[Latin Ninja]

The first bike I owned was a Ninja 250. With that bike I would shift from 1st to 2nd at 10MPH. With my new ZX-6, I shift at 20. What I want to know is when do you shift to 2nd, and at which speed do you shift to final gear.

Thanks in advance.

 

[prs]

I concentrate more on RPMs than on speed. I usually shift out of first before 8-9k RPMs on the street. After that, it's all about what I want. If I'm just cruising and looking for good gas mileage, I shift at a point where I'm carrying enough RPMs for the next higher gear but I'm not winding it out. If I want quick acceleration, I run her up to 14-15k RPMs and hold on. While cruising easy on the highway, I usually hit 6th gear at around 7K RPMs which indicates 80MPH, give or take. If I'm on a staight at the track, I may be indicating 140+ mph before I hit 6th, but I don't advocate that for the street. [8D]

 

[xtremewlr]

[umbass] Pretty much the same here. Shift by engine sound, usually 8-9k from 1 to 2. I never shift by mph.

 

[cybereyes]

Typically I never shift to 2nd until at least 25, and that is a casual shift. Casual riding outside of town I will shift from 25 to 35 to 2nd then around 35 to 40 to third and about 45 to 50 to 4th. The last two will just be used as kind of like an over drive to save gas. If im wanting to haul ass I may not shift to 2nd until around 45, and even that is a little conservative but to the point. The fastest Ive gone in first was 65 indicated, and that is when the rev limiter kicked in, and 120 for 2nd and the rev limiter again took over. I was literally making the move to change gears and the bike just shut down its rpms. I generally go by feel and never look at the gauge, I looked down then because as I said the bike shut down and I thought at first something was wrong. Not sure about the rest since usually about the time I get to 130 or so Im ready to let off being that Im not on a track. Not many track options around here, so I rarely get to really have fun with it.

 

[Nigel]

Until the engine has warmed up, I never go over 4,000rpm.

Once the engine is warmed up, if I'm just cruising around, I generally keep the revs somewhere between 3,000 and 6,000.

Whenever I've reached my chosen speed and am just cruising along, I'll be in sixth gear. That can be as slow as 25mph.

Even when I'm riding fast, I rarely go over about 8,000. If I do start revving it higher, I usually end up going too fast for the roads I'm on, unless I'm on some open roads in the country.

 

[prs]

Originally posted by Nigel
Until the engine has warmed up, I never go over 4,000rpm.

Once the engine is warmed up, if I'm just cruising around, I generally keep the revs somewhere between 3,000 and 6,000.

Whenever I've reached my chosen speed and am just cruising along, I'll be in sixth gear. That can be as slow as 25mph.

Even when I'm riding fast, I rarely go over about 8,000. If I do start revving it higher, I usually end up going too fast for the roads I'm on, unless I'm on some open roads in the country.

It's all personal preference but these bikes don't even wake up until 9K RPM so there are some twisties I never get past 3rd gear for long stretches cuz I want to stay in the power band. But that's what sucks up gas.

 

[richo6r]

Hey LatinNinja... stop looking at the gauges, watch the road ahead, way ahead, that's what you need to do, train your hearing so that you can shift by ear not by taking your sight off the road ahead. good luck!

 

[nevada]

Originally posted by Nigel
Until the engine has warmed up, I never go over 4,000rpm.

Once the engine is warmed up, if I'm just cruising around, I generally keep the revs somewhere between 3,000 and 6,000.

Whenever I've reached my chosen speed and am just cruising along, I'll be in sixth gear. That can be as slow as 25mph.

Even when I'm riding fast, I rarely go over about 8,000. If I do start revving it higher, I usually end up going too fast for the roads I'm on, unless I'm on some open roads in the country.

yep here too im usually running in 6th in town at 35+
dont have to rail all the time

 

[rainking12]

I'm always WOT and don't shift until my shift light is on or near red line. [8D]

J/K (for the most part)

 

[Riding4life]

Our bikes have speedos? LOL I shift by feel and sound, also depends on if it's a hard or casual ride. Like the others have said, "It's all personal prefs." and the more you ride the more you'll know your personal bike and where she likes to shift at.

 

[cybereyes]

I wouldnt exactly recommend driving around in 6th gear at 35 mph. You cant possibly have enough rpms to pull your bike out of a trouble situation if it arises and I would imagine it is horrible on the valves. The bike is literally choking itself. To each his own though. You dont have to WOT all the time, but I dont think you should be on the verge of stalling either, especially in traffic.

 

[FightingFalcon]

I shift outta first when I reach the redline

But seriously...go by noise, not anything else. You will be able to tell just by the noise of the engine when you should shift. Typically it's around 6K-8K RPMs.

However, if you're on a highway stopped at a red light, it is required that you redline it and then switch into 2nd at around 70mph [8D]

yep here too im usually running in 6th in town at 35+
dont have to rail all the time

No offense but that's kinda crazy. You're probably at 3K RPMs if that's true. I hope to God you never need to speed up quickly.

 

[hokie636]

I rarely even get past 3rd, only time I do is if I'm on the interstate.

 

[Nigel]

Originally posted by prs



It's all personal preference but these bikes don't even wake up until 9K RPM ...

That's what frustrates me about this bike sometimes (not often though), when I can't really get the engine into the real power without going way too fast. Most of the time, even second gear is too tall (to get into the power) for the roads I'm on.

Edit: Anyway, the real point of my post was to show that the engine in these bikes is very flexible - you can rev it to the limiter, or ride around without going over 4,000, and the engine will do it without any problems.

Change gears when you feel like it, but there's no need to have the engine doing 8,000 when you're just rolling along at 50mph with no traffic.

 

[FightingFalcon]

Originally posted by Nigel



That's what frustrates me about this bike sometimes (not often though), when I can't really get the engine into the real power without going way too fast. Most of the time, even second gear is too tall (to get into the power) for the roads I'm on.

im sorry, are you complaining that the bike is TOO powerful?

someone get this man a Vespa please

 

[Leanlow]

you guyshave high performance sportbikes and you don;t ride the revs about 8 or 9 k or some of you keep around 6 whats the deal...the 636 has tons of torque from 10+ all the way to redline...when i cruise ill keep the revs from 6-9 and when im given'r i shift just after the light comes on just befor the limiter hits...you guysa re missing out on some serious hp by staying down lo...

 

[cordless]

Shift???? Stay in first you get more tourque!

 

[sim636R]

i memorized the tone of the engine on certain RPMS.. well thats what i think it is... i dont really look down on my tach unless im checking for how fast im going when theres a cop behind me.. you just feel it out.. like driving a manual car, you dont look at the RPMs you just listen to the engine and go by that.. well thats just how i do it.. but i catch my self at times to see where i shifted, its aroun 5-6k in the city.. look, just shift in the RPM range where your more comfortable.. its your bike. be safe about it.

 

[jeieien]

really doesnt matter. i shift earlier just to conserve gas.. high gas prices lately..[V]

 

[JStutz2003]

Kind of surprising that most of you shift so high. Unless I am merging onto a highway or something, I usually shift my 250 at around 4000 RPM. No need for the rest of the RPMs in traffic or on the low speed limit roads around here.

Now the RX 50 gets shifted around 8-9000 RPM, but it only has about 8 horsepower...