Speed on the highway

I ride it at what ever speed I want to go at, Usually about the same speed as every one else on the road as that is the safest speed to travel at. But my rig has enough power to go a lot faster then I would ever want to.
If no traffic to worry about I usually set the cruise control at about the speed limit as it is far to easy to find my self slowly creeping up to well over the posted limit.
2014 BMW R1200GSA / Expedition sidecar.
Jay G
DMC sidecars
www.dmcsidecars.com
866-638-1793

My '99 BMW R1100RT w/EZS runs best between 4000 to 4500 rpm. That's 60 to 65 mph. Had lower rear drive gears put in so it's better geared for a sidecar. My '09 Triumph T100 w/Velorex runs best at the same speeds, with the tach almost exactly the same. Both would go a lot faster but I'm well past middle age and the definition of middle age used to be "a man is middle aged when he's more concerned about how long his car will last, rather than how fast it will go"!

I try to run with traffic in the left lane. Out west where the limit is 75 you are getting there. I ride the rig as fast as the solos.

The '93 Guzzi likes 65-80 on hwy and backroads. At 75-80 I can even use 5th gear if not twisting much going up hill.

Jay,

That is a sweet set up you have. I have been looking at your sidecars and have been looking at a Moto Guzzi Stelvio 1200. It is all a progression. Thanks for your input.

Piano Man,

65 mph for me is 2800 rpm in 5th gear and 2100 in 6th. I need to look into different gearing, but can live with what I have right now. I can agree with your middle age assessment. I've been fast and still can be, but I've missed a lot in the haste of youth. Thanks for the reply.

Crilly,

I can easily run 75-90, but 60-65 feels about right, especially with the pooch along. I was looking to see what others considered a normal speed for a hacked rig. Speed has always been in my blood, but now it seems the trip is what is important to me. Thanks for responding.

Cleatusj,

65-70 is in my wheel house right now. After a couple of trips on the road 75-80 may become the new normal. Again, just checking to see what kind of speeds experienced hackers are running on the open road. I will always ride my own ride, but not looking to get run over either. Appreciate your response.

We have the mounts for both the first and second generation Stelvio, so far no one has wanted to have us modify the steering so we have not worked steering modifications out. We also have not worked out an automotive rear wheel however it is not all that big of a deal to do if we have a bike in our shop to work from. Some people will buy a bike local to us and have us install the sidecar then either ship them the rig or they come and pick it up here. If they intend to ride it home and have not ridden sidecar before we encourage them to take a S/tep class and will even deliver the rig to our local training range. We deal with Moto International in Seattle for Moto Guzzi's. We purchased my wife's first Guzzi from Dave at Moto about 25 years ago now. Great dealer and great people to work with. Dave will even deliver bikes to us personally for customers.
Jay G
DMC sidecars
www.dmcsidecars.com
866-638-1793

Comfortable at 80 all day long. Have had it up to 110.

For those of use that like to smell the roses 60-70 mph. We just spent a day riding with a guy on an Ural. The other rigs were 2-K100/EML rigs and a K1100/Motorvation rig. Yes we could have gone faster but we had a great day. When we got home my shoulders didn't ache from fighting the rig at high speed.

Will Short

jwshort - 10/11/2014 10:02 PM
... We just spent a day riding with a guy on an Ural.... Yes we could have gone faster but we had a great day. When we got home my shoulders didn't ache from fighting the rig high speed....

I've run my GS/CSM rig down the big roads at 70+ mph a couple of times, but it can be tiring and fuel economy really suffers. I generally travel secondary roads and 57-62 mph seems to be my preferred cruising speed - for reasons stated above. Besides, some of our state "highways" are too rough to travel at that speed.

For me, speed is dependent on a number of different factors. In heavy traffic, as others have said, I believe the safest speed is when you blend with the traffic--a balance of passing others and getting passed with a minimal speed differential, and a minimum of lane changes. Being a "rolling roadblock" is definitely not the safest option unless the traffic is very light. In rain, speed is often dependent on visibility. On dry roads with no traffic, speed will depend on lots of things-- --am I trying to maximize my range or don't care about mpg's? --is John Law likely to be anywhere abouts? --is there scenery to be appreciated? --what speed will be best for my passenger if I have one? --am I tired?

I usually run what ever the traffic around me is running within reason. 70ish on the interstates seems to keep me out of trouble most of the time. Could run faster but want to see some of what I'm passing 🙂