Katana's Top Speed

[Kat-A-Tonic]

Hi All,

I was riding this morning and decided on a near empty stretch of highway to see what my Kat could do in terms of top speed. I topped out at about 235kph (146mph) before I hit the wall. It seems that the bike would not pass that point. I didn't hit the rev limiter but I did have a little headwind to contend with.

Anyone else top out their Katana and did you hit the rev limiter?

[loudnlow7484]

I bouced off the rev limiter on my old bike one time in 6th. I THINK it was after I geared it -1 in the front, though. It was indicating around 165mph at that point, (speedo only goes to 160) but being that motorcycle speedos aren't the most accurate, I'd guess I was really doing about 150 or so.

[SKNL2]

Was that per the speedo? I have found that the speedo on my Kat is 5-7 mph optimistic when compared to the GPS.

I haven't yet gone for top speed but will be this weekend.

[Kat-A-Tonic]

Was that per the speedo? I have found that the speedo on my Kat is 5-7 mph optimistic when compared to the GPS.

I haven't yet gone for top speed but will be this weekend.

That was per the speedometer. I'm thinking I was really doing about 135mph give or take a couple mph.

[SKNL2]

Still plenty fast, indeed!

[Anonymous]

Top end on the 750 is about 135mph...

[jcoria]

i have hit close to that...but i stopped after 128

jC

[KatBusa]

does anyone think that gearing up 2 in the front would be too much? I know you would sacrifice A LOT of low end torque, but it should increase the top speed by about 17mph, if my math is correct. But I know wind resistance at sppeds over 100 are a biotch and can use up hp.

[Kat-A-Tonic]

It's my understanding that gearing up won't merit much increase due to wind resistance. The Kat doesn't have the horsepower to give you much more speed. Also, you will be giving up usable power that you will need for everyday riding.

[KatBusa]

sp if you had to choose one. would you guo up one tooth or two teeth in the front. My 04 750 has a stage one kit on it with yosh pipe&headers, so with that little extra hp, maybe I could go up and not loose all that much when compared to another kat that is stock right?????????

[Kat-A-Tonic]

Possibly. The problem is as the drag increases the horsepower needed increases as well. This is not a linear increase. You'll need a lot of horsepower to overcome the drag at high speed. I'd only go up one-tooth as any more would seriously hamper real world performance.

[KatBusa]

thanks, I will give it a try. I already ordered 17tooth, which is 2 up, so I am going to try and cancel that and exchange for a 16 tooth. I ordered it from the motorcyclesuperstore.com

[Mojoe]

thanks, I will give it a try. I already ordered 17tooth, which is 2 up, so I am going to try and cancel that and exchange for a 16 tooth. I ordered it from the motorcyclesuperstore.com

do you live next to a deserted highway or something? just asking cuz that would be the only reason I could think of for someone to want to gain top end speed that badly. the kat should have more thaqn enough top end for day to day use. 2 teeth up......totally pointless. and there goes your low end torque right out the window.

[LordKeryth]

I have a '95 600 with a yoshimura pipe and jet kit, and i have gotten my bike to 160 (by speedo) and had a little bit left of the rpm's to play with. of course, not sure how fast that actually was.

[WildKat]

thanks, I will give it a try. I already ordered 17tooth, which is 2 up, so I am going to try and cancel that and exchange for a 16 tooth. I ordered it from the motorcyclesuperstore.com

do you live next to a deserted highway or something? just asking cuz that would be the only reason I could think of for someone to want to gain top end speed that badly. the kat should have more thaqn enough top end for day to day use. 2 teeth up......totally pointless. and there goes your low end torque right out the window.

The low end torque isnt something I'd wanna sacrifice that much either. 1 tooth up yeah, I plan on doing that myself so I can get alittle bit better of both worlds.

Ive never had my kat up against a radar gun before to get the actual clocked speed vs the speedo error..but I do know Ive hit 160 mph on the speedometer, and had no problems.... NOT something I do with ANY regularity by any means nor would I encourage someone to do it on public roads either.