The new ton

F

Frog

Been Around the Block
When I first started riding cracking the ton was a goal we all tried to achieve on our collection of various Jap 250's, early Sunday mornings most of us would be on the dual carriageway lying flat on the tank. The RD's were a little bit faster than the GT's, most of the 2 strokes cracked 90/95 but I don't think any of us reached the genuine ton despite claims to the contrary, until my mate bought himself one of the new X7's. When the RD250 LC came out the genuine ton had become achievable for a 250, I think they were supposed to do around 105/6mph. Once we moved on to bigger bikes cracking the ton lost it's magic, the question I have is do sports bike riders aspire to reaching 150, 180 or 200, or has nothing really replaced the magic ton?
P.S I finally cracked the ton on an early seventies CB500 four.
 
150's screaming on a 600. Most top out about 155.
185+ up there on a 1000.


I used to like to go fast. Then I got pulled over on the Courtney Campbell between Clearwater and Tampa doing 172 on my CBR. Luckily for me, the cop was surprised I even pulled over (I was 2 miles into a 12 mile bridge. Hard to outrun a radio). He talked to me about his R1 a little, told me that he could impound my bike, and tag me with a felony, then gave me a warning and followed me all the way home.
 
I would think that the ton still is the standard..... Modern sportbikes are a completely different animal. I mean....anyone who can gather enough cash up can go 170-200 on a Z1000. But can you make a medium-displacement Japanese bike do it?

Big difference, there.
Corsair
 
Japanese 250s ????

OK, think back to 1960 - forget 250's, 350's and most 500's - you'd be struggling to do a Ton on a factory 650.

THAT'S why the Ton was a magic figure then and had some relevance and a sense of achievement.

That's also why a lot of us went for the "underdog" bikes - the 80mph and 90mph flat out bikes. 350 and 500 triumph engines - Enfield bullets and the odd unfashionable Ariel and AJS / Matchboxes.

I guess today the goal would be - "DTTT" ???
 
For me, a relative 'young-un' at 29, the ton is still 100mph. I'm building a KZ400 this winter, which, when new wouldn't even do 100mph. Mine's got 28k on it now, and I'm sure it'll take some work to get to 100mph.

I'll be having a lot more fun than the kid who uses his credit card to buy a new 600 and cracks it open the first chance he sees, though. I'm a firm believer in "You have to learn to drive a slow car fast, before you can expect to drive a fast car fast". Same goes for bikes.
 
BLSully said:
For me, a relative 'young-un' at 29, the ton is still 100mph. I'm building a KZ400 this winter, which, when new wouldn't even do 100mph. Mine's got 28k on it now, and I'm sure it'll take some work to get to 100mph.

I'll be having a lot more fun than the kid who uses his credit card to buy a new 600 and cracks it open the first chance he sees, though. I'm a firm believer in "You have to learn to drive a slow car fast, before you can expect to drive a fast car fast". Same goes for bikes.
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That's the spirit young fella me lad.

It is STILL the challenge, but with more modern machinery, you have to be looking at sub 500cc [ in the main ] for anything that WON'T do the Ton off the showroom floor. That's where the sense of achievement comes in.
 
It was a challenge back then. Today you can buy 180+ off the showroom and it comes with a warranty! On the land speed racing scene there are a lot of Hayabusas. Jim Jensen, the chief SCTA starter, looks on them as "store bought horsepower". Not meant in a complimentary way. But if such machinery was available way back then we'd have been all over them like flies on ....
 
BLSully said:
For me, a relative 'young-un' at 29, the ton is still 100mph. I'm building a KZ400 this winter, which, when new wouldn't even do 100mph. Mine's got 28k on it now, and I'm sure it'll take some work to get to 100mph.

I'll be having a lot more fun than the kid who uses his credit card to buy a new 600 and cracks it open the first chance he sees, though.
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+1

I'm hoping my old 360 sees the ton this next summer.
 
BLSully said:
For me, a relative 'young-un' at 29, the ton is still 100mph. I'm building a KZ400 this winter, which, when new wouldn't even do 100mph. Mine's got 28k on it now, and I'm sure it'll take some work to get to 100mph.

I'll be having a lot more fun than the kid who uses his credit card to buy a new 600 and cracks it open the first chance he sees, though. I'm a firm believer in "You have to learn to drive a slow car fast, before you can expect to drive a fast car fast". Same goes for bikes.
Click to expand...

Im in the same boat as you bud. Im 28, and i get asked all the time "hey what bike should i buy". I usually tell them buy something old and fun. Where i live is all 30 and 40 mph speed limits, and the nearest "highway" (55mph Speed Limit) is a 25-30 minute ride away. They usually laugh at me and say "nah, im looking for like, a 600 or something". I totally love banging into 3rd gear on my CB450 and doing 55-60 mph...not 120-130 like a modern sport bike.
I wish more younguns like ourselves thought like this.
 
