Cruising RPM?

[RwP]

I have had my FJR since Feb 25, and absolutely love it. I am curious about cruising RPM:

1) If you are cruising at 65 on the fwy, are you typically in 3rd or 4th?

2) What RPM do you typically shift at when riding 'normally'? 4500? 5500? 6500? 7500?

3) Is there a fuel economy 'sweet spot' you've found?

4) Anyone out there take it past 8K frequently?

Thanks in advance for any and all input.

RwP

 

[SouthernCruizer]

I have had my FJR since Feb 25, and absolutely love it. I am curious about cruising RPM:
1) If you are cruising at 65 on the fwy, are you typically in 3rd or 4th?

2) What RPM do you typically shift at when riding 'normally'? 4500? 5500? 6500? 7500?

3) Is there a fuel economy 'sweet spot' you've found?

4) Anyone out there take it past 8K frequently?

Thanks in advance for any and all input.

RwP

************************************************

1) 65, in 5th gear

2) usually around 4K, unless riding aggressively

3)keep it under 80mph, or about 4.5K, and your gas mileage is pretty damn sweet

4) sometimes I go to redline, bike is really moving at that point. Amazingly, its very ez to hit the rev limiter in 1st or 2nd.

 

[Ignacio]

1) 5th

2) For "normal" riding which is too say riding a sport-touring bike...anywhere between 4,000 and 8,000...give or take 1,000 rpm.

3) See #1 for speed and gear if that's what traffic is flowing......although 55 mph yields even better mileage....it's probably true clear down to like 40 or so where wind resistance and the baseline for consumption of 1300cc combustion cross.

4) Yes, even clear to the redline regularly....since it's a sport-touring bike and will run safely at that RPM for a very, very long time with no ill effect.

 

[SkooterG]

Shift wherever floats your boat. Have you ever owned a m/c before?

I'll be in 5th gear at 40mph if I am not accelerating briskly. I normally tend to shift around 3000 rpm unless I am in a situation where I want to accelerate briskly or carving up the twistys.

My FJR has seen 10,000+ rpm many a time.

There is no fuel economy 'sweet spot'. Fuel economy is based on speed. And you want to have the lowest rpm (highest gear) for whatever speed your at. As mentioned above, fuel economy does start dropping off quickly once you get above 75-80mph.

 

[UselessPickles]

This reminds me of a post where someone was complaining about the vibration and/or engine noise when cruising on the freeway around 70mph... in 3rd gear :huh:

1) 5th gear

2) Whatever "feels" good, depending on my mood and how fast I'm accelerating. I get into 3rd gear very quickly in residential areas to avoid annoying people (especially at night). My observation is that the FJR will handle light acceleration from as low as about 1500-2000 RPMs in higher gears without complaint. Otherwise, probably around 4k for "normal" acceleration, and around 9k when I'm having fun

3) Highest gear for your speed that allows RPMs to stay high enough that the engine pulls smoothly.

4) Pretty much any time I enter a freeway . Freeway entrance ramps are one of the few places you can get away with a 1st gear full throttle acceleration up to red line without exceeding the speed limit, and it sure is fun!

It should be noted that even though the FJR has enough torque that it could spend its entire life at about 4000 rpms or less, it's not good to baby an engine. You need to run it hard through the higher RPMs sometimes, and I think even light load at higher RPMs to keep the piston rings clean and prevent carbon deposits. Maybe someone else with more knowledge of this can clarify.

 

[RwP]

Thanks all for your insight. I have been shifting at 4,500 generally, and cruising at 65 in 4th on fwy. Of course there are many exceptions depending on mood, conditions, etc...

RwP

 

[petey]

Thanks all for your insight. I have been shifting at 4,500 generally, and cruising at 65 in 4th on fwy.
RwP

And then there are people that want six gears for the feej....go figure!

 

[boomerang]

I guess I don't understand why you wouldn't want to be in 5th. when on the freeway. Unless of course you are just staying in the rpm range to allow yourself a little fun playing in trafffic.

 

[okmac]

I guess I don't understand why you wouldn't want to be in 5th. when on the freeway. Unless of course you are just staying in the rpm range to allow yourself a little fun playing in trafffic.

+ 1

Mac

 

[Bounce]

1) If you are cruising at 65 on the fwy, are you typically in 3rd or 4th?

cruising? 5th.

 

[old&slow]

What ??? :dribble:

 

[cardingtr]

Since you are asking about fuel economy on the same thread, if I am cruising on the freeway I'm on 5th.

Even on stop and go traffic at 40-50mph I'm already on 5th. This bike has gobs of torque I sometimes double shift.

 

[Nightshift]

Since you are asking about fuel economy on the same thread, if I am cruising on the freeway I'm on 5th.Even on stop and go traffic at 40-50mph I'm already on 5th. This bike has gobs of torque I sometimes double shift.

When travelling between 50 and 55 mph I got an incredible 55 mpg. When going 70 to 75 mph I got 50 mpg.

Mick

 

[TexCom]

1) If you are cruising at 65 on the fwy, are you typically in 3rd or 4th? (I'm in 4th once I can find a pocket away from the cars)

2) What RPM do you typically shift at when riding 'normally'? 4500? 5500? 6500? 7500? (I wonder about this a lot too. I shift at 4000 - 4500 usually, except in 1st and 2nd where I wind it up)

3) Is there a fuel economy 'sweet spot' you've found? (Dunno. Don't care. It gets better MPG than my Dodge truck and gets me to work faster than the bus.)

4) Anyone out there take it past 8K frequently? (Common to see 8K zipping onto the freeway...don't always need it, but damn it's fun.)

 

[iCruze]

Cruising at 65 in fourth and to think some folks are clammering for a sixth gear, I am guessing TexCom wouldnt need 6th till about 105 mph :biggrinsmiley:

 

[jordylad]

101 freeway riding/driving:

Cruising on the freeway you should ALWAYS be in 5th (top), duh! That's what 5th is for.

Drop down to 4th if required for passing or when exiting.

THE LOWER THE rpm the more the MPG.

 

[coastalcop]

Unless it has changed in the past 10 years (and it might have) it was common knowledge that the safe cruising range for longevity was around %65 of redline for the given vehicle. Figuring on the fjrs redline, in fifth gear you almost have to go to the autobahn to reach this without incurring lots of paper and long and extended talks with the red and blue.

Plenty of pull at any reasonable rpm.

 

[charismaticmegafauna]

Unless it has changed in the past 10 years (and it might have) it was common knowledge that the safe cruising range for longevity was around %65 of redline for the given vehicle.

I concur.

I've always quoted the figure I got from Honda in the '60s -- they maintained their M/C engines could run continually at 75% of maximum. It was a long time ago -- for memory...! But, I've always thought of it -- and if you were ever around someone riding a CB/CL 160 you'd know that revs (at least) were of no concern....

 

[SouthernCruizer]

My $.02 worth of opinion on FJR 1300 gas mileage. I owned a 2004 for almost 3 years, and an '08 for the last 6 months...about 85,000 miles between them...I think the biggest impact on the gas mileage is not the cruising speed, but how you handle the throttle. Small inputs and smooth operation always brings good mpg, whereas being hard on the throttle lowers the mpg, no matter how slow your cruise is.