Highway Ride Quality

[gcantella]

Last week I brought "Model T" for it's 600-mile break in service. This week took the long, 9-hour ride home (normally 1-1/2 hours.) It was a good mix of highway and back roads between Boston, Greenfield and eventually Cape Cod, MA. Gotta say that I am NOT disappointed at all with the highway performance of this bike. It feels quite good between my normal highway cruising speed of 68-72 MPH (no worries about speeding citations.) At about 74 or 75 MPH, you can hear and feel the bike starting to work a little more than it would like, but still not bad. I was a little worried reading a lot about it not being such a great bike on the highway. I guess now that much of those opinions come from the folks that like cruising around at 80. Agreed, if you like 80+, not such a great bike. But, if you're like me, cruising along at a more subdued speed, this bike is perfect. On the back roads it handles very nicely; a pleasure to ride.

I did notice a relative lack of lighting at night though. I got spoiled by the BMW RTs three headlights (2 low beams, 1 high). A little less throttle and more attention helps here; definitely considering adding some extra lights since I do a good amount of riding at night.

For anyone reading this post that is considering purchasing one of these bikes: if you like going real fast on the highway, probably not the bike for you. In every other way, this bike is simply great.


PS---

I reset the average MPG setting while on the highway. The computer was saying that, after 1 hour of 70 MPH, I was averaging 58-59 MPG. I think the computer is lying. Is it?

 

[Rich]

The computer is lying.

At 80-85 MPH the engine isn't really working harder than it would like, though it might seem to be working harder than YOU would like. A number of us have done thousands of miles each in this range. On the appropriate highway IO have no hesitation cruising this fast.

 

[vzshadow]

Aiming the headlight beam a few degrees higher really improves the light situation. Not perfect but much better.

 

[gcantella]

I new it!

I'll break the bike in a bit more and then I'll play around a bit (since it not my norm anyway) at the higher speeds. I have no doubt that this bike will last a very long time, at 70 or at 80 MPH. What's the top speed on this thing, anyway?

 

[gcantella]

Will aim the headlight up a bit, too, thanks.

 

[Bear]

80+ is not a problem when appropriate. East of Bangor ME, I-95 goes up to 75 as the speed limit .Most go 80+. Going through Aroostook County, you are lucky if you see a car every 15 minutes or so. The road is good--so 85 to 95 is OK. No, the NT does not have the accelleration of a ZX14R, but it is certainly a long distance tourer for many of us on this forum.

 

[RedNigel]

my bike will do 85+ all day and never push back

 

[junglejim]

Top speed? It will do well over 100 mph but will start to fade over 110. At that speed windshield heigth can start to play a role in how far it will wind out, but it would be in the range of about 120 mph. But as Sallariel said it won't get there real quick. That's fast enough to get you a felony speeding ticket on a 55 mph highway, and you don't want one of those.

You have the right approach. Just settle back and enjoy the ride at a comfortable speed.

 

[Warren]

subtract about 5 mpg from what the display shows

 

[Bear]

It will do 120+ with the windshield down all the way and with the stock pannier lids. I took the wider ones off for that run. There was no wind. I ran it at the former Loring AFB--super smooth very long runway. My friend's ZX14R did 200 that day. I still had some throttle left. Seeing the speedo at 125 was enough. The clock said 121.26.

 

[Phil Tarman]

Redline in 5th gear equals 120mph. I've had Dudley to 108-110, with a +4" windscreen up to the next to top notch and with big lids.

I cruise 80-85 on interstates in Colorado and Nebraska all the time and am very comfortable there. 5500rpm = 80mph, 6000rpm=85 mph. You're right in the middle of the power band at those speeds, but if you want to pass someone quickly, you'll probably want to downshift a gear.

 

[RedNigel]

I opened mine up one day. With the windcreen all the way UP and slightly uphill it wouldnt turn more than 7 grand/110mph
I can see it getting to 120 with the screen down and no wind

 

[gcantella]

Wow, not bad. I have found a new, even higher respect for this bike. I won't be seeing those top speeds, I don't think, but I will bring it up to at least 100 MPH just to say I did it. (Watch me get a ticket for spending just a minute at that speed! I'll blame you all.)

 

[charlie b]

On Monday I ran from Barstow to Albuquerque on I-40. Almost all of the trip was 80-85 with a short run at 95 while I was following a BMW 500 series. The bike likes those speeds and is fairly stable. The only 'bobbles' I had was when passing semis with a crosswind. The CeeBailey +6" windshield helps a lot.

I've done a few high speed runs. 100 is easy to reach even with my large windshield up most of the way. Putting the windshield down all the way and I can easily get over 115mph, even with a slight headwind and up hill run. Haven't tried to go over 120 as you get near the redline.

Keep in mind that the "big" touring bike in the 70's was the Honda CB750 and it had less power than the NT. And the early Gold Wings didn't have much more either.

Yes, I still wish it had 20 more hp and six speeds

 

[suvcw04]

105 two up with around 500 miles on it. A little throttle left, but my helmet started thumping. (I think it was my wife.) I have checked the speedometer with a gps, and it is 1 mph fast.

 

[charlie b]

Or was it her fists hitting your helmet

The speeds in my post above are from the GPS. The bike and GPS are within 1 mph of each other.

 

[Phil Tarman]

I think the NT speedometer is the most accurate motorcycle speedometer I've ever heard of.

 

[karl]

A big windshield has less drag than a person sitting upright, no?

 

[charlie b]

Depends on how big.

When the CB +6 is up in the 4th or 5th position it is shoving the air well over my helmet, creating much more drag.

The most streamlined for my windshield seems to be in the 1st or second position where the air is hitting my helmet. Remember that helmets are fairly streamlined.

With the stock shield, if you don't lean down, may be in the middle position.

Also remember that the linkage on the windshield causes it to be more upright as it is raised, decreasing it's aerodynamics.

 

[Phil Tarman]

Both of them are essentially flat-plate drag, I'd think. Things with low coefficients of drag tend to have fairly long bodies. Neither a windshield or an upright human body have much for wind to attach to once it gets spread out by the flat-plate frontal area.