As 200 bhp bikes, or thereabouts seem to be becoming more frequent, and as 150 bhp is now completely banal, I have become somewhat interested in what happens to you if you use even a bit of your bike's performance. In Switzerland, if you exceed 140 kph (that's about 85 mph) on a normal road (not a motorway), you will automatically get a monstrous fine (several thousand pounds) and lose your licence for 2 years. It's considered to have the same gravity as drinking and driving. It doesn't matter if the bit of road you are travelling along is in the middle of the countryside, surrounded by fields with no one within a mile of you. If you pull a similar stunt in France, twice, they just confiscate your bike (or car). Permanently. My 999 is doing an indicated 148 kph at 5'000 rpm in top, so to put it another way, to drive legally on a normal road, I definitely won't be needing either 5th or 6th gears. I will also be extremely uncomfortable with all the weight on my wrists at the legal 50 mph, and I won't even have to lean to go around a normal corner at that speed. In fact, I won't need 6th at all, anywhere in the country, seeing as motorways are limited to 120 kph (about 75 mph). But things have moved on a bit since the 999 was launched. The whole thing seems ridiculous. I imagine that in the UK, things are not quite so draconian. Yet. It really seems as if sportsbikes are now only suitable for the track and have no place at all on the public road network. Do you find this as worrying as I do? Is there really any fun to be had at 50 mph, or in the UK, at 60 mph? Isn't the whole thing massively hypocritical?
So far 2 people have indicated that they have never done 85mph on a single carriageway road where the limit could be 60mph. I appreciate that I will probably be shot down for saying it but surely everyone who has rode a bike for a while has done this from time to time even if they wouldn't do it now. I am not saying I would do it outside a school but on a 60mph A road in the country overtaking a truck or something, yes I probably would.
Average road speed is decreasing due to continued increase of vehicle sales. I think the question should be "Do you think you could own and ride a 200hp/mph sportbike and not have a massive accident?"
I never intend to speed and would say I'm a careful rider but a good stretch of quiet road and 200 bhp on the end of my wrist I have to admit I'm a weak man and can't help myself. Anyone who says they don't speed are fibbers!.
You see, that's the weird thing about the Swiss system. For the authorities here, doing 80 mph on the open road is equivalent to doing 60 mph in a 30 limit, or 45 mph in a 20, or indeed, 125 mph on the motorway. None of this stacks up. Doing 60 in a 30 is just pretty dumb. 30s are 30s because they are generally in built-up areas with houses and people and hazards. But doing 80 out in the sticks isn't doing anyone any harm. And frankly, if you were doing 125 on a deserted motorway, I can't see what harm that is doing either. Clearly the Germans don't think it does any harm at all. I am fundamentally against the criminalisation of normally law-abiding people just because they don't want to waste all day getting from a to b, or because they actually have driving as a hobby. My honest view? If you are really going to stick to speed limits religiously outside built-up areas, you might just as well give up biking and take public transport everywhere and read a book.
being a bit hypocritical here, but on all my familiar roads i will sit at 99 with the odd blast up to whatever. i guess the laws over here aren't as bad as they seem.
Always by the moment for me. Nice day, open roads with little traffic I might be known to slip above the speed limit . 30 zones / built up areas though I don't other than creeping a few miles an hour over.
You don't need 150 or even 200bhp, I'm comfortable reading the road conditions and enjoy using my bikes potential. However until recently I lived on the B6047 melton road a fave for journalists and the amount of dicks using it as a race track was flabbergasting, no probs in the country but they would continue the speed through the villages. Invariably UJM's in matching rossilorenzomarquexpedrosa suits and invariably one less would go home that night. Some people need protecting from themselves
I have visited the IOM so yes 20 years ago someone I know was let off for doing 140 in a 40 caught by a bike copper & given a verbal warning, not recommended these days - I do try to keep to the limit as much as possible in the 40 and under zones
There is a constant fascination with speed limits and speeding. Is this just leading to the justification for trackers to be permanently fitted and information logged.
The current UK speed limit was introduced in 1965, and was probably appropriate given the crap brakes and handling of most thing on the road, however thing have moved on greatly and my view is that towns and built up areas should be reduced further to 25mph all other roads should revert to pre 65 and be unrestricted
