How fast have you had your ST?

Norm said:

There used to be nothing so much fun as encountering Harleys on the steep hill on the way to the cottage. They'd see me coming up in the mirror and I'd see them wind the throttle open. All that did was increase the noise a bit. I'd slide up beside them and hold up 5 fingers, then point to the engine; downshift and hold up 4, downshift and hold up 3, downshift and hold up 2. In some cases I could get to one finger. Although they often held up one finger, I could tell they were exaggerating as they hadn't shifted down. ;-)

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Oh gawd - I went back through this thread and found your post Norm - and I cannot stop laughing. I had virtually the same experience in about 1982 while on my '79 GS850G upon coming up on a Hogley Ferguson thundering along in all its majesty. All he could do was process gasoline into noise as I smoothly marched up the hill past him.

sah48 said:

I brought the new one home today, through traffic, and I think I may have hit 50!

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You rebel, you.

Zumo 550 says 125 on Senator Byrd's highway to nowhere. . . US 48 between Davis, WV and the VA state line. . .

BakerBoy said:

:yikes: :bigeyes: :holy crap: :yowza: 4:

[Serious Rant] In engineering terms, loads on key parts of the bike go up as the square of the speed. By 'loads', I mean drag, hoop stress in the tires & rims, stress on engine & drivetrain parts, ... etc. The following table shows such loads as a function of speed, relative to 60 mph.

Speed, Loads
60, 100%
70, 136%
80, 178%
90, 225%
100, 278%
110, 336%
120, 400%
130, 469%
140, 544%
150, 625%

Just a quick burst up to 90 that we each seem to find on our speedo at times more than doubles the load on key parts. From 90 to 130, it more than doubles again. Scary stuff.

It only takes a slight imperfection in a tire and you are done with life at such high speeds. If a piece of fairing rips off and the bike no longer has symmetric loading...done. A rim cracks...done. A bearing siezes...done. One of many engine parts gives out...done. A tooth on the driveline failes...done. You hit something on the road...done. The road is damaged...done. Someone misjudges your speed and pulls in front of you...done.

I implore you to slow down. [/Serious Rant]

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I'm curious, are you an engineer and where did you get this data? I find it hard to believe that at 60 mph you are at 100% load. Example, a Z rated tire is good for 149+ mph. I would say 149 might be 100% load but definitely not 60 mph. Failure of parts should happen way before say 625%.

Lol, yeah, that post gets people's attention and most miss the point that it is "relative to 60 mph". Yes, I'm an engineer. No, 100% at 60 mph is NOT denoting Honda's design load.

Well...without retort or prejudice...245 km/h and no wobble but my rear trunk was empty. I am not sure at what point my mirror cover left but $233 later a new one is on order. Please don't judge as I only do that after 8 pints. Easy folks, that's a late April fools, the last statement anyways. The speed was indicated so really if you minus 10% then 245-10%=220.5x.6=132.3 mph actual. I didn't have my GPS on at the time so for real mph that is the best i can honestly figure. I fail to see why anyone would need that speed and wouldn't recommend it. I am glad that is out of my system. Perhaps someday my brain will develop, soon I hope.

Just be aware that most roads now have speed sensors in the pavement. The local traffic departments, Google maps and you can monitor these sensors even in remote areas....

Please don't judge as I only do that after 8 pints Keep drinking 8 pints a day and your brain may never develop, speaking from experience!LOL

I've had th mightyST1300 up to ___mph,

one thing my mom told me was to never tell on yourself

Rumour has it from history , 205 mph on a hyabusa. ( Autobahn)

Recent Rumours are 148 mph on ST1300 ( no weave or wobble, no pull to the right.) ( UK)

My first "real" bike was a 1973 Honda CB350. I was young with the delusion of invincibility. There was a highway nearby that wasn't yet completed, but you could ride it from an entrance ramp about 3 miles to the end and turn around. I made one run to check for speed traps, turned around and held the throttle wide open.

The bike slowly climbed up to about 90 mph (according to the speedometer), but I felt like it had a little more. Laying on the tank on a flat section of road, I squeezed another 5 mph out of it to reach what I thought was an impressive 95 MPH, but that's all she had and I needed all of those 3 miles to do it.

Since then, I've owned a CX500 and a couple of 750's, but never again rode that fast even though the bikes would do it.

Fast forward 40 years since my days on the CB350... I'm travelling near 85 MPH on my ST1300 with traffic and my exit is approaching. I thought, I just have to break triple digits at least once. It took just a few seconds to add another 20 MPH for a registered 105 MPH and the bike was still accelerating pretty good. So I know I was over 100 MPH. And I was done. Just as I was rolling off the throttle, my girlfriend tapped me on the shoulder as if to ask "what are you doing?". She didn't realize that I had my moment and wasn't reaching for more.

So, that's not a story of what's possible on the ST1300, but it is the fastest I've been. 100 MPH felt perfectly safe and sane, very much unlike 95 MPH on a CB350 which was probably borderline crazy.

130 indicated just because Im new to the ST and I had to test the waters for the speed wobble. It had no wobble by the way.

I like to tag triple-digits at least once on most days when I'm out for a ride. It just happens so quickly and easily on this bike. But my top speed ever was about 128 before the wobble got a little freaky. The bike was loaded for a long tour. I had the topbox on heading up the ET highway towards Tonopah. I slowed down some, put the windshield down, then pushed my speed back up and it didn't seem to have any impact on the wobble. Maybe it was the aliens.

Zumo though attests to 562mph, thank-you American airlines.

This weekend my 04 and a friends 03 ST1300's both hit 120 easy but mine has seen 135 when I first got her.

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According to my Garmin GPS - StreetPilot 2820 (yeah, it's old) the top speed shown for the ST is 270 MPH. I think it may be a bit off, though...

spiderman302 said:

Just be aware that most roads now have speed sensors in the pavement. The local traffic departments, Google maps and you can monitor these sensors even in remote areas....

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I am pretty sure there are no such sensors within a good long ride from my location and usual riding areas. Nor would they concern me if there were.

125 Indicated while out in the desert late one night smoothest ride i ever had

Many times over 235kmph but ALWAYS put the shield down at wind speeds over 160kmph or you risk the "pan-weave". I've felt this coming on many times - just back off the juice and lower the shield to be safe! If you call 235kmph safe

How's this for top speed?

Actually the old Street Pilot gets confused in the parking garage.

On a calibrated Speedo (ST1100 ap) 131mph.
This was on motorways, it would never go any quicker, just sat at 131. Felt quick enough and yes it weaved at that, gentle though not hairy.
The extra lights and siren above the right tip over bar would have added a little to wind drag.
I suppose non calibrated would be around 135 ish.
Upt'North.