A lot of factors play into comfortable max cruise speed. Wind, road surface, ect.

Although I have pushed past 100mph on my Iron, I would say anything over 70-75 is not comfortable cruising for me.

 

I have run 80mph for a 20 mile stretch, no problem. I did not notice the vibration issue that others talk about. The bike did not appear to be having any problem at that speed in a strong head wind. I just set the throttle lock and laid on the tank.

If it were me, I would keep it under 65mph for the first 500 miles for the break in period. I seriously doubt you would hurt anything if you ran 80 but the dealership told me to keep it under 3500rpm if I could, so I did but did not have much open highway riding.

 

+1 on the post above. Break her in more when you're only at 500 miles.
Eventually you will find you can 'stretch' the gears for more power.
I had a '98 - 883 and what I'd do is accelerate as far as possible with each gear - ex: 4th I took up to 60-65mph - then kick it into 5th and she'd use that power to take me to 85+. That also depends on your load. I rode out to Sturgis this past summer LOADED down plus a major wind factor and topped out at 92mph (mileage went waaaay down tho- stopped for gas way too often). Unloaded would change the story.
That Sporty was a work horse! She always ran smooth not matter the speed.
ps/ I had no tach. I use my ears...

 

On every bike I ever owned, I beat the crap out of it as soon as it rolls off the dealers parking lot.
A hard break in is best, as long as you don't overheat the motor.
No getting stuck in traffic, no steady full throttle operation, seat the rings while they are wearing in and the pistons look like new after high miles.
Break a bike in easy like they say, and they run hot and scuff up the piston sides and have lots of blowby.

In 1986 I had a new 883, solid mounted motor, 4 speed trans, and used to keep the thing pegged and zip through heavy traffic. 95 north of Philadelphia all the way past center city was a blast, that was about 110 mph indicated, it did not seem uncomfortable and did not hurt the motor at all.
Lots of air flow, lots of oil flow, the motor is happy.

As far as hard use goes, people ride 250cc bikes like the TU250, the various dual sport bikes, and the micro ninja's at 70 mph plus full throttle for hours on the interstate, does not bother them at all....

 

An 883 will run at 80 mph + a lot longer than 99% of the riders can ride, with absolutely no damage to the motorcycle.

Bwana

 

wrong thread

 

120 mph

 

i have a 99 883 that seems most comfortable fanning the throttle to feel and sound topped out at 68-70 mph.Anything over that would seem harmfull to this bike.This is my first bike and have friends with hondas 750cc that run trips at 80mph.want to ride with them but this bike just doesn't feel right for the long ride at them speeds.The bike has 11,000 miles on it.Like I said,my first bike.I had the same question about cruising speed for my bike and how to get more speed at lower rpm.what about changing belt drive pulleys?I have lots of questions about horsepower mods without doing the 1200 transformation.what about hyper charger intakes?

 

Below is an RPM chart by gear for the 883.

You can change the front drive pulley to a 30 tooth for a lower highway cruise RPM .

The Hypercharger is junk, it's All Show and No Go

 

That's how I find my SuperLow. I have a qd windshield which makes holding a steady speed at 80+ easy. I also routinely use earplugs when on any other than short local trips -best tuning aid known to man and makes life at speed easy!