at those higher speeds (taking 5 minutes to get from 60mph back up to 70mph is not safe on the interstate).
Don't worry about high speeds if you think the motor doesn't like the high rpm's. It doesn't care.
Play with your tire pressure then ride to see how it responds. Find a quieter county road/highway/interstate or a quieter time of day to ride and continue to learn the bike and get a better feel for it and increase speed when a higher level of comfort comes to you.
I commute 26 miles, half on a 55mph road and the other half on a 70mph interstate and I keep up with traffic (to a degree...I don't speed that much). I wouldn't recommend 70mph interstates until the bike has been modified to recover its speed at those higher speeds (taking 5 minutes to get from 60mph back up to 70mph is not safe on the interstate).
Don't worry about high speeds if you think the motor doesn't like the high rpm's. It doesn't care.
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I'm happiest on the TW if I can ride about 40-45mph, but there are streets around town where if I don't go 50, I'll get run over. The TW handles it with no issues, it's more like that exceeds my comfort level a bit. It's hard to tell from your post whether you're concerned about the bike handling faster speeds or you are uncomfortable with higher speeds. If it is the former, don't worry. A healthy TW can handle 60 mph with no worries in most cases. Yeah, I've seen reports of 70 mph, but I'm guessing that is with a newer bike and perhaps non-stock sprockets (and perhaps a tail-wind too -
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) Even if my TW could go that fast however, I'd be white-knuckled riding it at that speed.
You'll need to decide how often you really need to go faster, probably dictated by the traffic flow you plan to be riding in. If you are going to be doing mostly street riding in fast traffic, perhaps the TW is not the right bike for you. If riding in fast traffic is only an occasional thing though, the TW will handle it and with practice, you'll get more comfortable.
You'll need to decide how often you really need to go faster, probably dictated by the traffic flow you plan to be riding in. If you are going to be doing mostly street riding in fast traffic, perhaps the TW is not the right bike for you. If riding in fast traffic is only an occasional thing though, the TW will handle it and with practice, you'll get more comfortable.
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255 Posts
It seems both my TW's have no problem hitting 65 up a 2 or 3% grade near our house in way under a quarter mile, but I like to ride around 50-55 with this bike on the road. It's always good to have a little more top end to work with in case you need it, and at 65, our babies don't have a whole lot left to give. I don't find either the 05' or the 10' to be squirrely at speed beyond the fact that I know I'm near the limit of the bike... and moving. I'm in the suburbs with freeways and all - and there's just too many CARS! Maybe a sprocket change would help, but that's going to affect the off road handling, so I'm not going there.
Might want to make sure there are no mechanical problems with the forks or even your tire pressure and rear alignment.
Be safe
Might want to make sure there are no mechanical problems with the forks or even your tire pressure and rear alignment.
Be safe
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22 Posts
I was in the same frame of mind when I got my '08 TW. Little by little I got used to going a bit faster as time went by. I guess living out in the country helps some also...not a lot of traffic out here. I also make sure like the other folks on this forum to check my running gear before every ride: oil...chain..lights...brake fluid...tires, etc. I now ride 55 to 60 MPH without worrying about the RPMs....you get used to it.
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335 Posts
I have never had any reason to push my TW to test its top speed. I have speeds where I am comfortable ( usually between 50-70 kmph) and that is where I happily ride it.
If the bike feels squirelly at higher speeds - then don't drive there.
I often just like to put around at someimte as low as 30 kmph just for the joy of being out riding -
Whatever speed feels right to you is the right speed for the bike.
If the bike feels squirelly at higher speeds - then don't drive there.
I often just like to put around at someimte as low as 30 kmph just for the joy of being out riding -
Whatever speed feels right to you is the right speed for the bike.
Does weight of the rider contribute to stability? I ask as I had occasion to put 20# on the back of my bike to other day and it seemed to me the ride was more stable. I agree with putting miles on it and I will. I used to ride a street bike so the dual sport configuration is different for me. Thanks for all the input and the generous nature of the forum contributors. Being a newbie to the TW I find the topics a great way to learn about this great bike. Had someone try and buy mine the other day while at work.;-)
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Sierra
I feel best at 45-50, but 55 - 60 is no problem. What bothers me is the wind against my chest. It really seems to buffet me a lot. I've never really ridden on the road until getting my TW, so maybe I've just never gotten used to it. Maybe I ride too upright? I recently went from a 54 to a 47 rear sprocket and it seems to make it easier, at least in my mind, to ride at speed.
Dave
I feel best at 45-50, but 55 - 60 is no problem. What bothers me is the wind against my chest. It really seems to buffet me a lot. I've never really ridden on the road until getting my TW, so maybe I've just never gotten used to it. Maybe I ride too upright? I recently went from a 54 to a 47 rear sprocket and it seems to make it easier, at least in my mind, to ride at speed.
Dave
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1,292 Posts
I like mine best at 45... 55 seems OK but it's just not as smooth.. The little bike handles all speeds fine. I've had both our dub's on the gps at 72.3 for mine and 72.5 for my wife's on the same road 15 minutes apart.. Sure wouldn't want to run that fast for any miles.. If I need to rip it up I ride my trump. OMM.
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I do 60-65 mph daily..... you do have to keep it up there on purpose however....
