I feel the need; the need for speed........

[jester 42]

The owner of the bike shop where I take my VMaxs called me yesterday.
We had recently been talking about the Kawasaki Concours.
He owns one, and asked me if I wanted to take his for a "test run".
The answer; "You bet"!:eusa_dance:

Drove to town; met him, and he gave me the once over on the bike, instruments, gauges, etc.
Just as I was about to take off he said, "See if you can redline it in a couple of gears". unk:

Searched for the right stretch of long, clear road, and went for it.........:biglaugh:

To make a long story short; I redlined it in 4th gear, and when the rev limiter kicked in I took my eyes off the road for a couple of seconds. Checked the speedo; it was reading 151 mph. At least I think that's what it was reading.............Adrenaline rush had definitely "kicked in", and I felt like I'd been holding my breath. I upshift to 5th gear, and got on it again, but decided that discretion was the better part of valor.
I was out of clear road, and had just bested my highest speed on 2 wheels by 10 mph.unk:

Enough for one day............"a man has to know his limitations".
I headed back to the shop.

The bike's owner & I talked awhile & he enjoyed my story.
Then he said "see ya", glad you had fun, got on his bike & wheel standed it to the nearest intersection.

Thanks Craig; you da man!:worthy::worthy:

Jester 42

 

[CaptainKyle]

That new 14 concours is really nice & smooth I like them but hell I like the old concours to its just not as fast & smooth but has a cult following like the Max.

 

[RaWarrior]

You really can't beat those I4's for smooth speed.

Best I've seen on the Max is like 140-145, given enough room and praying it doesn't start wobbling. With a Venture drive it still has another 700rpm or so to redline, but in fifth it just doesn't have the beans to spin any faster(at least stock). Which seems really fast compared to my V30 that would barely eek out 110, but compared to a liter bike that cruises past 140 without breaking a sweat it's not all that impressive. But for a non-faired bike, you really can't expect a whole lot more.