Bulldog on motorways - overreving or not?

[Martin_CZ]

Hello,

for this year I plan 2 vacations on my Bulldog; each of them will include at least one 1-day move through the German motorways.
So far I've found out that 130-140 km/h is OK for me even with the original windshield for long distances; the point is - doing 140 km/h means 5000 rpm. What are your experiences - is this still OK, or is that too much? The red area on the rpms counter is very, very close...
I know that the Bulldog goes more than 180 km/h, but 1 thing is to try it for a short time, other thing is to keep certain speed for a day.

Thanks in advance for your opinions,

Martin

[moppedwolf]

Hi Martin,
welcome here in the BOC-forum and welcome soon in germany.

Sometimes I have to ride on motorways with this speed for a longer distance and this is no problem for our V2, because there are no thermical problems.
Maybe your neck muscles will hurts after a while when you use the original windsreen.

But why you wanna take the motorways? Maybe you find the time to try the street through our nice landscapes?!! This is, in my opinion, the best way to take a trip through good old germany.

bye and have a nice trip!
Wolf

[Bully79]

Hi Martin,

to get straight to the point: I really cant´t imagine, that a speed of 140km/h will damage your motor

In our Bulldog operates a very robust "heart". By the way, this V2 engine worked already for a long, long time in yamaha´s "TR1", and this absolutely reliable!

In the past, I often rode longer distances with a speed between 140 until 150km/h. This speed range is really harmless... In addition much more tempo is not really comfortable because of the wind-pressure

The red corner on the rpms counter is not as close as it seems for you perhaps - there are adequate reserves!

I use our "German-Bulldog-Forum" greatly interested. To this day I haven´t heard about any bulldog engine blow-up´s!

It´s how I already said: With the Yamaha Bullgog you´re riding a very solid motorcycle. It´s safe to say that this was demonstrated a good many times long ago

Best regards

Frank

[Mick P]

Hi Martin

Me John W and a few others have done some long journeys from UK to Germany involving motorways with constant speed and had no problems with the Dogs

Regards Mick P

[Axman]

Hi Martin,

when I plan to travel long distances and haven´t got the time to ride on the byways, I take the Autobahn. Exactly for this I put a higher windscreen on the Bulldog (look at my Album) which minimizes the wind-pressure by a very considerable amount!! Even prolonged riding at 170 Km/h is no problem any more (although I always settle around 150 Km/h after a few hours )

The Bulldog takes all this in it´s stride without any problems at all (and it´s been doing this for the last five years and over 30.000 km´s !!) After all this time and Km´s not even the Valves have needed adjusting !!

So, don´t worry, just ride it..

greets from the Axman

[Martin_CZ]

Well, thanks for your opinions. And thanks twice as you have told me good news My worries were based on those known rumors like "never take the engine in higher revs if you want to keep a long lifetime", so it's probably not the case of the Bulldog.

The reason to use motorways is very clear - exactly as Axman wrote: there is not enough time to see all the countryside. On local roads I am able to make about 350 km per day (including all sightseeing, eating and so on), or about 550 km per day maximum with no extra stops except refueling. And for the 1st holiday I only have 6 days in which I plan to go from my town (100km east from Prague) to the area of Mainz-Koblenz, then have a look at those beautiful castles along Rhine, then I'll move to the museums in Speyer/Sinsheim (1day each) and another 600km back. No other way than motorway, unfortunately.

So normally I try to avoid motorways; but if I want to see something which is far away, I will "sacrifice" 1-2 days spent on motorway in order to gain more time spent on local roads in the distant areas. And that is one of reasons why I purchased the Bulldog You will not make much distance on a 350cc 20-horsepower motorcycle which I used before...

Martin

PS - having already 2 distant vacations is also the only reason why I will not go to this year's Bulldog meeting i

[Axman]

Hi Martin,

there is one more thing that I forgot : the Bulldog has a "speed-limiter" in 5th gear !!
When you reach approx. 180 Km/h the Bulldog won´t go faster - it feels like bumping into a cotton-wall This was done for emission-reasons.

As we here in Germany like to go a little faster (sometimes ) there is an easy cure for that - at least if your Bulldog is pre-2005 - you just have to cut one wire (the white one) leading from the speedo to the main plug under the seatpan and....tataaaa...no more 180 Km/h limit.

But without fairing its no fun riding at those speeds anyway...160Km/h will do nicely.

Have a nice trip...and should you run into problems..give me a call (for the No. look into Profil)

Cheers

from the Axman

[Lezanta]

Hi Axman,

"speed-limiter" in 5th gear? I didn't know about this.
Interesting; And what is the top speed after the cure?

Why i can't do the same to my 2005 Bulldog?

Regards Giorgos

[Axman]

Hi Giorgios,

the max. speed after snipping the white wire is approx. 195-200 Km/h at least on the speedo.
But believe me...these speeds are no fun without fairing..!

This won´t work on your 2005 Bulldog because it has totally different electronics (including the wiring for exhaust sensor, hazard flashers, alarm, different instrument cluster etc..)

so sorry

regards from the Axman

[Lezanta]

Hi Axman,

Well i am unlucky because you there know everything about pre-2005 bulldogs and i must make some experiments with mine to learn.
But its OK because i have allready learn a lot from this forum.

Thanks again and i wish you to have a great time at bulldog meeting!!

Ps: maybe anything new from the Krause about the kit. (you are my only contact).

Regards Giorgos

[WullDee]

Hello Giorgos,
(had to re-read the name three times - Georgios is more popular due to a lot of greek restaurants in Germany)

<...>
But without fairing its no fun riding at those speeds anyway...160Km/h will do nicely.
<...>

You aren't satisfied with the Bulldog's (RP052) speed?
I don't need more speed - you may only ride it on german Autobahns and as Axman said, it's not really fun.
Maybe you should think about buying another bike which is initially faster ?!?

[Lezanta]

Hi Wulldee,

What the RP052 is?
The speed is OK but if i could have a little more speed just for the time that it will be need it then why not?

I like my bulldog so much that even i had to buy an other bike to have major speeds i would keep my doggy!!!!!

Regards Giorgos

[Martin_CZ]

Hello Axman,

interesting information - speed limiter

I have a 03 model, that means lots of bumping in case I would like to try the max speed, but that's not why the Bulldog was built, right?

I'm quite fine with speeds up to 160kmh (on motorways), on local roads I keep 100-130. What's weird - I tried my friend's TransAlp with a really LARGE fairing. Having 130kmh on his bike, there was hardly any wind on my helmet and that was no fun for me - like in the car. How much I then appreciated the ride on my Bulldog with a lots of wind blowing that is what I like... I know when I am fast.

Thanks for the number, preferably I would only call for a coffee

Martin

[Axman]

Hi Martin

should your trip take you to this part of Germany (Menden is 20 K´s from Dortmund and right at the fringe of the "Sauerland" wich means : Lakes, Forrests and lots of curvy roads, perfect for Motorcycle-Tours) give me a ring and I´ll have a guest-room and coffee waiting ..

Greets

from the Axman