Shifting (normal vs. aggressive)

[onegin]

I am a new rider and constantly trying to improve how I ride. My bike is finally fully broken in and I am trying to have a bit more fun with it. I've googled some videos on "aggressive" shifting, but wanted to get some opinions here. What should the tachometer look like when aggressively shifting? My attempts at running it hard produce very little fluctuations in tachometer (most shifts around 6-9k) all through the gears with gradually higher and higher RPMs as I get to 4th, 5th, 6th gears. I've noticed in some videos the needle quickly jumps to low RPMs (2-3k) in between shifts. What "should" it look like?

Thanks!

 

[Heineken]

Are you talking about up-shifting or down-shifting? They are quite different...

 

[JSP]

You want to shift in the meat of the power-band if you are going for full out acceleration. So on the FZ that is shifting around 10k ish.

If you are shifting at 10k, it will not drop to 2 or 3k... You are just seeing when they pull the clutch in I believe. So of course the tach will drop when the clutch is in. Shift faster.

 

[roadrat]

I'm pretty much where you are at... just finished the break-in period and now it's on!! My mechanic said it would be good for the bike to just go for it... he says there's a rev limiter on it so we can't hurt it, lol!! I've been shifting now between 7 and 10k, dropping to 5 or 8 on each shift. :steve: I'm thinking 2 or 3 sounds low, but waiting for input from more experienced riders...

 

[Rookasaki]

2-3? Umm the bike idles at 1k
Normal riding : I shift at 6k
Hard riding: 11k or so. Click my link in my signature.. Watch some of my vids... You can get an idea on how I ride/were the rpm's are.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[redprodigy35]

Like theRook, I shift at 5-6k normal.

Your shifting my go smoother/more aggressive if you preload the shifter.

 

[Brock Kickass]

When shifting, my revs only drop to the next gear. In my car, revs drop in between shifts because of the actual time it takes to move the shifter to the next gear while the clutch is in. On the bike, however, there is no pause between gears. It's hard to describe exactly what preloading the shifter feels like, but you'll know when you do it. My clutch usually only goes halfway to the bar when shifting, and only for a split secod to take a bit of pressure of the gearbox as I shift. The more agressievely I'm riding, the less clutch I take. Full speed shifts at 11k, I might pull the clutch 1/4 to the bar.

 

[ajskillz13]

When shifting, my revs only drop to the next gear. In my car, revs drop in between shifts because of the actual time it takes to move the shifter to the next gear while the clutch is in. On the bike, however, there is no pause between gears. It's hard to describe exactly what preloading the shifter feels like, but you'll know when you do it. My clutch usually only goes halfway to the bar when shifting, and only for a split secod to take a bit of pressure of the gearbox as I shift. The more agressievely I'm riding, the less clutch I take. Full speed shifts at 11k, I might pull the clutch 1/4 to the bar.

I'm glad to hear this because this is exactly the feeling I have while shifting. I feel that it "pops" into gear so much easier when you pre-load and just pull the clutch far enough to quickly let it slip up a gear.

Didn't learn this from anyone, just happened as I built up my feel for shifting. I was going to ask about it, but it seemed perfectly normal considering the smoothness. I've figured out that the bike will let you know if you screwed up a shift!

 

[CrazyCawi]

2-3? Umm the bike idles at 1k
Normal riding : I shift at 6k
Hard riding: 11k or so. Click my link in my signature.. Watch some of my vids... You can get an idea on how I ride/were the rpm's are.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

ROOK RIDES LIKE A BAT OUT OF HELL. watch his vids and youll know aggressive :thumbup:

 

[Rookasaki]

ROOK RIDES LIKE A BAT OUT OF HELL. watch his vids and youll know aggressive :thumbup:

:thumbup: I know I push my limits... I'm trying to be more responsible

 

[onegin]

ROOK RIDES LIKE A BAT OUT OF HELL. watch his vids and youll know aggressive :thumbup:

LOL! Actually, yes, that was one of the videos I watched! Thanks for inspiration Rook!

I've experienced the pre-loading as well, I BARELY have to pull the clutch in order for bike to shift, and it's smooth like butter when it "works". I had a few moments when I was challenged to a race by a car. I shifted as fast as I could from 1-6th (in 6-7k)... but retrospectively, that was a wrong strategy. From riding more and more i found that you basically need to ride out your 2nd gear into 10-11k (like Jay said) and then finish the rest of the gears in that rpm range. I know this is probably a N00B realization :surrender:, but I am enjoying my little discoveries!

