Came across an interview with Kenny Roberts (Wikipedia)
and comments on power curves/tuning.
"I liked torque, and that's the only thing I could ride with. I remember Kel (Carruthers, his team manager/mentor) bringing me stuff that a lot of rpm and was really good on power, and I couldn't ride it around the racetrack...I remember I had a bike at Laguna Seca that Kel made rev like 13,600. At that time, them things were revving like at 12,000. This thing was revving to 13,600 and it had X-amount of horsepower, like 10 more. I was like 'Man, I'm going to kill everybody.' I got beat like a wet noodle because I just couldn't accelerate. I didn't know when to turn it on."
Torque is common parlance for lower rpm power and a responsive throttle, horsepower is torque times rpm, so can mean more sudden power delivery, useful for top speed but that's about all.
The old adage is "slow down to go fast"
It applies to power delivery as well as to riding style.
Predictable power is easier to use.
I tended to tune for that.
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