To keep the laughter to a minimum.

 

Yup, its pretty embarrasing.

That and they probably think that if you are buying a HD you dont really want to go that fast anyhow.

 

Slow and stylin homie!

 

A lot of the Managers in the MOCO's R&D Department once started out as aspiring new comedians until they discovered that the pay wasn't all that great. They know what's funny and what's not.

 

Not trying to defend HD but we all put way too much emphasis on horsepower. In reality it's a pretty useless number. The only reason we have horsepower as a unit of measure is because back in the 1700s, they wanted a way to compare the rate of work done by a steam engine to the rate of work done by horses (as steam engines were gradually replacing horses for a lot of work applications).

Anyway, torque is what you should really care about. Why? Because in any gear your bike will accelerate at a rate that exactly follows your bike's torque curve (minus a few resistance variables). When you accelerate, it's torque you feel not horsepower. Horsepower is nothing more than a mathmatically derived expression based on torque.

 

Horsepower on a cruiser is a pretty much useless number anyway. What we need to know is torque. Hp peaks in the upper end of the rpm range and I don't know about you guys but I don't to much red-line riding. Most of my touring is at part to mid throttle and under 5000 rpm. What I want on my bike is a torque that looks like the bald prairie flat and long. And over by about 5000 rpm. I want my bike to have 100 ft/lbs of torque from about 2000-5000 rpm. I don't care if it's got 50 hp.

 

That's true but....hp and rpm are what make acceleration and top speed so fun.

Liter bikes have near-miserable torque numbers but that horsepower and rpm is what enables 9-second 1/4 mile and 140mph+ trap speeds.

The higher number in the rpm range also dictates shift points and peak power.

 

As I've always understood it, being able to turn 9 sec 1/4 miles (and trap speeds) are a function of how fast the bike is able to accelerate over that distance. And, acceleration is a direct function of torque, not horsepower.

Acceleration = Force / Mass (torque being rotational force)

Maybe I have a misconception about the relationship of horsepower, torque, and acceleration. Maybe someone can clear this up for me?

 

Fair question and I'll give an example.

BMW S1000RR runs a 9.68 @ 150mph in one test. Horsepower is 193 at 13,000 rpm, Torque is about 83ft lbs @ 9,750 rpm. **** poor torque, huh?

If it was shifted at 9750 rpm, it wouldn't come anywhere near that ET and trap speed.

If it was given different gearing but only allowed to rev to 9750rpm, it wouldn't come close to it's top speed.

So although torque may be first measurable, the horsepower is also measurable on a dyno as well.

 

Don't think or worry about it-- just ride and enjoy the cruise....