Im just wondering what a good cruising RPM range is? For instance around town do you keep your RPMs around 7000 or 5000? When you hit the highway do you keep the RPMs at the same or higher/lower?
Right now Im just riding by myself and my bike experience is from a long time ago in a galaxy far far away.
Thx
i keep the revs at the speed i want to be travelling. 80 or 90 mph so around 7k rpm mabee more maybee less. it doesnt really matter
Quote from: Bulwark on November 30, 2006, 09:40:08 AM
Im just wondering what a good cruising RPM range is? For instance around town do you keep your RPMs around 7000 or 5000? When you hit the highway do you keep the RPMs at the same or higher/lower?
Right now Im just riding by myself and my bike experience is from a long time ago in a galaxy far far away.
Thx
I cruise at redline....always.....everywhere
i can go 70 on the highway and be around 55 hundred rpm
i keep my lower speeds with my lower gears i.e if i'm in 4th gear i'm between 40 and 50 mph once i get to 6th its where ever after 60
Quote from: Bulwark on November 30, 2006, 09:40:08 AM
Im just wondering what a good cruising RPM range is? For instance around town do you keep your RPMs around 7000 or 5000? When you hit the highway do you keep the RPMs at the same or higher/lower?
Right now Im just riding by myself and my bike experience is from a long time ago in a galaxy far far away.
Thx
Around town I just try to keep it above the rpms where it would lug, so usually 4-5000 rpm, but I will downshift once or twice if I'm anticipating a hairy situation.
Bombing around town I keep it as low as I can above about 4500. If I expect to need a burst of acceleration at any given moment, I keep it around 7000-8000. If I'm in 6th and need to accelerate, I always downshift, sometimes twice.
Ok, thanks for all your input. I have been around 5000 or so in town myself so I guess Im in the range where most are.
Thx again
The real answer is do what feels good. ;)
Cruise in highest gear possible in which you are above 4000rpm.
Quote from: tussey on November 30, 2006, 11:05:06 AM
Quote from: Bulwark on November 30, 2006, 09:40:08 AM
Im just wondering what a good cruising RPM range is? For instance around town do you keep your RPMs around 7000 or 5000? When you hit the highway do you keep the RPMs at the same or higher/lower?
Right now Im just riding by myself and my bike experience is from a long time ago in a galaxy far far away.
Thx
I cruise at redline....always.....everywhere
+1 , I dont like shifting much so this helps.
Guess I'm a little lower than most, I'll ride around in town at low speeds shifting at about 4 - 4,500 rpm's, and will cruise at 35-40 mph in fifth gear, and in area's were the speed limit is 45mph or higher I use sixth gear and shift at anywhere between 5 - 6,500 rpm's, and I usually never cruise any faster than 6,000 rpm's (about an actual 70-75mph), and I save the upper power band for the times it may be needed. :cheers:
I like to cruise at about 4,000rpm around town up to 80km/h.
5000rpm = 100km/h
6000rpm = 110km/h
there isnt anything wrong with cruising low rpms at low speeds, just dont lug the engine by not downshifting when needing to accelerate. Lugging the engine causing inefficient burn of air fuel mixture and causes it to create alot of carbon which is not good for your engine. I am pretty sure thats right about carbon buildup, can anyone second that? But either way the easier it is for your engine to move you the better it is on your engine.
I usually cruse in the 4-5k range on the GS unless I'm feeling naughty! If I'm riding with other people (spirited riding :icon_twisted:) I usually cruise above 7k incase someone jumps.
-Turd.
7-8k most of the time
For you guys that cruise over 5000rpm, how does that effect your fuel economy :o
I usually run 4K in t he 35-45mph speed zone in 5th gear I think....unless I'm on the main road I might be in 4th depending on traffic conditions where I'll be mid 5k rpm's to about 45mph.....Highway I some times forget to go into 6th till I'm like a couple miles down the road 8) I like noise:) In which case at 65mph in 5th gear I'm in the 7k rpm's then at 6th gear it drops to about 5.5k-6k.....Gear ratio for 5th gear is like 1:1 I think.....6th is 1:1.2 something like that...I'd look it up but ...na....3.5K rpms is the lug point IMHO
I get 48mpg average, 42ish in city only and about 24-27 @ the track
Quote from: galahs on December 01, 2006, 06:38:09 AM
For you guys that cruise over 5000rpm, how does that effect your fuel economy :o
Over 5000rpm doesn't deserve that icon. That's less than half the max rpm.
