K1200S Top Speed

[Brown]

I got my bike up to about 150mph the other day on a wide open straight highway with no traffic on it. As i approached the 150mph mark, I felt a little something something that made me a bit nervous, so I slowly eased off the throttle.

I was not watching the RPM's as I was watching the road as much as possible and trying to go faster than I have ever been on a bike.

I'm wondering...has anybody seen the top speed on their stock K1200S and what was/is it?

In hind sight, I'm wondering if I felt the limiter kick in...making the top speed of the bike in the high 140's...

Anybody?

Thanks!

[SHIVA]

It's about 175MPH... and people hit it routinely on our forum. Actually on some roads around Bonneville a couple of our members red lined in 6th gear. You probably weren't in 6th gear... S

[Brown]

Cool. And thank for the quick reply...I just posted

I maybe wasn't in 6th...silly me if that's the case. I knew the top speed record was 176/178...but also saw they had a different muffler than the stock for that trial...I know little about bikes and wondered if that made a difference.

Anyway, that is super cool to know.

Thanks!

[SHIVA]

keep us posted next time you have the chance.. 150 is still pretty high... S

[Brown]

Will keep you posted. All I really have to say at this point is that I've wanted a BMW for 17 years now. My KS is a dream come true. I still smile every time I even see it parked in a parking lot. With this bike I have no desire to own a lamborghini...I have all the speed, handling, and looks I need out of a machine. This bike rocks.

[iehawk]

The K bikes are just sweet bikes.

There's a dude here... bad surfer I believe... hit 161mph on the salt on the KR. I don't think his bike is modified for the speed run. Read up his Boneville experience.

As for handling, I don't think the K bike will beat a Lamborghini... well maybe on the straight. But I know what you mean.

[jadoca]

Remus says 167 stock. That's totally stock, tire size and all.

Regards,

[spnorm]

I've had 180-odd out of mine, which equated to 167 on my Garmin and it was still accelerating before I backed off - didn't fancy jail time just to find out how fast a K1200S will max out at...

It now has 177 showing on the Garmin after my trip to France, but I don't remember maxing it out anywhere

[NAWOW]

Once or twice I've had about 270 Kph on the speedo and still pulling hard before having to back off. It was fully loaded with bags and all, and I was not in a full tuck or anything.

As we all know, speedo readings mean very little - but it was still pretty cool.

Somewhere I've read that the "real" top speed is about 280 kph (175 mph). Since my speedo runs out of numbers at 280, I guess the needle would be buried if you really tried.

[akazilla]

One night trying to outrun a storm I bumped the rev limiter in 3'rd, 4'th, and 5'th. The pavementgot very short at those speeds and there was no room to test the rev limiter in 6'th. There was however ample opportunity to test the ABS.
I got the bike into the garage and was taking my helmet off when the rain hit.

[Brown]

Do you all feel unsafe at those speeds?

I felt really good...really I don't think I trully felt unsafe in the moment...but I was a bit scared as my head has been filled my whole life with "motorcycles are so dangerous!"

I know it takes longer to slow at those speeds, and people don't realize how fast we are going at those speeds...but I see all these videos of people wizzing through traffic...to the untrained eye it looks crazy and dangerious...but all things considered, do you really think speeding like that is dangerous?

[NAWOW]

Hi Brown,

Personally, I don't feel unsafe. But each person's gotta make his/her own call on that question as it applies to them. Just because I feel fine at that speed doesn't mean that everyone should.

Here's my opinion: Motorcycles are dangerous. Motorcycles at 170 MPH are probably more dangerous than ones that are not. Public roads aren't the best place to be doing this sort of thing. If you're gonna ride like that, keep your skill levels up by spending some time (regularly) on the race track, wear good gear (head to toe), keep the bike in tip-top condition, and don't be antisocial.

Some other thoughts - do it on a piece of good road you know in daylight. One free of cars and animals (and cops ). Oh yeah, don't try it if you've had even one beer - the attitude change will get you in trouble every time! (Learned the hard way - twice!)

I'm sure that others will come up with more wisdom - or may simply tell you and everyone else within shouting distance that we're all a bunch of suicidal wackos.

As far as the bike is concerned, I think it's not bad at those high speeds, but I've ridden other bikes that felt more "planted" and gave a little more confidence.

David

[K1200S Pilot]

I just today got back from the ECTA September Maxton "Monster Mile" event. Standing start, one mile (then a .9 shut down area), electronic timing in the trap just before the one mile point. It's a paved surface on a closed runway on a airport. My first foray into the land speed racing world, and really just to see what I could do on my KS. Once I figured out how to shift without hitting the rev limiter each time it helped! My best speed was 168.397. I was in 6th gear, throttle pinned, RPM in the high 9K-10k range. I suspect it was still accelerating, but slowly. I ran two runs at 167.2 or so, and several slower at 165 and 163. Like I said, I'm new at this, but some things I learned--in a one mile course, shifting effectively when the bike likes it is real important. The bike was incredibly stable, felt like it was on rails. My speedometer was very accurate. While I didn't spend a lot of time looking at it, I did put some tape marks to index on quickly (I'm an old guy with reading glasses). On all my runs my speedo was indicating very close to what I ran.

