Been riding since last Thursday and everythings going good.  I've noticed a HUGE difference between my riding now and last Thursday.  Anyway, my questions:  What RPM's do you cruise in?  I'm not sure if I'm riding with too high or too low an RPM range.  Also, when sitting still I find it very difficult to find neutral - is this normal?  I find it a lot easier to find neutral out of 2nd than 1st.

I cruise around the streets in an rpm that will keep my pipes quiet as not too attract attention from the LEO's. I think this is around 2500rpm in 4th gear. The down side to doing so is that I have to shift often.

i couldn't imagine cruising at that low of rpms.  i usually keep mine right around 5k on city streets.  then again, if it's a brand new bike and engine, make sure you follow the break in procedures.

When I had my GS I lived between 4000-7000 rpm most of the time.  I only swung the tach north of that when accelerating.

yeah.. 2500 rpm is doggin' it a bit...  its not a car... wind that bad-boy up!!!    

Oops, that should be 3500rpm not 2500rpm.
2500 would definitely be too low for the engine to be happy. :mrgreen:

I've only been riding a month, but I also noticed that it is often easier to find neutral out of second instead of first.

Smooth Dave

Ok, I thought I was running it a bit high but I guess not.  I have been cruising about 3500 RPM's so I guess I'm good.  It's not a new bike so break in is not a worry.  And good to hear that I'm not the only one having trouble finding neutral.

unless breaking in the bike you should be running around town between 4-7k rpm. When on the boil keep it between 7-9.5 at least (thats where the real power is) and you can go all the way up to 11k...sounds great there...

anything under 4 is bordering on lugging the motor.

New riders often have trouble finding neutral, which is why Kawasaki developed positive neutral finders for use on their beginner-type bikes.

Quote from: pantabloanything under 4 is bordering on lugging the motor.

Yep - the only time I drop below 4,000 RPM is when I'm riding home through my neighborhood at night.  But that's on a no-engine-load, level street at 20-25 mph.

When riding in town I tend to keep it between 4 and 5K.  Well, except for when I'm squirting away from stop lights.  I've taken to revving it up to 7 or 8K until I get up to the speed limit.

On the freeway around here you can't really cruise at less than 6,000 RPM or so (in 6th gear!).  And when you need to whip around a slowpoke, you shift down a gear (or two, depending) and kick it up to 7 or 8 (or 9 or 10) thousand until you get around them and shift up again.

Ok, maybe I am dragging it a bit.  Just came back from a cruise tonight an tried to keep it around 3500 (min) to 4000.  Seemed a lot better.

is there a bad thing with lugging teh motor under load. i have done it a few times but not for extended periods of time. :dunno:

ya, i came from driving a manual car, and i toyed with the idea of crusing at 2.5k-ish. but i coulda accelerated faster fred flinstone style from that rev range.