My Rocket needs to be faster

[Laddy]

HELP ,hey guys ,I love my rocket ,its my second one and seems to run ok ,but last fall I met some friends to ride the Tail of the dragon in Tenn . My very good friend of many years was on his Harley Duce with a screaming eagle motor in it , and neither of us could believe that no matter what gear we rolled it on in we stayed side by side . we even trade bikes and tried it but always a dead heat . now he is unbearable about how his harley keeps up with me and he has even done some more work to it to make it faster.

I know I could turbo my rocket ,but I dont want to spend that much money , what can I do that will give me my best bang for my buck and put that Harley behind me where he belongs HAAAA !!!

Cheers Laddy

[cec59]

I'd spend some time learning how to ride my Rocket. No way even a 103 inch screaming eagle can stay with a Rocket. Sorry Mate, those are the facts.

[Laddy]

Sorry Charlie
No pun intended , but both my Harley riding buddy and I are expert riders .
rider error is not the issue. I can definatley make her Rock and Roll !!!!
Cheers Laddy

[Molinoman]

I'm with Charlie, should not have been a contest on a straight way. With the curves of the Dragon...I'll buy your argument, but out of the curves, the "scream'n eagle" should have been a scream'n duck.

Another way to look at it, if he is as fast as you are, just take satisfaction in knowing you spent a lot less and his air cooled engine isn't going to last long with that type of riding.
Dennis

[Pig9r]

Lady, do you by chance live in France or Germany where there are power limiting tunes in the Rockets?

I have handily beat a screaming eagle v-rod both from a stop and roll on. The only v-twin to stay within a bike length or two of me was a 117 ci Big Dog, but once I hit third gear the Rocket is pulling away fast.

Have you done any intake or exhaust mods? Tuneboy?

[vonbonds]

I don't own a Rocket anymore but when I did I would eat HD's all the time on my commute to work and down at the Dragon. I didn't have anything else other than a Tuneboy, PowerCommander, Offroad pipes and the cat-by-pass pipe. I didn't even get a custom tune for either the PCIII or Tuneboy.

I am not making fun of HD's by the way, not much they could do against the displacement of the Rocket.

[T-Rex]

Jenny Craig may have what you need to increase your speed? (Smile)
T-Rex

[RidinSunshine]

Jenny Craig... Now that one is funny . Although he did say they traded bikes and it was the same. Maybe he has too many tools in the saddlebags? Our mechanic told us that you lose a hp for every seven pounds.
Or perhaps his bike isn't tuned correct? I know mine will outrun any of the other Rockets I ride with. We were telling our mechanic about that along time ago and he gave us the seven pound information. And since I weigh anywhere from 80 pounds to 150 pounds lighter than my the other captains I ride with and I don't carry all of the tools in my saddle bags it sounded like a good reason to us. My bike is the only one that has the stock pipes, etc. But my honey has ridden mine at times and he gets off of it all smiles everytime. He says mine is just tuned differant than the others. Says mine is so much more fun to ride.

[Diego]

Originally Posted by RidinSunshine

Jenny Craig... Now that one is funny . Although he did say they traded bikes and it was the same. Maybe he has too many tools in the saddlebags? Our mechanic told us that you lose a hp for every seven pounds.

He may be a good mechanic, but he's not so good at physics. Horsepower cannot be equated with weight. Top speed is limited by horsepower, of course, but it takes no more horsepower to keep 200 pounds moving at a hundred miles an hour than it does 100 pounds--provided that the wind resistance is no greater, that is.

Tools in the saddlebags won't make a difference to top speed, but rider's girth can. That's because the bulk of the horsepower at top speed is being expended on moving air out of the way. Any increase in wind resistance requires more HP to maintain a given speed.

Weight is related to acceleration, however! It takes more power to get a heavy weight up to speed in a given amount of time than a lighter weight; or for the same power, it will take longer to accelerate the heavier weight. This relates to torque as well.

However, in the question at hand, the issue seems to be getting the advantage at full speed, not in acceleration. So I would conclude that it boils down to either attaining lower wind resistance, or else getting a few more HP out of the engine. Laddy, do you have any accessories that you could remove from the Rocket to try to decrease your wind profile?