How fast have you gone on your XJ?

This is not a bragging thread, I am just curious...

I just moved up from a xs400 to a xj700x and I was soo tempted to test the power that I was driving on the freeway at abour 75mph. Then I decided to see what she could do... In a blink of an eye I was up to 107 and then took it back down to 75 pretty quick...

So how fast has everyone gone? Even just hitting it for a second like I did. Supposedly my bike has a top speed of about 129 according to a cycleworld article from 1985, I'll never hit that speed...

 

back when i was in the Air Force (and a local city cop) i was running down US 283 from Lake Altus to town (Altus) and laying on the tank, with my feet on the rear pegs, i pegged the speedo at 85...

to avoid explaining to the OHiP why he had an 81 xj driven by a cop jammed into the trunk of his cruiser i sat upright and applied a judicious amount of brake before the two of us got 'intimate'...

d

 

Wish I knew, speedo only goes to 85. I'd guess at least 100 if not 110.

 

I think "85+" is going to be the answer for most of us, haha.

 

haha oh yeah, I forgot that before 1985 or something like that most only went to 85!! damn... thought this was a good topic.

 

My XJ700N Got up to 98 on a private access road once.
Bud of mine came up next to me on his brand new HD Softtail and wanted to show his a_ _ , when I looked down and saw how fast I was going in a gusting crosswind, I got right out of it.

What was I thinking?

 

Mine tops out at 150kms/hr (about 92 mph).

 

Ive been up to zero so far. Still working on it a bit at a time. But - the question of after market speedometers comes to mind. Those acewell speedo from elecrosport.com are good to 180mph(or so).

I wonder how fast my bicycle speedo is good for? It is also programmable with a magnetic pickup. At best Id guess its good for maybe 99.

For that $130, if I need either a speedo or tach, Ill be ordering one.

Steve

 

A couple months ago, I was riding down this awesome, flat country road in the middle of nowhere out here in the country.....and decided to go wide-open in fifth....since I replaced my gauges with a Canadian version that goes up to 150, I wanted to see what this turbo was all about top-end wise.....I stopped at 125, as redline was getting quite close, and spec-sheets say 127 is top. It took no time to get there and I was surprised how the bike was handling at that speed which was good. I won't be doing that for a long, long time as deer around here are quite plentiful.

-Nick

 

Yeah, what he said.. :lol: :lol: I've had the speedo pinned @ 85 and the tach making out with the redline in 5th.. I don't know how fast it was, but those cars sure were whipping by fast

 

My Speedo runs up to 140 MPH. I ran mine up to 95 the other day before backing off. I decided I didn't want to be splattered over the Hwy.

 

How'd you get to zero? The speedo has stop pins at zero and 85... And those magnetic bicycle speedos are only accurate up to 30mph-ish. Over that and the magnet is whipping by the sensor so fast it doesn't always trigger it, and you get a false reading. The sensors in those only count 1 pulse per revolution (about 6 feet on the 19" front tire). The senders on stock and aftermarket electronic speedometers typically generate 3-5 pulses per FOOT for maximum accuracy

 

I've had mine up to about 180 KPH(111 MPH). Front end was getting twitchy and it wasn't going to pull any more RPM.

 

Ditto the pegged speedo on the '80 XJ650 before I sold it. Had just ran the valves, synced carbs and colortuned it. Probably the best that bike ever ran and hopefully still does !

 

I have had all my bikes over 85 but the fastest I have ever went on 2 wheels is when a Bro stop by with his 2004 750RR and let me take it for a ride. There a road just a little bit from me that is strait for a couple miles and there is no ditches and trees on eather side so if I would lose it there's nothing to hit. From a dead stop to 142 or so and back to a stop to clean out my shorts in less than a mile. My buddy said the top speed is about 180 now thats fast for a stock bike.

 

Ohh where do I start. Hmm Ok 1982 Seca 550,I do not have an actual speed but I did and still do have a built fj 600 motor with a wiesco 652 kit with lots of engine work plus Works perf. shocks with a calfab swingarm. Hmm about 135 in turn 8 at Willow springs. Ohh BTW these bikes are great when the pavement is smooth but when it gets bumpy, IE when I had to try a different line due to the closing speed on someone who had a mechanical and decided to stay on the inside. I went outside and upset the bike. LOCK TO LOCK headshake. all I remember was being spit off and sliding on my back FOREVER!!!!!. I think I am stopped only to find out that I am still doing about 60 MPH and start tumbling down the racetrack. All I want to know is how the heck my bike wound up on the INSIDE of the turn. While I was sliding on my back, I look over to my right and see my bike doing cartwheels in the dirt, yup those dreaded end over end carwheels. I start thinking to myself that the roach is finally dead. (The bikes nickname was the roach since we tried to kill it and couldn't.) Well I wait until the crash truck comes over to me and get the bike back to my pit and realise that the only damage other than scrapes and the fact that the fairing is in parts, is that the oil gallery plug had ground away. Lay the bike on it's side and some JB weld and all is good with the bike. .. Until the 4th lap out of a 6 lap race of the next day, I am running in second or third and the bike just dies!!! NOOOOO!!!!, well that turned out to be the pickup coils that broke in the crash, that damage didnt show until it was nice and warm!!!!
But to answer your question on how fast, Dont know for sure but we were hauling some serious tail!!!!!!! My best lap time for Willow Springs was a 1:34 and this was back in 1997 on equipment that was made 15 years before that on dunlop K591's that were on stock rims. Rear was a 120 and the front was a 100. I think that works out for an average lap speed of 97 MPH. Dam I miss those days.

