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CTX700 Top Speed

74K views 80 replies 49 participants last post by  Alexandrid 
#1 ·
For you guys who already own the CTX700, have you tested the top speed limits of the bike? And if so, what are the numbers?
 
#4 ·
top speed is not as important as how long it takes to get there. I think the quarter mile figures when and if published will show this is a somewhat wimpy bike for acceleration. I have hit 75 in 4th gear with 2 gears left. I doubt I will ever try to see the top number. The risk of accident or ticket is too great to find out.


This motor and frame platform is really a small bike. Add the fact there is a lot of wind resistance in the design and top speed is harder to achieve. I had a VFR800. yes 100 more cc and it produced 109hp and red line was 11,500. Talk about top speed. It had plenty. Maybe 145+ but only once did I take it to 110 passing some cars quickly.
 
#44 ·
electric always more eff

Electric motors will always win for efficiancy...unless a cheap POS squirrel motor or something. True DC motors are verrry efficiant and effective , lots of torque. I understand the military ops, and cops want them to sneak up on their assailants.

Tesla (Nikola the real one) had an electric car ...far more eff. then henry fords but his car did'nt attract the girls hence his fallback to pigeons. The problem again with electric car was the portable power source.
HOWEVER, tesla solved the problem by TRANSMITTING power for free via attennas. Yes its true. Westinghouse did a discourse campaign and now we pay our utility bill through the nose.

The electric MC bike problem is having "light"batteries with high storage.
Also, when you brake typically the kinetic energy is utilized to charge the battery...albeit small. Not meant to be more than a commuter now...and look at all the energy SAVED by not producing LOUD noises otherwise trapped and converted to heat in your exhaust system. Don't see how you can compare...maybe power to weight:eek: ratio a better measure.
 
#5 ·
Top Speed

100, wide open throttle [WOT], comfortably away from redline. There is no more "there" there. The bike has no more to give.

As I wrote before: high upshift points in Sport Mode. Useful for highway onramps. Automatic mode EXTREMELY peppy around the city and local Freeways [Phx, AZ]; no real benefit to Sport mode around town, as plenty of pull away with WOT. Getting to 6th is important to fuel economy, pain and simple.

Gas fill ups showing, 62, 50, then 70 mpg. 800 miles thus far.

f
 
#10 ·
Im following your steps. I too have the PCX 150 (only has 40 miles so far on it), I am taking the Safety Course on 8-24 and 8-25. I plan to ride this bike at least until Feb., then look at getting on the CTX D. I am a new rider sitting on my learners right now. I hope to be able to 2 up with the wife some, and dont really see that happening on the 150. Keep me updated on your journey, since you are a few steps ahead. When you sell the 150, let me know how you did it and if it was easy to do. I guess better to sell than to trade (like cars). Thanks, and nice to meet you.:cool:
 
#7 ·
Hey ! I am new to posting here but a reply seemed fitting, as I
traded in my PCX 150 for the FIRST CTX 700 DCT to hit the area
on 7/27/2013
(got it ahead of the "release date" all the dealers told me was 8/8/2013)
picked it up and rode home in heavy rain !
still waiting for bags and tall windshield to come in
missing the storage I had with the pcx and the mpg
but the handling and power upgrade OMG it is incredible !
and the head turning... lets just say it definitely has the WOW factor covered !!!
 
#8 ·
Hey dbrown66. Seems like many PCX 150 owners have gravitated to the CTX for the logical move up. I still love my PCX which gives me about 107-115 mpg. I'm 56 yrs old and top speed is a cerebral figure only and really have no desire going there. I do love the passing ability of the CTX when at 65 mph going to 75 real easily. A bit noisy at higher speeds and find ear plugs real necessary when riding at those speeds. I have the short wind shield and am planning to put on the tall windshield thanks to cobraguy's post on the how to forum. Keep your PCX if you can. It is a real treat for commuting in town.
 
#12 ·

Man, txav8r, are you now in the dog house? I would sure be. You posted your wife's weight and that she speeds way over the speed limit here. At least You did leave off her age....lol

Just kidding, nice picture of the two of them together. Have fun riding.
 
