"100 Hp limit"

I was talking to a few people in the government over here in Oz and they say that the EU are trying to restrict street bikes to 100hp. They know I've got the RC8 and the SD-R and know approximate Hp number on both of them. I wasn't overly concerned with the 100Hp limit.

Primarily because I've ridden some big naked bikes. 1300/1400/1800 cc bikes. They all have fook all Hp, but they all had big torque figures.

To the topic of my conversation....

If they did reduce the Hp to 100 tops and didn't limit torque; would you care? I wouldn't. It's been far too long for me since I last rode a big torque motorcycle. I'm thinking about selling the RC8 to get a big naked.

Shouldn't we be chasing torque instead of horsepower? That's where the fun is...

A 50cc scooter is resticted to 30mph and certain power output, however when was the last time you saw a kid on one pootling about? and not doing 40-50 everywhere? they whack an exhaust on an derestrict them, ultimately its unenforcable.

I want to know how this "anti tempering" malarkey is going to work for them.

I don't see that they could make maximum power legislation retrospective and, as Dan said its nigh on impossible to enforce without spending shed loads.

If the law changed, values of used bikes would rise and manufacturers would struggle to sell anything in the markets where they are strongest, it would be a nightmare for them.

You guys worry too much.

Like there wouldn't be work arounds for this - LOL. Yet another beauty of FI. Where the case in France, it hasn't prevented anyone from getting and applying ECU re-flashes or black box fixes.

Then again, you have that extra strata of pseudo-government (in this case a mammoth bureaucracy with no representation) that you seem to allow to dictate such things ... what will be next - outright sportbike ban? It's been put forward here (by insurance lobbies). In some countries, insurance rates take care of this problem anyway. E.g. in the US, insurance on a superbike (150+ HP litre) for a 19 y.o. is pretty much unaffordium. In Japan, there are huge jumps at certain displacement cutoffs. I prefer these private market solutions.

Regarding the OP's remarks on big torque: You can have pretty huge torque numbers, but they won't get you outright speed. Horsepower is needed for that. What I don't get is, why do governments care? Its not like these bikes, should they be operated at or near their maximum speeds, are lethal really to anyone but their riders. And if guys (and yes - its invariably guys) want to kill themselves by riding on public roads that way, I pretty much don't care.

Just another excuse for policy wonks to try and justify their existence. What's the point of this anyway.

Any 100hp sports style bike will be capable of 230-240 klicks. More than enough to turn a rider into a strawberry smear on the roadway if they screw up.

I think the old GP250 two strokes put out about 100hp. No one can say those things were slow, and certainly dangerous in inexperienced hands.

Just more unwanted and unwarranted government meddleing in our lives. Piss off and leave us alone.

Im all for it provided they go full on Atlas Shrugged. If i'm limited to 100hp then you're going to limit cars to 150hp, semi trailer weight limit to 10k lbs, and no one gets a fuel tank over 10 gallons.

hi all
fair shout AGRO
how many times have i come home early eve sun in eyes ,it a nightmare. can't see what all the fuss is about , as long as you are not wearing in dark , how many people in car with big sunglasses on thick frames , can't see a thing with them from sides ..
100 hp limit , stupid ,won't make anyone slow down more .
driver awareness is the thing that needs addressing end of the day .
as for loud exhausts ,less people walk out in front. cars hear you behind.only two weeks back some prick threw a drink can out the sun roof when i was behind at 60+ MPH, JUST MISSED ME.its not the fact he did not like motorcyclists , he did not use mirror. what a thing to do anyway ...
rant over .

Sorry to add cars to this conversation, but I recently bought a BMW 335d M Sport coupé and has 580 NM of torque. Just press the pedal and whoosh, its off like a scalded cat and along a twisty road will blitz the petrol equivalent 335i which has more hp but only 400NM of torque. Torque can be a lot more fun in the real world

HI AGRO
just had a look at my arai visor, em does say not shatterproof. i know its not shitproof as its coated in flys and something terrible has exploded right over my right eye area .
think they are illegal here in the uk .

What's the reason for a 100HP limit? No one gets hurt on sub-100 HP bikes? Sounds like a waste of time, energy, and money to me.

its all bollocks........... i remember reading there are around 17,000 cycling road accidents each year in the UK and more than 400 pedestrians killed on the roads, how much fooking HP have they got, maybe some of them were wearing sunglasses at night..........

The true menace on the roads and the real cause of most of this carnage is and will always be CARS

Hello

Ok just picked up 2006 SD in France
I need to know if it is possible to get rid of the 100 HP limit.
I am on assignment and may take the SD back home with me.
But really no need if I cannot get the rest of the ponies.

Thoughts ?

Thanks
Nitro

Comrade nitro450exp: I can only guess that the limit is implemented via the ECU. You could just change the ECU and/or adjust your current one with TuneECU. I suspect that swapping over the ECU to a UK/AUS/USA/EU-non France one might be the easiest. It just plugs in. I recently brought one plus a harness for a small amount of money.

As an after thought I should mention that if you get an ECU from elsewhere you might need to use TuneECU and a dyno to retune the ECU to match your setup and fuel.

Might look you up next time I'm in Paris you should have worked out the bars by then

As far as I know, use tuneecu to load the correct EU map for that year and it's all go. From memory French SD models only had another map in it.

Thanks Guy's

I have experience with the Aprilia Axone tuner.
Do you know what system KTM uses to flash the ECU ?

Thanks
Nitro

KTMGUY

OK thanks.
I was not sure if "Tuneecu" was a third party software or the factory interface.

I guess as long as the result is the same who cares.

The Axone is the Ape factory interface.

I will look and see what I can find about "tuneecu".

Anyone know someone in Paris or surrounding area who can hook me up ?

Thanks
Nitro