 

I don't know.

The tach was right on the Redline in fifth .... and my Speedo said 83 or 84 ... how ever much it goes up to.

The Rev Limiter is on the Bench getting wired. I'm out of Heat Shrink and I'm not Cobbing this Job up even a teenie-bit.

 

200 km on the xj1100. Twas nice and solid but the fine here would be more than the bike is worth. The 1100's are quick.

 

Either there is something wrong with your speedometer, or there's something wrong with your bike. A stock Seca 650 that is well tuned should top out at around 120 mph (190 kms/hr). If your bike is running well, and you don't have a bunch of weighty add-ons (touring accessories, fairings, etc.), have your speedo checked. If you weigh over 400 pounds, disregard this post. :mrgreen:

 

I've had 95mph out of my trike, There was probably a little more in it. Mailny sits very happy at 70mph (6500 rpm) on the motorway, with still plenty left for pulling past other vehicles. (I do have a rev limiter, The Wife!! She doesn't like it above about 75mph!!)

Not bad considering unladen weight is 340kg!!!!

Lea

 

100 mph (160 kmh) easily, but at 40 kmh over the posted limit which is 100 kmh open road here it is good bye licence and a court apearence with maybe a dangerous driving charge and 6 months walking ontop of a fine in the $600 bracket. Thus I have only done that once, best save it for the track eh?

BTW I have read elseware that the XJ900 is good for 240 kmh.

 

Well... it's a cafe racer - so it does the ton (100 mph = 160 kmh)
I've had it up to just slightly over that (174kmh), but my buddy passed me going 270km/h on his souped up R6.

 

Back in the day (my son hates when i use that expression) shortly after my brand new 1982 XJ650J was broken in, I was riding with a buddy when we both laid down on our tanks and went for it. According to the speedo on his Kawasaki Z1 we were doing about 105 mph when he started to pull away from me.

I was surprised by how well my Maxim stayed up with his Z1. That Kawi was a fast monster.

I've had my Seca 550 up to 90 mph when it still had the kph speedo on it and it still had power to spare. I'm much older and wiser (?) now so I don't feel the need to go balls out like I used to in my 20's.

I've had my V Star up over 100 mph a couple of times. It's amazing how stable that cruiser is at that speed.

 

Faster than a speeding bullet....
I can be pretty content going 85
But every once and a while!
Hammer down

 

I agree - I'm pretty sure I need to rejet the carbs. I have an aftermarket 4-1 exhaust and for the most part the bike runs well. I do get a lean "pop" in 3rd and 4th gear and I'm not able to redline any of the gears above 2nd. I'll get to it soon enough...

 

The fastest I've gone on mine is 70mph taking off from a traffic light. Hadn't actually intended to go that fast (Still only have a learner's permit and don't want a ticket.) so when I glanced down at the speedometer I backed off pretty quickly; I was in a 45mph zone.

The PO and her husband said they had had it up to 100mph and 130mph respectively. He said it was still climbing at 130, but he wasn't comfortable going beyond that.

 

900 Seca ~ 230km/h.

650 Turbo 180km/h, which soon turned into brown trousers time when I crested a steep hill and found myself going down the other side on a DIRT road. It certainly had more to come at that speed, but top speed shennanigans hold little attraction for me now.

The 900 was rock solid, even with the supposed widow-maker bikini fairing from 1983. New shocks probably helped matters. I used to run that bike flat out for 15-20 mins. at a time with nary a care in the world. Dumb, now that I think of it, after all the rusty oil that came out of the motor after the first oil change it had after 13 years of laying up. That's one tough motor! Never burned or leaked a drop.

The 650 is a bit of a weaver above 140km/h, don't know if it's fairing or steering head bearings related, but it has Progressive Suspension fork springs and new shocks, so maybe it's just the nature of the beast.

 

I am kinda curious now. When I had the windsheild on her, she would only do about 90 before I would start getting skared of the handle bar shake. Since I had to replace the bars from the attempted theft, I have left off the windsheild, now I get up to 95-100 jumping on the expressway heading home from work and cruise about 90 confidently. I had it to 105 once, out on a country road here in town, impressing the 160lb girl on the back. I just might have to take a midknight run now, when I get done with the fork tubes and tire change and see what she will really do.

 

I like the feeling of going fast at night but it is really dangerous. About the only place I do it now is on a divided highway were I am fairly sure there are no deer. If you hit a deer going fast it will hurt like a lot.

