Gears switching advice

[anyone]

 

 

I am newbie in manual transmissions.
Why is he driving in low gears at such a high speed, is it normal?

[Kwasaki]

22 minutes ago, anyone said:

Why is he driving in low gears at such a high speed, is it normal?

The video has already told you his doing a top speed test on his 500x. 

 

Bikers some that is like to know what are the top out speed approx in every gear. 

 

I like low gear speed to see if my bike is in tune without having to do its top speed especially when it does over 130kph in first. 

 

 

[FriendlyFarang]

He wants to accelerate as fast as possible, and at this RPM the engine probably has the highest power output.

If you want to know how much power at which RPM a bike delivers, just Google image search for "[motorbike model] dyno", for example "honda cb500 dyno", you will then find graphs giving you this information.

If you look at motorbike specs, it usually states something like (just random numbers as example) "50HP @ 8000RPM", this is the RPM which provides you with the maximum power.

If you look at the tachometer of Moto GP riders, you will notice that they do the same.

Edited July 12, 2022 by FriendlyFarang

[VocalNeal]

I see 154kph in 5th gear. 

 

Normal for many bikes. I would probably run out of revs in 5th so would need 6th. Aerodynamics willing.

[anyone]

my users' manual recommends completely different gears (honda 500x)

[4MyEgo]

52 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

I like low gear speed to see if my bike is in tune without having to do its top speed especially when it does over 130kph in first. 

I would get more than that in 1st on my 1993 D3 ZZR 1100 ( battlestar Galatica) back in the day, and hardly got out of 3rd when out and about, i.e. unless I got onto a freeway I was familiar with bowing out at 220kmh because the front would start to vibrate a little, so would then back off.

 

Have to admit, that bike in the clip sounds like it's gear are auto changing, like I said, been a while. 

[anyone]

I read that with the wrong gear shifting, the engine heats up much more and parts wear out

[Kwasaki]

7 minutes ago, anyone said:

my users' manual recommends completely different gears (honda 500x)

That's for grannies. ????

[KhunLA]

Kind of surprised that's top speed for 500cc ... that's embarrassing ????

More than enough for TH though. 

 

My Sonic 125 @ 1/4 the CCs was quite the performer then, knowing

I was in 120s kph range more than a few times.  Though really wouldn't

want to stay going that fast for long drive.

 

My Honda 900cc had a split transmission hi/lo ????

Edited July 12, 2022 by KhunLA

[VocalNeal]

15 minutes ago, anyone said:

my users' manual recommends completely different gears (honda 500x)

I believe it also says do not operate the engine with the tachometer in the red zone so any combination of your numbers and below the red zone is acceptable. 

 

Anything below 3000rpm is useless, runs best between 4000 & 7000rpm 

 

https://www.cb500x.com/index.php/topic,2158.10.html?PHPSESSID=775448cab09fb85b769dca1f7e559cdf

Edited July 12, 2022 by VocalNeal

[Kwasaki]

24 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

I would get more than that in 1st on my 1993 D3 ZZR 1100 ( battlestar Galatica) back in the day, and hardly got out of 3rd when out and about, i.e. unless I got onto a freeway I was familiar with bowing out at 220kmh because the front would start to vibrate a little, so would then back off.

 

Have to admit, that bike in the clip sounds like it's gear are auto changing, like I said, been a while. 

The Zzr1100 what a classic bike in its day and a great sport tourer.

Use to service them in UK. 

 

My Blade in Thailand has been messed about a bit in the pass no cut out at red line.

In 3rd it red lines at just over 140mph (220kph) on speedo.

 

In my final road test in 6th it goes up to 180mph (290kph) but I reckon seeing as I have set it up much the same as the Blade I had in UK more a true timed speed would be more or the same  of 170mph (270kph).

 

I don't go top speed anymore too scary I just love the acceleration of a screamer 4.

 

The 500x will change without clutch he was an experienced rider. ????

 

[4MyEgo]

1 hour ago, Kwasaki said:

I don't go top speed anymore too scary I just love the acceleration of a screamer 4.

I miss the adrenaline rush and the sound when upping the anti going through an underground tunnel.

 

The blade is a nice bike and I understand what you mean about keeping it respectable speed wise, reminds me of a time when my cousin was having trouble with his teenage son, e.g. he was caught in a stolen car with a few school mates (private) school, expelled him, so I offered to take him out for the day and have a talk to him, having been brought up on the rougher side of the bridge.

 

So I got him on the back of the bike, tilted my registration label upward so that it covered my number plate, if pulled over could always tell the cops the wind must have moved it up and that I would relocate it as soon as I got home.

