How many hp do I need?
Discussion
Not been on 2 wheels since 2003 and now I want to commute to work on 2 wheels.
I rode for 20 years, lots of Lambrettas and Vespas, a FZR600, a Husky 410TE, VF1000F2 (loved that) and a Duke 750SS.
I dont much like anything modern or any kind of HD or retro thing.
I need narrow for working through traffic and I need to be able to overtake quickly and I dont want weight on my wrists (hated the FZR for that reason). It will need to live outside and cope with a lot of mud and water as we live rurally.
I'm a big lump.
I'm think Royal Enfield 450, but maybe not enough grunt.
Maybe a BMW R100.
Perhaps an old leaky British Twin.
Duke Monster.
I guess my question is how many hp do you need to be able to quickly overtake a car doing 30 to 40mph?
I rode for 20 years, lots of Lambrettas and Vespas, a FZR600, a Husky 410TE, VF1000F2 (loved that) and a Duke 750SS.
I dont much like anything modern or any kind of HD or retro thing.
I need narrow for working through traffic and I need to be able to overtake quickly and I dont want weight on my wrists (hated the FZR for that reason). It will need to live outside and cope with a lot of mud and water as we live rurally.
I'm a big lump.
I'm think Royal Enfield 450, but maybe not enough grunt.
Maybe a BMW R100.
Perhaps an old leaky British Twin.
Duke Monster.
I guess my question is how many hp do you need to be able to quickly overtake a car doing 30 to 40mph?
I'd say about 80-85 is really fine.
I have 200 and it's really not necessary
But reading your requirement again, just about any of those would be fine bhp wise. 80+ is good for fast road overtakes.
If commuting or storing outside, something narrow and Japanese.
I have 200 and it's really not necessary
But reading your requirement again, just about any of those would be fine bhp wise. 80+ is good for fast road overtakes.
If commuting or storing outside, something narrow and Japanese.
Edited by Mr Squarekins on Monday 5th May 17:11
You can do it with less but most of the "first big bikes" like the MT07, ER6N etc are twins with 70ish bhp
Most find them fast enough to be fun and efficient overtaking at normal road speeds
Would need more info like budget and what roads / distance you commute to suggest specific bikes
Most find them fast enough to be fun and efficient overtaking at normal road speeds
Would need more info like budget and what roads / distance you commute to suggest specific bikes
I dispatched in the 80s on various bikes in London but worked my way down in size and power to a Honda CB250RS with around 20bhp.
It's all you really need to be quicker than a car in traffic
Currently I ride a 65bhp Triumph Speed Twin. No one overtakes me in London traffic and it's far easier to ride in London than the 110bhp lighter Ducati that it replaced.
Before those it was a 20bhp Vespa 300, again the only things that overtook me, rarely, were bigger bikes.
It's all you really need to be quicker than a car in traffic
Currently I ride a 65bhp Triumph Speed Twin. No one overtakes me in London traffic and it's far easier to ride in London than the 110bhp lighter Ducati that it replaced.
Before those it was a 20bhp Vespa 300, again the only things that overtook me, rarely
, were bigger bikes.croyde said:
I dispatched in the 80s on various bikes in London but worked my way down in size and power to a Honda CB250RS with around 20bhp.
It's all you really need to be quicker than a car in traffic
Currently I ride a 65bhp Triumph Speed Twin. No one overtakes me in London traffic and it's far easier to ride in London than the 110bhp lighter Ducati that it replaced.
Before those it was a 20bhp Vespa 300, again the only things that overtook me, rarely, were bigger bikes.
We clearly ride on very different roads - google suggests a vespa 300 has a 0-60 of 12 seconds, I haven't had a car that slow for 30 yearsIt's all you really need to be quicker than a car in traffic
Currently I ride a 65bhp Triumph Speed Twin. No one overtakes me in London traffic and it's far easier to ride in London than the 110bhp lighter Ducati that it replaced.
Before those it was a 20bhp Vespa 300, again the only things that overtook me, rarely
, were bigger bikes.My old KTM 690 was a great bike in traffic being light and responsive, it does it sub 4 seconds
Most of the cars you're going to overtake won't be racing you.
