How fast have you gone on your XJ?

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.