70/75 mph all day long

[Adamastor]

Hi there... just a small question:

I usually prefer riding out of the highway, but I might go out on a long trip with a friend on a newer bike with the double CCs of teh R65 (F1150gs) and he likes to ride at about 70/75Mph.
Can a R65 easily ride all day long at that speed with no problems? At that speed revs are at about 6.000 / 6.500 rpm.. redline is at 7500  [smiley=huh.gif]
Anything to be aware of or just go out and ride it ?  8-)

Regards,

Sergio

[razz2234]

Sergio,

That R65 doesn't even get a good charge to the battery until you hit 4500RPM's...it was meant to revvvvvvvvvvvv. Going the 70-75mph all day long shouldn't be a problem. I hit 70-75mph at about 5000RPM in 5th gear. I usually hum along at 55mph @ 4300RPM. The bike will be able to handle the wind beating better than you.
SO
I don't think there's much to worry about. Check your oil levels as a precautionary measure every couple hundred miles or so.
Best of luck.
Bill

[Bob_Roller]

The bike will do it with no problems .

If you have a 29 year old seat, with original foam, your backside might not be thrilled with the adventure .

The wind will beat you up pretty good as well .

An all day ride at highway speeds on an R65 without a fairing, will leave you one tired 'puppy' .

[Adamastor]

"all day long" is just a matter of speech, but I meant to ride 2 or 3 ininterrupt hours at those speeds was what I meant.
Wind will be quite rough, right? Maybe I can convince him to cruise at 65/60mph Just dont like to slow others down!

Thanks for the honest opinions, on my 125cc Vespa I ride a lot at full throttle and dont really have these thoughts, but looking at the rev counter makes me wonder ehehe

Regards and sorry if this sounded like a silly question..

Sergio

[Bob_Roller]

Two or three hours on the bike, shouldn't be a problem at all at 70-75 mph .

[nhmaf]

When I came back from the rally in Tennessee last summer I rode for 7 hours of interstate diagonally across Pennsylvania and part of New York state, stopping only to refuel.  I don't think I dropped below 70 or 75 MPH the whole way (after 7 hours of interstate I had to take 4 hours of backroads, which was relaxing after getting blown around be semis through all of Pennsylvania).    The 65 will do it no problem.   You might have a little bit of oil "consumption", depending on the state of your lifters, piston rings etc - I didn't burn any oil, its just that these engines can pump a little through the crankcase breather valve and down into the airbox/carbs when run at higher RPMs for extended durations.   I think I was down only about 300cc of motor oil on the whole 2200 mile round trip.

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

With a new seat and low bars, 2 hours (1/2 tank) is no problem.

If you want additional comfort, get a BIG tank bag and fill it full.  Then it will not only block the wind, but you can lay down on it.


You will be thinking rear sets, soon....







This is where I bought my repro seat (first picture).  I LOVE it!  I hope to buy a bench seat from them, as well.  They are easy to deal with.

http://www.meyer-bikes.com/ersatz3.php?cat=32


Oh, and I don't know how you are measuring those speeds.  The early (120mph) speedos were very optimistic.  I gave up and went to a GPSr.

The only reason I don't travel at those speeds is because I don't like getting tickets.  And I am an easy target, history has proven.

Like they said above - keep an eye on your oil level, but don't fill it any higher than 1/2 between the marks on the dipstick.

[Aristotle]

wow. am I ever glad that I ran into this thread. I have been looking for something to replace an aging seat from my 65. I:'ve owned my bike for about 22 years now, and the toil is taking it's place on the seat.
I had a look at the link that you provided above Rob and saw one or 2 seats that I liked quite a bit.

oh, and just to stay on topic. I can attest to the fact that having  a big tank bag will definitly help with the wind. This in addtion to the fact that an r65 can be run at what-ever RPM's you put it to. It'll sound kinda rough and 'revvy' after riding it for a few hours but 65's are meant to put up with it.
All in all, r65's are tough little beasts.
...them and the r80's are both pretty tough, I believe.

[Adamastor]

Hi there, and thanks for all the comments!
My R65 actually doesnt have a R65 seat, but a /5 seat:



I find it very comfortable, I already have done long (10 hour) rides with it with no problems (but not at 70/75 mph).

I actually never tested my speedometer with a GPS (it's in Km/h since I am from Portugal), but I actually might do it just to be sure.. I think my bike is revving too much for its speed (at 4500rpms she's at +/- 90km/h)

[nhmaf]

I think that you are probably pretty close on RPM to "normal", I think mine is turning an indicated 4500 RPM @ 60 MPH  ~ 97 Km/h or close to that figure.     This is with a 32/9 final drive ratio (3.56:1).  The other final drive ratio commonly found on R65s is the 31/9 (3.44:1) which would drop your RPMs slightly and not sacrifice much acceleration, though you may find that the "vibration spot" of engine RPM - which is often in the low 4000 RPM range -might occur in a place you don't want it to be.

[Semper Gumby]

In Sept 2006 I did 70-75 mph for 3 weeks/7500 miles and all I did to the bike is change the oil.  This included a 50 hours coast to coast Iron Butt Association ride in 44 hours and 36 minutes (JAX-SDO).  My speed for the IBA ride was set at 65 mph.  The rest of the time I spent at 70-75 mph.  I have the 31/9 rear end on the march 1980 R65.

Now before I left I went completely throught the bike all the way down to the spline/throwout bearing lube.

Above 70 mph though fuel mileage drops to about 32-35 mpg though.

If I had to guess I would say the magic number for the R65 is 5200 rpms.  Above that mileage goes south fast.  Sustained rpms in the 6000 area and people have had problems.  The R65 is blessed with an overly large oil pump so it is highly tolerant of abuse.  However, if you don't maintain the bike you will have problems.

Look at Russel Daylong for a good long distance saddle.  Expensive but worth every pennie!

This advice worth 2 cents.  Not what is used to be....

[Bob_Roller]

My '81 R65, with an 85 mph speedometer, that reads 2 mph high, shows 4500 rpm at 60 mph indicated, which would be about 58 mph actual .

So I don't think you are too far off on the engine speed .

You need to see what kind of error your speedometer has, may want to check it on your next highway ride .

[Ed Miller]

If I'm stuck on the interstate I'll go about 6000 rpms if I can get away with it.  Smoooooth.

75 is nothing.

[Barry]

70/75Mph .... At that speed revs are at about 6.000 / 6.500 rpm.

Somethings not right assuming your talking about 5th gear.  Should be more like 5000 rpm at 75mph calculated for a 31/9 final drive and 5200 rpm for a 32/9

Even my R45 will do a calculated 79.5mph at 6000 rpm on a 35/9

I'm sure my 120 mph speedo reads high like almost all vehicles but the speedo and Revs match the calculated values quite closely so I guess that mean the rev counter reads a little high too.

Personally I find 65/70 mph fast enough with the low euro bars. As others have said the engine is more comfortable than I am at these speeds and will easily outrun my tolerance for wind pressure.

[Adamastor]

I left my R65 at my father house so I cant check it out, but next sunday I will get her back and check both speed with a GPS and also the final drive relation.
Is there any chance that the final drive inscription says one thing but the the "guts" are different? Is it usual for a rev counter to give wrong information?
This is an ex-police force bike (1985 R65T) with many miles (and years)..

Regards,

Sergio