Only mods to my KS are a Remus carbon fiber slip on, and a 190/55 on the rear. And ECTA is great! Super folks, well run, just a great fun crowd. Anyone who wants to run high speed legally, as safe as possible, and with a great crowd should look into it! And the time slips are great souvenirs....

regards to all

[NAWOW]

Pilot,

VERY cool!

I have never done anything organized like that. I have heard that getting max mph through the trap is not just a question of getting the throttle open and keeping it there. Those are some pretty impressive numbers you recorded! It seems like you were pretty good at it despite your lack of experience!

You should you consider posting the time sheets!

What were some of the other bikes running? (stock or near-stock)

David

[Rob Paulsen]

You know, it's interesting. I'm fortunate to have 2 fairly quick bikes; an '05 K12S and an'07 MV F41000R. I have to watch my speed on the K bike as it's just so effortless. I'm always looking down at the speedo and catching myself going 90-95 (luckily before the constable does). On the MV, I feel every imperfection in the road , so the speed is much more apparent. I've done 150+ on the BMW a few times and it's quite pleasant...oh, and excitng. But the MV's "only" been up to 125-130. A little scarier, but the sound is glorious! Totally different machines, both spectacular. The BMW's obviously the better all-rounder but the F4 keeps the boy-racer in me alive. It's like riding a 174hp scalpel.

[K1200S Pilot]

David,

It was one of four annual events ECTA runs, and at this one they hosted the 2nd annual Super StreetBike Magazine Shootout. Lots of very tricked out and highly modified Hayabusa's and ZX-14's showed up. Lots of runs over 200 MPH, I think primarily by the Hayabusa folks. By "lots of runs" I mean 20-30 each day were over that speed, and one class in the Super Streetbike shootout was won with a speed of 244.18. I believe a new Maxton record was set by a bike running 242.156. ECTA has a variety of classes, then runs them by engine size. They have a good website with the results already posted; ecta-lsr.com Many very impressive and fast bikes attended. Only two BMW's were there. Another guy had a Boxer 1150 he wanted to run with his bags on just to see what he could get (114 MPH!) then without and got 124 MPH.
regards,

Paul

[Quint]

I've had my K12S at just over 160 mph a couple of times. Once was on a very quiet highway from Pahrump to Las Vegas. I pinned it in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and then reached around 160 when I saw an "odd" looking SUV ahead. I decided discretion is the better part of valor, and it's a good thing I slowed down. It said, "LAW ENFORCEMENT" in large letters. I think it was NHP.

The second time was an undulating road from NV-95 to Nelson. This time, no suspicious looking vehicles. I sat on 160 for 2 - 3 miles before slowing down. A few observations:

- Directional stability of an F-15
- Very relaxed ride
- Confidence inspiring
- Eats miles real fast at that speed
- When you slow to 90 mph, it feels like you could get off and push!

It also has very, very good brakes.

[Dangerous D]

Ive had mine at 280 and there is plenty left, might get a chance soon to try for some more, It depends on your size/ weight, I can get 10mph more out of a mates gs than him .........

[kirill_igum]

top speed depends a lot on the altitude.

i had 02 k1200rs and at upstateNY it was going 143mph with sadle bags and tents on the back. (around 600ft i think)
in kansas with the same set-up 135mph (~5000ft)

topspeed in NY was 160mph and with a pasenger 150mph no saddlebags

[Maxx]

Mine does 284 kph indicated tomtom speed. But I only have done 1700 km in total so far. This should even get "better" after around 10000km, when the engine is perfectly broke in.

Of course I was wearing tight leather and was trying to get myself fold behind the screen.

[caratz]

You lucky you. You have the road to do right where you live. The Autobahn between Wiesbaden and Köln, though they have limited the interesting bits of it to 130 KPH.

It gets to be frustrating when you're doing high speeds and you get overtaken by the ICE though.

[NAWOW]

I once overtook the Thalys from Antwerp to Brussels. But soon after Brussels it passed me like I was standing still. And I was definitely NOT standing still!

[caratz]

Thalys is damn slow between Antwerp and Brussels, and it's not about to change... It actually uses the freight line, not the main one.

[NAWOW]

Yep. It's been "Even geduld, AUB" and "Veuillez patienter, SVP" for a long time...

Any idea when the new line goes into service? I think it's supposed to cut the Schiphol - Gare du Nord trip down to under 3 hours.

I'd be curious to see if that Ghostrider guy will try to beat it (if he's even still alive or not in jail!).

[caratz]

The underground connection through Antwerp Centraal is open since May. The line between the Dutch border and Antwerp is being worked on and should be ready by the middle of next year. I don't know about the Antwerp to Brussels Midi bit.