7-8 g's
I usually don't exceed 6000 RPM unless I need to, because it makes such a racket it sounds like something's going to fall off. Probably due to the loose windshield... creates a rattly buzz. 4000-5000 generally.
Man, I wouldn't enjoy riding near as much if I had to keep it below 6K.. You really only get into the powerband at 5.5K and above. I wring her out (except when I'm in a residential area)
but typically, I try to keep her as close to 6K as I can, so that I can always roll on and have that power on hand, versus downshifting or lugging the engine. On the interstate, I cruise wherever 90mph indicated is..
+1
:cookoo:
Just at the moment my bike cruises at 0000000000 rpm, damn thing wont start...!!
I cruise at 2.5k.
Most of my riding is done around 6k though.
Tell me the 2.5K is a joke, please? That's barely above idle.. that'll lug the engine like no other...
In town I sit at 6+. There have been a few times that powering past has been the better idea than slowing down.
i do about 5000 to 6000 isnt going more than that harm the engine?
Quote from: GON on December 04, 2006, 09:05:52 AM
i do about 5000 to 6000 isnt going more than that harm the engine?
Did you ever wonder why, then, that your tachomoter goes up to 11,000? What do you think that red line means at 10,500? This is why people think the GS sucks, because they're afraid to use it all. Then they go and buy a GSXR and use it at 1/4 of its potential (which in the case of the GSXR is all they can do safely anyway).
The engine starts to sound real mean around 7000 rpm and I like it,haha. :thumb:
Quote from: Bulwark on December 04, 2006, 09:26:59 AM
The engine starts to sound real mean around 7000 rpm and I like it,haha. :thumb:
Mean!? To me it sounds strained. but then, it
should be able to take 10'500 warmed up for an extended period.
My last bike was a 50CC scooter. Every bike sounds mean,haha.
The worst thing you can do to any air cooled engine is to lug it around in too high a gear, these engines thrive on revs.
I found myself running in the 4-6000 rpm range when just putting about on my 97 GS, it needed about 4k to pull at all. The 02 GS is happy at 3000 but has little power there.
My GS's are stock all the way so I find I can run fastest in the twisties keeping them in the 7-9000 range. The stock GS has peak HP at about 8500 rpm so running just past the peak and shifting at 9k drops the revs to the top of the torque curve around 7k. Can't do much better than that stock and I doubt I've hit the 11k redline more than a dozen times in 120k miles. I've run all day at these revs.
I run all day at 75-80 mph indicated in 6th when travelling which is around 6k rpm indicated. No problem, runs the 4-500 miles calm and cool at those speeds. It's generally believed that air cooled mc engines can be run all day at 80-90% of redline which would be about 9-10k for a GS. Gotta keep an eye out for the law though. :)
Don't forget the stock GS redlines over 100 mph in fourth gear, overdrive 6th is not for passing on the freeways; drop it to 5th or 4th. If you don't like to shift, trade your GS in on a Bergman. :laugh: I used to ride more with my HD friends than I do now and on the freeways I would just leave it in 5th. Gives roll on similar to the big cruisers.
Like I said in the beginning, worst thing you can do to an air cooled mc engine is to lug it in too high a gear.
:o so its ok to have the bike in like7000 -8000? will it harm anything??
No problem. You're accustomed to the RPM range of a car, which is why 5000 sounds like a lot to you. I've bombed around the racetrack all day at 10,000, the only problem being my pre-existing oil leak leaked a bit faster at that speed. :)
Yep. At higher RPM you will lose more oil through the crankcase vent as well. So the main thing to consider is to check oil often.
7 to 8'000 is not hard on the engine at all. It is hard on my hearing, though, so I don't do it often.
My 2007 isnt that loud at 7000 rpms at all and doesnt vibrtate at that rpm either but since Im still only at 500 kms I try to keep the rpms around 5000 till I get the break in period errr broken in.
Quote from: Bulwark on December 07, 2006, 01:53:55 PM
My 2007 isnt that loud at 7000 rpms at all and doesnt vibrtate at that rpm either but since Im still only at 500 kms I try to keep the rpms around 5000 till I get the break in period errr broken in.
then how would you know what it sounds like at 7000 rpms then, huh? huh?
Well, I have had it to 7000+ rpms I just dont run it for long at those rpms. I HAD to drive it at high rpms a few times. I am human afterall. :thumb:
I dunno, the youth of today have no self control :flipoff:
the comments on this thread have led me to alter my riding style from low-RPM to a wider range. Previously I'd upshift once I got to 5 or 6000, mostly because of the racket and vibration. Lately I've been using much more powerband and feeling my engine "thriving". The anti-lugging warning has been in mind. I have probably been guilty of this a little, of course sometimes it's unavoidable.
