:-( and a bit of :-)

Dont worry about the big hp figures of some bikes.

Its the area under the curve that matters. And most of the latest high hp bikes are chasing big numbers for the marketing department at the expence of flexibility.

In 86 i had a 1100 EFE motor. 110bhp at the rear wheel stock. Peak power

8750rpm and 9000 red line. To pass a car meant open the throttle. Any gear and it pulled like a train - it just went! Smoked tyre at will off the throttle in 1st gear. Or wheelies if you were less vicious. Ideal for a car then - revs didnt matter much!. It made 130bhp with filters/rejet/pipe with no loss of mid or low end power.

I also had much experience of a bunch of different 1100 oil cooled bikes suzukis belonging to various friends/racers/customers. These all make between 115 and 125 stock. They were the next generation. Lighter engine build. Weaker but not much. Rev at peak power was 1000 to 1500 higher. Low down power and midrange was a fair bit less. To pass a car you needed to go down a gear to get it to "go".

Then came the water cooled suzuki 1100s The first one was claimed 154ps. Dunno what PS means but it did 136bhp rear wheel. But it was gutless low down. if following a car and a gap appeared you couldnt just blast past. Felt like an old 750... You had to stamp on the gear lever a few times to wake it up. Then it went but so had the overtake opertunity. That for me defeats the point of a big capacity sportsbike. You brake entering a corner, at the apex you want power, guess what... Gear lever time again even thoiugh you are in say third at 7000revs Marvelous! On an older engine (9000rev redline) you just crack the throttle and whoosh you are gone. This is getting even worse with the latest bunch of race reps. They are great on the track providing there isnt an unsuitable set of bends that leave you needing a gear you dont have. They ARE faster in race situations, partly due to less weight as well though. Weaker built engine wise to save weight, but hard work and because of the narrow power bands that searching for ever higher peak power figures causes less suited for a heavier vehicle. Riding modern 1000s etc is much like riding a 750 was ten years ago in so far as power delivery and lack of flexibility.

A lowly bandit engine (1100 oil cooled gsxr engine detuned and strangled by a tiny 600 airbox!) makes 83lb foot torque at 4k rpm!

OK I uploaded some torque and power curves photographed from my old dos dyno computer! 916, 1100 blackbird, blade etc. Remember when you look at these that the latest generation make a tiny bit more peak power but the torque curves are worse again... It does not matter if the bikes keep getting lighter so they get away with it. But it DOES matter in a heavier vehicle...

Excuse the crap photos... This software can be downloaded here - I / a freind wrote it many years ago before windows existed when I used to build automotive dynos...

For those that understand torque curves you will see why the old oil cooled suzuki engine is king of the drag strip, and ideal for car use! It clears off without any revs. Power from nowhere. The EFE engine was better still. And remember with a few mods (or a "full gsxr" 11 oil cooled motor) they have the top end to match.... And are cheaper and easier to tune too. And stronger.

To download and see for yourself. Many other bikes, It will run on 32bit windows, dos, but no 64bit that I use....

Yep - I get it. The older stuff you're referring to doesn't have the headline numbers, but it has a lot more down low and in a lot more places. Sounds like just the thing for me - a bit more forgiving.

Bandit 1200 or GSXR oil cooled then ?

Yep!