I have a V Star 650. In 4th gear the bike hums along nicely at 55-60mph. Over 60 I shift down to 5th gear as by 65mph in 4th it gets a little buzzy. I would imagine your 1100 should be the same way, but a lot more torque in 5th than my 650 has, which is why I stay in 4th until 55-60mph. I think these engines are pretty bullet proof. I wouldn't hesitate to cruise for hours at 50-60mph on my 650 in 4th gear.

 

I think your talk kph.

 

you will have no problem cursing at 75mph. My 650 can ride at that speed all day long and your bike will rev less then mine will.

 

I also have an 1100 and I rode from Ohio to North Carolina cruising about 70-80 the whole way down with no problems at all.

 

The 250 Ninja I used to have turned about 7500 rpm at 60 mph in high gear, which is probably higher than the rev limiter on your 1100. Don't worry about the revs - the engine will run happily at any legal speed in the nation (including the 85 mph stretch in Texas) for as long as you care to ride it. If you wonder whether it is "working hard" at any particular speed, make an estimate of how far open the throttle is at that speed. Odds are it is no more than a quarter to half open. I know the relationship isn't completely linear, but a half-open throttle means the engine is only working half as hard as it could.

 

These things are designed to run that higher RPMs. Yeah they vibrate quite a lot above 60 or so but they can take it if you can.

 

When you're at 70-75mph in 5th gear your 1100 is only running at around 60%. You're barely running it.

My 650 runs at about 70% at those speeds. I wish all 1100 owners could go take a ride on a 650 and cruise the highway for an hour or so. Getting back on your 1100 you would realize how much better you have it and how it's not working hard at all. When I first got my 650 I was disappointed with the way it sounded and felt over 65mph. Now I'm so used to it that I easily cruise at 75 for miles and miles and don't think twice about it. These bikes are not 6 speed Harleys. They are built to run like this.

 

2000 1100 Classic here, rode to Ocean Shores and back (~260mi round trip) doing typically 70-80mph without any issue. I'm used to riding old 500cc bikes though, so not having it wrapped out as hard may be why it seems fine to me. I've thought about doing research into a sixth gear, but honestly the bike seems to handle pretty well in fifth while still allowing me some twist power. Hope my rambling helped a little!

 

When we talk speed, we should note GPS speed, many metrics overstate the speed you are traveling by as much as 10%.

Also tire differences etc will add or subtract from that.

Safe to say, if your traveling 70 MPH and cars are flying by you, its possible you may only be doing 63 MPH.

GPS speed is the best standard when comparing bike to bike.

 

Last month I rode my 950 over 6000 miles, much of it at 80m/h (GPS speed) for hours. No problems.

Dave

 

Awesome. thanks for the input guys!

Can't imagine riding that long at that speed without a wind shield but I'll keep it in mind.

Thanks

 

Where I live the speed limit is generally 55 mph, and I find the 650 is quite comfy at 60 mph. Yesterday I had to ride a stretch of I-5 and I found it quite off-putting: I was riding an indicated 75 mph (so 70 mph say) and I was just keeping pace with the slower cars in the right lane. Plenty of cars were going 80 or more.

The 650 felt like it didn't have a whole lot of power left in reserve, but more to the point without a windshield I really felt smacked around by the wind - there is a big difference in the buffeting in that extra 10 mph.

I think the 650 is great for back roads and highways, but if I had to ride interstates regularly I would want a bigger engine and some sort of windshield.

 

If I rode the interstate much the 1100 wouldn't be enough for me. I just prefer more motor that's not working as hard.

 

If 65% of redline is used at the basis for the maximum cruise rpm by some arbitrary determining authority, then 79 mph (GPS) is your goto speed.

The fifth gear on you bike is nearly dead on to the fourth gear on my bike and although I can take it well over 100 mph in fourth gear, I wouldn't call it prudent for cruising even if the speed limit allowed it.

 

I have a V-Star 1100 and ride to work on the parkway at 70-75 mph just about everyday with no hiccups. Only thing I notice with the 1100 is it feels like it could use a 6th gear.

 

Many years ago there was an automotive writer named Tom McCahill, who wrote for Mechanix Illustrated as a car tester. He remarked that engines seem to start working hard when the car is going about 80% of its top speed. Many years later I learned that power required increases as the cube of the increase in speed. That means doubling the speed requires eight times the power. When I worked backward from that, I discovered that 80% of top speed requires only about 50% of available power. Of course, that does not take into account such things as electronic rev limiters or speed limiters.

 

I just did about 3000 mile round trip to sturgis, and ran about 85 mph on the freeway. She feels like she is buzzing pretty high, but it’s not as bad as it sounds (or feels). You can use this site to do your calculations.

Yamaha Speed Calculator