Question on when to shift...

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Trakanon · #1 Unread post by **Trakanon** » Sun Oct 01, 2006 6:40 pm

2005 Yamaha Roadstar 1700

I'm completely new to bikes and have been taking the last couple of months to slowly become comfortable with it. I have been staying within the neighborhoods <30 MPH, but I feel I am comfortable enough to venture out onto the bigger roads. My bike has no tach, so I have to use my ears to know when to shift. 1st seems like it maxes out at about 10 MPH. 2nd at around 20 MPH. 3rd at around 30 MPH. Common sense tells me when to shift into 4th and 5th, but at those speeds I can't actually hear the bike at all. All I hear is wind. I can "feel" the bike shaking when I am going too slow for a given gear, but I still can't hear when it is time to shift. I am guessing that around 40 MPH is when I should shift to 4th, and 50 MPH is when I should shift to 5th, but I just wanted to ask here to make myself at ease... Thanks in advance.

Shiv · #2 Unread post by **Shiv** » Sun Oct 01, 2006 6:55 pm

I don't know man. I've never heard of a bike with no tach. No gas gauge? Sure. No speedometer? Uhmm...once or twice. No tach? Seems like a fairly crucial thing.

Might wanna look into getting one installed?

By the by have you taken the MSF?

Trakanon · #3 Unread post by **Trakanon** » Sun Oct 01, 2006 7:00 pm

Shiv wrote:I don't know man. I've never heard of a bike with no tach. No gas gauge? Sure. No speedometer? Uhmm...once or twice. No tach? Seems like a fairly crucial thing.

Might wanna look into getting one installed?

By the by have you taken the MSF?

From what I have been told, not having a tach is fairly common. Yes, I took a motorcycle safety course before I began riding.

#4 Unread post by **Koss** » Sun Oct 01, 2006 7:05 pm

I think the best way I could put it would be to be within the proper gear that you feel comfortable, power wise.

You dont want to be lugging the engine, sounds like it wants to die and lurchs about trying to survive.

And you also dont want her screaming her lungs out like a shrieking banshee in the night

So really, you can use your relative speed and road noise/engine noise to figure out which gear you are in or should be in... but

I think being in a gear where you are able to effectivly pass, or accellerate quicky to avoid danger, while still being within safe tolerable speeds for crash advoidance and emergecy braking to be essential.

I dont really know if that makes any sense, but being in the "power band" is what im getting at I guess. Not Peak power or near idle

Kal · #5 Unread post by **Kal** » Sun Oct 01, 2006 7:07 pm

Had a couple without Tach,s and just shifted when I felt right about it. I think this is mostly based on how the engine sounds but also somewhat based on how responsive she feels.

While I think you are in the right kind of ball park for the first couple of gears I would expect that you can extend the speeds you need in order to shift a little in the higher gears.

However I have never ridden this type of Bike.

Trakanon · #6 Unread post by **Trakanon** » Sun Oct 01, 2006 7:09 pm

Koss wrote:I dont really know if that makes any sense, but being in the "power band" is what im getting at I guess. Not Peak power or near idle

Yeah, that's what I am aiming for. The problem is that I am not sure if I am in that zone or not. Like I said, I can tell if I am going to slow for the gear because the bike stutters and feels like it is about to stall. But since I can't hear the bike at those speeds I find myself wondering if the bike is making that high pitch sound, begging for me to shift up...

#7 Unread post by **Koss** » Sun Oct 01, 2006 7:15 pm

Well, I think you have a good grasp of it...

At least with my riding style, I always am kinda a gear to high... since im a cheap college student wanting to save gas lol. But at around 50mph I think you'll be good to go if you are in your highest gear.

I say with the way you think, it will come with time and experience. If you keep away from the extreme low and extreme high then you should be golden!

qwerty · #8 Unread post by **qwerty** » Sun Oct 01, 2006 7:44 pm

Check your owner manual or a shop manual for transmission gear ratios and redline (maximum safe engine rpm). You might also find these values on the internet. Hold the bike vertical and measure from the ground to the center of the axle of the wheel hooked to the speedometer. This measurement is your rolling radius.

With gear ratio, redline, and rolling radius, you can calculate the ground speed at your redline for each gear. You can mark these values on the speedometer with a Sharpie.

HB Hemi · #9 Unread post by **HB Hemi** » Sun Oct 01, 2006 8:25 pm

I have a 2003 Roadstar Warrior with (I believe) the same motor and drive train.

I basically shift by feel/sound and don't really pay attention to the actual speed. I just looked in my owner's manual and found the recommended shift speeds.

1->2 13 mph
2->3 19 mph
3->4 25 mph
4->5 31 mph

Those seem slow to me but again I never really pay attention.

ofblong · #10 Unread post by **ofblong** » Sun Oct 01, 2006 8:38 pm

I shift by sound. sometimes I go a little to far before I shift. shift into 2nd about 15mph 3rd at about 30mph and 4rth at about 50mph but thats only if I am accelerating up to 65mph speed. If I am just crusing and have to slow down and then accelerate again its more like 2nd at 15mph 3rd at 30mph and 4rth at 40mph. I only have 4 gears though.