Gear choice around town?

[merv]

Remember fuel efficiency is all about the engine running in its sweet spot when the tuning of the engine is in harmony with the revs its doing due to valve timing and stuff like that. Run it at too low a revs and its probably spitting a lot of unburnt fuel down the exhaust pipe because of valve overlap. You'll know when you ride it right it will just feel right and not make any strained noises and the throttle response will be perfect.

[Gizzit]

Thanks Merv,
Yes it's just me getting to know the feel and sound of the bike, ... but I think I have got it more sorted. Sitting in 3rd at 3500rpm gives me 50kmh, and it sounds and feels good there, and is certainly very responsive to any slight throttle change. Im enjoying this bike more and more, and am looking forward to the weekend and hopefully some fine weather, to get a few more K's on some twisty bits!
Cheers,
Grant.

[babyblade250rr]

hiya,

i've just brought a cbr250rr and an new to riding also i think i may have been overloading my engine with low revs in the wrong gear also my question is it better to have the revs sitting higher in a gear with perhaps using more fuel than usual or say using 4th gear at 50km/h

cheers

[ambler]

Interesting. Every bike I have ridden was perfectly comfortable in top gear at 50kmh, never felt the need to use a lower gear for around town...

[Gizzit]

Interesting. Every bike I have ridden was perfectly comfortable in top gear at 50kmh, never felt the need to use a lower gear for around town...

I could run around town in 6th if it was flat with no tin tops in the way, but it means my bike is really low in revs. I was using 4th, but now using 3rd in traffic and pulling 3500rpm, and may even get back into 4th if its a bit quicker, and also in 70kmh zones .... 4th is fine.
Depends on the bike I guess. I have read write ups on the FJ1200 for instance that says that they can run down to around 30 - 40kmh in top, and pull strongly back up again .... as can the latest Bandit 1250. I still wouldn't use my bike like that around town, but in 70kmh zones and open road .... I would pretty much leave it in top on either of those big bikes.

[675trippy]

certainly agree with not labouring engine with low revs particularly because of oil flow in top end. most injected bikes have the ability to maximize fuel efficiency with standard mapping so that isn't much of a problem (with injected models). i have also heard of the side push of pistons while labouring but as long as you don't try to go to terminal velocity from low revs, you would definitely want to chop down a couple of cogs before contemplating that.

[delusionz]

No vehicle should ever be driven in 6th at 50 no way jose.
I cant comment on your bike but on mine best results are achieved with...

1st to 2nd @ 20km/h
2nd to 3rd @ 60km/h
3rd to 4th @ 80km/h
4th to 5th @ 105km/h
I don't use 6th.

[delusionz]

hiya,

i've just brought a cbr250rr and an new to riding also i think i may have been overloading my engine with low revs in the wrong gear also my question is it better to have the revs sitting higher in a gear with perhaps using more fuel than usual or say using 4th gear at 50km/h

cheers

I rode a CBR250R Hurricane before and it didn't make any power until at least 8,000RPM so I used around 9,000 - 12,000 for driving ofcourse this is a high revving bike (18,000 redline) so its designed like that. On my bike it makes power at 5,000RPM so I use 6,000 - 8,000 for driving with redline being 13,000.

In most cars with a 7,000 redline you would drive at around 3,000 - 4,000 RPM.

Notice how its almost always around the middle? It's very proportional...

This is what happens when you're Laboring, Lugging, Chugging (Gears up, Revs down) the engine - The combustion in your cylinders is not powerful enough to blast the piston down completely thus wearing out your pistons & connecting rods because your engine wants to rev (power of the blast) and your piston wont let it (wheels not moving fast enough, not enough momentum, ie - an opposing force to the blast).