Horsepower vs Iron-horse torque

Always seems to me a good point campaigning about top speed and horsepower figures, Mike Hailwood MBE  winner of all those Isle of Man TT’s in the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and 15 world championships quoted you only needed 75 horsepower to achieve victory! These days manufacturer’s quote torque figures which are irrelevant unless you have something to compare them to, eg: is Indians figure of  119 ft lbs of torque seems impressive  but how much is that compared to say a Hybusa or Dodge Viper. Undoubtedly it is miles ahead of my Vindian, and for that matter my 2002 Gilroy, but what about a old fashioned quarter mile figure this gets things into prospective along with fuel consumption figures which are important on a touring bike, weight is a necessary factor these figures are generally always on the spec sheet 835 lbs wet weight with 4.5 gallons of fuel in the new Indian’s case. Capacity figure on the new model at 1811cc is huge so is the “stroker” engine at Bore of 3.96 inch and stroke of a massive 4.449 inch, still in all a top speed figure although generally never quoted or obtained by more mortals like myself certainly help in ascertaining  a purchase. In some areas road tests from a nearby dealer are not possible as literally the closest dealer is thousands of miles away.