Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge Speedmaster 1/4 mile?

What MPH does the Speedmaster do in a 1/4 mile?

I read somewhere that they ran mid 15's which sounds about right, but I have no first hand experience.

Don't hold me to this either, but I was thinking 13's. Read it in one of the annual model comparisons a year or so back. It was witin a second of the VTXs (both 1300 & 1800), and as fast as any H-D except maybe the VRod. Magna was faster, as was the VMax, of course.

I believe it is around 15. And that would jive with what it feels like it would do compared to other bikes i've had who's 1/4 mile times i was aware of thru road tests. They really aren't very quick for thier size compared to the bikes of the 70's. A honda 450 was a bit quicker at about 14.5 if memory serves. Then again they weren't subject to the stiff emissions and noise regs we now have. I would kill for a speedmaster that would break 13 seconds. Say high 12's.

Motorcycle Consumer News tested a Speedy in April of 2003 and it ran 14.47 @ 90.1 mph - and now a few comparison scores from MCN:

Suzuki's Boulevard M50 ran the quarter in 13.99, the 1200 sportster clocked 12.99 @ 100.11, and the 883 did it in 14.98 @ 88.93; the only other Harley the Speedy bested was the FLHTCUI that ran the quarter in 14.75; the Road King sauntered through the lights in 13.94, the Wide Glide at 13.21 and the Super Glide made it in 13.47. The Honda Sabre (1100 cc) ran it in 14.26; the VTX 1300 turned in a 13.50.

I don't have a good way to document this, but my Jet Black America ran the quarter so fast I didn't have time to check the numbers... So clearly, MCN's wrong, right?

I thought that the '03 speedy had the smaller engine. If so the numbers should improve considerably. I wonder what the newer 865cc model would do...stock and modified.

BTW- Brand new here, i've been checking this site out for about a month now and I'm glad I found you guys...good stuff!

Welcome Rob.
The SMs through 2004 have the 790 engine. 2005 began the 865. The 865, however is tuned for lower horsepower and more torque than the 790.
For those who want a 1/4 mile bike. Buy a 'busa.

14.560 1/4 88 mph posted at
Dragtimes .
'05 Speedmaster.

Anybody bought a Triumph cruiser for performance made a mistake. I like it just the way it is.

14s would be correct. Contrary to local folklore they are not faster than all the Harleys, they just barely get by the little one. The TBA probably is a bit faster in the drag race but we are talking a bike or so. The 16t gear is what holds the SM back IMHO. That has been fixed in the new models.

Yeah but the crowds rushing to look at the Speedy do the quarter mile quicker than if any other bike was parked around.

I never cared about the 1/4 mile tests. I just know my Speedy will exceed any speed limit around here and those tickets can be awful expensive. I don't have any trouble keeping up with the other cruisers if they are within reasonable speeds.

Dave

If there were other bikes that were extremely similar to the speedmaster then i could see the argument "why did you buy it if you want quick?". But what you guys are missing is that people who buy them do so because they like everything else about the bike so much that they will live with the lack of power but not that they didn't WANT more. In other words, they had a choice but liked the bike so much more than anything else that the lack of power/speed was not enough to make them pass and go elsewhere. Thats how i feel about it too. There are tons of much quicker bikes, but none do anything for me by comparision. So i compromised and lived with the lack of power, but that doesn't mean i don't wish it had more !

One of these people is our own Dinqua. Do you think he'd have gone thru all he has if he liked any other bike near as much? After all, he could spend 1/2 or less of what he's spent on the bike so far and but any Jap bike he wanted and instantly have a much quicker bike than his w/o having toi even buy a single aftermarket part.

That my friends is why those of us who seem to want more and more power from our triumph cruisers DIDN'T buy the wrong bike.No bike is perfect and knowing there is always a compromise, i chose the one that was closest to perfect to me. It just happens it's weak point is power.

In order to maintain my 55 miles per gallon average it usually takes
45 seconds and 50 mph.

Jerry

i am very confident that with a good light and hard launch i could crack into 13's

Frank

I definately didn't buy my TBA for drag racing.I'd have bought a drag bike for that.