How can you tell if your bike is still restricted?

--amadeus--

Now *this* has got to be an unusual question!

I have a 2002 Honda Varadero, 1000cc, bought from a reputable dealer a couple of months ago as my first bike. At the time I was told that it was the dealers personal bike when new but was sold by him and restricted (with cert) at that time. It was subsequently resold privately and then traded back to the original dealer. The restriction cert has been lost but he promised that if ever anyone asks for it he'll do me up a new one. I have no reason to doubt he's being honest - after all he could have charged me the guts of €400 to restrict it.

Now I am very much a novice and I ride carefully and pretty much within the limits all of the time but I had still expected to have bumped up against the restrictor by now but I haven't. The bike redlines at 8,500 and I've been up to close to that in the lower gears and haven't really noticed any drop off in power beyond the usual flattening you expect as you go past the peak. I was on a dual carriageway and was it cruised up to 70 with very little throttle and seemed to have plenty more available. And it goes from 30-60 in under a bus length

So other than going out and pinning the throttle in 5th and seeing what numbers show up how can I tell if the bike is restricted or if the kit has been removed by a previous owner? What point in the rev range should I expect to feel the restrictor? Does anyone have a Varadero and can tell me what speeds it normally does at given revs and gears (eg 7500 in 2nd or whatever). Is there a way I can visually check for the restrictor without taking the engine to pieces?

Thanks!

GBX

My Fazer redlines around 7500rpm ... It's restricted. I'd imagine yours is too if it redlines just past that.

KamiKazi

Can you get past 100MPH?

--amadeus--

The bike engine unrestricted has an indicated redline at 8500, I haven't pushed it to that yet. Next time I'm on an open road I'll drop a gear and see if it revs past 7500 and is still pulling.

100mph :eek: I did my IBT just over a month ago, I'm still tip-toeing! I'm off on a long run with a biker friend in a couple of weeks that will involve a long run on dual carriageways so I might try and open it up then, conditions and confidence permitting.

Alkers

On my SV650 restricted, in 3rd or 4th gear, I notice that if I have the throttle half open or pinned all the way, the end result is the same. This is the restrictor kicking in. Previously I had a hornet 250 and the difference between having the throttle half open and fully open was huge!

stratowide

--amadeus-- wrote: »

The bike engine unrestricted has an indicated redline at 8500, I haven't pushed it to that yet. Next time I'm on an open road I'll drop a gear and see if it revs past 7500 and is still pulling.

100mph :eek: I did my IBT just over a month ago, I'm still tip-toeing! I'm off on a long run with a biker friend in a couple of weeks that will involve a long run on dual carriageways so I might try and open it up then, conditions and confidence permitting.

Let your friend have a spin on it.If he's used to bikes he'll know fairly lively.

GBX

Yeah forgot to say, mine tops out at 100mph

BlackWizard

Probably safer to let a friend try it out. But if in first gear you find yourself hanging on for dear life or the front getting light when opening up full throttle then it might not be restricted.

After taking the restrictor off my GS500 I could feel a huge difference in first and second gear. It could almost do a wheelie if I wasn't careful. With the restrictor on that never happened.

I'm only riding a few months and I have to admit that an old 500cc bike unrestricted might be a bit too powerful for a novice like me. So an unrestricted 1000cc Varadero would probably be a scary thing for a novice.

gipi

You could get the bike dynoed, which should show the BHP output - that should confirm restriction or otherwise?

seanybiker

When your on the bike is your smile like
(A)
Or (B)

amacca

seanybiker wrote: »

When your on the bike is your smile like
(A)
Or (B)

or (C) :eek:

BlackWizard

amacca wrote: »

or (C) :eek:

That would so be me on a 1000cc bike!! It would produce more BHP than my car :eek:

Del2005

On my bike with the restrictor it would rev to about 5k then it struggled. One thing which really showed my the restriction was when a friend on a Fazer pulled out beside me from and a stop and I was moving. He still left me for dead even thought I was on full throttle.

