Honestly, it's the way our Bike engines are designed. They were designed for longevity and not high RPMs. With high RPM bikes you have light cranks,pistons,rods,valves,thin-walled cylinders,aluminum light-built frames,light wheels, and a host of other throw-away components that will give you the thrills of speed, BUT at the cost of not lasting very long. Whereas, the Bonneville was designed to last a lifetime with heavy duty crank,well designed cylinders and head to last for over 100,000 miles,heavy steel frames and other highly dependable items(electronics can sure give us fits though). Yes, you can make the Bonnie faster and run at higher RPMs, but you also generly still have the heavy steel frame, steel laced wheels and other heavy factory items and you will have maintenance and repair issues later down the road. With high performance, there's high repair/maintenance costs. There's nothing wrong with putting on aftermarket exhaust or other aftermarket intake,rejetting,gearing,tires to help the Bonnie be a "little faster", but these items won't harm the longevity of an already overly built bike that was made to last. We, might not get to the destination any faster, BUT we'll sure arrive in style. There's other things that account why the Bonnie can't compete with speed(and still last for many generations), but weight and the way all things go together is just some of it.
Del