They might do 10s to 60 on paper, in reality, people mostly shuffle away from the lights and change into 2nd at 10mph, rather than hitting the red line in 1st.
It's quite easy to keep up with most modern urban/suburban traffic in a Morris Minor.
The 1% of drivers who are giving it stick 5% of the time are an exception you need to be prepared for.
Being used to a 1000c bike, it is a bit of a game change to ride a 30HP bike, but you just need to always be in the right gear to make progress, where a 1000 will stomp away at 2500 RPM, with a 30HP bike you need to be where the power is, if you want anything like 30HP.
When I'm riding my trail bike, it's quick enough around 'town', but on a road where you can do 60, I don't assume I will be quicker than all the cars, car drivers who are prepared to push on a bit around blind gravelly corners etc, will be all over you.
If pushed to name a number, I'd hazard 60HP is where it starts to get easy to be quicker than 99% of cars without playing tunes on the gearbox.
They might do 10s to 60 on paper, in reality, people mostly shuffle away from the lights and change into 2nd at 10mph, rather than hitting the red line in 1st.
It's quite easy to keep up with most modern urban/suburban traffic in a Morris Minor.
The 1% of drivers who are giving it stick 5% of the time are an exception you need to be prepared for.
Being used to a 1000c bike, it is a bit of a game change to ride a 30HP bike, but you just need to always be in the right gear to make progress, where a 1000 will stomp away at 2500 RPM, with a 30HP bike you need to be where the power is, if you want anything like 30HP.
When I'm riding my trail bike, it's quick enough around 'town', but on a road where you can do 60, I don't assume I will be quicker than all the cars, car drivers who are prepared to push on a bit around blind gravelly corners etc, will be all over you.
If pushed to name a number, I'd hazard 60HP is where it starts to get easy to be quicker than 99% of cars without playing tunes on the gearbox.
How far is the commute and what is the mix of roads like as you said you lived rurally and it needed to handle mud are we talking some single track to get to the house or just crap on the roads? and budget?
For motorway work i think between 120 and 150 is a broad sweet spot ( i have 65 miles each way), id happily do it on more of course; as a lump myself on anything with less than that and I've always felt it like it could do with more i have a monster with 115 after an up map but that's a bit tiresome on longer jaunts and the bars feel wide when filtering . For in town you don't really need much more than half that, something with a shorter wheel base will get you through the traffic.
For motorway work i think between 120 and 150 is a broad sweet spot ( i have 65 miles each way), id happily do it on more of course; as a lump myself on anything with less than that and I've always felt it like it could do with more i have a monster with 115 after an up map but that's a bit tiresome on longer jaunts and the bars feel wide when filtering . For in town you don't really need much more than half that, something with a shorter wheel base will get you through the traffic.
Huntsman said:
.
I guess my question is how many hp do you need to be able to quickly overtake a car doing 30 to 40mph?
A 29 Bhp scooter will do that.I guess my question is how many hp do you need to be able to quickly overtake a car doing 30 to 40mph?
Not much so after 60mph though.
Upright, comfy riding position.
An ADV350 has Showa suspension front & rear.
Had one as my daily transport for three years.
Understand that most "bikers" wouldn't be seen dead on one though lol
I also had a 750 SS many moons ago, wish I'd held onto that one.
Edited by Trevor555 on Monday 5th May 18:01
Edited by Trevor555 on Monday 5th May 18:02
215 is of course the right answer…. https://www.autotrader.co.uk/bike-details/20250417...
My current bike has 60odd and is more than adequate for brisk overtakes, starts to run out of steam about 90mph though but if you are just commuting, won’t be needing to get to those speeds.
My current bike has 60odd and is more than adequate for brisk overtakes, starts to run out of steam about 90mph though but if you are just commuting, won’t be needing to get to those speeds.
Huntsman said:
To add a bit more, I'm on the Isle of Wight, its a 10 mile each way commute, mostly open single carriageway but the county town is half way and its a log jam I want to wiggle through.
The overtaking is on open roads, its mostly Hyundai i10's with ancient drivers dithering along.
Then I'd stick with 70 bhp ish if you want to enjoy riding which is the typical power for an average middleweight bike The overtaking is on open roads, its mostly Hyundai i10's with ancient drivers dithering along.
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