How much horsepower do you REALLY need?

[gsxbarmy]

Interesting read
https://www.bennetts.co.uk/bikesocial/news-and-views/blog/how-much-horsepower-does-my-bike-use

[steve porter]

Funny about that, I was chasing a guy I know up a mountain road a few years back on my 851 which makes 105 RWHP and he was on the then latest 1198 Panigale with 170 Hp. Coming out of the corners the Panigale was not pulling away at all, we discussed this at the top and he said he was nailing it, which I knew he would have been and we put it down to the traction control limiting the power to all that was usable , for shits and giggles I got him to follow me and nail that sucker past when the road opened up and holy shit it was like mine was broken when the electronics allowed full power.

[KiwiCol]

An excellent read there Dave, thanks.

[Kiwifruit]

Steve....couple of years ago was at a track day and one of those 1198's was in our group. First full lap and it was sleeping in the middle of the track. Looked like he spun it out. Can you turn the electronic aids off on those things ?
Maybe just cold tyres.

[steve porter]

not really sure to be honest, I think you can dial more or less but don`t know if you can turn it off altogether

[T 24]

I don't really need more or less than 106 hp.

[Batkwaka]

I'm just going to go with, "Enough to get me into trouble and enough to get me out"!

[Eric GSX1400K3]

Wyatt Earp, Billy the Kid, Butch Cassidy, Sundance all only had one hp and are legends.

So its not how many  but how you use them....

[DP1400]

A brilliant read.

Makes me feel somewhat embarrassed that those families of 5 all riding on an old Honda 50 in Indria (plus shopping) are probably using more horsepower pro-rata, than I do on my `14, FFS!

[Hooli]

The answer is 'depends'.

I've got about half the HP in my Bonnie as my 14, the Bonnie is more fun too. I wouldn't want a half power 14 though, as they are a big fat lump to shift about.

My car needs more though, one day I'll tweak it for 400bhp as that's a nice number. Doesn't take much either, mostly a bigger bottom pulley.

[numbskull]

My car needs more though, one day I'll tweak it for 400bhp as that's a nice number. Doesn't take much either, mostly a bigger bottom pulley.

You in a hurry to get to the next traffic jam   

[Mick_J]

This might well explain why I prefer my 955 speed triple to the 1050 version.

[T 24]

At first, I had 106 hp. Then I made my turbo conversion.... I had 212.. and 243.. and more peak hp...
Until I understood that the wide torq band is all you need..
Now I have over 150 nm (I dont know how much, it doesn't matter) between 3000-9000 rpm..
106 hp is enough..

[Hooli]

My car needs more though, one day I'll tweak it for 400bhp as that's a nice number. Doesn't take much either, mostly a bigger bottom pulley.

You in a hurry to get to the next traffic jam   

You'd be surprised how many cars queuing for no reason it makes it possible to pass.

[VladTepes]

How much horsepower do we need?

All of it, of course.