 

Anyways, going through the harbour tunnel in Sydney, I started to gear down to open it up and all of a sudden I got this feeling not to open it up, have no idea why, and why I went with my feeling, anyways got to Bondi Beach and got off the bike and noticed the rego label moved back down making my number plate clearly visible and I said sheet, lucky I didn't open it up in the tunnel or I would have lost my license (speed cameras) and he said what do you mean, I said my plate is clearly visible, he said, yeh I saw your rego label covering it so I moved it, didn't want you getting booked and all......lol, I said you little sheet, you could have cost me my license, I do it on purpose, as I would rather a small fine than a loss of license, he was quite apologetic. 

[Denim]

Doing that kind of speed , at night time , on an ordinary 2 lane road in a built up area  ? Is that wise ? ( as Sgt Wilson used to say ) Granny pulls out in front from a side street  without looking , another statistic for the newspapers.

 

 

[Stevemercer]

Looks to me like the bike has a rev limiter and won't go past a certain limit. It tops out at 160 km/hr (the old tone)

[Kwasaki]

2 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

I miss the adrenaline rush and the sound when upping the anti going through an underground tunnel.

 

The blade is a nice bike and I understand what you mean about keeping it respectable speed wise, reminds me of a time when my cousin was having trouble with his teenage son, e.g. he was caught in a stolen car with a few school mates (private) school, expelled him, so I offered to take him out for the day and have a talk to him, having been brought up on the rougher side of the bridge.

 

So I got him on the back of the bike, tilted my registration label upward so that it covered my number plate, if pulled over could always tell the cops the wind must have moved it up and that I would relocate it as soon as I got home.

 

Anyways, going through the harbour tunnel in Sydney, I started to gear down to open it up and all of a sudden I got this feeling not to open it up, have no idea why, and why I went with my feeling, anyways got to Bondi Beach and got off the bike and noticed the rego label moved back down making my number plate clearly visible and I said sheet, lucky I didn't open it up in the tunnel or I would have lost my license (speed cameras) and he said what do you mean, I said my plate is clearly visible, he said, yeh I saw your rego label covering it so I moved it, didn't want you getting booked and all......lol, I said you little sheet, you could have cost me my license, I do it on purpose, as I would rather a small fine than a loss of license, he was quite apologetic. 

One thing to like about Thailand on a bike you can concentrate on where you are speeding and not worry about police. 

[Kwasaki]

2 hours ago, Denim said:

Doing that kind of speed , at night time , on an ordinary 2 lane road in a built up area  ? Is that wise ? ( as Sgt Wilson used to say ) Granny pulls out in front from a side street  without looking , another statistic for the newspapers.

 

 

Fair call it's a judgement you make when you intend to high speed on a motorbike and of course there's always the possibility of fate and being in the wrong place at the wrong time. ????

[Hummin]

4 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

Fair call it's a judgement you make when you intend to high speed on a motorbike and of course there's always the possibility of fate and being in the wrong place at the wrong time. ????

The faster you go, the less exposure to danger on the road. At some point there is a X where danger and more dangerous meets

[Troy Tempest]

21 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

Fair call it's a judgement you make when you intend to high speed on a motorbike and of course there's always the possibility of fate and being in the wrong place at the wrong time. ????

Happened to me on Samui......Took a rental bike (Kawasaki Ninja 500) for a day to test it out.

 

The only place you can really ride at speed (relatively safely) on Samui is on a road known as "The Elephant Gate".....It has a few decent straights....Out in the jungle so only risking harm to yourself!

 

I was just clocking 170Kph when a dog ran out of the jungle.....<deleted> all I could do.......Just missed it and only just managed to keep the bike up!.....It could have been very nasty!

 

 

 

These days I only ride an old Airblade to 7/11....I had a Fireblade in the UK and miss the fun, but I am still alive!

[Agusts]

He must be on the heavy side, on a rented CB500x 2018, I did max speed of 170kph in the 6th, it would get there easily, but wouldn't go passed it one bit...! (GPS speed probably less...)

 

Of course it depends how flat is the road and headwind, and weight etc. ... 

[Kwasaki]

1 hour ago, Troy Tempest said:

Happened to me on Samui......Took a rental bike (Kawasaki Ninja 500) for a day to test it out.

 

The only place you can really ride at speed (relatively safely) on Samui is on a road known as "The Elephant Gate".....It has a few decent straights....Out in the jungle so only risking harm to yourself!

 

I was just clocking 170Kph when a dog ran out of the jungle.....<deleted> all I could do.......Just missed it and only just managed to keep the bike up!.....It could have been very nasty!

 

 

 

These days I only ride an old Airblade to 7/11....I had a Fireblade in the UK and miss the fun, but I am still alive!

Cool but I luv my Fireblade here in Thailand, it's a light weight bike for my old bones and easy to keep upright.

