Speeds for Gears.
 

I am just curious what gears you guys use at certain speeds (barring special circumstances). I am well aware of the distinct sound of an engine being driven too hard, but I am curious as to what you use. Today I was driving the gz250 extensively and I found that while you can go 30 or so in 3rd it seemed perhaps better in 4th. So for me it ended up.

1st - for the first nudge off of a start
2nd - for a few more seconds, around 15 mph
3rd - 30ish
4th - anywhere from 20-40 while rolling.
5th - engaged it at 45

One thing I did notice is that while 1st especially and sometimes 2nd are jerky sometimes at low speeds you can use 3rd and 4th and pretty low speeds and they are still surprisingly super smooth. Times I thought I would need to down shift even 4th seemed to handle fine.

What are your thoughts?

Re: Speeds for Gears.
 

Sounds good to me.I always found that if the bike didn't jerk in the gear you were in,it was fine.
:) :lol:

Re: Speeds for Gears.
 

this are my normal shift speeds (with the stock 15T front sprocket)

gears kph mph rpm
1 to 2 25 16 5076
2 to 3 45 28 5848
3 to 4 60 37 5837
4 to 5 70 44 5392

aggressive shift pattern
gears kph mph rpm
1 to 2 30 19 6092
2 to 3 50 31 6498
3 to 4 70 44 6810
4 to 5 90 56 6933

rpms are theoretical based on the speed and gearing, I don't have a tach

Re: Speeds for Gears.
 

hmmm.,.. that's kind of squished up, I'll try to open that up a bit and re-post

Re: Speeds for Gears.
 

Here once again is Jaime's table with rpms vs. speed for the 15 and 16 tooth front sprocket. Thanks Jaime !
[img]15T16Trpm.png[/img]
http://s2.postimage.org/22s90khno/15_T16_Trpm.jpg
[attachment=0:3pi25x0e]15T16Trpm.png[/attachment:3pi25x0e]

(Ah well, one day I may figure out how to place an image *as is*)

The point being, you don't want to go too slow. For instance, when you are going 25 mph in 5th gear, it has a hard time accelerating from there. The engine runs better above 3500 rpm and the corresponding speeds (mph) are (for a 15 tooth sprocket):
Gear.. Speed mph
5.......35
4.......28
3.......23
2.......17
1.......11

Re: Speeds for Gears.
 

O.K., so drop down a gear before you damage the engine. It's no good trying to get too technical with speed, ratios, etc.
Every type of road condition, speed, accelleration, gear etc calls for a different "remedy". If I were you I'd forget all this crap, & use my instinct as to when to change gear. That's the ONLY way to do it. If the engine's labouring, change down. If it's screaming away, change up. You can always reverse the process with a flick of the toe if you've got it wrong.

I could be wrong, but it seems to me that you've only driven automatics before (or you wouldn't be asking these questions). There's no hard & fast rules about changing gears, it's just something else you've got to learn. EVERY gearchange is different. Just flow with it. :)

BTW, the fact that you're trying to accellerate from a very low speed in a very high gear, is what leads me to the conclusion that you've only driven automatics before. :roll:

Re: Speeds for Gears.
 

+1 with the power this bike makes youll know if your in the right gear or not, its simple just like he said screaming? upshift, not moving at all? downshift get used to the way the engine should sound

Re: Speeds for Gears.
 

you guys are right. just feel the bike and shift appropriately.
when you aren't getting the power you want, shift down.
trouble is, for the newby on a bike with no tach it's a little worrying.
for instance, what does the redline feel like, or sound like?
for me, it was a welcome relief to know I could downshift out of 5th on the highway and maintain 60mph without blowing the engine apart.

Re: Speeds for Gears.
 

true its just a different mind set than im in. ive nver had thoughts of gears and speeds i need to be at but for a beginner its a differnt world al together

Re: Speeds for Gears.
 

I cant even hear my gz250 while riding, between wind and other motorists, geez. Im new at this and im trying to listen to my bike and i cant. grrr.