My NEW new 599 speed record

[robkb]

115 mph, boyeee! I know, I know. Ya'll are probably disappointed with just 115, and were hoping to see a 599 doing something like 140-150. BUT... I was riding down a gravel road and eating a sandwich when it happened. No, just kidding. I hit 115mph on Interstate 55, and I was dressed in protective gear, smooth road, no traffic, no stupidity other than speeding.
I like how "One Fifteen" sounds.

[mechanic77]

Just wait..... everyone is gonna jump in and say "you didnt really go 115 as bike speedos are out , it was only an indicated 115 , probably more like 108" lol as if everyone under the sun doesnt already know ...... :lol: ok ok now that i got that off my chest , my fastest run on my 599 was an "INDICATED" 153 mph 8) :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Sachi]

Humbug. Your speedo reads in kilos, mech. ;)

[robkb]

Indicated/Shmindicated. You obviously have ME confused with someone who gives a... :P I'm telling the girls 115! :D

[JHenley17]

I'm with you... I'm telling everyone 143...

Gets scary at those speeds, eh? Maybe it's the roads I was on (they weren't the smoothest stretch of interstate you could find), but it seems like it gets a bit shaky.

[Sachi]

The most I ever did is an indicated 100. And as I've reported many times, that's off by about 8 or 9 mph, so I was doing just a bit over 90.

[DarkTint]

my fastest run on my 599 was an "INDICATED" 153 mph

Now care to confess your fastest run on the Z???? :twisted:

[patrickjs5]

why is the speedo off by so much? cant handle the speed? and why dont you fix it? or something....

[mechanic77]

150 on the Z so far ..... had MUCH more to go but I had to let off cuzz at 150 it was high in the rpms and hit its power band it started pulling so god damn hard I swear I thought it was gonna loft the wheel at 150 ... LOL the only thing holding me on the bike was the passenger seat :shock: had to roll my feet around to the front side of the pegs :twisted: great fun it is


Rob I wasnt trying to diminish your speed run , I was actually pickingon the ones who do jump in ..... Just that usually when some says what their speed was someone else will jump in and say "..." I , personally wasnt saying that...... I knew it was indicated...LOL thats how we know how fast we were going in the first place is because the speedo "Indicated" it to us :lol:


Just be careful dude .. yah know ! :thumbsup

[aylmer599]

my fastest run so far was 225-230 km/h (was hard to see on analog speedo) so thats like 140-144mph.

[JHenley17]

why is the speedo off by so much? cant handle the speed? and why dont you fix it? or something....

Bikes in general have very optimistic speedos compared to cars.

However, a friend was following me in an Xterra on the interstate and said we were indicating about the same speed... I figured at that speed, I should be around 6-7 MPH off... and I know cars are usually slightly optimistic as well, but not by that much...

[Sundog]

Every time I go by one of those signs that tell you your speed I compare to my speedo, and by that method my indicated is 5 to 7% over real speed. So for a long time I was taking that into account when I was cruising down the interstate, meaning indicated 85 or 90 when the limit is 75. But a month ago I was on a 66 mile stretch with mile markers every half mile, so I checked that against my odometer, and I was off by 0.1 or 0.2 miles over the entire 66 mile stretch. I'm assuming that the odometer and speedometer are running off the same measurement, so... my speedo is accurate, and looks like I've been excessively speeding for a while now.

[Sachi]

Your assumption is wrong. The error in the speedo is not the same as the error in the odometer. I've done 1500 mile rides where the mileage on the odo is very close to accurate, as measured against my two Garmins. On the other hand, the Garmins show that the speed on the speedometer is way off once you get above 60.

[DavidVTHokie]

Ok, I've always wondered - so I'll just ask... WHY is the speedo off at speed? Why would it be less accurate than a car? :thinking

[robkb]

Rob I wasnt trying to diminish your speed run , I was actually pickingon the ones who do jump in ..... Just that usually when some says what their speed was someone else will jump in and say "..." I , personally wasnt saying that...... I knew it was indicated...LOL thats how we know how fast we were going in the first place is because the speedo "Indicated" it to us :lol:


Just be careful dude .. yah know ! :thumbsup

My bad! Too bad we don't have an emoticon for "overly sensitive" 'cause I'd be using it right about now.

