What is the "Sweet Spot" for Horsepower on a Motorcycle?

I’ve been riding for 36 years on all kinds of different motorcycles. I recently purchased a 2024 Yamaha XSR 900 at the age of 49. I found this motorcycle to be very satisfying and entertaining. This Yamaha triple has the power and torque where you need it on the street. It’s light, nimble, sounds good and it’s comfortable.

I have a 2018 Triumph Street Triple R. It's about 400 pounds and about 115 HP! Love it! At age 72, I love that I can ride at a range of levels.

It’s like the old adage; “It’s more fun to ride a slow bike fast, than a fast bike slow.” my current motorcycle has 150 hp and I’m constantly having to reign myself in. It’s too easy to go way too fast. Thank you for promoting the sport of motorcycling by educating new riders.

Z900, perfect right in the middle. You can ride it to work, you can chill on a group ride, you can open it up on the freeway with the liter guys (if theyre nice and let you keep up) you can do wheelies. Love mine.

My “sweet spot” is the bike I can afford😪(I don’t have a bike yet)

I got an XSR900 for my first street bike. I do have experience racing cars and riding dirt bikes, but this bike still feels pretty dang quick. It is an absolute blast to rip through the gears up to about 100 mph or so. Lots of shifting gears, comfortable, and it looks pretty sweet, too. I'm happy.

A big thing to consider is the elevation you ride at. I ride from 6,000 to 12,000 feet and the difference in power from sea level to 12,000 feet is 30%, it makes your mt09 closer in power to a mt07.

This is why the guy who has ridden forever on his 400 smokes everyone at track days. He can take it near the limits over and over again. Most people cannot handle anywhere near the limits of the top end liter bikes…

Here in Thailand, my daily rider is a 125cc Honda Wave with 10hp and that is used 90% of the time. When I feel I need something spicier, I go with my 155cc Yamaha "Exciter" with 18hp. When I need to answer the call of the wild, I go with my very spicy Triumph Street Triple 765 RS with 128hp. Each bike fills a sweet spot for me and suits its purpose just fine. I believe mastering a small bike first is the way to go, and that will better prepare you to make use of the full potential of a bigger bike. Even though I've owned liter superbikes with more hp in the past, 128hp is more than enough for any kind of road use I'll ever do.

Still being on my starter bike - An Bonnie T100 865 EFI with 60-ish horses - I've come to a conclusion, that +100 horses will take away playing with the gears... Some liter bikes can cause one to loose the licence... In first gear... On the highway... All the bikes I'm dreaming of (Honda CBX (the 6 cyl), Honda Bal'dor, Thiumph Daytona 675, Triumph Speed Twin and more) all are 70-120 horses - Not picked by numbers...

I have a 2023 MT09SP as well, I absolutely love it. My Aprilia RSVR hurt my back and wrists. Don't kid yourself the MT would take the Aprilia to 100mph.

Middleweights are the best all rounders to me. Your Mt09, my Z900Rs, they're very similar in delivery of power. To a seasoned wrist, middleweights can be spicy enough if you press them a bit but also forgiving enough that a small mistake doesn't become a big one. It's nice to have solid launches and smooth cruisin without having to either go full send on a smaller bike or 600 4 banger or wrestle with a bigger bike. Took going through 7 bikes to find that magic zone and realize what gets the endorphins going.

I rode my friend's first bike home for her recently. It was a 2008 Honda Rebel 250. I had fun riding the little bike and it did fine on the highway. I haven't ridden an old style Rebel since high school so it was a bit nostalgic.

My 2024 Street Triple 765 RS is great. I can ride around with traction control and abs off without getting too out of hand. Plus I can give it all the throttle most of the time without ever looping it. It’s 128hp according to the brochure.

Just went from a Ninja 500 to a new S1000rr. It is complete overkill but I like having the power on deck if I need it. In AZ if you're not doing 85-90mph on the highways, you get ran off the road by overzealous dodge ram drivers and the 500 was almost redline at those speeds. The best bike is the one that puts a smile on your face whenever you ride however!

I just bought a CBR650R (2023 version) a few weeks back and I’m loving it. The speed limits where I’m at are at most 90km/h (under 60mph) so there’s hardly any point in getting anything bigger. It’s more than fast enough for the highways, I’ve been the first one off traffic lights every time too. That said, I’m waiting for the R9 to officially be a thing, that’s the only one I’m upgrading to here.

My sweet spot is a GSXS 1000. Not because of the 150 hp but the almost uniqe mid range grunt and torque combined with the smoothness of an inline 4.

Little bit older bike, but I just bought a 2002 Kawasaki ZRX1200R. And it perfectly falls in this category. Absolutely LOVE IT!

I'm just under a year of ownership with my CB650R '23 Black Edition with just about every mod you can do aside from a ECU Flash. While I plan to keep it, I do want more power. It's a great commuter bike, fun in the twisties but that feeling of more power is always there lingering in the back of my mind. Torn between the MT10 and ZX10R.

Recently purchased a 2024 MT07 and I gotta say, that is my sweet spot. Perfect for what I wanna do with it and I can still have some fun on the weekend. Daily that bike, I love it. Be safe out there everybody, more and more "self driving" vehicles on the road mixed in with drivers who are stuck to their phone and not paying attention.