What speeds does your bike see?

I cruised most of my Mexico trip ont he 650 around 95 or so, guessing, maybe as much as 105. It was 7800-8400 in 5th, whatever that is.

On my last trip on the FJ, doing the IronButt 1k/24hours and 1.5k/36 hours in the same LA to East Texas run, I was cruising the backroads of Arizona and NM probably around 115 or so for most of it, occasional bursts above for passing. And that was with 50 pounds of luggage...

...I sure am loving this FJ.

In town... I probably speed way too much. I try and manage my risk of being pulled over--speed up hills on the highway, slow before the crest, speed down hills. Look for blind turns a cop could hide behind. Don't drive fast at night when there isn't traffic to divert attention and you're alone, and the cops are testing everyone that passes. I don't go 100 on the highways in town, but I may pull up to 90 for a quick pass on occasion when I'm in a hurry.

It's all about perceived chance of being pulled over. Texas has the third highest speed limits in the world, and the highest in the country... And Austin has the highest in the state. Still not high enough. The whole country is still recovering from the Federal power grab during the oil crisis on the issue of speed limits... Damn Oregon had 55 limits on their back country two lanes where we'd have 80 in Texas. Went the speed limit or a bit over almost all day, then when I got nervous about not making it out of the high desert before nightfall, started speeding. Got clocked at 78, which was still a very reasonable speed for that road. Nasty ticket. One of these days I'll pay it...

 

I usually cruise the limit or max 10 over. I do wind her up every now and then from a stop up to 110km/h or so in the first 3 gears, but i come back down to more sane levels.

I think fastest i've done is 140km/h but I value my life enough to not go faster. Not because i'm scared of the bike, i'm scared of the deer, the racoons, the cagers that come out of nowhere with no time to avoid.