Effects of Extended Use At/Near Governed Top Speed

[Mel46]

Right. The PCX150, unmodified, is happy to run at 60 mph, but it WON'T be happy much beyond that. (I think mine reached its limiter at around 64 mph.) Modified, it can run at 75 mph. Mine can. Still, it is way too light to run at that speed for long. Crosswinds, trucks, fast moving traffic, and defects in the road can really affect the handling at that speed. I only use mine at that speed to keep up with traffic when going up inclines, like hill country, like the North Georgia mountains.

[Old Grinner]

I saw 60 MPH a few times on my PCX but had no desire to use it at those speeds. I just wanted to see if it would get there. It took a bit of time but succeeded.

Most of my riding was in that 35 MPH to 50 MPH range and the 2017 ran sweet until the day I traded it.

Long ago in my riding career a mechanic who catered to British iron told me that you can do more harm to an engine by lugging it than operating it at higher speeds. Of course he didn't mean riding red line all the time but just the fact that down low RPM under load can stress the crank, bearings, rods, pistons, rings, and cause undo wear on the cylinder walls.

[Coasting]

Just to throw in my 10c worth, my 2013/2014 PCX has spent a lot of time at full throttle (sometimes for several hours a day). It's currently going well and has accumulated around 42,000 miles. It's always had regular oil changes, but currently burns more oil than I'd like (I add 100ml about every couple of hundred miles), but it doesn't seem to be getting any worse, and it doesn't blow any blue smoke. What effect riding at WOT has had on that I have no idea. Oil consumption increases noticeably at full throttle (to the point where I carry extra oil if I'm doing a day trip to another city).

When I got it the limiter would kick in at just over 70 MPH on the speedo, but I know from comparing the speedo with a GPS that it overready by 10% - so it was only ever actually doing 63 MPH. Variator roller wear reduced the max indicated speed before the govenor kicked in by about 6 or 7 MPH (fixed with new rollers), but now the engine is a little bit tired and about the most it will do on the flat with no tail wind is about 64 MPH indicated (so about 57 MPH actual), although part of that may be due to the big fat b^stard riding it and/or the biggest top box I could buy behind me (highly recommended).

One other thing to keep in mind is that fuel consumption increases significantly at full throttle - I can get 140 miles + of city riding, but only about 95 miles out of a tank when going flat out.

So it's probably a judgement call in that if you're happy to ride it full tit for the occasions that you need it and you don't care if you eventually run it into the ground (keeping in mind that replacement cylinders, pistons, and associated components are dirt cheap) then I'd say "go for it". If you're wanting something for predominantly higher speed highway cruising then there are better tools available for the job. Be sure to visually inspect tyres before long runs at high speed.

Hope this helps.

[Old Scoot]

......What effect riding at WOT has had on that I have no idea. ......

What does "WOT" mean?

[Conelite]

......What effect riding at WOT has had on that I have no idea. ......

What does "WOT" mean?

Wide Open Throttle

[Old Scoot]

Thank you

[you you]

......What effect riding at WOT has had on that I have no idea. ......

What does "WOT" mean?

Wide Open Throttle

wot?

[grndslm]

I ride my 2013 PCX more than 40 miles round trip, every day... almost entirely at 65 to 70 mph. Have to tuck sometimes to get an extra 5 mph or so... But 70 mph is the going rate of speed on a 55 mph road. It's pretty awesome how I can prettymuch just keep the throttle wide open and simply sit up to slow down. Getting behind a truck going 74 mph will allow me to draft behind him, so I can maintain those same speeds. I average between 70 - 73 mpg at every fill-up.

There's almost to noise, vibrations, etc. for me at this speeds either. Bigger bikes seem to be rougher than this kitten.

[retry]

43k miles on the clock, everyday commute 35 ml a day 80% at top speed which is 60 mph 20% filtering traffic. started to drink oil after 20k every 2x full tanks need to top up from bottom to the top of measuring stick. Replaced piston/ piston rings/ cylinder block/ valve rubbers/ at 38k. After replacement no effect on oil consumption still the same, so just carry on using as normal topping oil up every 2x full fuel tanks. Replaced driving pulley with rollers probably at 20k without any reason Recently had to rebuild front forks. Every ±10k miles driven pulley bearings go bad-but thats known problem. Brake pads, tyres, belt as time comes . All the maintenance carried out by me. So far so good.

[Jge64]

I don’t have any problem running at WOT for hours, on a PCX. My problem was the way the bike behaved on the interstate, for me it was scary. I get blown around, I had absolutely no reserve power to get out of any situation that a truck might put me in. That’s why I traded up to a 300, a little bit more weight, and some reserve power.

