I did a search and wasn't able to find any discussions related to this...

What RPM do you typically shift at?  All this time I was just shifting when it felt "natural", but I've been seeing some posts that implied they were waiting until the 6-7K RPM range to do their shifting....

Thoughts?

I did find this thread: http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=3792.0

But it doesn't help much. Thanks!

6-7 k

This has been covered, a lot.. but I don't know what search terms to tell you to use, so I'll just answer

For around town riding, I'll shift at about 7K, cuz I like to keep the bike cruising at 6K, right at the beginning of the powerband, so that I've got good acceleration or good compression braking at hand, without having to shift a lot. I believe in low gears, high revs. The bike revs to 10.5K for a reason. On a spirited ride, I'll shift at about 9.5K.

[4

Here's a thread that discusses it some. 

5k-11k     Depends on how I'm riding and how much noise I want to make...

Generally, I shift around 6k-8k...  But, never before 4k-5k...

It depends...on stuff, and my mood, and how late I am.

i love shifting high 7-8 so i get that little bit of a back wheel spin. 

7k-8k isn't high!   

11!!!!!

Quote from: jamez667 on March 14, 2007, 02:59:17 PM
i love shifting high 7-8 so i get that little bit of a back wheel spin. 

If you're shifting at 8K and spinning the rear tire on a stock GS (Or even a modified GS) you need new tires.

Quote from: NiceGuysFinishLast on March 14, 2007, 03:36:09 PM

Quote from: jamez667 on March 14, 2007, 02:59:17 PM
i love shifting high 7-8 so i get that little bit of a back wheel spin. 

If you're shifting at 8K and spinning the rear tire on a stock GS (Or even a modified GS) you need new tires.

Or to stop spraying them with WD-40 or ArmorAll.

My DR-Z doesn't have a tach, so I shift at "mraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"

another thing that changes when u change is (in uk) if your bike has restricted power, i had mine restricted to 33bhp for 2 years and i havd to change at 5-6k and it sounded like the bike was gunna die!! and in town i was changing at 3-4k, now its unrestricted i can change at 9ish usually, or iff im really enjoying the ride il often redline  sounds good though, with a standard can you have to rev the balls off it to get a good scream! lol

I shift at "Valve Float"

^yeah that.  I shift at the last one...on everything...

Usually 6 to 7k when I'm screaming around town.

Gag it till it sounds like pencils tapping on a desk (11000) Seriously,when racing, 7 is the bottom and 10.5 is shift point. The more you run it like that, the better it runs. GS are happy lugging around town at 4-5 if you like. Good antique machinery (over 25 year old technology)

I shift at 5-7k rpm just putting around and keep it in the 7-9k range when running hard in the twisties.  My 02 is strictly stock and power peak is about 8500 so running it a bit past peak to 9k and upshifting drops it to the top of the torque curve at about 7k.  Same when slowing, I downshift at about 7k to pick it back up when running a fast pace.  Keeping it in that narrow band makes for a good pace for me.  Here's what stock dyno curves look like:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v443/jcp8832/MikesGS500dynoRuns.jpg

If you do a good job jetting, modifying the intake, and put on an open exhaust, then the 7-10.5 k range mentioned by Happytrack sounds good to me.  Here's Annies curves on her modified GS showing the hp peak carrying on to about 10k before it drops:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v443/jcp8832/AnniesGS500dynoRun.jpg

Cruising down the Interstate at 75-80 mph all day sounds like it's just humming along happily to me on the stock GS.   

Around town, to save fuel and keep it quiet for the locals = 5000

When gettin up it = 8000 1st, 9000 2nd, 9500 3rd and 4th, 10,000 5th and 6th

u guys are crazy... at 7-8k my bike is pretty noisy and the grips are vibrating my hands into numbness. I upshift at 4-6k, unless I am consciously revving higher due to some discussion on this board.

don't hate

4k?!?!?  HATE! HATE!!!  

I'd lose my friggen mind if I had to shift at 4K