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#13 ·
I had mine (a manual shifter) up to an indicated 86 on the Interstate with plenty of throttle left. The manual shifter has 5 extra horsepower and a little less weight so I'm sure 100 or better is there but I really care more about cruising speed. The engine seems to be comfortable going at any reasonable highway cruising speed thanks to the broad torque curve. No buzzing or vibration - just smooth power.
 
#14 ·
My new ctx700 top speed is 93. Gets there fast enough... fyi I'm not so interested in top speed although it will cruse at 85 at 4200 rpm, nowhere close to red line! Now get this: average mpg is 68!!! Best mpg is 70.38 ! I rigged this bike up to go out and wash windows and the gas savings pays my note... SAD to say I may have to quit and sell it soon due to degenerative disc disease... o well fun while it lasted...
 
#19 ·
My new ctx700 top speed is 93. Gets there fast enough... fyi I'm not so interested in top speed although it will cruse at 85 at 4200 rpm, nowhere close to red line! Now get this: average mpg is 68!!! Best mpg is 70.38 ! I rigged this bike up to go out and wash windows and the gas savings pays my note... SAD to say I may have to quit and sell it soon due to degenerative disc disease... o well fun while it lasted...

sorry to hear of your disc disease. Many old riders out there have aches and pains but ride as long as they can but the CTX has helped a few stretch that time out a little due to it's weight and easy riding DCT. Hang up your helmet when you have to. Memories of riding will be yours long after the bike is gone.
 
#16 ·
Mine goes only 75. I've not yet found a reason to ride above that speed even while passing or on the interstate, even in short bursts. I find that riding slightly below average traffic speed on the interstate is much less stressful. I rarely have to worry about making passes, and I'm not riding so slowly to create a hazard or pile up behind me.

On the other hand, my interstate riding is in a fairly rural area and is not the same as freeway riding in big cities where everyone travels 80+ and one creates a hazard if riding under 75. If I were riding in one of these urban settings, I would either not ride a MC, or I'd avoid the crazies on the interstate.
 
#50 ·
Really? I am NOT a speeder by any means but my Piaggio BV 250 goes at least 80 miles per hour. I accidentally got up that high and looked down and realized I was speeding.
It seems to me that the CTX should be able to go faster than 75. Sometimes you need that extra power in certain situations.
Normally, we avoid the freeways. thankfully we live in a beautiful area with some really nice winding back roads. When we do get on the freeways, we rarely change lanes.
 
#17 ·
New guy here but thought I'd chime in for some sort of reference. It's obvious that punching a hole in the air takes ALOT of power.

My '09 Rebel with 234cc's and a 15 tooth front sprocket will hit 72 mph and nothing more. It's not close to the little twin's redline but it has "nothing more to give" as stated up thread. The Rebel is rated at 16 HP I believe which is about 30 HP less than the CXT, yet the CXT's additional 436cc's and 30 HP only produce around 30 more MPH. Granted the CXT weighs more but I'm sure it has a more areodynamic shape than a Rebel.
 
#20 · (Edited)
NC700X competes in the Vetter Quail Challenge and gets a dismal 70.39 mpg (what's up with that!).

Check out the link. Look at the impressive numbers of the Zero electrics. Looks like to me that one of the Zero electrics (the one that finished the event) should have won the challenge, but they crowned Fred Hayes again. When I get a chance, I'm going to see how the electrics converted to mpg-equivalent, but I can see that they cost the least in fuel dollars than any other bike. For some reason they didn't convert the electrics from kw/h to mpg-e for us in the results table. I'm also going to read and find out why the Zero that finished the race didn't win!

2013 Craig Vetter Fuel Economy Challenge at the Quail Gathering of Motorcycles

Any way you look at it though, Fred Hayes and his diesels are impressive. He got about 149 mpg in a real-world test and even the regularly-fitted diesel motorcycle got 104 mpg! Ninja 250 was impressive as well, but I wander how close it is to really performing up to the required level of the test with respect to accelerating at highway speeds, maintaining 70+ on hills, etc.
 
#22 ·
I got some empty freeway and opened it up for a while. Tops out at 96MPH on the flat. I'm 5'10" 200lb on a CTX D fairing, bags, tall windshield, sitting up. Tucked behind the windshield going down hill I got to 106MPH. Still had a little throttle left but just won't go faster. My computer takes over and slows me down at 125 on my Vstrom and my Goldwing at 115.
 
