first up a confession.......im not a dedicated "custom-bike-only" kinda guy..... i LOVE all types of bikes, ive owned just about every incarnation of 2-wheels thats ever been made, i love the engineering! i love the 'purposefull' sector that each bike can dominate in.....but mostly, i just love being an extremist!
therefore if i have a fast bike, i have to build a nitrous kit, or turbo-install......i have to race it, and get very competative.....conversly, with regards to my roadstar, my choice was simple.......must be huge! must sound 'right' must be air-cooled+tight configuration 'v' and must either look cool, or have 'potential' to look cool.......

now then, to the point.....
i find it interesting how much time/money/heartache a lot of you guys will withstand in order to get an extra couple of bhp from your steeds, or rather i find it a little baffling if im honest.... we all own similar bikes that weigh a ton! have very little power [concidering engine size] and have truly awfull aerodynamics!
in my heart of hearts i know that i only modify/tune in order to achieve "looks" and "sound"...... power/torque on these beasts is almost irrelivant ?
please dont be offended, its purely an observation....i guess at the end of the day, if it makes you happy [whatever it is] then its the right thing to do....
but, i'll leave you with this thought.....
ive seen guys [harley owners mostly] spend upwards of 20 thousand pounds [maybe 35000 dollars?] on performance mods alone....big-cube S&S motor, expensive sidewinder-zorst...massive coils....fancy ignition system/fueling system/.....beefy 6 speed G/box.....etc,etc and they still look like their going backwards when i overtake them on my gsxr.....
remeber, no offence intended, just interesting observations

none taken, everyone's entitled to their opinion even if it doesn't agree with MINE i look at it this way, most commedy clubs have a cover charge, we get entertained for free

Won't get flamed from me. I often wondered the same thing. It's a cruiser, not a rice rocket. I would rather spend the money on making it the ultimate cruiser. Low and slow. These bikes come with plenty of torque and HP. I can get it up in the triple digits soon enough for me.

now thats exactly what im trying to say......these things have plenty of 'grunt' for their purpose.......uless of course anyone is running billet-cases and fueled on nitro [which ive yet to see on this forum] then they are [as you said] "cruisers"....

Hey it is always a quest to go fast at some point. I agree that speeding all that money and a stock bike will whip you is funny. I also find it strange that building can lead to shorter engine life. What ever trips your trigger or live and let live no blood no foul.

I can see hopping it up a bit for more power, but yea if you really want to go fast...go get a hyabusa.

most bikes were built with a purpose,

makcap I love that scoot. Looks like electro fairing and lowers plus electro box on back . damn that looks good. And for half the price

Interesting thoughts slugger.

My $0.02 worth. It's all about EGO....boys toys.

...I've had my 1600 R* to top speed on 2 occasions, just a little over 160kph. Man this bike wouldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding, but hey it's not why I bought it. The possibilities to customise the R* are endless...just look at the pics on this clinic.

So to me it comes down to looks and riding style.

If it's real speed you want then go crutch rocket, or find another bike and/or engine.

ironman wrote:
none taken, everyone's entitled to their opinion even if it doesn't agree with MINE i look at it this way, most commedy clubs have a cover charge, we get entertained for free What Ironman said.

I mostly agree with what you all are saying. However, I don't think anyone hops up their Road Star thinking they'll have the fastest bike around. More likely they're looking for bragging rights to have the fastest Road Star around.

Remember the Chevy Sprint (forerunner to the Geo Metro)? They made a turbo version. Same principle as above. No way it would smoke a Vette, but would kick the ass of any other Sprint!