Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech SHIFTING SPEEDS

How fast are you going before you have to shift? When I'm in first gear I have to shift into 2nd by 10 mph, 3rd by twenty and so on. Is this normal? It seems that when I ride with some buddies they are able to go quite a bit faster before they have to shift.

Thanks

Ride it like you stole it!!

Man I am at about 60 when I'm in 3rd, as stated above, ride it like you stole it!

no one has mentioned it yet but these bikes like to rev up more like a sport bike and unlike the V-twins. Your probably shifting way too early.

40 mph 1st to 2nd
70 mph 2nd to 3rd
90 mph 3rd to 4th
110 mph 4th to 5th
wind it up tight she likes RPM's, but then again I am looking for a gas station at 100 miles, she's runnin out of fuel and I'm switching to reserve. But definitely ride it like you stole it.

Pull your front sprocket cover and check... you may have the very rare 6 tooth front sprocket.

Either that or someone put one of those restrictor kits on the thing.

Shift from 1st gear at 7000, 2nd gear at 6000, 3rd is when you start to watch for the police.

Although it is fun running the revs up through the gears, as it is stated above, gas mileage suffers. Not to mention the attention drawn to "another speeding biker" In town I usually shift around 2700-3000 rpm. Rural areas, freeways and out of town are reserved for the upper rpm changes 4000 and above.

I wouldn't sweat it too much Joe. I'm not much of a speed freak like many of those in here that consistantly show their appreciation for a rev limiter (supposed to be funny here guys). I shift around the mph you are; less even. I'm in fifth gear by the time I'm at 40mph. Of course I was also getting 53+ miles to a gallon. You're fine, but also know these great machines can really take it too!

It all depends on what tradeoff between performance and fuel economy you are willing to live with. In first gear, you will hit the rev limit around 43 to 47 on the speedometer (speedometers vary that much, not the rev limiter). Yes, in first gear at 40, it will pull much harder than in fourth but, because the engine is turning many more times in a mile, it will also pump through a lot more gas. On level ground, these bikes will pull just fine in 5'th at 35 or 40. BUT, you will want to hold each gear quite a bit longer if you need to accelerate hard or are going up a steep hill.

It's not as bad as it seems, mileage wise.
You only need about 5 seconds of full throttle to jump ahead traffic, then you can shortshift into 5th. If you don't have too many stoplights on your route, you can get pretty good mileage.
I think it's a good trade-off, a little worse mpg to ride in the less congested part of the road. And it's more fun.

Yeh, I like that 35-40 grunt it has. Pulls away nicely in top gear at 40ish.

congrats Dupre97

You gave me the answer the I wanted hear. I seem to always be second guessing this machine, probably because I'm new to the motorcycling world. I would like to add that I see alot of $15,000+ HD's on the road, but every time I pass/meet one, I KNOW that I have the superior Machine. Thanks again for everyone's responces. Happy Independence Day!

Thanks
Joe

Welcome to the site, Joe. What the he|| is a Nuclear Medicine Technologist...and can I have some, please?!!

I've had my bike for about a year and, due to injuries sustained in a car crash, I've not been able to ride like I should. It's only recently that I've found some rather nice drugs that alleviate the pain enough for me to push it slightly. (Still no 'peg-down' action, but that'll come!!). I found that I was shifting too early (although not into 2nd@10mph) and, as such, the handling of the bike suffered and I wasn't getting the most out of it. Now I'm pushing it a bit more, letting it rev higher, changing down for corners, etc, the bike is rewarding me in the grin department...and also the economy has improved. Don't get me wrong, I don't go everywhere at warp 9 but I do see 7k revs frequently before changing. So, unless you're just cruising along for miles on end, keep the revs up more than, perhaps, you are.

I think the best bet is to do a few test runs: fill the tank, trip the odo and then ride in different ways for that tankful to find out which way is best for your purposes.

Neill