A couple of newbie questions about RPM

[slimjim]

Warming the bike up is not a bad thing, but the modern engine is far more user friendly when cold than days of yore.
Revs? regardless of where the bike makes max power, its simple engineering fact, the higher the revs, the higher the stress (piston speed) or wear and tear. These small bikes may 'thrive' on revs, the reality is the motors are relatively 'short lifespanned' in comparison to lower revving motors.
The best advice I think I can offer as a rule of thumb is; to be in the correct gear at low/moderate speed that allows you acceleration when required.
This does not mean sitting on the edge of the power band at 1 squillion RPM. There will be an area of revs where the bike is making power (torque) that is below the max power range. Probably around 1/3 of max rpm would be about right. Possibly slightly higher on a high revving small cc motor. Maybe best described as 3 stages of power, Boring (no power) Getting interested (Torque) and Yeeeeeha (Powerband).
If you are 'hovering' on the edge of the power band, (which is likely to be quite narrow) You will run out of available 'revs' quickly and need to 'change up' a gear ). This takes time and drops the RPM back down (the higher the gear, the slower the rate of acceleration). If you are in the gear that allows the motor to just enter into the rev range of the bike producing 'torque' it will be able to accelerate up into its powerband, leaving you in the accelerating gear for longer.

well this say's it all..........

[Kiwi.in.transit]

Thanks for all the advice everyone! Hopefully this will help keep my bike happy
I'll definitely keep in mind what you said about fouling the sparks, Steve. I had to get mine cleaned earlier in the year - maybe that's why!!

[cactus]

This has been a rather handy thread.

I took my 1985 GB250 out for its first decent ride last weekend - have only been riding a week or so so it was my first burl at near 100K, she was not too happy, in 6th, about 90 K and 5k revs. one of the 2 of us was shaking a little (possibly me) but it sounds like I'd be better keeping her near 7-8k on the revs, red lines at 11k

That may not seem it but it's really a question : )

[madbikeboy]

K_I_T, can I suggest looking up Mentor's in your area (they're designated with a Green ME beside their names. If you're asking questions like this, then they'll be able to help, plus they'll help instill the knowledge and confidence around the safety stuff too.

MBB