When I pointed out the derestrictors you’re able to buy for various motorcycles to get around the built in top speed limitations, I also mentioned the fact that these only exist because of certain “gentlemen’s agreements” where all the makers agreed to the same thing. Now comes word that German car manufacturers are planning to do away with the automotive 155mph limit (free registration required) as the Japanese have already done in the area of horsepower. Will motorcycles soon follow? Don’t see why not since cars are now going faster than bikes in a number of cases.
aaron says
I don’t know about this… no one thinks sport bikes are slow, and the extra cost of designing and building a bike to go 195mph vs 187 will be high… only 1 or 2 bikes are capable of 187 these days (as i remember, the first zx-12 tests hit an aero wall in the mid 180’s – before the rev limiter kicked in) and with the extra forces involved at these speeds, small maintanence errors could be disasterous when a certain limit is exceeded – how often do you think squids check fork oil levels, tire pressures, wheel balance and alignment, etc? before every high speed blast? and the aero requirements would mean one thing…more ugly bikes!
I’d prefer a lower speed limit on nearly all bikes (around 175) that way, if the holy grail of quarter mile times is also left in the background, we can get more attractive machines with greater tractability built in, which would allow more useful street gearing. seems every review or the new r1 includes a complaint about the extra close ratio gearbox and the relative peakiness of the motor…
in closing i say… BRING ON THE B-KING!