Are Harley's fast?
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MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Jun 2002
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From: Connecticut
2003 CLK55
Are Harley's fast?
So I'm lined up at a light with some Harley Davidson. I have no clue which kind it is. They all look the same to me. I'm in the right lane (CLK55) and he's in the left, both going straight. Light turns green and I push the throttle about half way. He goes for it. His motor is screaming. Loud as hell, just like all those bikes. So I hammer it and he stays just behind my rear bumper until I catch a damn minivan in my lane which forces me to brake pretty hard. I'm not able to pull into the left lane because Harley dude is still at my bumper. Didn't feel like killing the dude literally. I have to give him credit....he tried like hell and kept up fairly well. So I'm guessing those things are somewhat fast. I have to assume he was WOT because that bike sounded like it was working hard. I'm just glad it wasn't some rice burner that would've smoked my ***.
Side note: Before this race I had some fun with a brand new (C6?) Z06. We were next to each other in a two lane road (Route 6) with heavy traffic all around us. Once a bit of an opening showed, I gassed it then he gassed it...holy crap! He could've eaten me for breakfast and lunch. I gave the thimbs up and so did he. Cool guy. He knew he had me. LOL
Side note: Before this race I had some fun with a brand new (C6?) Z06. We were next to each other in a two lane road (Route 6) with heavy traffic all around us. Once a bit of an opening showed, I gassed it then he gassed it...holy crap! He could've eaten me for breakfast and lunch. I gave the thimbs up and so did he. Cool guy. He knew he had me. LOL
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Joined: Jan 2007
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From: Northern Virginia
2006 C55 AMG, 2.8L Quattro, Softail Nostalgia 1550 (Stage III), Sporster (slammed)
Stock Harleys are not fast but almost none are stock. I have a 2005 Harley Softail Deluxe and have raced it at Maryland International Raceway with a few friends. Most of the Harleys you will come up against on the street are 88 cu.in. twin cam motors that have had a Stage 1 modification. That is new exhaust (not street legal), K&N air cleaner and a dealer re-flash for the computer (if they are fuel injected but most are these days). Almost all will be like this; very few are left stock because it is so easy and cheap to customize them and you get a lot of power for just a few bucks. As a Stage 1 they will run in the low 14's in the mid 90's. You will see plenty that are Stage 2 with a 95 cu.in. kit and cams. These bikes will run in the high 13's at close to 100. Then some will have head work or 98 cu.in. or 103 cu.in. or bigger jugs. That's about where my bike is: 95 cu.in. with ported heads and cams and a custom dyno-tuned computer map. These bikes will run low 13's to mid 12's depending on the displacement, heads and cams. Mine is a mild build, basic Harley cams and stock valves with some trick heads. I ran a 13.4 at 100. My buddies have similar builds with better cams and a few more cubes and they run 12.5 at 107. A bike like that might pull away from you below 100 but not afterwards. A few will be real crazy builds with 110 cu.in. or 114 with monster cams and real trick heads and custom pipes and they will run 10's and 11's. Your CLK55 should run around 13.1 at 108 so I could not hang on your bumper with my Stage 2. I would guess this was a Stage 2 bike that was pretty well built. Probably 98 cu.in. Revolution Performance cylinders (they are popular these days) or a factory 110 cu.in. Screamin' Eagle kit, definitely some custom ported heads, street cams and custom pipes. I bet he thought he was going to blow by you. I bet he was surprised!
Last edited by Drop-a-Daimler; Aug 25, 2007 at 10:49 AM.
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Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 1,323
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From: orange county NY
'05 C55(sold)'05 E55(sold)'06 911C4S(sold)'06 ML350 '06 CLS55(sold),buncha slo bikes
Stock Harleys are not fast but almost none are stock. I have a 2005 Harley Softail Deluxe and have raced it at Maryland International Raceway with a few friends. Most of the Harleys you will come up against on the street are 88 cu.in. twin cam motors that have had a Stage 1 modification. That is new exhaust (not street legal), K&N air cleaner and a dealer re-flash for the computer (if they are fuel injected but most are these days). Almost all will be like this; very few are left stock because it is so easy and cheap to customize them and you get a lot of power for just a few bucks. As a Stage 1 they will run in the low 14's in the mid 90's. You will see plenty that are Stage 2 with a 95 cu.in. kit and cams. These bikes will run in the high 13's at close to 100. Then some will have head work or 98 cu.in. or 103 cu.in. or bigger jugs. That's about where my bike is: 95 cu.in. with ported heads and cams and a custom dyno-tuned computer map. These bikes will run low 13's to mid 12's depending on the displacement, heads and cams. Mine is a mild build, basic Harley cams and stock valves with some trick heads. I ran a 13.4 at 100. My buddies have similar builds with better cams and a few more cubes and they run 12.5 at 107. A bike like that might pull away from you below 100 but not afterwards. A few will be real crazy builds with 110 cu.in. or 114 with monster cams and real trick heads and custom pipes and they will run 10's and 11's. Your CLK55 should run around 13.1 at 108 so I could not hang on your bumper with my Stage 2. I would guess this was a Stage 2 bike that was pretty well built. Probably 98 cu.in. Revolution Performance cylinders (they are popular these days) or a factory 110 cu.in. Screamin' Eagle kit, definitely some custom ported heads, street cams and custom pipes. I bet he thought he was going to blow by you. I bet he was surprised!
There are a few with huge stroker engines,124 c.i.&up that will run pretty quickly,but most likely they will blow up before the race is over lol
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From: Connecticut
2003 CLK55
