need more power

[Speed3Chris]

Wrong tool for the wrong job.

That's why I have Dayonta 675 that sees mostly track and my Bonnie that sees everything else but track.

There's an old saying around seasoned track day riders and racers when it comes to getting more out of your bike:....its probably not the bike...its probably you.

Believe that to be quite accurate. When I am out riding the bonnie, I believe the bike has plenty more reserve than I am willing to ride it...through the curves in particular. Seasoned track guys know that a fast guy on a slow bike will beat a slow guy on a fast bike.

 

[Sal Paradise]

Stock to stock a bonnie will smoke a Vulcan 800. In the motorcycle kingdom however, a bonnie is middle of pack in speed....lots of faster and lots of slower bikes. - Chris

+1. A Vulcan 800? My grandmother passed one of those the other day on her Jazzy Scooter.... jeez
don't know much about beat. Never really beat anyone. When I ride together with some old friends who are good riders we show off a bit for each other. You know, a little passing, acceleration, cornering etc. The Triumph shows very well. I would assume that a Vulcan 800 has got absolutely nothing on a Bonneville and I would expect to wait at every stoplight. That bike is even slower than Harley.

 

[mikenva]

If your going road raceing a sport bike is the way to go but if its just stop light drag raceing you want a bonnie can be made to hold its own.Its not cheap though.I think if alot of people could ride a 100+ hp bonnie they would change there thinking they are way more fun then a ugly plastic sport bike.The torque these bikes put out is what makes them fun.A 675 is around 100 hp on the rear wheel but around 50 ft/lbs .A 100hp bonnie is around 80ft/lbs.The 675 is about 50lbs lighter but that dont make up for 30 ft/lbs of in your face torque.

 

[Sal Paradise]

Guys,

I have the same question. I was riding with my buddy who has a Honda 50 scooter and he is blowing my Bonneville away. I never knew these bikes were so slow. I just can't keep up with him and the other mopeds in our urban moped gang.

Thats me, 5 rows back on the Bonneville wearing the white motocrosser helmet.Guys is there aything I can do to get more power out of this slug of a bike? That Nazi helmet guy has pedals and he is really pissing me off.

 

[Grassy53]

My Bonnies a weapon, here are the rest of the boys behind me after I got the holeshot at the lights

 

[Speed3Chris]

Sal,
I have seen that same group of riders in the movie, Return of the Amazon:
PS: I am the guy in the back trying to turn around for a nibble.

 

[Stars&Bars]

Seems there are too damned many "kids" watching those Fast & Furious movies and believing what they see as real.
Stop cutting fool on the street before you kill someone, like me.

 

[Leedsharlequin]

Wanna cool fast Triumph get a Speed 3. Or put pipes on the Bonnie so it sounds fast. Or both :C

 

[TXRider60]

Let's grade the Bonnie on durability... Which is why I switched from another European make that was tough and well-engineered, but required constant wrenching to stay on the road. I would bet on the Bonneville over most comparable-displacement bikes in an endurance race.

 

[Pete R]

Guys,

I have the same question. I was riding with my buddy who has a Honda 50 scooter and he is blowing my Bonneville away. I never knew these bikes were so slow. I just can't keep up with him and the other mopeds in our urban moped gang.

Thats me, 5 rows back on the Bonneville wearing the white motocrosser helmet.Guys is there aything I can do to get more power out of this slug of a bike? That Nazi helmet guy has pedals and he is really pissing me off.

My Bonnies a weapon, here are the rest of the boys behind me after I got the holeshot at the lights

Shit you guys get me :lol:

 

[phil]

yeah , my bonne isn't that fast but its not slow either... if you wanted a faster bike you should buy a triple.. somthing made to go fast. or just go all out and get a mv augusta.. cheers man..

 

[Bonniebret]

Remember what Bert Munro said, Evil.

"Anyone can buy a fast bike but it takes a real individual to make a slower bike go fast."

 

[sweatmachine]

you guys all sound like a bunch of whiners!

