Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge Arrrggg went to the bike shop today

And there was a row of customer speedy's parked up for the winter.....

****** I miss my speedy and want another.......Why cant they be 100+bhp and capable of keeping up with guys on sports and muscle bikes at there top end.........

Can I live with running my bike at 80-90% capacity and still srriving last again?

Hmmm going to have to have a think on this.

Big Bore baby ! .....angelis has an 1100cc in his....my 904 does pretty well and roadworthy has don the 904, carbs and head and it will " smoke'em"

Yea I know all about the mods.....thing is by the time you pay for them you might as well get a Rocket and beat them that way...........

The rocket is just too big a bike to filter in heavy traffic though

It's all about the cam!

Thunderbird sounds like the fix.

Ahhh.... the eteral quest for more horsepower than you will ever really need...

Not to be a wet blanket, but even the 1700 'bird won't keep up with a plain 'ole GSXR, R, Daytona, pick your favorite 600. I get bettered by above average riders on a 600 sportbike even on my Bandit; and I'm putting over 150hp on the ground. Sure I can take them in the 1/4, but they have more top end, better handling, better stopping, better aerodynamics, better rider positioning, you get the idea...

What are you, Dave, maybe $11,000 total into your bike?

That's if you add up all the trinkets and paint job and Corbin seats, and then I still think it may be less than that. I never really kept track, but I know what I spent on the big ticket items. Of course, someone will argue that I don't have 130hp like a Rocket, but, I do have a very capable America for cruising, touring, carving twisties, or racing around like a dumbass.

Your bike is gorgeous, Dave. Didn't you tell me you had it dynoed? I forgot how many hp you said you had. This is where you supposed to put a pic.

Ooops, sorry, here you go







Note how on the black dyno run the igniter kept cutting off at 7100 rpm, or else it would have topped 80hp. Man, I need to get back there and make sure I'm tuned up with these new Thruxton needles I've been running for months now.

She looks beautiful Dave. Very tasteful.

Did you get those touring peg hangers custom made?

It really comes down to this... cruisers aren't built to out-ride sports bikes or they'd be called sports-cruisers or something. You can have a bike that looks and sounds as good as Dave's... or you can have a crotch rocket... but the only way to have both is to buy more bikes.

When ya gonna flame the bags? You know you want to...

lots of good points but it seams my main gripe has been missed......

Ok at the moment I'm riding a honda CB1300

Big naked muscle bike....

Loads of horsepower, more than I need? Hmmm I've had it maxed out a few times....

Its not about riding a flickable 600 or a grunty and harder work in the twisties 1000 sports bike (the sprint 1050 I got after my old speedy would put me top end of any pack I rode in).

Its how you ride your bike, I loved the swingability of the speedmaster but hated the fact to keep up (I'm not meaning beating or even staying in touch) with the guys I sometimes ride with I would have to thrash the pistons off the speedy.
Yes its not ment to outride a sports bike but its supprising how often it can when the sports bike is being ridden by the usual guy who can't ride.....Then whinnnnneeee they blast past you on the next bit of straight and your held up in a corner again as they take about 3 or 4 attempts at a line round it.

Its that getting held up that the extra 40 horses is required for.

Now our average ride is about 250 miles and after that sort of distaince with your right hand twisted till it goes no more it gets very tiring.....

I did 9000 miles in a year on my speedmaster and a further 6000 on my sprint rs.....Thats just too many miles for a heavily modded bike to handle ridden the way I ride them.

A tbird did look like a viable answer but lets face it a nearly new RIII is the same price as a brand new tbird.
Why buy one if its not really your bag?
For me its just not the bike I'd ride hard and fast.....

Two bikes would be great again, but I've been there and don't want to go back (aye the Mrs won't let me)....

It just the speedy looks so good!!!

Does anyone have a price for the big bore done in the UK?
Just out if interest....I did look into the work involved and could see the ££££ adding up in the past.

I'd have been better staying out the shop lol

I disagree with that 100%. All the mods to get the motor where I want it will still be considerably less than a RIII

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And, you're bike is always gonna be better lookin than an R3. People forget that the America is plenty big enough the way it comes out, even cooler with the big bore like Dave's and the looks can't be beat!

Let me know the costs of your mods please?
A new speedy out the box is £6400
A 2009 RIII with a couple of thousand miles is £9750
I'd be interested at the final comparison......
The thunderbike pipes cost me the best part of £600 four years ago.
That's not leaving a huge amount for reboring work and the purchase of the kit itself. Unless you can tell me differently and I really would like you too.

Oh and I fully agree speedys look much better than any other bike out there. Even the Americas ;-)

Well let's see if I can recall all the items...
I paid $5500 for my bike used, had Scepter pipes on it already. Airbox elimination kit, $300. Nology coils, Hotwires, iridium plugs, $230ish. 904 from bonnevilleperformance, already sleeved cylinders, with Barnett clutch springs I think $700. Had a spare head to get worked, port work was $200 and valves were about $200. I think I got the head I had ported for $130. All installed for $400 at the dealer when I dropped off the bike and a box of parts. Traded my stock head for the carbs and intakes. $500 for the hardbags, $700 for the paintjob, $300 for the Corbin front and rear. Progressive suspension front and rear, $340. All that right there gets me to $9500 even. Even with another say, $2-3000 for everything else, the end result is something that is exactly what I want, every piece picked out by me. And, the best part is, I paid cash upfront for the bike, so I was able to buy a piece here and a piece there over a couple years instead of trying to finance payments and do mods at the same time. I'm sure the monthly payment is a big factor for a lot of owners when it comes to deciding whether or not they will buy some of the costly performance upgrades.

Thats a huge ammout of cash Dave

but then you now have a personal spec stunning looking bike.....more power to you I say.....

I'm going to have a test ride on the efi speedmaster and see where I go from that.....

I see on newspeedmaster that a big bore kit costs $650 thats about £400 and say another £600 for the work, but doubt they will be compatable with the efi bikes??

this will take me some time, just as well winters coming!!!!