Best revs?

[Bob]

Here is one to think about.

Best revs to ride at on an everyday basis? Might sound like an odd idea, but think about it.

Too low and you don't get any benefit from engine braking, wallow into corners.
Too high and engine braking is like hitting a brick wall, start cornering and you're fighting the bike etc.

So is there a best compromise? I'd guess around 2/3rds of the rev range. Seems to work on the SV - I spent a lot of time around 6,000 revs (tops out at 10,500 off the top of my head).

Does this make sense to everyone else? Or are there any other ideas? Or does it vary between types of bike?

[Cajun]

Here is one to think about.

Best revs to ride at on an everyday basis? Might sound like an odd idea, but think about it.

Too low and you don't get any benefit from engine braking, wallow into corners.
Too high and engine braking is like hitting a brick wall, start cornering and you're fighting the bike etc.

So is there a best compromise? I'd guess around 2/3rds of the rev range. Seems to work on the SV - I spent a lot of time around 6,000 revs (tops out at 10,500 off the top of my head).

Does this make sense to everyone else? Or are there any other ideas? Or does it vary between types of bike?

well i do a bit of open road riding to work, and alot of it was in traffic, so i sit around 8k rpm(red line 15,500) so i got some power rather quickly, if traffic is clear ahead of me i drop down to around 6k ihs. If i am around town i am normal around 10-12k rpm

[NC]

I sit the NC on about 8.5 or 9, he redlines at 14.5. Anything higher than that, is too fucken noisey..woohoo! go the arrow

Oh except when I'm having a thrash mo heh...

[Posh Tourer :P]

Here is one to think about.

Best revs to ride at on an everyday basis? Might sound like an odd idea, but think about it.

Too low and you don't get any benefit from engine braking, wallow into corners.
Too high and engine braking is like hitting a brick wall, start cornering and you're fighting the bike etc.

So is there a best compromise? I'd guess around 2/3rds of the rev range. Seems to work on the SV - I spent a lot of time around 6,000 revs (tops out at 10,500 off the top of my head).

Does this make sense to everyone else? Or are there any other ideas? Or does it vary between types of bike?

Varies - I sit at about 3000rpm out of a redline of 7 on the beemer, and on the MZ I would sit at 3500 out of a redline of 8 (well it didnt really have a redline, but that was when the speedo stopped, and it didnt really have that much more power. I would sit at 5000rpm on the Honda CB125 in top gear, out of a redline of 12 (but you had to chop it down 2/3 gears to get what power was there).

Thats all around town. On the open road, the beemer and MZ sat at about 4000rpm, and the honda at 10,000 rpm - because it was already in top gear long ago :P

[scumdog]

Best revs for my Sporty? - anything above 500!! after all, 'everybody' knows H-Ds are 'tractors'

Seriously, most of the time I never even get to 4000, even if I change down a gear to blitz past a logging truck, the gearbox just doesn't get much of a work-out at all.

If I'm in 5th and the revs get over 3,000 I'm into ticket territory

[Jonty]

Anywhere between 6-10 (redline 19,000) anything over 10 around town tends to turn a few heads. You have to love the zxr F1 sound.

[Posh Tourer :P]

Best revs for my Sporty? - anything above 500!! after all, 'everybody' knows H-Ds are 'tractors'

Seriously, most of the time I never even get to 4000, even if I change down a gear to blitz past a logging truck, the gearbox just doesn't get much of a work-out at all.

The beemer idles at 500 ok - better at 1000. Rumour has it that they stole the gearbox out of the farm tractor next door when they designed it...

[riffer]

Mine redlines at 11,000.

I find it's got useable power over 4,000 (4250 in top @ 100km/hr) and if you just want to pass someone you just wind the throttle on, so that's about where I sit. But the best power is from 7,000 onwards, so if I'm not in traffic I'll sit around 6,000.

[vifferman]

Or does it vary between types of bike?

Yup.
But having said that, I've tended to generally ride my bikes in the middle of the rev range when cruising along. Depends a bit where the torque is, and if there are any vibey bits.
On my last bike (VFR750) there was a bit of vibration about 4500-5000 revs, so that wasn't a good place to have the revs at.
It took me a wee while to get used to the torque of the FahrtSturm, in that it zaps along quite quickly if you're short-shifting, and sounds quite busy above 6k. On my commuting route, there's some very tight (right-angle) off-camber corners, and so I'm in first for those, which is a bit tricky for throttle modulation: back off a bit, and there's heaps of engine braking, give it a bit and it's light in the front. I really need to take them faster so I can do them in second gear. It's been better since I dropped the gearing, as for commuting it seemed to always feel like it was in the wrong gear, and it wasn't happy in top on the open road, as it was only sitting on about 3k rpm, IIRC.

What I used to do on the VFR and VF, which I don't tend to do any more, is leave it in first on short runs (like the length of a block), and just rev it up to a bazillion, then throttle off to slow for the next corner. Sounded a bit scary, especially with the custom cans on the VF. The game on the VTR is rolling on and off the throttle in first gear in traffic, to get that lovely bass rumble on deceleration.

[Pwalo]

I usually ride between 4-8k revs (redline on the GS is 11K). If I sit around the 4-5k range I find the bike is in the optimum power (and I do use that term loosely) range if I need to wind on the throttle, or chop down a gear. 5k in top gear is 100k so it's spot on for commuting. (Just a shame that the tacho cable chose today to shit itself - amazing how reassuring it is to have a working one, even if you don't look at it).

It's also the best rev range as far as vibration etc goes. The GS is pretty smooth for a vertical twin, but there is a bit of resonance around 5.5k depending on the road surface.

[James Deuce]

I bet if you guys check you will be using the meaty part of your torque curve.

[scumdog]

I bet if you guys check you will be using the meaty part of your torque curve.

Yup, and I'm lucky the 'meaty' part of my torque 'curve' covers about 85% of my available revs!!

[riffer]

Yup, and I'm lucky the 'meaty' part of my torque 'curve' covers about 85% of my available revs!!

Hmmm. What sort of meat would Harley Davidson be though - mutton

[vifferman]

Hmmm. What sort of meat would Harley Davidson be though - mutton

The 1200 Sportster I followed last night may have been meat, but its rider was all bonehead. Apart from his enormous genitals, which necessitated riding with his knees nearly a metre apart to accommodate his equipment.
I was prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt, not judging him or anything, until he showed he was really staunch, tough and not to be messed with, by lane-splitting at about 90 km/h, passing cars at about 90 in a 50 area, on a blind corner, and just generally riding like a dick. Plus he was poorly attired for motorbicycling, and when cranking it around a sharp left, he showed he had poor technique by keeping his head lined up with his body, rather than keeping it level and looking through the turn.
I suspect he knew I was behind him, and was showing me he was better than me. Yeah, whatever, Mr Knob-End...

[Wenier]

id try sit round 6k on the revs as thats wut it is for the speed limit at 100k in top gear, she doesnt move off fast from that but once it gets a couple more revs shes gone.