 

I converted to wider bars and ditched the clip on bars so much easy to maneuver now at slow speed and U-turns. 

[brianthainess]

22 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

That's for grannies. ????

When I worked as a mechanic the boss's ex-wife used to bring her car in complaining  it's not running well, boss said to me she never drives over 30 mph, take it up the Motorway and thrash it in all gears, nothing else was done, it ran fine, after, she was always happy after that.

[Kwasaki]

1 hour ago, brianthainess said:

When I worked as a mechanic the boss's ex-wife used to bring her car in complaining  it's not running well, boss said to me she never drives over 30 mph, take it up the Motorway and thrash it in all gears, nothing else was done, it ran fine, after, she was always happy after that.

Yeah most bikers know a redline is there for a reason you can go to it sometime.

 

Labouring an engine is not so good especially on a bike. 

[papa al]

2 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

Yeah most bikers know a redline is there for a reason you can go to it sometime.

 

The smaller bikes,

can go high, often.

5 ???? 5

ceeber 150///

RL= 11,500

 

Indicated 153 onest.

Maybe 135-140 true.

But w/ box & bag.

10%-Etol-91.

 

Balance-beads of course.

 

 

 

[Kwasaki]

37 minutes ago, papa al said:

The smaller bikes,

can go high, often.

5 ???? 5

ceeber 150///

RL= 11,500

 

Indicated 153 onest.

Maybe 135-140 true.

But w/ box & bag.

10%-Etol-91.

 

Balance-beads of course.

 

Don't know much about speeds of small engine bikes but keeping up with an experienced rider on a CBR125 through the tight twisty roads is quite a challenge for a more powerful motorbike. ????????????

[AustinRacing]

I bought a cbr500r in 2017. It is actually 471cc just under 50hp two cylinder. It was ok but felt like a glorified Honda wave so upgraded to ninja zx6r with 636cc and near 130hp 4 cylinders. The difference is remarkable. I find bikes under 4 cylinders sound horrible especially with modified exhausts. More like a lawnmower!!!

[Kwasaki]

1 hour ago, AustinRacing said:

I bought a cbr500r in 2017. It is actually 471cc just under 50hp two cylinder. It was ok but felt like a glorified Honda wave so upgraded to ninja zx6r with 636cc and near 130hp 4 cylinders. The difference is remarkable. I find bikes under 4 cylinders sound horrible especially with modified exhausts. More like a lawnmower!!!

Kwacka twins can sound quite nice with the right aftermarket end box , loud but not intrusive.

[Troy Tempest]

4 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

Kwacka twins can sound quite nice with the right aftermarket end box , loud but not intrusive.

The 500 Ninja I rented sounded just like a Bonneville, but was definitely a bit quicker and didn't leak oil!

 

Kwicker- Kwacka!

 

Before I passed my test when I was 17 in the UK I had a Suzuki T200 Invader (2 stroke).....Red line at 8,000 RPM......It had racing baffles and really upset the neighbours when I started it up at 7:00 in the morning to go to work!

 

Edited July 13, 2022 by Troy Tempest

[anyone]

Thanks to all who answered, now I will focus more on rpm than on speed.

 

At what speed do you drive in traffic? (I mean big motorcycle), is it 2nd gear?
My motorcycle still moves at the second gear, is at least 15 km/h even when I release the throttle. When you press the brake, it twitches terribly and still moves. I'm afraid to blow everything around LMAO

[FriendlyFarang]

27 minutes ago, anyone said:

At what speed do you drive in traffic? (I mean big motorcycle), is it 2nd gear?

The gear depends on your desired speed. So what speed does "driving in traffic" mean? If very slow, then obviously 1st gear.

 

27 minutes ago, anyone said:

My motorcycle still moves at the second gear, is at least 15 km/h even when I release the throttle. When you press the brake, it twitches terribly and still moves. I'm afraid to blow everything around LMAO

It's not an automatic transmission, you are supposed to pull the clutch if you are going slower than idle speed. Search for something like "feathering the clutch" on Google.

Edited July 14, 2022 by FriendlyFarang

[Kwasaki]

7 hours ago, Troy Tempest said:

The 500 Ninja I rented sounded just like a Bonneville, but was definitely a bit quicker and didn't leak oil!

 

Kwicker- Kwacka!

 

Before I passed my test when I was 17 in the UK I had a Suzuki T200 Invader (2 stroke).....Red line at 8,000 RPM......It had racing baffles and really upset the neighbours when I started it up at 7:00 in the morning to go to work!

 

Great memories I passed my test on my mates Batam because my dad bought me a Pather 600 with a sidecar on my 16th birthday I had already got my provisional DL to start on that date.

Dad didn't want me having a scooter which was gonna be given to me by one of our family. ????