I just hit the ton on my 74 RD250 this summer and it damn near scared the shit outta me but I had fun all the way till the wobble started at about 105 then I backed off real quick. When the cop caught up, he couldn't 1 believe I was going that fast and 2 make out my plate from the smoking pipes. He told me to be safe and have fun and then drove off.
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I still won't ride a sport bike tho
 
I can't remember who said it (someone on HondaTwins, I think) but the basic gist was "It's a lot more fun to go WOT on a small bike than putter around at 1/4 throttle all the time on a big one".
 
Here's my "sportbike rider" point of view. I was born ('84) when, for example, the 84 CB750 was breaking ton stock. I currently have an SV650, which is pretty fast when compared to 30+ y/o bikes, but will get stomped by most modern superbikes. Every bike I've ridden has laughed at the ton mark (sorry, that sounded super douchey), but there is still the "mark" in my mind that the ton is where you are going fast, and anywhere beyond that mark is glorious.

But I still understand and savor the mystique of the ton not only when it comes to the 100 mph mark itself, but having a bike that can't reach it until you have pushed it beyond that limit. I admire the guys from that era (and the guys riding bikes from then), wrenching and modding there way to 101.
 
Hoofhearted said:
It was a challenge back then. Today you can buy 180+ off the showroom and it comes with a warranty! On the land speed racing scene there are a lot of Hayabusas. Jim Jensen, the chief SCTA starter, looks on them as "store bought horsepower". Not meant in a complimentary way. But if such machinery was available way back then we'd have been all over them like flies on ....
Click to expand...

and probably dead !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Another point to ponder - the general mass of vehicles [ cars or bikes ] was only capable of 70 -80 mph, so to reach the Ton was novelty for the general public.

Remember in the days of Stephenson's Rocket people thought the human body would explode if subjected to speeds of 30 mph + !!

As to the speed wobble at 105 ....... on the day of passing my bike test [ my 16th birthday ] I took my Father's old sprung hub T'bird out and ran it down a local C road - not much mpore than a track, but it was fairly steep and long. I was determined to do the magic Ton [ 1960 ]. As I passed 80mph the whole bike was shaking so much I couldn't see clearly. I kept the old girl wound up past 90 and still going.

Did I do the Ton ? Don't know - I couldn't see the speedo for the vibration! Probably, but it was an acheivement none the less.

By the mid 60's the Ton was almost commonplace - Bonnies and Goldies and the like would do a Ton off the showroom floor.

MY next challenge was to get the Ton [ on the road ] from my Triumph powered sidecar outfit.
 
I've wanted to start a similar thread for a while now but never got to it. I'm interested to see how many sport bike guys have made the switch to vintage bikes.
back in the 80s that magic number constantly changed for me. I kept wanting to go fast and faster and faster. It simply became a matter of how comfortable I became at speed. Bikes were becoming so smooth and that magic thrill number would just keep climbing. Something I should have been doing on a track. Stupid, stupid. What I found was myself in trouble enough times to being forced from riding. Hindsight it wasnt a magic number I was trying to hit but instead the adrenalin from speed.
Fast forward: Today I can get the same kind of thrill but now its riding a slow bike fast. This is way more fun for me than riding a fast bike slow. Toss in drum brakes, crappy handling, etc etc etc and I can get one heck of a kick and never be in danger of finding myself handcuffed sitting in the back of a cruiser. Don't get me wrong, I still like to jump on a dialed in bike once in awhile. Its an awesome feeling, but I don't think I'll ever go back. If I had a track near by you bet ya I'd be on it riding a fast bike fast
I expect this attitude to be not very popular
 
Was always on 600s or liters , then got bored and wanted faster but the smart side of the brain keep saying " Hey dumb ass your on the road not the track " So after some close calls went back to dirt ! But still had a need for the street and had a 86 SRX600 and loved that bike not fast mind you but ALOT of fun. So thought i would go the older bike way for the fun side not so much the fast side of riding . Now do i think my lil 500 XS will ton up maybe , maybe not but i know the fun to try will be fun in its self ! But that lil need for speed creeped in but thought why buy a R1 or 1000RR when i can get the same thing from say a 85 FJ1100 and still be a older bike . Love it when someone asks me why a FJ1100 and not a R1 or RR and i tell them well with a 125 HP at 9 grand R1s and RRs cant run to far from me and im riding a 20 + year out bike LOL
 
My first bike was a 2007 ZX6 that would break the ton in 3rd. Now I ride a Honda that's older than I am. So some of us are going "backwards" I guess.
 
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