I had the bike up to the limiter today for the first time, which actually hit pretty hard. But man, it was tracking like a bloodhound and felt like there was more there. I wish I'd had the balls to stay there for a while, but wrong time, wrong place. What a machine.

I've hit the rev limiter a couple times in 1st. Haven't come close to the speed limiter yet.

yeh rook.. i think he's talkin about the top speed limiter. lol

it really seemed pretty soft to me.. As opposed to some cars i've hit the limiter in.. The cars are rather violent when you hit the limiter.

Does the bike always go into limp mode when you hit the speed limiter? If so, you slow way down regardless of time, place, size of balls, etc...

Does the bike always go into limp mode when you hit the speed limiter?

Limp mode = Gets you home.
Limiter = Stops you getting home.

* Last updated by: Hub on 8/16/2009 @ 11:03 PM *

Sorry about lack of clarity on that, I think I had one too many beers before writing that anyway. And when I said it hit pretty hard it wasn't quite throw you over the bars hard like someone said in another post here somewhere. I was ready for something and it felt like the motor just laid down, but at that speed there's so much aero drag that it scrubbed off a couple of mph pretty quickly. It didn't feel like you could just hold on at 186, but maybe you could. I don't know, I ran out of road anyway.

And Hub, when you mention that the fuel pump is in the circuit, does that mean that spark gets cut AND fuel? Running lean in the mid 180's sounds like a nightmare for the motor.

Interesting. What was the speedo showing? I know it is difficult at that speed to look, but I am curious. Some guys in SA say they hit it in 5th gear, but that must be wringing it out. I have not managed to do it in 6th.(yet!)

* Last updated by: harleyzx1400 on 8/17/2009 @ 9:28 AM *

To tell you the truth, the last look I got was just under 180 and I started bracing myself for the limiter. Since I didn't know what expect I was kind of focused on that. It was still really pulling hard and it hit the limiter soon after that. The timing of the acceleration rate and my last glance at the speedo would definitely put it in the mid 180's, I just assumed the 186 figure was more or less right. And I was actually in 6th at around 100 or so, I wasn't trying to get there as fast as I could; I basically just whacked it at about 105 and hung on. This was my first crack at the the top speed of this bike and I'm sorry to say I didn't catch the RPM's either. It gives me a reason to do it again, I guess.

And slowninja, you are sure right about the limiter in some cars. I hit it in a friends BMW a while back and felt like I was going to go through the windshield. It sounded and felt a little like valve float but more violent and shuddery and had me getting off the gas pretty fast. I felt like some BMW engineer was sitting there in the back seat laughing at us, saying "ve made it like that for a reason, mein herr." We took it back up again and it hit the same place and felt the same.

I've hit the limiter on my busa, it was actually pretty mild, it just stopped pulling. I've had the 14 over an indicated 190 bone stock with no speedohealer, and it still seemed to be pulling, if I hit the limiter it was pretty mild. From the magazine tests I've read the limiter kicks in a little over 184, so you had a healthy 184+ mph run....big congrats for the big kahunas Jay
(I had to edit...I forgot the last number on the 14's dial is 190, not 185 like the busa lol)

* Last updated by: BadinBlack on 8/18/2009 @ 3:57 PM *

Thanks Bad, it really was awesome. I've got to take another crack at it and be a little more analytical about it. Things definitely did not feel like I would want to keep the throttle wide open, but maybe that was a fluke, I dunno. It seems like KHI would be crazy to make hitting the limiter like hitting a brick wall for so many reasons. Again, not that it was violent or anything; it just felt like instant fouled plugs!

The speedo does read high, so it should have read quite abit higher than the 184+ plus you hit the limiter at. Obviously I haven't hit mine yet, or it sounds like I would have known it lol. I think for top speed you have me and most of the other guys beat When I hit the limiter on my busa it was geared down so I didn't do a true 185. It takes big brass ones and a good section of road to max these big bikes out Now get a speedohealer and see what she'll really do I've read that you gotta be careful hitting the rev or speed limiter on boosted 14's cause you'll get a lean spike and hurt the engine...plus a turbo spins up so hard and quick it'll blow by the rev limiter and overrev the engine. Thats something I'll have to keep in mind with my turbo 14 I guess short shifting and using the shift light will be mandatory lol.

The more I think about it the more annoyed I get at myself for not paying more attention to the speedo and tach. I honestly don't know what was indicated; maybe it was higher than 186 but it couldn't have been by much if it even was. Like I said, I checked out the speed at a hair under 180.....178 or 179, and then switched my eyes back to the road which seemed like a pretty good idea because it was coming at me faster than I imagined it would. If I had been cooler headed I would have at least checked the numbers, but I was running out of road and courage pretty fast.

The road was I-80 around Hetlerville, PA, at about 7 am. It was one of those gradual down-hill's that slowly changes grade to a gentle uphill, so you could: a. see for a long way off and play your odds with the man, and b. the little bit of downgrade got me going a little quicker. I really wish I had lingered around for a couple of seconds more. Maybe the speedo healer is in order. Don't know much about them.

And I never thought about a turbo and the limiter. If it in fact leans out the mixture and all of a sudden you've got all those extra cubes of air at that higher psi.....sounds like a 1400 cc grenade between your legs. Just add nitrous!

^^Don't sweat it. Just having been there is a lot more than most are going to do. For the first top speed run, I think anyone would want to experience the ride and not worry too much about the instruments. I have never noted anything but speedo reading (very quick glance) on my high speed ventures. That's all I've trained myself to do. There's plenty of reason to be paying attention to the road and the bike.

Very good point there, Rook. Good advice.

I have speedohealers on both my bikes with top speed recall. The older version on my busa only retains the speed until you turn the bike off tho...and you have to raise the seat to get to it. But the new version on my 14 retains the top speed forever, and I have it right below my gauge cluster, very easy to reach. NEVER spend time looking at you're gauges on high speed runs...wayyy too dangerous. Take along a GPS or speedohealer with top speed recall and focus only on the road and how fast you're willing to go

Agreed there Bad. Things change way too fast up there; better not to be studying the clocks.

And btw, any recomendations for a speedohealer?

I have the speedohealer version 4 (V4) on the 14. Its super easy to install and use...I HIGHLY recommend it Plus at the push of a button it goes from an accurate speedo to one that reads low so you can go past the 14's top speed restrictor. Mount it right below your guages on the gauge brace, and you're set

Bad, I suppose the Speedohealer has plugs specific to certain bikes so it cannot be swaped between dif models??

The Speedohealer itself will work on any bike just the wire harness would have to be different to fit the bike. The healer works off the percentage errors you tell it you'r having plus whatever gearing changes.

On the 14 go 1 tooth up on the front sprocket and its only 1-2 mph off (GPS checked with a Navman & Garmin)

* Last updated by: JBird on 8/20/2009 @ 10:21 AM *

It is a plug and play install Rook...very easy. I believe they have ones that fit diff brands ie kawi, suzuki etc. Just the plugs are diff...like Jay said the healers the same. Personally I think it was one of the better investments I've made on my bikes

Thanks, both.