XF200 Highway.. should I bother?

[morph]

XF200 Highway.. should I bother?

I can buy a new XF delivered for $1390, I have found three dealers who will sell me one at this price. I currently own four scooters. Two Honda Helixs, a Silver-Wing 600cc and a Yamaha Morphous 250cc. I like the Helixs for around town but they are not very stable on the Highway.. The Silver-Wing uses too much gas.. The Morphous is almost perfect and will maintain 65-75mph and do it with extreme stability.

The only problem I have with all of my scooters is the feet forward seating position... which is fine, even comfortable for short trips but quickly becomes bothersome after just a few miles on the highway.

I want a more upright seating position along with great fuel millage and at $1390 this is something I'm considering... as long as it will maintain 65mph for 15 miles of highway riding.
Do you think this is a realistic speed to maintain? and will the bike feel stable at those speeds?

[david3921]

Morph, after I changed the pipe, jet, and sprockets I took mine on the highway to see how fast I could go. I was able to hit 70+ but had little left. It was stable but I didn't feel safe from the other traffic as I had no more juice to get me out of trouble if it came my way. With that said, I've taken it on other roads with 55 mph limits and can drive 60-65 mph all day as long as it's not too hilly. I get in the
90s for mpg with a combination of driving to work and some distance at the higher speeds. I only went up one jet size so the next size up (larger than a 125) with a pipe and sprocket change will get you there. I've also read that the front fender can act like a sail so a change there would help you also.

[culcune]

There was a guy who used to frequent this site by the nickname 'volksjagger' who had a blog based on his XF200 which he bought new in the San Diego area. He did modify it, I think one mod was a custom pipe offered by his dealer, JP Motorsports of San Diego, and other things, but he was riding his on the freeways around San Diego which are mostly posted at 65 mph. I don't know where you are writing from, morph, but if one could survive months of California urban freeway riding, you should have no problems.

[jape]

I have a kinlon RT200 which is also slow at the top end but gtes there quickly! I often complained for the same reasons as you, I didn't feel safe in traffic on the freeway. But I have got used to it. It will in fact go at 60 + mph all day but on mine, unmodified with knobbies and off-road setup, it is the rev limiter that stops any more. Others have tweaked the exhaust, inlet, sprockets and spark plugs on the same machine and one guy gets easily the speed you want and more. It is only 193cc after all.

So I reckon it is worth the bother, and probably worth the bother of modifying later. Unless of course you can actually afford a 400cc plus cruiser? You could always sell the Silverwing ...

A motorbike is much freer in handling than any scooter when it comes to safety, with fast braking, easy swerving etc. and is certainly better on rough roads and allows fun trips into the bush.

I now ride very differently, with lots of fluoro yellow and red added instead of the old black leather/black 'bike - and I really enjoy the slower ride, most if not all of the lack of safety was just my perception. A change from 'mean black outlaw' fantasy flashing along the middle of the road passing every caged fool with a roar of exhaust to a rider enjoying the journey, the feel and the view, whatever the weather. I do 15 mile trips every couple of days and I just cruise. I do choose to avoid 'rush hours'. Go for it.

[david3921]

Volksjagger bumped his jet up to 135 and was running up to 80 mph. He also burned a valve and had to have a new top end. It was covered by the warranty which was cool. I wouldn't recommend that high of a jump in a jet, though, nor that high of mph on a 199 cc bike.