[Riley920]

Was wondering how fast you guys have gotten up to on your 500s. Im a fairly new rider and dont want to push too hard, I've been on the highway a few times up around 60, with all the wind it feels like I am flying. Thinking about getting a windshield.

Anyhow, feels almost like the engine might be straining at that speed, but with all the wind and outside noise I can't really tell. Curious as to your thoughts! Can you cruise at highway speeds (65-70mph) for long periods on the 500 without doing damage to the engine?

 

[Beauty and the Beast]

Was wondering how fast you guys have gotten up to on your 500s. Im a fairly new rider and dont want to push too hard, I've been on the highway a few times up around 60, with all the wind it feels like I am flying. Thinking about getting a windshield.

Anyhow, feels almost like the engine might be straining at that speed, but with all the wind and outside noise I can't really tell. Curious as to your thoughts! Can you cruise at highway speeds (65-70mph) for long periods on the 500 without doing damage to the engine?

Did your dealer say anything about a break in period for the engine where you dont go over a set speed until a set amount of miles?

 

[Riley920]

Did your dealer say anything about a break in period for the engine where you dont go over a set speed until a set amount of miles?

Yep, but because there is no tachometer I sort of have to guess. I believe it was <5000rpms in the first 500 miles... not really sure how that matches up to what I am hearing, I just change gears when it feels right haha... and up around 60 i can barely hear the engine anyway.

 

[Riley920]

I guess a better answer to your question would be no, he didnt give me a set speed to stay under, more a set RPM limit .

 

[Beauty and the Beast]

I guess a better answer to your question would be no, he didnt give me a set speed to stay under, more a set RPM limit .

oh...they gave me a set speed to not to go over until I get to 500, I have it written down but dont quite remember what it was. I was just wondering if that was why you heard what you thought was strain on the engine. I have a 750, just was wondering, that is all.

Oh yea, I put a windshield on my bike and you wont believe what a different it made.

Another question, what gear were you in, did you settle at 5 or did you get it to 6...(I am assuming the 500 is a 6-speed like the 750)...just throwing things at you for thoughts.

 

[StoneFree]

Was wondering how fast you guys have gotten up to on your 500s. Im a fairly new rider and dont want to push too hard, I've been on the highway a few times up around 60, with all the wind it feels like I am flying. Thinking about getting a windshield.

Anyhow, feels almost like the engine might be straining at that speed, but with all the wind and outside noise I can't really tell. Curious as to your thoughts! Can you cruise at highway speeds (65-70mph) for long periods on the 500 without doing damage to the engine?

After engine break-in you can cruise all day long at 65-70. During engine break-in it's best to not do this and instead be sure to shift early and not run at a constant speed. By the time you reach 500 miles the engine is fully broken-in and you can ride at a constant speed of 70 mph (or even faster) on a Street 500 without causing any engine damage. Speeds of 65 mph during break-in, so long as you very your speed often, do not harm the engine because it's not really rev-ing that high at that speed. While I didn't have a tach either I'd guess that the rpm at 60 is about 3500 but have no why of verifying that unless I ran the "gear" numbers. The gearing on the Street is lower than my Sportster and Sportster turns about 3000 rpm at 60 mph so it's just an educated guess on my part.

 

[Riley920]

Very helpful thanks to you both!

 

[Riley920]

Another question, what gear were you in, did you settle at 5 or did you get it to 6...(I am assuming the 500 is a 6-speed like the 750)...just throwing things at you for thoughts.

I was in 6th, I usually get into 6th pretty quickly on the highway.

 

[StoneFree]

Very helpful thanks to you both!

Of interest I was talking with my partner that used to race motorcycles and their "break-in" was 15-20 minutes of revving a new engine in the garage and then race it. This is very similar to what we did when I was involved in NASCAR racing. Of course our machining was probably better than for a production engine but we basically worried about seating the rings and then it was race time. We also blew up engines once in awhile but we never blamed it on break-in. LOL

 

[Flamegirl]

I have gotten my 500 up to 80 mph. That was on a slight down hill with the wind at my back. That was a quick check to see if the bike would go that fast. 70-75 is my normal freeway speed when possible. Mostly I end up lane splitting (it is legal here in CA) my primary use of the bike is commuting.

 

[Yusef]

No real reason why you have to go faster than 75 mph IMO. That is faster than any speed limit that you'll encounter. It's good to know what the bike is capable of, but its not like anyone was expecting track bike-like numbers from the Street.

 

[harleyhoonigan]

Nice that is a good speed to get it up to,
What is commuting like in CA?

 

[gregamart]

why does my bike, 500, struggle to get around 70? am i chicken or is it just not loose enough yet? i'm still in the break-in period. what's the top speed?

 

[AYEDEE]

why does my bike, 500, struggle to get around 70? am i chicken or is it just not loose enough yet? i'm still in the break-in period. what's the top speed?

Gregmart, Being chicken has nothing to do with the bike struggling to reach 70 mph, in my opinion. You can easily judge whether it's struggling or not. Incase, it is, then I suggest you have it checked. My bike does not falter at all and I have 1250 km on the odometer as of today and I have briefly touched 140 kmph and the bike was raring to go faster.

 

[StoneFree]

why does my bike, 500, struggle to get around 70? am i chicken or is it just not loose enough yet? i'm still in the break-in period. what's the top speed?

That appears to be strange to me. While I was waiting for my Street 750 to arrive I took a Street 500 for a test ride and it easily hit 70 mph on the freeway on-ramp and sustained that speed without any effort at all for two miles before I exited the freeway. It was just a short test ride but there was plenty of throttle left when I was cuising along at 70 and the accelleration to 70 was very quick even going uphill on the on-ramp.

 

[Haulin on a Lo]

why does my bike, 500, struggle to get around 70? am i chicken or is it just not loose enough yet? i'm still in the break-in period. what's the top speed?

Drop a gear?

 

[HdStreet500]

I can get my Street close to 95-100mph pretty easily. Although, the wind is really hard to deal with and I have to crouch like I am on a sportsbike.

 

[theboldfortuna]

mine peaked at 140kmph down a slight descend, hitting the limiter in 6th gear, tucked position.

all stock with slip-on exhaust, 98 octane fuel. I did notice the fuel light flicker like it wanted to come on, maybe it was starving fuel cuz of the limiter. or perhaps it was low on fuel and whats left of it decided to splash around in the tank at that speed, can't say for sure.

I dont think it could go much faster than that stock

 

[Gaijin]

I can get my Street close to 95-100mph pretty easily. Although, the wind is really hard to deal with and I have to crouch like I am on a sportsbike.

Consider that a Category 1 hurricane has sustained wind speeds of 75 mph, and a Category 2 is 96-110 mph. When you're barreling along at 100 mph, the wind force you're subjected to is like standing outside during a Category 2 hurricane...

 

[roarmotor]

I wish I could be so fast