Topic: Highway Riding on a 500 / 550?

[Lostboy Steve]

I ride on the NJ Turnpike and other similar highways a lot. I havent taken my cb550 on it yet, because it seems like I am abusing the piss out of it at 65 or 70 mph. Should I not feel bad about this? A steady cruise at 6k or so on the tach? It just seems very abusive.

[Bodi]

It would be abusive to your Buell big twin engine but the Honda fours are very different. Plenty of 550s did tens of thousands of highway miles without complaining. The motor starts to work well at around 5000 rpm. Give 'er. You can change the sprockets to drop the highway revs a bit but you lose take-off grunt. Honda set the transmission gear steps to suit the stock final drive ratio and it works well, there's no excellent reason to change it for normal use.

[robvangulik]

On my 450cc. 400F I usually cruise around 90 mph, in our part of the world that's 140/150 km/h.
With my gearing that is ±8000revs, so 2000 revs left to play with.....

[Lostboy Steve]

Yeah I dont want to change stock gearing I love the way it feels the way it is. lol My Buell is 5k at 125mph with 2k left. lol

[LesterPiglet]

I've hammered my 550 for an hour or so at 100mph on a motorway, no problem. I usually cruise around 85. No idea what the revs are as I've never had a tach cable.

[dhall57]

Twisted, back in 1977 I bought near mint used 76 CB550 off the showroom floor.(Wish i had held on to it) Back than this bike wasn't considered to be a small bike for hwy use, but how times have changed. Today with some of the monster bikes out there today your 550 is look upon as a small bike. Even the CB750 isn't looked upon as a big bike anymore. But your 550 is still more than capable of handling the interstates in 2012. Being 20 years old when I had mine I kept it at the red line 90% of the time and it never complained one bit. So don't be afraid to tach it up

[wardenerd]

its safe but a 5 hour ride at interstate speed will beat your butt with bees.

[Rgconner]

its safe but a 5 hour ride at interstate speed will beat your butt with bees.

Fortunately the small tank means a forced break every hour to hour and half.

Keeping the carbs in Sync will help some, a smooth engine harbors less bees.

[754]

 A buddy and his woman toured a lot on theirs with all their camping gear.. I am talking BC to Ontario and weeks on the road..

 so yes it will do it.. Most motors have a sweet spot that feels right.. on a stock motor 750 it was 4300rpm I think..

[Rigid]

I actually prefer the 550 for solo riding up to 70 mph.  It is lighter, more responsive, and just more fun than my 750 or my Harley.  For in town, it is my 69 cm91 for riding on sidewalks if need be.

[crazypj]

Many years go I bimbled down to the south of France on mine, two up, mountain of luggage (girl liked to take a lot of stuff for 2 weeks camping )
Anyway, the Alps were a little hard work going up, the weight was a little much coming down (chasing a Swiss guy on a CB900 at 110+)
Over 2,000 miles wasn't a big deal.
Did about another 60~70,000 miles on it (see avatar  )

[Deltarider]

Use it! Just use it!
140 km/h @ 7000 rpm for a CB500 is an acceptable cruising speed. It was even recommended by my Honda dealer who rode a 500 himself. I've done it all day long on German Autobahns and was always rewarded with decarbonized combustionchambers which makes your bike much livelier. Mind you: piston speed @ 6000 is 10,1 m/sec only and @ 8000 still no more than 13,7m/sec. Ergo: lots of reserve.

[mjstone]

My CB500 has 48k on the clock and loves 6-7k.  I had no trouble keeping up with the rest of the guys in the Michigan leg of last years rally, this is with my full Vetter fairing and luggage packed with stuff and more strapped on as well.  We traveled allot at 60 to 80 mph.  I did almost 2200 miles on that trip.  The bike ran like a champ.  Don't sweat 6-7k on your tach, the bike will love it.

MJ

[Deltarider]

500 and 550s in the 70s were considered big bikes (and 750s superbikes). Nowadays you have lots of overweight bikes that a) you cannot upright yourself when fallen over, b) eat rear tires at an alarming rate if you use their power and c) never give you that responsive riding fun as if the bike is part of your body. Image is the market nowadays, practicality not so much anymore.
My advice for cruising speeds: find the rpm that your mirrors stop vibrating and become clear again. On a 500 you'll see this from 6000 rpm on. Then your motor is very happy indeed. With stock gearing 6000 equals 120 km/h exactly, 6500 = 130 km/h, 7000 = 140 km/h, 8000 = 160 km/h.

[SohRon]

This question reminds me of one asked constantly on the shooting forum I belong to: "Can I use black powder weapons for self defense?" Here it's, "Should these bikes actually be used on the highway?"

I'm curious about the relevant conundrum behind the question. Are you asking whether the bikes are capable of maintaining highway speeds, or you concerned with putting undue strain on your 30+ year old engine?

If it's the former, you have to realize that these motorcycles were designed to run this way, and millions of highway miles have been logged on them since their introduction in the '60s. I once rode a 1969 CL350 twin from Maine to Colorado averaging 80+ mph all the way. While it wasn't the most comfortable ride, it was certainly capable.

