well first i bought my 900 last year and i love it.. no complains. i actually rode on the interstate today and to me it isnt that bad. i have aftermarket pipes so yeah its loud but its not gonna hurt the bike. the bike is made to be reved high. i have no problem runnin 80-85.

 

my 900 loves going fast, especially with the Scootworks front pulley.....

 

I've run mine for about 300 miles on the highway. No problems. Others have ridden thousands of miles on trips. The Custom might not be that comfortable for you, but no worries about the bike handling it.

 

The bike tops at 115 and I have had mind up to that. It does rev high after 70mph though but you have plenty of power left to spare.

 

It runs out of gumption around 85 in 5th however dropping it to 4th will get you up to 100 fairly quick. If I knew I was going to be spending as much time at 80 as I do I would have bought the 2000. But anything less the 900 is really a nice bike. Truthfully I just wish my roads to work were all 55 in stead of 65-60.

Still, I never fall behind in my group rides and any complaints of lack of speed are already in the range of over the speed limit. Biggest problem with the speed limit is when all the other traffic is doing 75, you better do it too.

 

I think it's fine on the highway....that's if you ride at safe speeds.

 

Mine does fine at 75 no problem, it loves the high way especially with the front pulley swap, and the MPG isn't bad either, I suppose if you are a big person 300 + there may be a issue, a biger bike would be in order, a 6 speed trans is all it lacks.

 

It feels a bit buzzy at 70-75 when you first buy it, but after a couple of oil changes (through the break-in period) it settles out. A front sprocket upgrade helps, but it will handle 70-75 with no worries.

As for over that speed, that's well outside of any speed limits, and I bought a cruiser, not a racer. I've heard from others that it handles 80+ just fine though.

 

It'll go anywhere a bigger cruiser will go but has to work a little harder. I've been on holidays with my LT and gone thousands of KM on it with no problems whatsoever. We go on many group rides and I've never fallen behind yet. Its a great midrange bike for the money and won't do you wrong.

 

I run round trip Baltimore-Syracuse for meetings and run 80+ with the traffic. No problems except it seems to rain for 6 hours in one of the legs of the trip.

 

I've done enough long highway trips on the custom, even running not stop through a tank of gas a couple times, and never had a problem with power or stamina. That's with no pulley mods or oversized tires.

Big tip #1; Convince yourself right now that the 900 will NEVER sound like a big twin! Rev her up and you'll find it has plenty of power.

 

The 900 will run 90 all day with 2 people (roughly 400bs). Like odinseye said remember it's not a big twin so it's going to rev. Do yourself a favor get the scootworks pulley before you ride out the dealer. Or make millions and figure out how to mass produce a 6 speed tranny for it.

 

I made a round trip from El Paso to Ft. Worth, 10-11 hrs rarely under 70, only stopping for fuel, over 100 between Pecos & I-20/I-10 interchange on the way back.......except for a minor disagreement w/ a large grasshopper to the chest @ 105, the ride was great!!!!!!!!:mrgreen:

 

First of all I suspect that all who posted used indicated speeds..... This speedo is off by 10% so you are actually going much slower than indicated. (IE at 78 Indicated you are actually only going 70 MPH actual)

With that being said....it is buzzy above 70 indicated.... at 85 indicated(which for my taste is normal freeway speeds, 75 actual) it is very buzzy but it still has power, it handles it well and you will have no worries.

My wife has the 900 in our family... she has put on 25,000 miles on it in two years. Most on long trips and at higher speeds (there was this time in Birmingham at 103 indicated ).

Relax, enjoy, and just twist the throttle.

But to each his own.

R. Todd

 

First of all I suspect that all who posted used indicated speeds..... This speedo is off by 10% so you are actually going much slower than indicated. (IE at 78 Indicated you are actually only going 70 MPH actual)

With that being said....it is buzzy above 70 indicated.... at 85 indicated(which for my taste is normal freeway speeds, 75 actual) it is very buzzy but it still has power, it handles it well and you will have no worries.

My wife has the 900 in our family... she has put on 25,000 miles on it in two years. Most on long trips and at higher speeds (there was this time in Birmingham at 103 indicated ).

Relax, enjoy, and just twist the throttle.

But to each his own.

R. Todd

Gotta agree here. It does get buzzy when doing about 75 actual...but unless you plan to be on the interstate a LOT...it isn't a big deal. Doing it every day for extended periods...you'll eventually want something smoother. But regardless, its not the bike that will have any issues with the speed...its your tolerance of that buzzing...the bike will handle it perfectly fine.