[02KBGT]

lol... its all about the speed ... I dont know how fast I've been on mine..I Know for sure its not over 120 though...I'm not back comfy enough to push it that hard yet...But my car,,Thats a whole new story.

[BoundiAV]

Does anybody know why the odometer error and the speedometer error are different?

[rndthought]

The mechanicals for the distance are better calibrated than the mechanicals for the MPH...?

[jfeagin]

The Tao of Two Wheels:

- The speed that can be measured is not the true speed.
- The lean angle that can be calculated is not the true angle.
- The cow that can be whacked is not soft and fluffy... 8)

That said, I've been up to 91mph according to the speedo. With a GPS, a roadside radar, and some mile markers (all at different times and places), I've figured a general 7% optimism for my bike. So sticking between 5 and 10 over the posted limit, the local law leaves me alone. And when they're not looking, well, the rest is left as an exercise for the student...

[robkb]

118mph!!! Do you know how many jigowatts that took? :P Man! The 599 will go from 70-97 so fast, I just kept on twisting the throttle. I tried to keep it up for just one more second, but I couldn't. I was sitting straight up, I was doing it on a whim, the road was hilly and my vision was obscured, the sun was in my eyes, my helmet (always try 'em on before you buy one) was actually moving like the wind wanted to rip it off my head, and I didn't want to die.
So, yeah, I slowed down.

[jfeagin]

I know what you mean. My Shoei fits pretty snugly, but much over 100mph it feels like a sail. With a windshield, you can duck down and pretty much cut that off.

[GuyD]

That's one of the fun things about excessive speeding, you don't need to check your blinds spots, LOL! But full tuck is definitely recommended when doing those high speed runs. I've been doing my runs in 6th gear and I'm wondering if 5th gear would be better to really wring the most out of it. As far as the bars shaking, if you are going in a straight line it's the wind on your arms that are causing the bars to shake. If you concentrate on being smooth the bars hardly shake at all. But my bars do shake when I take turns on the interstate at 100+. Kinda gives you a mental check that you are almost flying.

[quadracer]

I hit an "indicated" 155 on the interstate, and according to the always accurate and indisputable radar gun possessed by Johnny Law, my speedo is dead on. Yeah, i got a ticket on the expressway the other day for 65 in a 50. i was cruising along with the rest of traffic, and saw a white harley pulled over in the median. almost stopped to see if he needed help, then i saw that the "chest of drawers" on the back said "STATE POLICE". even though every other person on the road was going the same speed as me, i was the one on the bike, and he was riding a harley. i was doomed.

[robkb]

I can't believe a motorcycle cop would pull over another motorcyclist.
Maybe catching bikes is what gives him his thrill.

[nYmYx]

I found a nice long stretch of quiet straight road here with open fields on both sides and no driveways. Kinda rare in this area. Anyway I got up to 130. I was wearing a backpack though. Not a good idea. Felt like a friggin parachute at that speed.

[Trunkmonkey]

Fastest on bike around 130 (wasn't really watchin the clock, i got road to look at).

Fastest in car around 160.

Either way it's damn fast and i dont plan on break'n any records.

[jfeagin]

After my first track day, I went out on local interstate and held an indicated 119mph for over ten minutes. Got off at the next exit and puttered quite happily about at 40 the rest of the day. I don't know how people can ride Hayabusas the way they claim to. The screens aren't that big!

