I know some people have modified their sprockets to give a ~4,000 RPM load when cruising at 80mph on the freeway, but is it bad for the engine to stay on the freeway for a long time with stock sprockets? My RPMs when maintaining the flow of traffic in my area are usually at 7,000 - 7,500.

If you're not in the red zone, you're fine

No such thing as speeding tickets where you live?

First of all......riding a GS500 on a busy freeway at 80 MPH is pretty much suicidal...(IMHO).  Any "accident" will surely be fatal...but hey...that's just me....

But 7500 isn't really that fast for this engine......well below redline......

I prefer 5000 or so, and the associated slower cruising speed.......

Your case is one of the rare occasions where taller gearing may be appropriate..

Like maybe commuting with taller gears on a Porsche...

Cookie

Quote from: justafifteen on August 29, 2013, 05:34:40 PM
I know some people have modified their sprockets to give a ~4,000 RPM load when cruising at 80mph on the freeway, but is it bad for the engine to stay on the freeway for a long time with stock sprockets? My RPMs when maintaining the flow of traffic in my area are usually at 7,000 - 7,500.

Quote from: twocool on August 29, 2013, 06:15:14 PM
No such thing as speeding tickets where you live?

First of all......riding a GS500 on a busy freeway at 80 MPH is pretty much suicidal...(IMHO).  Any "accident" will surely be fatal...but hey...that's just me....

The speed limit where I live is 80mph. Why is that suicidal? There is no speed wobble or anything like that. 80mph doesn't seem like that high of a speed. Any accident going that fast on the freeway in any vehicle is pretty dangerous.

QuoteBut 7500 isn't really that fast for this engine......well below redline......

I prefer 5000 or so, and the associated slower cruising speed.......

Your case is one of the rare occasions where taller gearing may be appropriate..

Like maybe commuting with taller gears on a Porsche...

Cookie

I don't commute right now, but I live about 2 hours away from Vegas and would like to take some road trips on my bike. Vegas, Cali (five hours away), etc. I know I can cruise at 5,000 RPM the entire way, but that would be more dangerous than going with the flow of traffic at 75 or 80mph.

dont worry Justafifteen ... ole twocool there likes standard equipment .. and 'safer' riding ...  ... and there is nothing wrong with that!! .. (plus im winding him up ... )

the wide variety of riders and styles and perception of safe vs danger on here is huge!! ..

...

main rule is (i think) .. Keep within your Limits .. i dont mean ride around like a Grandma .. more... Know what you and your machine can do ... and what you shouldnt do! .... and know how close you can go to shouldnt .. by 'careful' testing of what limits you can go to! ..

thats just me though ..

Quote from: justafifteen on August 29, 2013, 06:21:18 PM

The speed limit where I live is 80mph. Why is that suicidal? There is no speed wobble or anything like that. 80mph doesn't seem like that high of a speed. Any accident going that fast on the freeway in any vehicle is pretty dangerous.

I don't commute right now, but I live about 2 hours away from Vegas and would like to take some road trips on my bike. Vegas, Cali (five hours away), etc. I know I can cruise at 5,000 RPM the entire way, but that would be more dangerous than going with the flow of traffic at 75 or 80mph.

Good answer. Riding 70-80 on any bike can easily be fatal. I ride 70 most times on my gs500, and feel no safety violations. The only safety violation is a random car doing something stupid if you are a smart rider.

As for the gearing, it would be nice to get a different sized sprocket to reduce revs on the freeway, as I constantly commute on the freeway. There are no real cons to it, other than maybe a little low end acceleration lost. I say go for it and post your results, would love to see someones opinion who commutes on the freeway often.

Quote from: jacob92icu on August 29, 2013, 06:35:56 PM

Quote from: justafifteen on August 29, 2013, 06:21:18 PM

The speed limit where I live is 80mph. Why is that suicidal? There is no speed wobble or anything like that. 80mph doesn't seem like that high of a speed. Any accident going that fast on the freeway in any vehicle is pretty dangerous.

I don't commute right now, but I live about 2 hours away from Vegas and would like to take some road trips on my bike. Vegas, Cali (five hours away), etc. I know I can cruise at 5,000 RPM the entire way, but that would be more dangerous than going with the flow of traffic at 75 or 80mph.

Good answer. Riding 70-80 on any bike can easily be fatal. I ride 70 most times on my gs500, and feel no safety violations. The only safety violation is a random car doing something stupid if you are a smart rider.

As for the gearing, it would be nice to get a different sized sprocket to reduce revs on the freeway, as I constantly commute on the freeway. There are no real cons to it, other than maybe a little low end acceleration lost. I say go for it and post your results, would love to see someones opinion who commutes on the freeway often.

I probably won't end up swapping my sprockets because, like I said, I don't commute that often - I go to university in a small city and I like zipping around town, through the canyons, etc. If you do some searching, though, there was one user on here that swapped both of his sprockets and made his freeway RPM go down drastically. He seemed happy with it, since he commuted a ton (made his gas mileage double, IIRC).