 

I'm really surprised at some of the answers I'm seeing, unless of course some of the figures aren't actually WOT. I've had the Seca up to 122 mph (on my GPS) and felt certain I could've rung a few more mph out of her with a longer run.
The 85 mph speedo's are a joke on those bikes, as the needle is pinned in a matter of seconds. But those speedo's were also stock equipment on most of the cars of that era. The early 80's may have produced some nice bikes, but it was a downright depressing time for cars of that period (performance wise).

 

yeah, I remember the 80's Mustangs...WITH 4 CYLINDERS!!! It's a mustang people...isn't that supposed to be synonymous with muscle car?? :lol:

 

i bought a brand new 1988 Mustang GT with a 5 speed 2 april 88...

white with tan interior. it was a cali model so it had limited issue tan interior and it came with the larger mass air sensor from the factory (which every car mag said to put in all 87, 88 and 89 cars unless it was a cali car which it came with)...

anyway, i dont know if my bike would have gone over 85 or not. no GPS back when it was running...

d

 

I remember back in 1983, a few days before i sold my seca750 back in Ireland, i decided to see just how fast it would go. I remember being quite `dissapointed` that it would only go 115 mph , on the clock !!!!!! The speedos on the Seca 750 models were very accurate. The bike might have been able to get manage a fe more MPH, but i ran out of road. I tucked in as best i could. It was tested in the UK back in 1982 at 126 mph radar tested, under ideal conditions. They probably took the mirrors off, and had a tester in full race leathers. Those 2 things are worth about 10mph. It was totally stable at that speed, by the way. Very quick up to 110mph, and then struggled after that. Its not like its very aerodynamic or anything !!!!!!!!!! 65 RWP can only get you so far !!!!!

 

brand new 89 GT bought Oct 89 (Halloween night no less), still got it too, it's my daily driver when i'm not on one of the bikes. 220,000 miles on the clock.
Because of gearing it tops out at 135 MPH.

also had a 85 GT and yeah the stock 85 MPH speedo was ridiculous, 3rd gear and i'd have it pinned. Replaced it with a 140 MPH speedo, never did find out the top end on that car, just know it would do over 100 MPH in 3rd gear.

 

i concur with making 85mph in 3rd...

i was racing my boss (he was driving an 87 Merkur XR4Ti; turbo'd 2.3) and i was hitting the odometer reset button (6 o'clock on the speedo) which i extrapolated to be about 120...

had to get off it because it was 10:30 at night, on a shoulder-less 2-lane and i ran into some fog. i couldnt see anymore...

d

 

Speaking of mustangs....I had an old crappy 84 LX that I snuck in a 351 with a 5-speed....damn that car was a slick sleeper, surprised the hell outa every GT owner at the stop lights and the strip :wink: Like everyone else says, 3rd gear pretty much pegged that 85mph speedo.....anything over what i figured was about 100mph that old beast felt like she was floatin'

-Nick

 

I have an 84 XJ550. I have crackist 100Mph on it

 

I haven't done anything too serious on mine, 150km/h maybe. My uncle got it up to 140km/h when he was testing it after we fixed the carbs and claimed it started to wobble a bit. This had me a wee bit spooked and I've been reluctant to really push it. Anyway, I'm sure its capable of heading up near 200km/h. I think thats the claimed top speed in the data I've seen.

 

I've been up to 80 on the slab, and that's plenty for me. If I wanted to race I would've bought a freaking sportbike.

 

I had the ol' X up to 120~125 & it had more..but I didn't want more. I'm not a top end speed freak, I like the feeling of going from 0 to ..??? with quickness.

 

from another thread
http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=6567/

gonna have to give this a try, need to check my speedo too

 

Or you could just have someone volunteer to hop on that Ninja and clock you. :twisted:

 

Digital speedo here checked at +1 Km/hr at 100 Km/hr.

 

I've been up to 100 miles an hour on route 295S in new jersey.

 

Pegged speedo 85+ , Tach at 8000 in 6th gear. Saturday morning. Ran good!

 

I have gotten a lot of that speed bug out of my system. But it will bite again. I have read here and there of different spots where people have found runways or private drag strips to find out what they or the bike is made of. Does anyone have an idea of where in the Philadelphia area (PA) to try the same trick? PHI International tends to be pretty strict with anyone who could get on their runways I bet.

I pegged out my 1st XJ550 somewheres around 90 mph I would guess.
My ZX6 I got up to 135 mph by the speedo, but slowing down over the next hill the sherrif pegged me at 121 mph. I made the Buffalo news the next morning and am less fearful now of the speed, as I am of the price of speed.

 

ouch man...very very ouch. I would wager a guess that you lost your license for a while over that one.

 

Suprizingly...no. I was let go on my own recognizance, got a lawyer and paid a crap load to him around $620 and $180 to the court and got a good tongue lashing from the judge and told to NEVER be seen there again, and possibly to avoid Perry, NY after that. It was just short of all 11 of those NY points, and took several years for it to get back to zero. Oh, and I had to take the defensive driving course. I forget what that cost. It did however make me feel great that I only was going way too fast, not drinking while I was at it.

 

sounds like; spanked on the bare butt on main street.

OUCH!

What A Lesson!

 

lucky man...lucky man. Glad to see you learned from it.