Otherwise get your friend to take it for a spin and they should know quickly.

--amadeus--

Many thanks for all of the advice and suggestions - much appreciated.

I took the bike out for my daily commute today and I am still none the wiser... In 1st gear it needs next to nothing to pull away and get up to speed; literally a cm or so of throttle twist gets me away from the traffic. The day I collected the bike (and having stepped up from a 50cc twist & go!) I gave it socks in 1st and nearly fell off the back but that was probably just inexperience. I certainly wouldn't feel comfortable pinning the throttle and dropping the clutch... In 2nd and at a gap in traffic today I opened it up - maybe 1/2 throttle and took it up to about 7000rpm before I had to slow for cars and it seemed to pull evenly up to that. While the front of the bike didn't get ridiculously light she did squat down pretty hard.

I think the easiest way to tell (other than paying for it to be dyno'd) is to compare acceleration in 2/3rd at half throttle and full throttle but that'll have to wait till I get some open road - on my runs so far I've been able to pin the throttle maybe twice and even then just for brief periods.

So hopefully this weekend or next I'll get a chance to test it out, good excuse for a spin anyway.

Thanks again!

Del2005

--amadeus-- wrote: »

Many thanks for all of the advice and suggestions - much appreciated.

I took the bike out for my daily commute today and I am still none the wiser... In 1st gear it needs next to nothing to pull away and get up to speed; literally a cm or so of throttle twist gets me away from the traffic. The day I collected the bike (and having stepped up from a 50cc twist & go!) I gave it socks in 1st and nearly fell off the back but that was probably just inexperience. I certainly wouldn't feel comfortable pinning the throttle and dropping the clutch... In 2nd and at a gap in traffic today I opened it up - maybe 1/2 throttle and took it up to about 7000rpm before I had to slow for cars and it seemed to pull evenly up to that. While the front of the bike didn't get ridiculously light she did squat down pretty hard.

I think the easiest way to tell (other than paying for it to be dyno'd) is to compare acceleration in 2/3rd at half throttle and full throttle but that'll have to wait till I get some open road - on my runs so far I've been able to pin the throttle maybe twice and even then just for brief periods.

So hopefully this weekend or next I'll get a chance to test it out, good excuse for a spin anyway.

Thanks again!

The easiest way to tell is illegal, you need more then 33bhp to easily exceed 160km/h.

RosieJoe

Why not just ask the dealer to have a quick look at it, even take it for a spin. He'd tell you straight away if it was restricted or not.

keithm1

--amadeus-- wrote: »

Now *this* has got to be an unusual question!

I

So other than going out and pinning the throttle in 5th and seeing what numbers show up how can I tell if the bike is restricted or if the kit has been removed by a previous owner?

Thanks!

Twins wouldnt feel the restricter much down low with the amount of torque available ask a mate to let it rip for you and see what the top speed is

inchiuvatu

I can actually hear the restrictors in my bike, cbr600f4 has carb washers and diaphraghm stoppers (which look like plastic hola-hoops) and when i rev the bike anything past 2k revs you can hear them bouncing around in the carbs. a cheap plastic rattle sound which wasn'ts there the day before i had it restricted, its probably no help to you but thats what reminds me everytime i take off.. the 100mph is probably the only way of telling for certain withouth taking parts off the bike.

personally i would be straight into the dealer for the restirction cert and not wait until it's asker for.

GoodGuinness

When my 650 Twin was restricted I needed to drop a gear or two to quickly overtake a car travelling around 100kph. With the restriction removed a simple roll on the trottle in 6th and your out and away. If you find yourself having to play with the gears for a similar maneuver, I'd say she's restricted.

positron

I bought the Fazer unrestricted and drove it around for a few days before I could arrange the restriction. I didn't feel any difference post restriction to be honest - I did notice that the bike reaches it's limit around 150-160 kmph (100 mph), but other than that, I don't see any difference - plenty of power for normal pulling away or overtaking etc.