If it's any help, I swapped out the front sprocket for a 17T and I hit 5000 RPM at 72 (on the speedometer). I commute on the highway 20 miles each way to college. There wasn't really any noticeable acceleration loss to me, other than right off the line from a stop. It makes city riding nice, too, because I can roll around in 2nd gear all day.

I do miss that 15T sometimes, though...

It's more dangerous to ride a Freeway or Interstate at a slower speed than the prevailing traffic in my opinion, it's safer to stay on top of most of the traffic easily passing the back markers but yielding quickly to the dangerously high speed ones flying down the center lane.  We travelled the Interstates at 75-80 mph indicated doing 400-500 mile days to get to the mountains to play.  No strain on my GSs with 15T or 16T front sprockets but I had 130/80 and 140/80 radials on the back so I was probably close to stock gearing rpm's.  Once in the mountains on back roads I'd be running 7-9k rpm for hours running with bigger bikes and that was a bit more of a workout for the GS than the Interstate cruises.  I would not be the least concerned with the speeds you are considering for your GS. 

I am glad you posted this as I was just about to voice the same concerns, however it seems that since it is fairly uncommon for a gs500 to do extended highway runs I wonder how often it gets tested?

I just came back from a multi-day  trip into Canada with a 15t and stock rear. Most of my riding was at 5500-6500 until the last day when I had to make some time and get home on the super slab of I-90, then I had to keep it at 6500-7000 (not fun). I burnt a significant amount of oil and due to a lack of oil available for purchase I had to go with a heavier weight oil. Probably didn't do me any favors, I just hope the lifters stop the obnoxious clatter with an oil change tomorrow.

On a related note; who has been able to find the 17t front sprocket? Been to 3 sites and I know they make it but nobody seems to have it in stock. Anybody know?

Chain Gang in Aussie can do one ... Cost about $50 AUD plus shipping though

Keep the oil up to it and you'll be fine.

Yo...It's a free country and all that....have at it!


It's not the GS going at 80 MPH that is my issue...it's the 100's of other knuckleheads on the highway driving along with you that I distrust....


Let me guess...you're in your teens or early 20's??

Cookie

Quote from: justafifteen on August 29, 2013, 06:21:18 PM

Quote from: twocool on August 29, 2013, 06:15:14 PM
No such thing as speeding tickets where you live?

First of all......riding a GS500 on a busy freeway at 80 MPH is pretty much suicidal...(IMHO).  Any "accident" will surely be fatal...but hey...that's just me....

The speed limit where I live is 80mph. Why is that suicidal? There is no speed wobble or anything like that. 80mph doesn't seem like that high of a speed. Any accident going that fast on the freeway in any vehicle is pretty dangerous.

QuoteBut 7500 isn't really that fast for this engine......well below redline......

I prefer 5000 or so, and the associated slower cruising speed.......

Your case is one of the rare occasions where taller gearing may be appropriate..

Like maybe commuting with taller gears on a Porsche...

Cookie

I don't commute right now, but I live about 2 hours away from Vegas and would like to take some road trips on my bike. Vegas, Cali (five hours away), etc. I know I can cruise at 5,000 RPM the entire way, but that would be more dangerous than going with the flow of traffic at 75 or 80mph.

My commute counts mostly as highway.  When I'm on the expressway I'm doing 65-70 on stock gear and the RPMs are in the 5500 - 6000 range I believe.  Every now and then I turn my head to the side to hear the exhaust better and it sounds like it's purring away at that range.

When I have gotten up into the 75 mph range it sounds a little angrier, but I'd guess that as long as everything is tuned it wouldn't be a problem.

Thanks for the responses guys. I'll keep up on the oil if I ever need to travel long distances on the freeway

Quote from: BrianRC on August 30, 2013, 01:55:50 AM
................................On a related note; who has been able to find the 17t front sprocket? Been to 3 sites and I know they make it but nobody seems to have it in stock. Anybody know?

http://www.denniskirk.com/jsp/product_catalog/Product.jsp;jsessionid=VCDJLJPNR1ZMHLA0WTKSM4VMDK0NCIV0?store=&skuId=8098217&mmy=

http://www.amazon.com/JT-Sprockets-JTF512-17-Steel-Sprocket/dp/B001AVQMNM

http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=62854.msg738503#msg738503

Quote from: justafifteen on August 29, 2013, 05:34:40 PM
I know some people have modified their sprockets to give a ~4,000 RPM load when cruising at 80mph on the freeway, but is it bad for the engine to stay on the freeway for a long time with stock sprockets? My RPMs when maintaining the flow of traffic in my area are usually at 7,000 - 7,500.

4K @ 80 clicks ... that would be a ~ 28-30 tooth front sproket ... No one does this, and It will not even fit, and no one makes one AFAIK ...
Now after you put that 30 tooth on, you'd find you wont pull 4K rpm in 6th, or 5th ... 4th will be the max, you'd still run 6K for about 90 ... heck, it probably wont make 6k in 4th either ...

Cool.
Buddha.

Yeah, not sure you could ever get THAT low. My 18T is still running about 56-5700 at 80mph.

Yea 7500 on a small displacement twin cam motor is nothing

Cool.
Garrett.

Thanks for the info guys, had to do a bit more searching by part number but I eventually found one.