All good discussion points. Yes, top speed on public roads is dangerous and maybe negligent, in some circumstances.
Many riders (present company excluded) overstate their top speed claims. We've all heard the squidly kid claiming 180 mph on a bike that was clocked by radar at 150, or 160, or whatever the actual speed was. The motorcycle publications do a pretty good job of documenting real-world top speeds on all the latest bikes.
I just ignore the bragging kids that make ridiculous top speed claims.
I KNOW this: a '76 Honda 750, cafe racer in the old tradition, with jet kit and header, will do at least 96 mph. That's what the DPS troopers put on the ticket, anyway, and I believe them. I was trying to do 100 mph all the way from school. Almost made it, lol. Top speed on that bike was right around 125 mph. Seems slow, don't it?
This '05 FJR I'm on now has shown me 155 mph by the speedometer, so I figure an actual speed close to 147 or so. That's without bags, full tuck. My son, who is braver (read younger) than me has seen 160 on the FJR. That pisses me off, of course. That would put the top speed of MY FJR around 150 to 152 mph. I believe it. But now I must see 160 mph on the speedo. See how that works? Or maybe not. I'll just be happy knowing this FJR is up to par. It's got a little over 9K miles, no tick so far, PCIII with black Walker Holeshots. Damn, I love this bike! Of course, I loved the '00 929 I had before this, and the '97 YF600R before that. Pretty much loved 'em all, except for the '81 CB750 Custom. I hated that bike. Only tolerated it for a couple of months.