Upgrade kit run in

[tunnelrider]

Hi everyone,
Long time no see! Hope everyone's doing OK?... I've got a decent ride coming up and could fit the 860 upgrade kit for it if I got my A into G in the next week. It'll be a ride of 2000km. Just wondering what people's opinions are of running in the upgrade kit on a trip that long if I got the first 200km done around town varying the revs? Keeping in mind once on the trip that it will be at open road speed, so will be long stretches at 4500-5000rpm.

[dogshome]

Doesn't sound ideal but not bad. You will need to change oil and check tappets during that period. Mine took about that long to fully bed in But I experienced no hot running or hesitation. It needed a few hours at those revs and a bit more to develop final power.

Technically running long periods at constant rpm is bad and varying loads and heat cycles is better. Where are you going? If lugging up the Alps then maybe have a rethink! If the speed and load is down to you on the flat, then that is better. You are then in control.

Staying in town won't bed it in and getting on the open road at moderate, varying loads and revs is best. The low standard gearing makes that and avoiding lugging as an 860 easy.

I'd doubt you can go too far wrong here, but a long thrash up a mountain on a hot day at a constant heavy load would be the way to make it wrong.

[tunnelrider]

Thanks Dogshome for the comments and thoughts. The trip will be flattish for the most part, up the east coast of the South Island onto the ferry then up the west coast of the North Island, so being coastal means it's fairly flat.

 I'm thinking it's probably best to leave fitting the kit 'til after the trip as I can't imagine I'll be varying the load on the engine much once started. The weather won't be hot but I'll be carrying gear and throw a head wind into the mix, the engine usually works pretty hard most of the time, unless I drop back from the group and concentrate on varying the load.

Add in the oil change while away, it all might be a bit of a stretch. The obvious advantage would've been to get the run in done in five or so days.

[dogshome]

On the plus side of doing it after your trip: Anything that decides to fall off or play up after you operated won't be 1000K from home 


I found the 650 a bit underpowered. Like a modern 250. 860 Kit solves that. It's still not a fast bike, but a lot more comfortable where traffic is doing 60MPH or more. You will soon feel the need for higher gearing....

Off topic - there is a lot of fuss about RE 350 singles on Youtube at the mo. I have no idea why. An alleged 50HP from 650cc 1983 isn't scary, but 20HP definitely is! There must be a lot of love or money changing hands for some of those reviews. I've never had a bike with 20HP. 10 as a learner which was awful. Why would you pass your test to buy a 350 single? A big scooter, fine. A little scooter if you live 5 miles from work OK. But an uninteresting motorcyle that you have no option but to ride in a very steady manner defeats me. Unless you are skint and daft enough to buy new.

[steve hawkins]

One of the reasons that the 350 single is starting to make sense, perhaps in the UK, is that speed limits are being dropped on all our country roads and being more rigidly enforced on our motorways.  Not to mention the amount of traffic on our roads.

I have recently sold my K1200RS, because of this.  Nowhere to ride it anywhere near its capabilities.  Who needs 150 horses?

A bike that will do 70mph, takes you up to the legal limit on any/all roads in the UK.

Also a 350 single punches far above its weight, it has far more low down torque than a multi-cylinder bike, so still gets away smartly, which is where it matters.

If it was not for owning a 40 year old R65, which is now a classic that no longer requires a yearly inspection, is tax free and cheap to insure, I would already own an RE single.

Did I mention 100 mpg?

Finally, more speed will get you into far more trouble than it will ever get you out.

Regards

Steve

[Bob_Roller]

Here in the southwest US, speed limits are 75-80 mph, 120-130 kph, the R65's and even the 650 Guzzi, don't sound like you should be going this fast with them.
Close to the 6,000 rpm range, the 1150 oilhead just sounds like it's not doing much at these speeds .
The R65's seem like 60 mph, 100 kph is a good speed for them for long durations .

[georgesgiralt]

I second these advice.
In France, max speed on the toll motorways is 130 km/h max (and there are talks to reduce it to 110). In town it is more and more 30 km/h and out of town 80 km/h with some roads at 90 km/h !
I know a Kawasaki dealer having a brand new 1400 which he is unable to sell....
It seems the market share of the upper horsepower tier is shrinking fast.
It may explain the success the Royal Enfield bikes are getting in Europe.
It is somewhat funny because, in India, speed on the road is limited due to the bad condition of the road and the presence of pedestrians, animals, etc...
In Europe it is because of regulations and, if I'm not mistaken, the bad shape of the roads in the US may also limit the actual speed .... We thought that India would increase the speed on the roads to meet the Western road standard, and it is all the other way  !

P.S. : In France, also, the roads are degrading very fast. A friend of mine broke a front wheel (Yamaha XT500) in a huge pothole he did not saw.

[steve hawkins]

The roads in the UK are also degrading fast and have been for the last 20 years.  Potholes everywhere in towns and country.  Motorways seem reasonable though.

Watch out if you have some fancy German car with low profile tires on oversized alloy wheels.  These are not designed for roads hear.

I look at the tires on my 1970's Scimitar SE5A and can now appreciate the 3+ inches of tire depth and the relatively low tire pressures.

[Barry]

The debate about how many horsepower you need is only part of the story.  Every bike has it's sweet spot and a lower powered bike might be more comfortable at a certain speed than one more powerful.  My 35HP R45 is turbine smooth at 4000 RPM so that's where I ride, above 4500 it starts to tingle a bit and smooths out again further up.  The R45 is smoother than any bike I've owned and that includes  a 4 cylinder Z900 and especially a 750 Triump Bonneville.  My other favourite was another bike with modest power, a 27 HP GN400 single. I don't know how they did it but the GN400 was remarkably smooth for a single and for a Jap bike had decent low down torque too.  It was an excellent engine that deserved some better running gear and electrics.

Power is great for acceleration but that's no good unless it cruises smoothly too.

[dogshome]

...which is why I don't have a CBR600RR. Nothing until 4000RPM, then rising linearly to 100HP at 14,000RPM. The HD Fatbob being completely opposite with peak torque commensurate with it's capacity at 2,000RPM and a relatively low 80BHP at 5,000RPM. I imagine the HD being great fun at the lights (despite the bikes weight) with zero pilot effort. The 600RR will probably have blown him into the weeds by 20MPH and around any corner. He's probably getting less vibration and better fuel economy too!

It's not hard for a light and low-powered bike to feel torquey. 100MPG I can't argue with. Also the slim and nimble feel. It's that uphill merge onto a fast road that gets scary with limited torque/power/oomph. This is required in numerous places on the A1, like here:

https://www.google.com/maps/@53.6267553,-1.238202,3a,75y,136.63h,91.17t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s-rn5y7SXMIZXLPUehcml_w!2e0!7i16384!8i8192