I guess those of us who want to travel that fast should have the right as long as we don't drag the rest of ya'll with us. More importantly... Does faring design have anything to do with the top speed??? Bat wing vs shark (E. glide vs R. Glide), I remember a 78 or 79 BMW r100/7 with the touring faring that I had while stationed in Germany - that bike would run like a scalded cat all day long (replaced the bing carbs with Dell oros) and get fantastic gas milage. Don't remember what the hp at the rear wheel was but the bike was only 1000cc and would easily cruise at 90+. Does anyone know if HD (or anyone) has done wind tunnel test on these two bikes...

 

WWJD?

 

I run out of steam at 105. Asked and answered................[sm=laughat.gif]

 

Wind tunnel tests have been done on the touring bikes, not for speed but for wind management. the results are decades old and the lessons learned have been ignored. The little air deflector between the forks is now an option, its effectiveness came from air flow management testing. those Chrome deflectors that used to fit on the lower fork legs were the same sort of design idea. That complex shape was not an accident. Mine fit on the 07 SG if I remove the engine guard tho. Harley used to care about a lot of things that improved our day to day enjoyment. Now it seems that styling wins out.

 

Thats strange, I bought my bike in florida at Capital City Harley Davidson. I buried the speedo while it was stock and it Screams now with my mods. I have the RKCustom, I didnt think my bike was anymore special then anyone else.

 

Madduck's correct, on the touring bikes HD's aero work was about comfort, stability,and gas mileage efficiency. They weren't concerned about downforce andtop speed. Also all of those little tabs that used to be on the bikes added to their cost, for the part and assembly time. It might have only been $10 worth of stuff, but that was ten bucks of margin they weren't getting.

 

Hey Guys, I know that the Road King wasn't designed for road racing speeds. I know that it has a windshield, large frontal area, etc. That is all just basic common sense. But if it were really a "drag" issue then why do some of the exact same bikes do 115 or 120 or more stock? I was also wondering what mods help to overcome this "wall" that most of the RKs are experiencing and it seems that cam change gets the most bang for the buck. It's not that I need, or even want to go any particular speed above 105 but if the motor is tuned to keep pulling through this 105 mph wall then it stands to reason that it will also pull better in lower gears in the same RPM range.

I also wonder how many of the Mommy's on here that are complaining about speed have actually topped out a bike in their lives? Judging by my experience I would guess that most either have exceeded 100 mph or have at least tried and chickened out (nothing wrong with that of course, probably the wiser decision). I think that every biker that I have ever talked speed with has had a story about their "hot rodding speed runs". Heck, the Daddy's are probably the ones that are riding drunk!![]

LOL that oughta get 'em screaming!

 

Don't know, many are probably dead or unable to ride any more. If you have so much experience, you should already know the answers. Riding 100 mph+ does not make you a biker or a real man. A real biker rides so he/she can ride tomorrow.

 

A man has to know his limitations,,,,,,, Dirty Harry... Just sayin




BOSSMAN

 

I have an HX and while it was on the dyno it jumped right up to 150 mph according to the computer screen. It's amazing how fast it will get there sitting in a little room straped downwith nothing but a couple of fans in front of it.

Regardless of if you have a faring like I do or not, there are a lot of forces to overcome with wind resistance and mechanical friction and such. You know, all that stuff thats way above my educaton level.