Why do you need so much power???

[secretlegend05]

This post continues on from "Need help picking bike". I saw a R6 in blue and white in perfect condition with 6900 miles (03reg) on ebay and stuck on a bid for 2700 and won:):) so today i went to pick her up and get her home. I am under 21 so i should have had someone else pick her up but i thought i would chance it but i have got it booked in to get resticted first thing tomorrow.

As i was cruising down the a38 from liskeard to trelornfoot round about at about 75 mph and i was thinking, ive never had more that 33bhp and so far i havent noticed anything as i was just going slow as i was new to the bike.
But i thought im going to spend the next year stuck at 33bhp so why not open it and see what it can do. Having spent about a mile thinking about it, i thought i would slow down to 4500rpm (55mph) and just open it up for a few secconds just to feel the 109(ish) bhp.

God dam!!! the funny thing was that as it was getting faster, the rate in which it was getting faster was increasing. Im sure this is because they dont have as much low end grunt so 4500-5500rpm was smooth and great acceleration but it was getting faster and faster and 6000-7500rpm was quicker than 4500-5500rpm.
It just seemed to be getting faster and faster acceleration as the revs went higher. I was looking down the long straight and was overtaking cars as if they wern't moving. I was pretty sure i must have been doing close to a 100mph which was a big thing me as i have never been that fast apart from on a plane. A quick look down at the digital speedometer at it reveals 122mph. Holy shit i really didnt think i was going that fast so i slowed down to what felt like walking speed (70mph)
The bike just wanted to keep on going and going... I just want to say i am a safe driver and stick to the speed limits (ish) and didnt mean to go over 120mph but seriously i hear people say ahh 600cc is crap, get a 1000cc. WHY!!
I honestly think that it would keep going all the way to 160 odd with no problems.
What do you use all that power on?

[deej]

my 06 r6 topped out on sunday trying to stay with ages 750, at some stage in your life you will realise you do need more power, whether you choose to use it is another thing

do the sensible option,get it restricted learn to ride it, bear in mind that even whens its restricted you'' still be able to do 130 on a r6

[Mike Daytona600]

The thing with 600s is you have to cane them to get the most out of them, going up and down the box a lot. This is why I like 600s. Whereas with a 1000 you just pull the throttle back and wow. If you think your R6 is quick wait until you've got used to it and know it and wait till you try a 1000. I'm going for the Gixer 750 next cos I do a lot of 2 up riding so could do with a little more power,

[tafflade]

why do I need so much power?

so that I can be a lazy git if I want.


country roads on my tuono can be ridden 2 ways

lazy - stick it in 3rd, twist and go and make rapid progress

fun - work the gearbox and give it a bit of a thrash and make very rapid progress.


having all the power stacked up at the top end can be either intoxicating, just plain annoying or a bit dangerous to your licence, it really depends on your personality.

I had to get rid of my GSXR750 because I was thrashing the tits off it everywhere I went and I was going to land up banned/locked up/dead.


109bhp? errr ok!

[DynaMight]

imo no-one really *needs* the power even a modern 600 produces, not on the road anyway. If you're going as fast as a new 600 will take you then you're going too fast and will get hurt (I don't just mean on the straights but corners etc)

Alot of people buy bigger bikes because they get used to the power and/or think a more powerful bike will make them faster and maybe it does on the straights but there's a good chance cornering will suffer since you wont need to worry as much.

Hell, I used to think my full power RS125 would be more than I'll ever need, I'd probably think it was stupidly slow now.

Dont get me wrong, it's nice to have the power, have the grunt, feel the acceleration but most of us mere mortals never use it all and thats probably a good thing on the road, it's much easier and safer to use more of it on the track though. Just because you got it doesnt mean you have to use it, although it maybe a bit of a waste

Funny thing is, it sounds like you didnt even get into the 'proper' power of your R6, stick it in 2nd or 3rd and just pin it until redline, it'll knock your socks off.

[deej]

taff

do you find you have rev the tits off your touno like a IL4 when you want to make rapid progress ??

[Johnnyb]

Its just nice to have it while we can have some choice before the government and the other nannying (swearword) make us all ride 20hp bikes

[Ricky_t]

The same thing happened to me the 1st time I rode the sv. 3rd or 4th gear from 40mph to 100mph but a huge smile on my face.

The other reason why people buy bigger bikes is that they can move just as fast as a 600cc whilst not needing to go to redline sot the bike isn't as stressed. I.e. a bandit 1200 produces less peak power than some 600cc but I would put money on it lasting a lot longer!

£2700 is a bit of a bargain (me thinks) after looking as similar ages cbr6rs for more money.

[Mike Daytona600]

Hell, I used to think my full power RS125 would be more than I'll ever need, I'd probably think it was stupidly slow now.

You'd be supprised. I rode one like you discribe the other day and loved every minute of it. You have to work it as you know, but that adds to the fun. I was well impressed.

[age]

I agree with deej learn to ride first mate as power is only good if you know how to use it.

Just remember bikes bit hard when you get it wrong !

[DynaMight]

Oh yes, I ride every bike like a 2 stroke, poor old V-Twin keeps trying to tell me otherwise tho. It's a big difference between 33BHP and 100+BHP. I like smaller bikes, you feel rewarded when you keep up with bigger bikes.

As it happens I've been watching some vids on Youtube and it always leads from one video to another until I'm watching things completely different as a started, anyway came across this vid of a 400cc NC30 at Cadwell Park, looks like the Novice group but the guy is up against some GSXR1000's, despite getting munted on every straight he manages to catch them on the corners. http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=0sIXppWxOno

[Funky]

I will say I miss the surges of power my old r6 had, one surge at 7000 revs and another at 10,000 such a good rush. When I first got onto it, the power took a little getting used to and made my wrist hurt ha ha. I will say that you can do a hell of a lot in 3rd gear on a 600 and is almost ideal for most back roads.

[Smiler]

Ok so not quite R6...

I ride most of the time in 3rd or 4th on back roads - plenty left there for a quick pass, and enough to back off the throttle for bends, engine braking?

Good example of choice of bikes - had a mate who bought a 600 Bandit for his first bike and HATED it! Bought a Speed Triple and you couldn't keep him off it! The reason - he nearly always rode the bike making progress thru all the gears, so no wonder the Bandit seemed dull.

Lots of factors into what bike suits who - riding style and mechanical 'attitude'??

Enjoy your new bike, and get to know her slowly, x

[tafflade]

taff

do you find you have rev the tits off your touno like a IL4 when you want to make rapid progress ??

hell no

the power starts coming in strong from about 5K revs and the red light comes an at about 10K, if you havn't ridden an big V twin before the power delivery is like a big shove from behind like you get from a powerfull turbo deisel car compared to the IL4 which is masses of noise and revs and all the power stacked up at the top end.

the Mille was reported as being a bike that likes to pick the front wheel up, when you take the weight off the front by fitting high bars and lower the gearing then you get a bike that is very keen to wheelie in the lower gears

[bambam]

the shove from a nice meaty triple ain't bad either
and as for the sound............ohh my god
i think it would be a close thing between the rumble of a twin and the howl of a triple