As far as engine braking goes, how low can you go in RPMs until it's considered lugging?
You can go as low as the math will allow. Example:
RPM = engine speed, revs/minute
r = tire radius inches
R1 = transmission gear ratio
R2 = sproket gear ratio
I'll use 6k rpm for an example. Plug and chug with this formula
6000 rev/min then the bike must be going (60 / 63,360) * ( ( 6000 * 6.28 * r) / (R1*R2) miles/hour
Hope that helps.
when I had my gs I would ride it around town at 7k rpm or so. nothing too loud or vibey. in the canyons I would ring it out to 11k....and hold it between 9-11k throughout...
I always tell myself that when she spins at 10'000 I'm doing her a favor...blow'n out the carbon build up :icon_twisted: :icon_rolleyes: :icon_twisted:
when someone is doing something stupid in front of me instead of using my horn Ill just let it rip on the throttle with the gear out. However today while winding up at some dumb driver who was blocking my way, I looked down after letting off the throttle some and it was still at like 10k so I had it way in the red. Then later noticed a tinktinktinktink sound at idle, kinda like the camshaft endplay sound. Hope I didn't fark it all up inside.
I just can't do it!
I tried keeping my revs higher for cruising but the bike runs too loud (exhaust + lunchbox filter) and I feel like its just me being a squid.
My bike (2005) seems to cruise nicely at 4,000rpm's so that's what I'll revert back too.
here I thought aussies were manly... :cookoo:
I guess its just not in our aussie culture to have high revving engines.
We like big lumpy v8 cars that cruise at 100km/h at 1,500rpm
even our V8 Supercars (Touring Cars) redline at 7,500rpm
that's why America is #1
In town I keep around 5k if there's traffic, as low as 4k with little traffic, and 3k through the neighborhood streets. Freeway riding I'll cruise in 6th, but I won't hesitate in the least to drop a gear for passing. I've modded my GS a bit, and it accelerates fine in sixth, but downshifting 1 gear provides more than enough power for me. Lane splitting I keep it around 7k, for noise primarily. Going full throttle from holding it at 7k is enough to slide me back in my seat if I'm not holding on tight.
When I'm just out to have fun, however, 8-10k for a stretch is common. Most of the time I shift around 7 or 8k. I have the smallest bike of everyone I know, but I'm a lot more comfortable with my bike than any of them. They fear their bikes, whereas I absolutely love mine :D
Quote from: indywar360 on December 09, 2006, 01:52:16 PM
that's why America is #1
If you guys didn't have so many nukes I'd actually argue that point :laugh:
Riding a GSXR around town at high revs is cool as it has street cred, doing on a GS seems alittle bit 'fly'
After reading all of what has already been said on this Post by GS500 owners, my mind started thinking what does the GS500 owners manual have to say about this subject.
(http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m137/yankee-punker/pspics.jpg)
Not that its totally wrong, but I think some here are just leaning toward Super Sport wannabes, plus if you take into mind if you have dropped a tooth or two on the sprocket, have Re-Jetted, and improved your air flow (filter/exhaust) your now set up to run even better than a stock GS. I ride my bike a lot, on average about 250 miles a week, and I know that reducing your RPM's also reduces your friction and over all engine wear, and can stretch some service intervals. I guess it all comes down to what you want to get out of your GS.
The subject of the shift points in the owner's manual has come up before. It's very amusing. They have to tell you to shift at a low RPM because otherwise they might be seen as encouraging speeding. They say don't exceed redline, and that's good advice.
Quote from: Yankee Punker on December 10, 2006, 09:59:18 PM
I think some here are just leaning toward Super Sport wannabes
Your point? :laugh: :laugh:
If I ride like hell and burn out my GS in 20,000 miles, I'll say "man, that was great!" If I ride it like grandma and it lasts 80,000 miles, it will not have been worth it. And since I only have time to ride 3,000 to 4,000 miles per year, it will rot to death before I kill it.
I also eat unhealthy food, because I'd rather live a shorter life and enjoy myself than living longer eating sticks and berries. Everyone has different values and makes different decisions.
that chart is slightly off.
in 2nd I get 30mph indicated at about 6-7000 rpm. 37 mph in 5th? wtf? :cheers:
The bike definitely lugs in 6th at 60km/h!!!!! :cookoo:
At 60km/h I'd be in 4th gear if cruising.