6th gear?

Medic · Nov 17, 2006

Hi everyone,

Now I am sure I will receive a great deal of flame for this, and I probably am alone in this issue, but it seems to me the FJR could use a 6th gear. Going 55 is fine, but at...say....72 (which is not too fast at all), the RPMS are around the 5500 range, and the fuel economy suffers. I am not one of those who bought the bike to see how quickly I can kill myself, but just want a really good comfortable bike for 2-6 hour at a time trips, and while my bike has not been farkled yet (only 400 miles on it, had it a week) with items like cruise control, and the handlebar weights to keep the vibrations down, so maintaining this speed is not as comfy as 55, and since it is still breaking in, I am trying to stay below 4000 rpm for the first 600 miles and 5000 for the first 1000 miles. Just a thought, but I was wondering if anyone else had this thought?

Ignacio · Nov 17, 2006

Congratulations. You've only brought up a subject that is often repeated and never resolved.

I HIGHLY suggest you learn how to use the Search feature and you'll be overwhelmed with a variety of opinions on the subject. Here's one of many. Particularly look in the Never-Ending Pointless Recurring Threads.....where this thread is now being moved.

Also, I'm getting 4,100 at 70mph on my '05 in 5th gear. Should be even lower RPMs on the '06.

Oh, and welcome to the board.

Fairlaner · Nov 17, 2006

Something strange there Medic. have you tried shifting to the next gear it helps a lot.

i have an 05 and it is doing 4500rpm at 80mph. so i would say 5500 at 72 is not correct at all.

sounds weird to me.

Richard

RadioHowie · Nov 17, 2006

Typical of a detuned '06.

Bounce · Nov 17, 2006

Gas mileage suffers at half red line? Really? I've gotten as much as 52 mpg (us) when bucking winds and storms and going about 85 mph in NM.

I know people want 100mpg bikes, but c'mon now. :lol:

turbodave_98 · Nov 17, 2006

Ignacio said:
Congratulations. You've only brought up a subject that is often repeated and never resolved.
I HIGHLY suggest you learn how to use the Search feature and you'll be overwhelmed with a variety of opinions on the subject. Here's one of many. Particularly look in the Never-Ending Pointless Recurring Threads.....where this thread is now being moved.

Also, I'm getting 4,100 at 70mph on my '05 in 5th gear. Should be even lower RPMs on the '06.

Oh, and welcome to the board.

in 5th gear on my AE at 4k rpm I consistentely read 73.1mph on the GPS and 75 mph on the speedometer.

radman · Nov 17, 2006

The dealer didn't give you the bag liners OR top gear, did he? You gotta watch those pricks, lemme tell ya. Look under the seat, or in the bag with the spare lockset and those cute little hole covers. Gotta be in there somewhere...

Mtn · Nov 17, 2006

I really noticed it when I first got my 05 bike ,I said the same thing that it needs another gear and peeps just asked why I wanted to go that fast. Like you I expected to cruise at a lower rpm.You will get use to to it reving higher, but you will always be looking for the next gear like me.

Mtn

exskibum · Nov 17, 2006

Mtn said:
I really noticed it when I first got my 05 bike ,I said the same thing that it needs another gear and peeps just asked why I wanted to go that fast. Like you I expected to cruise at a lower rpm.You will get use to to it reving higher, but you will always be looking for the next gear like me.

Yes and no. I was always looking for 6th when I got my '05 (there were 6 gears on the '97 XX I had when I got the FJR in April '05, and 6 gears on the '03 XX that I now have). Maybe it's because I have two DIFFERENT similar function bikes, and because that allowed me to compare function, but it wasn't long before I didn't miss a 6th gear on the FJR. I think this is why:

The FJR is just geared and tuned differently than my XXs. In 5th on the FJR at 4000 RPM, I'm doing pretty much the same speed as in 6th on the XX at 4000 RPM. The XX (1137 cc) is faster, tuned for a higher red line and more horsepower, but the FJR is tuned for more grunt in the mid range (it's more dialed to "touring" of the two sport-touring bikes). As a result, it'll pull a bigger load over a wider RPM range when it's torque you need. Makes it a lot more forgiving, allows you to go down to where another bike may lug, and it's more suitable for what it does best. I'd happily take a 6th gear on the Feejer, but it really doesn't need it for what it's designed to do, and that isn't keeping up (side by side) with Busas, ZX-14s, liter sport bikes or even an XX. OTOH, if you go cruising through the twisty switch backs of Ebbetts Pass, you can even take pictures with one had on the forgiving wider ratio tranny of the FJR, while you'd have to scramble for at least a few shifts on the XX.

They're just different animals. Good chance that you get used to the Feejer's wider ratio 5 speed and don't miss the 6th gear before long.

weekend rider · Nov 18, 2006

Its time for some remedial math classes with Mt.Rogers. Repeat after me and lets all count to five, 1,2,3,4,5, that is how many gears the fjr has in its transmission and that is how many times you must shift to get into the last gear. All together now what is the highest number on the fjr transmission when you have shifted all the way through the shift pattern< Oh silly i know "5 " and how fast will you be going in fifth gear at 4000 rpm? Mine says around 70mph that is correct johnny class did you all hear that? Yes Mr. Rogers

There will be a test on friday :yahoo: :lol: B) weekend rider

ionbeam · Nov 18, 2006

and how fast will you be going in fifth gear at 4000 rpm? Mine says around 70mph that is correct johnny class did you all hear that? Yes Mr. Rogers

Umm, no. At 4000 rpm in fifth gear you will be going 77 mph. Mr. Rogers needs to get a calendar to tell how fast he is going, 'cause the '06 is geared different.
I'm glad your riding is done is a location where gear counting is easy to do. In my daily commute I'm often in situations where the focus is on staying safe in traffic and counting my up-shifts and down shifts is too distracting to be practical. It is also a nuisance (for me) in traffic to play "if I'm going xx mph at xxxx rpm then I'm in (calculate) 4th gear". I ride in the gear that is appropriate for the situation and don't pay attention to what gear that is. This sometimes leads me to shift into 6th gear.

