kz 650 top speed stock motor?

a little bit faster than a ninja 250

trianglelaguna wrote: a little bit faster than a ninja 250

Hahahaha

Those present day 250's are amazing

Have owned my 76 650 B1 since 1990. It is bone stock engine, sprockets, carbs, 4 into 2 original exhaust and has original airbox. Has under 20k miles. Wrung it out one morning in 2016. Believe it or not, got exactly the top speed as published in the cycle world magazine article, 119. Could not squeeze another mph out if it, was laying on the tank, tucked in to the max. Felt like the back of the bike was going to go airborne. Kids, don't try this at home....and don't let the gray hair fool ya!

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bluej58 wrote: Don't know why I'm posting on a thread that some guy with 1 post started 4+ years ago. ...

At it again? Ha

I can't believe it's been 12 years. I kinda remember this post back in the day.

I read Ed's post about the bike having a foot of ground clearance, so I had to look it up in the gallery. It does have a pretty impressive ground clearance.
This is Dalley's bike (the original topic starter). Maybe those are KLR parts he used.

Digging up old threads can be fun.

The number I got on a 1979 KZ650B was just under 110 indicated... maybe 108?

But I actually think about this often, as a reminder of the really stupid things that young people do. My first bike was a '77 KZ650. About a year or two after I got mine, my best friend bought the '79 KZ650 from his cousin. He'd had it for a few days, done exactly zero to it ("Hey, it runs!"). I stop over and ask to take it for a ride. He lived on a rural road that was dead straight for almost a mile (but with driveways and cross streets). I hop on, fire it up, pull on his crappy helmet, and pull out. I run it down to the end of the road at a decent clip, turn around to head back, and just open it all the way up. Right up to terminal velocity, and stayed there long eough to be confident that it wasn't going to go any faster. I knew nothing at all about this bike, and I'd never even done that with my own bike (which I knew was well maintained). I didn't have any reason for doing that. Although the roads in that area, and that friend, were both associated with plent of very unsafe driving in cars. So maybe that's why it seemed like a normal thing to do. Anyway, I lived. And now I can say that a poorly maintained stock kZ650 will do nearly 110 mph.

Agree with the 119 top end ...... I've seen 9,200 to 9,300 in the red more than a few times and with a one tooth larger rear sprocket (41T) and a slightly taller rear tire and that should work out right there with a little tack error figured in. (Back to a stock 42 tooth now). Also have hit 9,500 to 9,700 with a 15 tooth front sprocket and the formula says that's about the same. With the bore, bigger cam and smooth bores I expect a few more but have backed off at 9,000 the few times I've try'd since due to a front tire that needs replacing (and maybe head bearings) and crappy roads around here. Hope it wasn't old age fear..... for sure not me being smarter.

A nice cool day with a 5 mph tail wind makes a huge diff too, along with tuckin in ....... and any kind of head wind and all bets are off.

Yup, there is definitely something that takes over the youthful brain. One of my earliest bikes was a Kz400 and I refused to let up until that damn needle touched 100. Luckily a slight tail breeze let me close the throttle after a minute or so.

DOHC wrote: ... a poorly maintained stock kZ650...

I should also mention that I later bought this same bike and owned it for over 10 years. I eventually turned every bolt on that bike, so I know exactly what condition it was in on that first ride.