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Tdub has hauled my but up to 84mph on a couple of occasions--downhill, tailwind, drafting a semi. Maintaining 70mph in city freeway traffic is pretty easy because all the other vehicles seem to keep the air flowing in the right direction. Much easier than maintaining 70mph on a rural interstate. I took Tdub out on a limited access highway yesterday, about level with light SW wind, 70mph west-to-east, 72mph east-to-west, tucked in, 8-10mph less sitting up. Had I been running E10, Tdudb would have been doing good to hit 60mph sitting up. On the westbound leg a SUV eased past running 76, then Tdub sped up to that pace just by moving over to the dotted line without changing lanes to take advantage of the draft. When I hit the highways I pretty much tuck in on the uphills and sit up on the downhills, and the speed doesn't much vary.
Minor tooth-count changes won't make a lot of difference in top speed unless riding off a cliff--TW powerbands are just too flat. Better rollout in low gears and less vibration are street benefits of a slightly taller sprocket ratios, no greater than the equivalent of a 14/45 set. More than that and clutch wear and excessive rpm drop between gears become issues. Better low-speed response and compression braking are offroad benefits of slightly lower sprocket ratios, no less than the equivalent of a 14/55 set. More than that and 1st gear becomes useless on the street and vibration at speed becomes annoying.
Minor tooth-count changes won't make a lot of difference in top speed unless riding off a cliff--TW powerbands are just too flat. Better rollout in low gears and less vibration are street benefits of a slightly taller sprocket ratios, no greater than the equivalent of a 14/45 set. More than that and clutch wear and excessive rpm drop between gears become issues. Better low-speed response and compression braking are offroad benefits of slightly lower sprocket ratios, no less than the equivalent of a 14/55 set. More than that and 1st gear becomes useless on the street and vibration at speed becomes annoying.
I did the Fat front tire conversion on my 87 with Shinko 428 tires front and back a 14/45 sprocket combo and o-ring chain. I calibrated a bicycle speedometer to give good MPH numbers as the front tire is smaller in overall height and the original speedo reads 7 mph fast. I let it hang out pretty good this past weekend now that I have 300 miles on the conversion and feel pretty comfortable with it. Top speed 68.5 with my head tucked down near the tank. On the TW 68.5 feels like 120 mph on my VMAX. The bike is most comfortable around 40-50 mph to me. You will get used to it the more miles you ride it but the bike is pretty busy at speed. Maybe some areas of the US interstates are ok if traffic volume is low, but not where I live. TW does not go on the interstate.
Totally stock 2009 here, still breaking in, but she easily does 50-55 mph in 4th gear, and I honestly haven't had a chance to push her in 5th yet. I do wonder though, if the slightly higher speeds might have to do with the fact that I'm a smaller rider (5'2" fairly petite woman - in fact, I have trouble even compressing the front forks on most stock dual sports...).
I look forward to testing out how fast she can do in 5th, just have to get out of the city and on a quiet road
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I look forward to testing out how fast she can do in 5th, just have to get out of the city and on a quiet road
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Totally stock 2009 here, still breaking in, but she easily does 50-55 mph in 4th gear, and I honestly haven't had a chance to push her in 5th yet. I do wonder though, if the slightly higher speeds might have to do with the fact that I'm a smaller rider (5'2" fairly petite woman - in fact, I have trouble even compressing the front forks on most stock dual sports...).
I look forward to testing out how fast she can do in 5th, just have to get out of the city and on a quiet road![]()
A person of your stature might find a softer rear spring a blessing.
Be careful with the speed runs.
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I want to add a big +1 to Qwerty's reply. Just read a article this weekend where a guy did all the math and charted top speed vs horsepower and Drag Co-efficent for motorcycles. Since the TW has 14 hp stock and mabye 16 with a pipe, airbox mods and jetting it was simple to see that Qwerty's examples play out exactly as the theory predict's. With 15 hp the chart shows a top speed of around 65 to 70 depending on the drag co-efficent. 70 would be laying on the tank with roughly the same drag as a sport bike and 65 sitting upright. It was a little difficult to read the chart so I could be + or - 2 or 3 mph. This would be for flat ground with no wind. As per his example downhill, a tail wind or drafting would increase speed and a head wind or uphill would lower it. Minor Gearing changes will have little effect on top speed and major changes would be negative since the stock gearing puts the engine squarely in it's power band at top speed.
Brad
Brad
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I've been able to hit 84 mph with a 44 tooth sprocket. Was able to hit 79 mph ONCE with stock gearing, but that was with a different speedometer so the difference in speedometer error is unknown.
Brad: If I recall correctly...the stock TW200 engine produces 16 horsepower.
Brad: If I recall correctly...the stock TW200 engine produces 16 horsepower.
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I looked up TW's entries in the dyno log this morning. Best she's done has been [email protected], 9.932lbs/[email protected] on the ground. All stock except rejet, 15/50 sprockets, and o-ring chain. That peak hp would be at about 68mph, peak torque at about 58mph. That's actually on Shell 91 (R+M)/2 E10 with the ethanol removed, which yields a dandy 87 (R+M)/2 E0. 87 E0 from the independents runs just a couple hunredths less. E10 hp drops to between 10.821 to 12.302 best, depending on source. I didn't post up the "E10" that was actually E20--Tdub would barely stay running and we couldn't get the dyno to register so low a horsepower figure.
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