[trimleyman]

Well now that I have more than 5k miles on my 2011 G5 and it was dry out this morning had a quick blast on the freeway. This first 10 months of ownership has been mostly uneventful. Reliability has be very good and only very minor teething issues , side stand cut-out killed engine on San Mateo Bridge on way to Monroe Motors to have speedo drive replaced (casing was split and seeping oil at time of first service replaced under warrantee). Couple of weeks back had rear wheel flat and on investigation found cause was corroded inside of wheel rim , not impressed! Cleaned inside of rim, sprayed with paint to seal rust and refitted tyre. Checking out source of stainless rims. And that brings me to how well it does it's job. Commuting to work , it's primary function, it gives 66-75 to the gallon (us) depending on traffic and if I hit the freeway. A run to San Gregorio on the coast was great fun and for an old school style bike it handles quite well. Brakes are nothing to write home about and I think a change of front pads to a sintered metal type will be in order . A steering damper would be nice especially on our interestingly paved bay area highways, this is the first machine in years that I have ridden which does not have one. Then there is the claimed top speed of 85mph (though the handbook suggest that one does not exceed 75mph) this morning whilst taking a quick blast to Union City traffic was flowing at a steady 75 , no problem (am adjusting for speedo error , it reads about 2mph fast). On the return a lane change required opening-up a little more and at 82 the rev limiter cut in. 

[The Garbone]

200mph can be achieved when dropped from a 2000ft with no parachute.

[trimleyman]

The Garbone, oh , I don't know a bullet with no parachute ,from high enough maybe 300mph, allowing for speedo error

[Ice]

On the flat and level I think .7 mach is realistic with a couple JATO rockets attached. 

[2bikebill]

It's a Royal Enfield. It'll settle nicely around 55-60 and run all day. It'll do 70 when it has to on the freeway. You can squeeze 80-odd out of it just to prove it'll do it. But it aint built for it and it wont serve you long if you start thinking it is. It's a Royal Enfield. It knows what it likes and it does what it does if you treat it nice and let it relax ......

[GreenMachine]

sound advice indeed...i noticed a wee bit of rust when i changed my tire too....Nothing to be concern about but I see the point about changing up to a stainless rim which I believe our host sells....Good to hear you hit the rev limiter circa 80-82..I think I hit 75 downhill with a tail wind and my body tucked in like a armadillo / once on my iron but it seem so long ago. ...

[GreenRE]

Well now that I have more than 5k miles on my 2011 G5 and it was dry out this morning had a quick blast on the freeway. This first 10 months of ownership has been mostly uneventful. Reliability has be very good and only very minor teething issues , side stand cut-out killed engine on San Mateo Bridge on way to Monroe Motors to have speedo drive replaced (casing was split and seeping oil at time of first service replaced under warrantee). Couple of weeks back had rear wheel flat and on investigation found cause was corroded inside of wheel rim , not impressed! Cleaned inside of rim, sprayed with paint to seal rust and refitted tyre. Checking out source of stainless rims. And that brings me to how well it does it's job. Commuting to work , it's primary function, it gives 66-75 to the gallon (us) depending on traffic and if I hit the freeway. A run to San Gregorio on the coast was great fun and for an old school style bike it handles quite well. Brakes are nothing to write home about and I think a change of front pads to a sintered metal type will be in order . A steering damper would be nice especially on our interestingly paved bay area highways, this is the first machine in years that I have ridden which does not have one. Then there is the claimed top speed of 85mph (though the handbook suggest that one does not exceed 75mph) this morning whilst taking a quick blast to Union City traffic was flowing at a steady 75 , no problem (am adjusting for speedo error , it reads about 2mph fast). On the return a lane change required opening-up a little more and at 82 the rev limiter cut in. 

Do you have stock tires ?

[Ducati Scotty]

It's a Royal Enfield. It'll settle nicely around 55-60 and run all day. It'll do 70 when it has to on the freeway. You can squeeze 80-odd out of it just to prove it'll do it. But it aint built for it and it wont serve you long if you start thinking it is. It's a Royal Enfield. It knows what it likes and it does what it does if you treat it nice and let it relax ......

Well said.  It's not a speed demon so don't think it is.  Cruise back roads and enjoy the ride.  As Lincoln once said, "People who like this sort of thing will find this is the sort of thing they like."

Scott

[barenekd]

With the stock gearing on the G5, The speed at redline, 5500 RPM will be 92 MPH, Mine cuts out with the limiter at 5900 RPM. However, it will do about 84 before drag stops it.
Bare 

[idk]

I took my G5 on a bit of flat Interstate and wound it out to see what it would do. I was surprised when the speedometer reach just over 90mph, and I was sitting upright. Is my speedometer out or did I get a super fast one? The only modification I have made is to paint the exhaust pipe black, but I doubt that made much difference. 

[barenekd]

A lot of the speedos do read up to10 percent fast and some are spot on. I have checked mine in a variety of ways and it seems to be within a mile or two from accurate. I would guess yours is one of the fast ones. The book says 82 stock. Mine does 84-85 indicated. It does have some minor performance enhancers, pipe, and air cleaner. That might be worth the extra bit.
I doubt that a stock one would ever see 90 true on level ground and no tail wind.
Bare

[Arizoni]

I'm bettin' it is the black exhaust pipe!

Everyone knows that black motorcycles are the fastest so it only makes sense that a black exhaust pipe would add at least 20 mph to the top speed. 

[BRADEY]

On stock setup here in India (which is same as in US except for the O2 sensor) I did a 144 kph on my C5. It was a customary top speed test I do on my bikes after the running in is done. I ran out of road, the bike could still achieve few more kmphs.

That translates to 90MPH. And a friend of mine in Ireland reported going a bit faster than that on his English BLACK C5.............mine is RED though 

[Desi Bike]

I was targeted by police radar at 88mph (142km/h)  on my stock 2011 chrome C5. oops. Good thing he liked the bike and only lightly slapped my wrist with a small fine.

[GreenMachine]

wow..88 mph clocked..I;m impressed ....Guess they do go that fast...Are they rock steady or does the frame tend to bend in the wind at that speed ..I   always thought mine felt a bit unstable as I approached 70 (06 iron)...My son rides a cbr 1000 and he swears that the enfield is a death machine over 50 mph....I guess he;s use to the awesome stability and Dunlop racing tires ...