 

I'm guessing, but close. I think I put about 50-60 hours on the interstate averaging about 75 mph (more like 82 on the speedo) on my '06 900LT. Never had a moment's problem, still had power to pass if necessary (and it is necessary). You definitely have to be able to run with the current traffic, and that changes by the minute.

I traded it in last month, but still believe it is a great bike.

 

I don't necessarily agree with those who say the 900 gets buzzy above 70. But i can tell you the bike love to run on and on for hours on end. It is not uncommon for my brother and I to run all day long only stopping for fuel and waters. I have put 26000 miles on mine in just over 15 months most on them above 70 and never feels like it straining to be there.

 

Mine does fine at 75 no problem, it loves the high way especially with the front pulley swap, and the MPG isn't bad either, I suppose if you are a big person 300 + there may be a issue, a biger bike would be in order, a 6 speed trans is all it lacks.

I'm 6', 290lbs, and my 900c does wonderfully at 75+ actual (thanks, gps). I ride 100 miles a day on California highway, 2000 miles a month, at or above the speed limit. I dont have any problems to report, other than after 3 years of riding my 900c, I still catch myself trying to shift to 6th

 

More of the same here, 900 Classic with BAK/scootwks pulley can cruise 80mph GPS all day long, no vibrations. Two summers ago ran with a VN1600 for 300 miles down I-90 in Mt. in 100+ degrees at 80 GPS....no issues. If you want another 6-7 more HP than I have on my bike add 2-1 pipes and an EFI.

You might want to check out the street bikes for sale on this forum. Good deals to be had.

 

Lots of people seem to forget that not so long a go a 900 was consider a huge/monster bike. Thousands traveled all over this country on 500's or 600's, and still do.

 

Where does anyone get the idea that the 900 would have "trouble" on the open road? Hell, my 400 cc scooter can handle the Interstates (I-95, I-87, Garden State Parkway, etc) with ease.

 

Where does anyone get the idea that the 900 would have "trouble" on the open road? Hell, my 400 cc scooter can handle the Interstates (I-95, I-87, Garden State Parkway, etc) with ease.

Handling it, and doing it with ease and comfort are 2 different things. Running a smaller bike down the interstate at 80 for 8 hours is certainly possible, but it's not going to be as easy as a bigger bike.

 

Handling it, and doing it with ease and comfort are 2 different things. Running a smaller bike down the interstate at 80 for 8 hours is certainly possible, but it's not going to be as easy as a bigger bike.

True........ but "ease and comfort" is in the back and butt of the rider/ passenger... You can probably find some Goldwing owners that can't hack more than a couple of hours at a time. Best case but almost impossible would be if you could test ride all the bikes you like for an extended period ..

 

not to long ago HD powered thier flagship Electraglide with a 1200 cc enging, they did this for alot of years and them bikes weighed almost double what a 900 weighs, back then a 750cc metric bike was considered big.

im not sure what happened but its kind of like computers, we feel we need a 3ghz processor and 4gb of memory to surf the web.

not sure about anyone else s 900 but my 900LT with me and the wife fully loaded with gear for the weekend can run with traffic( 75-80mph) all day and still have available roll on power without downshifting to 4th.

up and over the PA mountains 2 up with no problems also

im old school i think the 900 is a big motor and the 2000 is a monster motor

Americans need to get back to basics, why do we need bikes that get less fuel mileage then my Chevrolet cavalier (which is powered by a 2.0L or 2000 cc engine)

 

not to long ago HD powered thier flagship Electraglide with a 1200 cc enging, they did this wor alot of years and them bikes weighed almost double what a 900 weighs, back then a 750cc metric bike was considered big.

im not sure what happened but its kind of like computers, we feel we need a 3ghz processor and 4gb of memory to surf the web.

not sure about anyone else s 900 but my 900LT with me and the wife fully loaded with gear for the weekend can run with traffic( 75-80mph) all day and still have available roll on power without downshifting to 4th.

up and over the PA mountains 2 up with no problems also

im old school i think the 900 is a big motor and the 2000 is a monster motor

Americans need to get back to basics, why do we need bikes that get less fuel mileage then my Chevrolet cavalier (which is powered by a 2.0L or 2000 cc engine)

You are absolutley correct sir.