#23 ·
Yeah, I rushed back to Sacramento from SF on Interstate 80, bouncing between 75-95MPH. It was the first time I REALLY opened her up on highway full bore. Quite frankly I was impressed at 6th gear acceleration! I had a VTX1800C before my CTX700, and while that bike was a monster, at only 500 pounds with DCT, I enjoyed the CTX over the VTX. It is easier to maneuver, for one thing. VERY HAPPY with CTX power range. She is no crotch rocket, but MORE THAN enough to best the cagers when necessary!
 
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#24 ·
Hi folks, I went the other way. I am coming off a Goldwing which my wife and I loved to tour on. But the wing is a beast in the city environment. The clutch aggravated my arthritis to no end. The CTX 700 DCT is a pleasure to ride in the city and suburbs.
I don't miss the power of the Wing, and my Touring days are pretty much over. Most of my riding is close to home and the CTX fits that bill perfectly. I can whip around town and still keep up on the interstate when necessary quite nicely. 60-75 mph is no problem.
I have the tall windscreen and one time tested the top end, which Max is about 90.
There is no more to give at full throttle and is not yet at redline.
The CTXDCT fits my riding extremely well.
 
#25 ·
I must be throttle heavy commuting, because I have owned a lot of bikes, and the CTX700ND feels faster from 75MPH to 95MPH than I thought possible. It's just a blast at that speed for me, and i am 6'1" and 260 pounds. Off the line beats all cars I have seen so far, and many many bikes. It's no racer, but even compared to my old VTX1800C with massive torque, my CTX700 feels like a missile vs that tug boat.

Maybe it's just me? I do average around 55MPG, sometimes 51, but that's heavy throttle in Sport mode.
 
#26 ·
top speed

Being an old fart havent taken past 80 mph yet... however
getting to high speed after 65 mph seems slow to me.
One thing i love about the ctx700 is the low end torque and it is fast off the line.... However interesting to see others saying fast response at
higher speeds which is not my experience esp. in sixth gear (od ?)

Lone Woof:rolleyes:
 
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#27 ·
Being an old fart havent taken past 80 mph yet... however
getting to high speed after 65 mph seems slow to me.
One thing i love about the ctx700 is the low end torque and it is fast off the line.... However interesting to see others saying fast response at
higher speeds which is not my experience esp. in sixth gear (od ?)

Lone Woof:rolleyes:
Riding in 6th is basically riding in Hyper overdrive. I'd say the CTX does pretty well considering you can pass anything on the road while still riding in 6th. If you really need the extra thrill, drop into 5th, twist the throttle and hang on. The alternative is a 5 spd. bike that gets about 40-43 mpg and needs premium fuel. Plenty of thrill and a whole lot more expensive to operate. Remember. this is a cruiser, not a sport bike!
 
#28 ·
5th gear

I hear ya regarding dropping into 5th gear... and rolling on...but to me still seems to drag. Grant it i bought ctx for the gas milage stats and certainly realize the bike is a cruiser. However does pretty well on the goat trail corners i have been encountering. I am no 'sport rider' by any means.
One peeve is the darn rev limiter cutting out at around 6500 rpms. Why honda show tach way above this if your going to rev limit it. Looks like honda has a tight
torque curve in 3-4K range.

I ride typically at 3000-4000- rpm except on highway where kick in overdrive. I was mulling over a triple vs the vtwin when looking for bike this go around. I heard triple more responsive. Triumph to release a 250-300cc economy triple next year... might be fun to bop around corners with. One thing about sport riders is have to spend fortune on tumble gear which is not cheap esp when being "stylish" and toting $300 riding boot.

Lone Woof
 
#30 ·
Got on the freeway last night, took her up to 90 mph when the gas tank lid popped open, has anyone had the same problem? I have the fairing model with Cee Baily windshield.
 
#33 ·
New 750's are faster

According to Honda's info at the European introductions of the new NC750's, they are 10mph faster on top end vs the 700 versions.

They already list the NC750 on Honda's Canadian website but not for the USA.

I want a CTX750!!!! Just enough extra power for my needs.

Pathfinder
 
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