How Do You Ride

[MJB]

It seems that I enjoy riding the bike now at a higher RPM
I used to cruse around 3,500 - 4000 RPM
After attending my first track day a few weeks ago, I now prefer to ride around 5,000RPM and change gears around 6,000
The bike seems to perform fantastic at these RPM's

Any comments...

[websterize]

About the same — the lower range in town commuting and higher in horse country. I've not yet been to a track day. Sounds fun.

[LumpyCam]

I spend most of my rides between 4,000 and 6,000 in the city and have the poor 35mpg economy to prove it. Out on the highway it's a nice 3,000 to 4,000 and we're up to 46mpg.

Sure is fun though

[Anger]

I used to lug my R1150R under 3500 cruizing. After installing a techlusion, I seemed to enjoy the engine sound and feel above 4K a bit more. I regularly ride and cruise on the R1200R above 4500 to 5000. I hit the rev limiter often when I'm hot rodding around town and that is annoying. I've adjusted my shift patterns but I really would enjoy an extra 2K of engine RPM's to play with. Perhaps a K1200R is in my future ? NAHH.

[Tarmac]

I run her almost to red line on on ramps. She's got a hard rev limiter, it's better to up-shift before you hit it.

Riding up the mountain, in the twisties, I stick her into 3rd and play a game of "don't touch the brakes". I think Nick Ienatsch calls it "the pace"...

http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/flash ... index.html

... she's got good grunt down low, so you don't have to keep her on the boil to keep cooking. Exact opposite of my ol' RZ-350... kinda like ridin my DRZ-400SM, except I had to do it in 5th, and it's got a better seat... no where near as fast as my GSXR-750R

[r12gecko]

Unless I'm pushing for fun, I like to ride at lowest revs that doesn't labour the engine and still offers reasonable torque for acceleration. I figure the fewer RPM per hour of engine run-time, the more engine life I can enjoy. Plus, being the owner of a VW Golf TDI, I'm somewhat obsessed with finding the most efficient speed and engine performance zone for max range per tank. The car clobbers the bike in sheer range/tank - it'll easily travel 1000+ km on a 55 litre tank of diesel in 100 km/h highway driving.

[websterize]

Unless I'm pushing for fun, I like to ride at lowest revs that doesn't labour the engine and still offers reasonable torque for acceleration. I figure the fewer RPM per hour of engine run-time, the more engine life I can enjoy. Plus, being the owner of a VW Golf TDI, I'm somewhat obsessed with finding the most efficient speed and engine performance zone for max range per tank. The car clobbers the bike in sheer range/tank - it'll easily travel 1000+ km on a 55 litre tank of diesel in 100 km/h highway driving.

I'm with you. We're leasing a 335d and love it. Averages 35+ mpg/highway — in a twin turbo! Diesels ain't what they used to be.

If you're in the Midwest, highly recommend Countrymark's high-cetane diesel. Filled up on a tank of their B5 biodiesel (soy) and got close to 40 mpg on a 600-mile interstate drive from Indy to D.C.

[Caroanbill]

I think I have two main riding styles .. both are open-country only because I don't ride the R12R in town (my Vespa is so much better around Sydney) I must confess I don't look at the tachometer much on the R12R - this is a first for me, having spent a lot of time making sure I was in the right rev range for power/torque (R65, R80 & F650) or dodging vibration bands (K100, K1100 & R1150) .. and having a diesel 4WD I also watch my revs there so remind myself I really can drive around at 1700-2000rpm in a 1630kg car! I think not needing to pay too much attention to the tachometer is a testament to the flexibility of the hexhead motor.

So, like most of us, Ifind I can use the gears to both decelerate from higher speeds and accelerate back to them - so sometimes my gear chosen may seem "low". My favourite funtime gear ranges for consistent engine braking / on-power corners (converted from our kmh, so 'rough') -
- 60mph advisory speed, 70-75 mph actual - 5th gear (and leave it there)
- 50-60 advisory, 60-70 actual - 4th (and leave it there)
- 30-50 advisory, 40-60 actual - 4th (down to 3rd for 30-40 advisory / 40-50 actual)
- below 25 advisory - 2nd ( and up to 3rd: 2nd is too low for short straights)

At these gears, I may be a bit slower but I can ride almost exclusively on the throttle - and I don't need to look at the speedo much, if at all - so I can finesse my line. If I'm faster on entry, I downshift to these gears as (or before) I brake to keep in my favourite part of the power band on exit. If I have a total brain-fade, the Telelever / Paralever will still allow a reasonable gearchange around the apex for a power-on exit .. it's very forgiving! (I don't need to tell you how powerful the front/linked brake can be!)

My old-style BMW twin cornering is completely different - for open sweepers at 60-80mph I can simply stay in 6th and use a modicum of engine braking + mild throttle to float on through ... or simply counter-steer at constant speed ... that's flat-twin bliss ... I call it the BMW "lope" ... my R80 would do it at 100-120kmh, and my R1150RS about the same ... the motor kinda 'ticks' (more of a purr in the R12).

The freeway is just 6th, wind on the Kaoko, and wait for the exit to fun roads ... and 5th is good for quite silly speeds if I really want power.

[angellr]

Unless I'm pushing for fun, I like to ride at lowest revs that doesn't labour the engine and still offers reasonable torque for acceleration. I figure the fewer RPM per hour of engine run-time, the more engine life I can enjoy. Plus, being the owner of a VW Golf TDI, I'm somewhat obsessed with finding the most efficient speed and engine performance zone for max range per tank. The car clobbers the bike in sheer range/tank - it'll easily travel 1000+ km on a 55 litre tank of diesel in 100 km/h highway driving.

I'm with you. We're leasing a 335d and love it. Averages 35+ mpg/highway — in a twin turbo! Diesels ain't what they used to be.

If you're in the Midwest, highly recommend Countrymark's high-cetane diesel. Filled up on a tank of their B5 biodiesel (soy) and got close to 40 mpg on a 600-mile interstate drive from Indy to D.C.

I normally just try to keep RPMs down in the 3K range ... usually don't wind the engine up too much.

When I get on the bike, like to enjoy my rides, not push too much. But then again, have only been riding in my "old" age now for 8 months or so [rode dirt bikes as a teenager ... then "grew up" ... married an Emergency Room Nurse ... after 25 years of marriage she finally "allowed" me to get a motorcycle] and am loving every minute.

BTW, here in Salt Lake City, use B-20 [DalSoglios on 7200 S/700 W] in my Jeep Liberty Diesel and it works really well. Can almost get 30 on the open road ... and 17-20 on the hills (live right next the University of Utah and its right on the hill ... and my wife works at the top-of-the-hill at the Hospital ... therefore, we are always "jeeping" :0). Jealous of the 335d ... used to have a few 3/5 series in the day.