KZ1100 shaft-drive top speed?

I'm sure you guys have a forum more relevant for a question like this but I just didn't see it.

I recently sold off my TL1000S because my fiance needed college money and I was pretty well done with her anyway. To keep a ride in the stable i picked up a CX500 (I love vintage bikes). My only problem with this bike is that it's so wound up just going 70mph...there's room to speed up and pass folks but you have to work the bike to do it. Topping out at 105mph is ok...you seldom have reason to go that fast...but it feels like I'm riding a buzz saw. She's great for slow community commuting, just not ideal for the highway. if she weren't shaft driven, I'd be 100% in love with her (i love the engine).

Enter the KZ. My mother called me up and said she'd decided to get a bike of her own so I started looking for something suitable for her. Surprise surprise...there's a guy just up the road with a KZ1100 that'd look nice under me. So plan is to sell my CX off to my mother...after she's been on it for a couple seasons I'll help her onto something else...and then get the KZ1100 for me. Only problem is that this bike is shaft drive, too. I know the bigger bike is going to be tuned a bit more for the highway, but by how much? My CX is so wound up because the speed limit at the time was 55mph and this KZ is the same era.

Now I'm not a speed junky...I'm actually more of a slow junky. I just want something that's nice and calm while doing the highway bit but can get well into the triples if I get to feeling frisky on the long straight roads here in the panhandle.

Post edited by: makenzie71, at: 2007/06/11 19:53

The shaft is nice but it will not help or limit you speed. The CX500 was wound up because of the design of the engine. It is a twin and an odd one at that. The KZ1100 is an inline 4 which makes for a much smoother running engine. On the highway doing 75mph you would be pulling around 4300 rpm but will would still be very smooth. It is a heavier bike so it will fell more solid at speed. The KZ1000 shaft is a great bike for long distance travel. I say go for it and give your mom the Silverwing.

kawtoy wrote:

The shaft is nice but it will not help or limit you speed. The CX500 was wound up because of the design of the engine. It is a twin and an odd one at that. The KZ1100 is an inline 4 which makes for a much smoother running engine. On the highway doing 75mph you would be pulling around 4300 rpm but will would still be very smooth. It is a heavier bike so it will fell more solid at speed. The KZ1000 shaft is a great bike for long distance travel. I say go for it and give your mom the Silverwing.

It's not the design of the engine...it's the design of the gearbox and final drive. The CX500's engine is a very short stroke twin which means the engine loves hihgher RPM. It's a smooth engine all the way to the top. It's just geared for the days when the signs said 55mph was all you could do. It isn't a 'twin" thing...I came from a TL1000. I know what the "twin thing" is.

If 4300rpm = roughly 75mph, where would redline be? I want to make sure that 4300rpm isn't the majoraty of the engine's range.

Oh and CX500 is just CX500...the Silverwing is the GL500 and there's quite a bit of difference between the two bikes and motors.

i'ed suggest to get the 1100 reguardless, you'll enjoy the POWAH!

you can always stick a taller tire on it for more topend, it would take alot of work but you could convert it to chain drie if you have some extra cash burning a hole in your pocket.

Gotcha. I had a GL500 for a few weeks and didn't care for it. I am not a big fan of twins for any kind of long distance or high speed travels. I have a Triumph twin that is like riding a jack hammer but I just use it to cruise on the weekends. Redline on a 1100 starts around 9000 and goes to around 12000. These big engines can live in the redline and not be bothered one bit.

Different twins are great for different things. My TL was good for delivering 80ft/lbs and being monstrous. My CX has gobs and gobs and torque (for a 500) way down low where it can be used nicely. Twins are great engines and I absolutely love them...but I'm looking for something cheap and powerful enough to handle me and a pillion without much trouble (CX is lacking here, the TL was just uncomfortable for both of us).

Where do the valves float? Anyway, designed for under 9k is fine...that put top end around 150-160mph and that means that cruising on the highway in high gear will be smooth and mellow.

i'm looking forward to it.

I don't have the magazine test here, but I think the KZ1100 shaft had a top speed of around 125-130. Ought to be a great bike. Not trying to be a troll but the CX500 was not one of Honda's better bikes. Did anyone ever read that issue of Classic Motorcycle Mechanics when they were trying to fix up a CX500? Well to make a "long" story short, it was not an easy task. Honda seemed to have a lot of these problems in the 80s. I used to think, and really still do that they built a lot of bikes on paper and didn't do a lot of testing. Kind of a sell it first and see if it works second which many times was not a great thing for the buyer.

My KZ1100 speedo goes up to 80 (maybe 85, I forget exactly) but according to my portable GPS it's seen at least 98mph on the highway, and nowhere near redline.
80mph runs around 5-6k rpm. I can't tell exactly because my tach starts to go bezerk after around 5k.

It's a smooth ride and I haven't yet wished it had 'more power' in any range.

~A

I have no idea with the shaft drive but my chain drive 78 KZ-1000 scares me around 140 and has more to go if the driver was willing

Sheesh, if I don't pay any attention to my speedometer and just cruise at what feels comfortable, I end up cruising at 75-80 mph.

And that's on my 750 twin

Damn..that's some good speed for a 30 yr old bike.

i have had my zn1100 shaftie up to 120 before i backed down.
still had some rpm's left if i really wanted to push it.