If the latter; man, these engines are bullet proof. If properly maintained and set up, they'll last forever. While I can't prove this because forever is... well... forever, suffice to say that 30+ years means nothing to them.

Keep the bike properly maintained and you have nothing to worry about. Enjoy the ride!

And, yes; black powder will kill you just as dead as any other form of gun powder. Think of a little thing we call the Civil War...

[crazypj]

It's a chunk of metal and plastic, just beat on it and don't worry
Most of the issues with old bikes (and new ones) stems from being afraid of 'hurting' it and treating so gently the oil doesn't get hot and things rust out before they wear out
It DON'T CARE, it has no feelings
 Use to redline or even out the other side and it wears out a bit quicker, no big deal, just replace worn parts (usually just rings and gaskets, unless you 'forget' to put oil in it)
Unless you fit a turbo, nitrous or supercharger and start drag racing, catastrophic failure is such a slim possibility it's not worth worrying about
I beat the hell out of mine for 100,000+ miles (up to 13,500 rpm, etc)
 The only issues I've seen with 550's are worn out second gear (bike only used around town and almost never got into 3rd in 20,000+ miles)
Even that was mainly rider error, banging through gears

[Bluto]

FWIW.........my 76 , original owner 550K is happiest when it hits 6K rpm's.  On the slab 6K - 7500 is just right speed wise (70-85 mph) and all the vibration just settles down...mirrors clear up etc.
You can feel / hear how happy these bikes are to run on up to the redline...I don't go past it much....but that's cause I'm old....when I was 17.....I thought the redline was where you started havin fun. 

Be careful out there..........

[shorty24]

I pretty much agree with what everyone else is saying here.  The bikes were built to run up at those higher rmps, and my 550 smooths out significantly above 6000.  There's just something special about the howl coming out of the stock exhaust at around 9000 rpm that gives me a stupid grin for the rest of the day.

[Sparked]

An old bike mechanic I know once told me that Honda's redline was not maximum engine speed, but maximum continuous engine speed. They were designed to be held at the redline all day long and not care. He even tested the theory on his 78 cx500.  It is a bike, built to be ridden hard.

Sent from my Atari

[Gordon]

There's just something special about the howl coming out of the stock exhaust at around 9000 rpm that gives me a stupid grin for the rest of the day.

+1

But when I'm on the 750 I try to keep the 9K rpm runs a little shorter.

[Magilla]

Now a days people are afraid of RPMs.  Years back everything ran higher at highway speeds.  Most cars had a 3speed auto transmission and most bikes had a 4speed.  In today's world of fuel economy we now have 8speed, yes EIGHT, transmissions. Of course these run lower RPMs on the highway.

It's built into our brains that highway speeds should equate to RPMs in the low 2000s but it's not true.  I too am guilty of this thought.  I have a Ford Maverick with a 351 bolted to a 4speed.  When on the highway I get ansy when I see the RPMs climb up near 4 grand.  Why?  I have no idea.  I could run at 5500 all day but yet I get weirded out.

Stupid fuel economy has us all screwed up.  I liked it better when gas was a buck a gallon and you drove what ever you owned, where ever you wanted.

[Lostboy Steve]

Great replies. Just to add after taking it down the highway on Saturday, I realized that I hated all the people doing 55-60 because the 550 wanted MORE. No matter how fast I cruised it wanted more. I didn't get it past 90mph though because there is something going on with my front wheel. Maybe not balanced correctly. It has a slight vibration between 65-70 and then smooths out.

[mono]

Sent from my Atari

^ HA!

-- and to make a contribution to the thread:  my 550 is much happier at 6K RPMs and still has lots of oomph.  i rarely go on the highway here, but that's because our roads are trash and the highways are full of soccer moms who aren't paying attention.

[Deltarider]

Stupid fuel economy has us all screwed up.  I liked it better when gas was a buck a gallon and you drove what ever you owned, where ever you wanted.

That's the home of the free all right... oversized toys at expense of the rest of the planet. Would you really like to see the Chinese, Brasilians and the people in India to commute with Hummers and other sponges on wheels? When I was in high school and the world economic system was still based on the agreements of Bretton Woods every teacher economics in Europe could demonstrate their pupils that the US could print as many dollars as they liked and that we in Europe were in fact financing their ridiculous cheap gaz. That's why French president De Gaulle and his minister of Finance Giscard d'Estaing at the time refused to keep dollars and consequently returned every dollar to the US to have it changed for gold.
If only other states had done the same. The US would never been able to finance hobbies like the Vietnam war. Read Exorbitant Privilige: the rise and fall of the dollar by Barry J. Eichengreen.

[TwoTired]

I ride on the NJ Turnpike and other similar highways a lot. I havent taken my cb550 on it yet, because it seems like I am abusing the piss out of it at 65 or 70 mph. Should I not feel bad about this? A steady cruise at 6k or so on the tach? It just seems very abusive.

What's abusive at that RPM is loud exhaust.
The engine?  Anything under red line is fair game.
Cruise at 85-90 mph  No problem for bike.  MAC muffler fatigues ME!  Stock type exhaust doesn't and I can keep the R's up around town for escape safety, without drawing cop attention, and "disturbing" other motorists.