[robkb]

I took me a good ride tonight to Greenwood. Since it was about 50 degrees outside, I layered up real good and made sure to step into my black, blizzard-proof overalls. For style, I chose my old-school leather jacket. You know - the black kind with the belt, and tough-ass collar. That's what I'm talking about! I grabbed my ski gloves and ski mask, my night time helmet, smoked a cigar while I filled my pockets with stuff, and let the bike warm up.
As I was leaving Grenada, I tried to think about what I wish I could be doing if I could be doing anything in the world. And I realized I was doing it. I couldn't think of anything else that I would rather be doing than riding down that wide-oped road with dusk at hand. The pink and blue sky with that single star in the sky made it picturesque. The temperature was just right, I was feeling alright...
Dude. Nothing else in the world. The bike felt and sounded great. As I shifted into sixth, I thought about the top of the world. I was on it.
The sky was black by the time I was halfway there, but the 599 has such an incredible headlight on it and I knew the road so well, I didn't give a shit. As I was leaving the hills and entering the delta, I knew there was a long stretch of highway coming up. I wondered what I was going to do. All I could think about was how fast I might could go. Around 90mph, I tucked down some and scooted back in the seat. Shiiiit... It felt right. I went full throttle and held on. I kept telling myself, "Just... a few... more... seconds." I peeked down at the speedo and realized I had surpassed my previous 599 speed record of "One-Eighteen" and was deep into the 120's. 127mph to be exact. I just kept going. I backed off at 132.
It was eating me alive, too! See, the fastest I had ever been on a motorcycle is 136 (on my 1983 Suzuki 650). And that was ten years ago. It was time to set a new ROBKB's World Record for high speed on a motorcycle. If I died, I thought, it might as well be on this night and on this motorcycle. So, I tucked down and got ready. I wanted more power with the same amount of time because I wasn't real comfortable with the idea of thinking, "Just... a few... more... seconds... than... be... fore." I down-shifted one gear to fifth and gave it as much gas as I could. I hit 132, gobbled it up, and kept on going. I pussed out at 138mph. Yeah, pussed out. I quickly realized I wanted to be able to say 140. That sounds so much better! I thought about it, though, and decided to save it for the daytime. :mrgreen: :D :P

[jfeagin]

That sounds like a great ride, indeed. Except for the cigar... :wink:
There's a stretch of interstate 70 here that, as it heads into the mountains, is huge fun to do at 85 and up. The curves are just tight enough to get a nice lean without doing track moves, the traffic is always light, and you almost never see a cop. Only time I did see one, he pulled alongside to see what I was riding then pulled away at probably 95+. :roll:

[troy6329]

well i have hit 148. thats on the stock sprockets. the bike dident seem to have much more power, and it was very high in the redline. but with some extra engine tuning and sprocket change out the 599 has potential to reach the 155 maybe 160 mark. but if i am wrong sombody please correct this.

[GuyD]

Most people use smaller front sprockets and larger rear sprockets which is going to cut your top speed but give you more acceleration. And not to be a spoil sport but hitting those speeds at night means you are outriding your headlights by a wide margin. I'd stick to the daytime to test those limits. That's just my 2 cents.

[robkb]

"Faster than the Speed of Headlight" :headbang

[tomacana]

well i have hit 148. thats on the stock sprockets. the bike dident seem to have much more power, and it was very high in the redline. but with some extra engine tuning and sprocket change out the 599 has potential to reach the 155 maybe 160 mark. but if i am wrong sombody please correct this.

There has been some detail about speedo accuracy. If you have the 8-10% inaccuracy the the top actual speed would be around 135. That is a reasonable expectation of a 599's top speed without some modification.

I don't think that one can go much faster without doing something with increased horsepower or improving the aerodynamics. You have to increase horsepower/ torque/performance a significant amount to increase the top speed by a small amount.

You noticed that the bike had run out of stuff at 155mph. You might tweak the 599 a bit to try to push the top speed by single digits but you would have to change the bike quite a bit to jump to a 160 mph actual speed.
You would no longer have a bike that would be a stock 599

[jfeagin]

As to mods, I'd think you'd have to change bore and stroke, change to larger carbs, go to full exhaust system, etc. to see any major gain in speed. That'd cost some $$$, for sure. I think the Euro racers in the Hornet Cup series do that kind of tweaking. I've heard there are shops in the UK that offer "packages" like this.

I dunno. It's plenty fast enough for me, as is. 8)