I haven't gotten much above 100mph. The bike starts to lose it umph at that speed. It still has a little room to extend above that but it isn't much. A 1200 starts to lose its hard acceleration around 90 or so.

 

I have a windshield and won't ride w/out it! When we cruise on the highway we roll at about 75/80....if we go any slower, they'll run us over. My nightster doesn't like to go slow (lots of temptation)! I've taken it up to almost 95 then realized...OH DAMN - if I get caught potential issues may include my insurance hitting the roof, possibly impound, jail time, serious injuries, etc. Got my reality check QUICK!

 

When I got my bike I took It to 90 without my quarter fairing,,
BTW that was my very first merge on the superslab in over 20 years,,
I looked over my shoulder mid ramp and rolled the power on.
when I got up top I was wondering why the traffic all slowed down, I was
way out front,,then I looked down at the speedo,,,92 mph,,,
Oh ****,,this Love affair was gonna be a long one,,
I had found the perfect bike for me XDXD
Didn't like the wind blast,,quarter fairing solved that.

The fork brace was a must have,,made the bike stable as hell above 60

That and setting proper "Sag" plus finding the right tire pressure
gave me a very stable ride,,been to 104 mph,,love it

10% rule on the Superslab for me,,as most police don't stop you down
here In florida unless your 10% or more above the speed limit.

My bike turns 3,500 rpm at 75 mph and that Is my sweet spot.
Roadsters Rawk XD

 

I'm new to HD's and thie sportster, used to ride a Goldwing and Kawasaki GPz's. Anyhow, the sporty feels nice around 80. I've taken it to 110 once just to see if she would do it. But really they feel best around 70 to 80, that's what we average on runs to San Deigo.

 

My 1200C cruses comfortably at 70 to 80mph on the interstate, but my 883L's comfort zone is 60 to 65 due to Hard Suspension, and the 883's are geared lower substantially raising Engine RPM's.

 

Yeah you 1200 riders wanna know how the 883 feels at 75 mph ?
Drop Into 4th gear and If ya got a tach take her to 4,200 rpms..
Cause thats where the 883 revs at 75.

4,200 rpms In 5th onna 1200 Is over 90 mph
The 1200's got lungs XD

The second chart below Is the 1200

 

ive taken my bike 105+ once or twice when the highway was empty. I'm a pretty big guy so i was surprised that it got there that quickly...It had more room to go but I pussed out and laid off..

 

Oh yeah I had lots of tach left,,104 ish Is tops for me when no body
is around. Things get real busy when the tach Is gettin close to 5,000
in Top gear.

"Pussin Out",,,nothing wrong with havin common sense,,smart rider you are XD

 

I think the moral of the story here is "it depends"

883 vs 1200...performance mods...windshield...fork brace...helmet...seat...and most importantly comfort level

I'm on a Forty-Eight that's pulling 78 HP/77.6 ft-lb and they come with a fork brace. I don't have a windshield but I wear a full face. Breaking 100 is not hard and I've taken it up to 115+ a few times. Usually I run out of road either from a turn or I couldn't see far enough for speed traps. We'll see how the new seat I'm getting changes things.

If you are forever comfortable cruising at those speeds then you will be much better off. I'd prefer if I didn't feel the need to go fast every once and a while.

 

My Sporty is pretty stable up to 105, I usually don't ride that fast. At that speed it still had plenty of power, I didn't trust the 39mm shocks at speeds much higher though. The bike's pretty comfortable at 70 and below. Windsheilds and full face helmets in the summer are for geezers. Build up the strength in your abdominal muscles and drop the hammer.