A Bonnie can be made plenty fast, but pipes and an airbox alone will not get you there. It takes money and effort, but the Bonnie can be a beast if built up.

 

[strokerlmt]

+ oneeee with Sweatmachine.....stop whinning and get goinggggggg
LMT

 

[Sal Paradise]

It can also be made fast by riding it like you mean it.....

 

[strokerlmt]

It was a drop dead beautiful cool day yesterday. After taking my girls to the local parade and fair I shot up the coast for a 45 min ride. My one long straight away before Big Sur starts and i was warmed up and and shot up to 105-110 on the speedo and backed off....smooth fast exilerating....fast enuff
LMT

 

[bikeypikey]

A short but perfect ride mate

Cheers,

Pikey.

 

[Sal Paradise]

LMT that's as fast as HST.

 

[Easy13]

+1 with Chris, but it'd help if we had a bit more info on your bike, Evel. Carbed or EFI? Bonne? Speedy/America? More detail in the question will obviously net a more detailed answer.

As other have said though, lose the air injection, lose the airbox in favor of good pods, ditch the stock mufflers for something that breathes better and you'll see a big improvement, carbs or EFI, Bonne, Thrux, Speedy, America or Scram. These bikes come from the factory with serious restrictions in breathing, mostly in order to comply with emissions laws. Open up your airflow, both in and out, and I promise, Vulcan Dude won't stand a prayer. Your uncle's Z1 is another matter though; There are sportbikes that would have trouble running with a well-tuned old-school 900 4-banger.

MES, that pink K-mart bicycle bit is priceless. Got the little streamers on the ends of the handgrips....

 

[evil knievel]

thank you

Evil,
Stock to stock a bonnie will smoke a Vulcan 800. In the motorcycle kingdom however, a bonnie is middle of pack in speed....lots of faster and lots of slower bikes.
As mentioned, open your airbox and add pipes and tune it to make it faster. 1 grand gets you more compression and cam timing...what these bikes need to go faster.
The leading dem on these bikes are older guys that have owned faster bikes including sport bikes. We get it that speed isn't the be all. If you are a young gun that likes to race and by the way I enjoy using all the bonnie's power but don't yearn for a lot more...than buy a Speed 3 or similar...can pick up a nice one for $6-7K. Those bikes aren't as comfortable to me as a bonnie with more cramped riding position and of course don't have the old school charm...but they are very cool and most important to some are very fast.

Lastly, a comment about speed and youth. I keep my bike in town in storage because I live on a dirt road. I should probably just own a Scrambler instead but I like the T100. There are three twenty year olds that hang out when done riding where I keep my bike and we have become friends and talk motorcycles. They dig my bonnie and I have sat on their bikes etc. Their riding positions are very aggressive...two 600 and one 1 liter sport bike. They can smoke me easily and we talk about it. All of them have said they have hit 165 mph on their bikes. I told them that my bike may hit 115 with a strong tailwind. There is no comparison in speed. I don't want to go any faster...or maybe much faster...I may warm up the motor on my bike at some point but more as a fun project and not a high priority. It wouldn't change how fast I ride out on the street as I ride too fast now IMHO. I actually am concerned about these kids who I believe ride much too fast on the public roads. We would probably ride together more but honestly they ride too fast for me...hit 100-120 routinely on public roads and try to outride one another constantly. In my experience that story generally doesn't end well. They are great kids and I was just like them once and probably more luck than skill that I have gotten to the age I have.
Ride safe.
PS: by contrast Harley riders ride too slow for me. I routinely pass them.

Boy I kinda got slamed by some of the members. But I want to thank you. This is great advise and information. I guess I like going fast. I am young and eager. I have out grown the power of this bike, and I think the triple would be an exellent choice. I dont want to alter this bike a bunch and I feel it wouldnt be cost efective. I do want a sportbike. Yes speed kills, but I'll bet when you guys were younger you sometimes opened it up with a big grin on your face too. So in the spring I will put my beloved bonnie up for sale and start looking at triumph triples. I bought the wrong bike for my ridding style and age. I think triumph builds a good machine.