YMMV.

Fairlaner · Nov 18, 2006

I thought the 06's had a gear indicator?

maybe Medics is not calibrated correctly amd it says he is in 5th when in fact he isn't.

just a thought.

Richard

UweRoss · Nov 18, 2006

Ah.. My '06 has a a handy gear indicator. A quick glance with the Mk.1 eyeball will reveal what gear it's in almost instantly. Since the guy who started this thread also claims to have an '06, I wonder if his gear indicator could be indicating 5th incorrectly, when he's actually in 4th?

And then there's Mr. Rogers:

Its time for some remedial math classes with Mt.Rogers. Repeat after me and lets all count to five, 1,2,3,4,5, that is how many gears the fjr has in its transmission and that is how many times you must shift to get into the last gear.

Let's count the shifts: 1-2, that's one. 2-3, that's two. 3-4, that's three, 4-5, that's four. Four shifts to get from 1st to 5th gear. Not five.

-Uwe-

Fencer · Nov 18, 2006

UweRoss said:
And then there's Mr. Rogers:

Its time for some remedial math classes with Mt.Rogers. Repeat after me and lets all count to five, 1,2,3,4,5, that is how many gears the fjr has in its transmission and that is how many times you must shift to get into the last gear.

Click to expand...

Let's count the shifts: 1-2, that's one. 2-3, that's two. 3-4, that's three, 4-5, that's four. Four shifts to get from 1st to 5th gear. Not five.

-Uwe-

Uwe

You forgot 1-N, N-2 That makes 5

Oh and lets not forget Reverse

mdisher · Nov 18, 2006

I'm in the "It could use another gear camp" Gear indicator or not, I think I'd still like to have a 6th.

I've never gotten better than 45mpg either, cruising at the speed of traffic 65-75.

I supposed I could get 50mpg if I rode at a constant 55-60 below the speed of traffic?

This is not a *****, nor a complaint, I just think a 6th gear would be useful on the slab.

UweRoss · Nov 18, 2006

I'm inclined to agree, in a perfect world, the FJR would have an "Overdrive" 6th for more relaxed slabbing. My other bike (DL1000 V-Strom) has this. But on that bike with stock sprockets, it forces a lot of downshifts, and you don't really want to use 6th below an indicated 75 mph. In fact, a popular mod on that bike is to go with a 2-tooth bigger rear sprocket, or a 1-tooth smaller front in order to make 6th gear more usable. Some people have done both.

I don't thik we'll see a 6th gear on the FJR in the forseeable future. Due to the layout of the drivetrain, you need a gear-set to turn the power 90 degrees into the driveshaft and suspect Yamaha would have to completely redesign the cases to fit a 6th.

Compared to a lot of other bikes, the FJR gets pretty respectable mileage. Let's not forget it's got a 1300 CC motor capable of producing 140+ hp and the power has to make two right-angle turns in the driveline (which are intrinsically lossy). I get as good or better mileage on my FJR as I do on my V-Strom, despite the V-Strom having a very tall 6th, and an efficient chain drive (no 90-degree turns).

If you want a 50 mpg, get something with 750cc or less. Or a VW Turbo Diesel..

-Uwe-

markjenn · Nov 18, 2006

I've never meet a six-speed bike yet that I thought would be better with a five-speed, so I'm in the camp that another gear would be nice to have. But... the bike does just fine with the five-speed and the revs in 5th are quite reasonable, especially with the 06.

It's mostly a matter of perception that the motor sounds too busy and I think most of the folks wanting lower revs are coming from cruiser backgrounds. If you lowered the revs further than the 06, I think the high-gear lethargy problem would become acute. Low revs are nice but at some point, you'll overgear it to the point that is becomes lifeless in top gear and you'd drop top speed by putting the drag-limited speed between gears. This bike like to rev. If the bike got a six-speed, I wouldn't want it geared any taller than the 06 - I'd use the extra gear to close up the spacing.

In any event, I wouldn't hold your breath for a six-speed. The number of gears in the transmission is something that is baked into the original engine design and you don't change something like this lightly. Yamaha would only add a gear during a clean-sheet engine design and so far this tends to occur infrequently in this class of motorcycles - the RT took 10 years, the ST took 13 years and the Connie took over twenty.

- Mark

pronomian · Nov 18, 2006

When I had the wing I kept wanting to shift from 5th around 60, on the fjr I have not desire to shift out of 5th at 80. I used to think it would need a higher gear, until I got one.

Mike

huron52 · Nov 18, 2006

You guys with the low gas mileage need to come to Canada.... where our gallons are larger in size

Well they used to be... now they are liters... and then we have that weroid way of figuring out gas used for distance Liters per 100 kilometers

What the hell is that?

6th gear?

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