[Mel46]

I love my PCX150, so I say this with love. If you feel the need to continually run at WOT get a bigger bike.

I modified mine so that it can run maxed out at 75 mph, but I won't run it at that for any length of time. The bike can handle it, but it is light. That means that it will be subject to crosswinds, big trucks, and bad roads with no reserve to get out of their way.

Yes, I have taken it on the freeways, but I limited my run to one or two exits down the road, and I seldom ventured beyond the "slow lane" for fear that my bike might become trapped in fast moving traffic... which has also happened... causing me to miss my exit.

In short, worry more about the danger to your life than the bike if you decide to ride it WOT alot on busy roads.

[Coasting]

43k miles on the clock, everyday commute 35 ml a day 80% at top speed which is 60 mph 20% filtering traffic. started to drink oil after 20k every 2x full tanks need to top up from bottom to the top of measuring stick. Replaced piston/ piston rings/ cylinder block/ valve rubbers/ at 38k. After replacement no effect on oil consumption still the same, so just carry on using as normal topping oil up every 2x full fuel tanks. Replaced driving pulley with rollers probably at 20k without any reason Recently had to rebuild front forks. Every ±10k miles driven pulley bearings go bad-but thats known problem. Brake pads, tyres, belt as time comes . All the maintenance carried out by me. So far so good.

Very interesting. I'm currently at 43k miles also. Bike has had regular oil changes at 1/2 the recommented interval since day 1 - and I typically add about 50ml after every tank full. Interestingly, I've found that the consumption isn't consistent - it'll burn 3 times as much if the majority of the tank is at WoT. It's spent a lot of it's early life at WoT - power is still good - no smoke - just need to check the oil 2 or 3 times a week.

Only just replaced drive faces - was getting belt squeal at low speed. I had to change the driven face right at the start due to the noise you mention - but it's been fine ever since.

[OldGuywhoTinkers]

I agree with about everything already said. I have noticed that a local shop down the street sells a ton of Chinese scooters. What most of those owners decided and agreed on, was to change their oil once a month. The dealer doesn't overcharge them for oil change. Now these are air cooled. In a hot place like my state, oil is stressed during the summer. Air cooled scooters could run their oil 50 degrees hotter than water cooled. But these Chinese scooters seem to hold up. OK, my Honda is water cooled, so oil and temperatures do a little better, but just to keep things simple I am using 2,000 mile oil changes, (with a little extra forgiveness if I am late changing it) Winter: 10 W 30, synthetic, after May, 10 W 40 synthetic. Severe conditions: Factory Honda Oil

[springer1]

.......Bike has had regular oil changes at 1/2 the recommented interval since day 1 .....

I do the same.

[grndslm]

43k miles on the clock, everyday commute 35 ml a day 80% at top speed which is 60 mph 20% filtering traffic. started to drink oil after 20k every 2x full tanks need to top up from bottom to the top of measuring stick. Replaced piston/ piston rings/ cylinder block/ valve rubbers/ at 38k. After replacement no effect on oil consumption still the same, so just carry on using as normal topping oil up every 2x full fuel tanks. Replaced driving pulley with rollers probably at 20k without any reason Recently had to rebuild front forks. Every ±10k miles driven pulley bearings go bad-but thats known problem. Brake pads, tyres, belt as time comes . All the maintenance carried out by me. So far so good.

Very interesting. I'm currently at 43k miles also. Bike has had regular oil changes at 1/2 the recommented interval since day 1 - and I typically add about 50ml after every tank full. Interestingly, I've found that the consumption isn't consistent - it'll burn 3 times as much if the majority of the tank is at WoT. It's spent a lot of it's early life at WoT - power is still good - no smoke - just need to check the oil 2 or 3 times a week.

Only just replaced drive faces - was getting belt squeal at low speed. I had to change the driven face right at the start due to the noise you mention - but it's been fine ever since.

You guys with 43k miles....

What kinda oil did you use? Synthetic? JASO MA rated?

[Coasting]

What kinda oil did you use? Synthetic? JASO MA rated?

MOTUL 5100 15W50 for me. Dealer recommended it. I didn't know it from a bar of soap initially so I did a bit of "Googling" and it seemed to be an quality/OK product.

Oil brands and types seem to be almost an alternate religion for many, but in practice so long as an appropriate viscocity is chosen I personally don't think it would make a huge difference to this engine. I could be wrong, but I suspect that more frequent changes are more important than brand.