Just for curiosity; How fast am I going?

I'm just curious about rpms and speed on my 82 XJ650J. My speedometer is definitely not right. The cable broke recently and I replaced it and while I was at it I took the speedo apart and lubed it according to some instructions from a few posts on this site. But it still registers a lot slower than I know I'm going. But I'm also wondering about the rpms vs speed. Here's why: When I'm on the freeway in L.A., I'm seeing 5,000 rpm on the tachometer, and that doesn't seem unreasonable given the sound of the engine, but I'm not quite keeping up with traffic which I suspect is moving around 70 or so. And to tell you the truth it feels like the bike is going about as fast as it wants to. But I thought top speed on these bikes is much higher than that. (not that I want to go any faster) How fast should my bike be moving if I'm at 5,000 rpms?
I've got a good used set of gauges to put on when I get a few spare moments but I'm too curious to wait until then.

 

5K RPM in top gear? If I remember right, that's about 60 for mine. Maybe 70. The forks are off it right now and I haven't ridden it for a couple weeks.

Are you trying to say your bike feels slow? Because mine will peg the speedometer in third gear, easy.

 

cant you borrow a sat nav, and tape it to the bars ,just to check.
stu

 

Actually, yes. It kind of feels like it's doing the best it can when I think I'm probably only going around 65 or 70 mph. I was even starting to suspect that maybe the clutch is slipping because the engine is at about 5,000, which I think is accurate and it seems like 5,000 rpms in 5th should be moving me along quite a bit faster - no?

 

5,000 rpm in 5th should put you at around 65 MPH. It isn't a cruiser with an overdrive 5th.

For a quick speedometer check, run it up to redline in 2nd gear. You should be at or near 69MPH when you hit redline.

 

At 100 km/h (so about 63 mph) im basically dead on 5000 rpm.

 

My 700 runs about 68 mph at 5000 rpm. Keep in mind that these bikes are high revvers. If your bike is properly tuned and maintained, you can run 7 grand all day long and you won't hurt a thing.
And nothing gets the blood pumpin' like shifting at the redline. The sound is AWESOME.

 

Sound's like it's all good then - other than me being a little too timid to go past 5K or so. (thought I might be hurting it!)
Thanks gents!

 

5k....you're not even in the powerband yet. That only starts kicking in around 6k or so. Yeah, they may sound like they're gonna blow up at that kind of rpm, but you need to re-train your ear:

It's not saying, "whoah, I can't take this!".........it's saying, "c'mon!!! Open up that throttle and wind me out to 6.5k before you shift....and then, wind me to 7k, c'MON!!!! I wanna GO!!!!!!" you can run at 7k, 8k, all day and the bike is gonna love it.

Don't be timid....find out what it's like to do 70 in 2nd gear.... or be on the high way doing 70 in 5th gear, drop it to 4th to pass a truck, and he decides he's gonna all of a sudden speed up to not let you pass.....and so you drop it into 3rd, twist the go-grip, and leave him in the dust wondering WTF?!?!?

 

Many manual transmissions are geared to get up above 100 km/hour (60 mph) in second gear, at least in cars. This is done in order to lower the 0-100 time by only slowing acceleration for one shift. 0-100 times are used as a selling point for vehicles, so that's a big part of what they consider when setting up the gearing. After 2nd gear, the transmission is actually set up to match the performance of the engine. A new number they're looking at more often is the 80-120 km (umm... that's 45-65 mph or something) acceleration, as this is used when passing.

 

at 5k rpm my 83 750 maxim is doing 55mph. that being said, 80mph feels a hell of a lot faster than 80mph on my 550. I have no trouble pegging the speedo on the 550, but the 750 seems to be a little more difficult to get to the peg.

FU

 

That.

So many free apps, pick one to help you get an idea

 

Would not call them hi revers. I guess back in the 80s they were. New 600s redline is about 14k

 

ulysse speedometer is a handy app for tracking speed.

FU

 

One quote that I remember: "Nobody right lanes the Fitz."

 

Sounds like we have some investigating to do.

 

so, after a 400 mile trip this weekend with my wife, I have become aware that the speedo on my 750 is not accurate. at lower speeds the discrepancy is smaller that at higher speeds.

I discovered this is because the speedo on the 750 is reading slow. the discrepancy grows with speed. at 30mph indicated it is actually doing around 35. at 60 indicated, it is somewhere around 75-80mph actual speed. I have had the needle pointing at the 85 on the dial and figure I was likely at 100 plus. needless to say the bike is running like a top. it just feels different because it weighs 100+ pounds more than the seca.

FU

 

get a bicycle speedometer
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Fuze-Speedometer-Bike-Accessory/35285304

 

Or a labelmaker.