 

[Sparkxx1]

LOL! Actually, yes, that was one of the videos I watched! Thanks for inspiration Rook!

I've experienced the pre-loading as well, I BARELY have to pull the clutch in order for bike to shift, and it's smooth like butter when it "works". I had a few moments when I was challenged to a race by a car. I shifted as fast as I could from 1-6th (in 6-7k)... but retrospectively, that was a wrong strategy. From riding more and more i found that you basically need to ride out your 2nd gear into 10-11k (like Jay said) and then finish the rest of the gears in that rpm range. I know this is probably a N00B realization :surrender:, but I am enjoying my little discoveries!

Don't go past 10k as the peak of our power is between 9k-10k. There is really no point in going past it.

 

[Rookasaki]

LOL! Actually, yes, that was one of the videos I watched! Thanks for inspiration Rook!

I've experienced the pre-loading as well, I BARELY have to pull the clutch in order for bike to shift, and it's smooth like butter when it "works". I had a few moments when I was challenged to a race by a car. I shifted as fast as I could from 1-6th (in 6-7k)... but retrospectively, that was a wrong strategy. From riding more and more i found that you basically need to ride out your 2nd gear into 10-11k (like Jay said) and then finish the rest of the gears in that rpm range. I know this is probably a N00B realization :surrender:, but I am enjoying my little discoveries!

Thanks for watching man. Keep on it and work on your skills. Plz make sure you stay with in your limits. Take your time, get to know your bike and yourself as a rider. Trust me, It took awhile to get rid of my chicken strips... Just didn't happen over night! :thumbup:

 

[Bay area rider]

I like shifting @ 8-10 range... just because I like the sound of it

If just easy riding I shift around 6-7 rpms

 

[rr_double_rr]

I'm a firm believer that chicken strips are a sign of pride. The smoother I can ride, with speed, and keep the bike upright means the happier I will be.

If you're riding at the edge of the tires on surface streets, you're not leaning far enough off the bike. There's too small of a margin of error there. Balance leaning the bike with leaning your body, but as Rook said, the first point is safety and knowing yourself and your ride. That being said, my chicken strips are only about 1/2 an inch, but I was almost dragging knee at the time in some seriously twisty roads in N. GA.

Take a look at the threads about being crossed up or just using bad body position and throwing the bike in the turn to make up for it. The mistakes associated with overriding your bike or your abilities are well documented.

I found that shifting at around 9-10k is best for power riding like that. Our bikes can just about dust any other 600 off the line because our power/ torque curve is based in the bottom end of the spectrum. They take longer (their band is a little higher RPM) than we do to make the same power and torque, but once they do their high end far exceeds ours so they'll come screaming from behind you in fairly short distances/time.

Take your time and practice. You'll have fun and get there in no time.

 

[UselessPickles]

For max acceleration, the shift point depends on which gear you are in:

1st -> 2nd: as close to the rev limiter as you can get without hitting it
2nd -> 3rd: 10660 rpm
3rd -> 4th: 10297 rpm
4th -> 5th: 10119 rpm
5th -> 6th: 10055 rpm

I'll post pretty graphs later that show where these numbers come from.

 

[Nastybutler]

Don't go past 10k as the peak of our power is between 9k-10k. There is really no point in going past it.

The point would be to keep your RPM's from dropping out of the "sweet spot." If you shift at 11K, then your RPMs drop to around 10K, which keeps your power up. If you shift at 9K, then your RPMs drop to around 8K, which is not where you are making peak power.

At least that's how I see it. Feel free to school me if I'm wrong.

 

[UselessPickles]

Don't go past 10k as the peak of our power is between 9k-10k. There is really no point in going past it.

The point would be to keep your RPM's from dropping out of the "sweet spot." If you shift at 11K, then your RPMs drop to around 10K, which keeps your power up. If you shift at 9K, then your RPMs drop to around 8K, which is not where you are making peak power.

At least that's how I see it. Feel free to school me if I'm wrong.

I'll school both of you this evening when I have some time to create a few graphs and explain it

 

[Nastybutler]

I'll school both of you this evening when I have some time to create a few graphs and explain it

I don't doubt that those numbers you posted are accurate, although I am interested to see the graphs and hear your explanation. What I do doubt though is that any non professional can hit those exact RPM's on a consistent basis and keep full focus on the road.

I go partly by engine sound while shifting with a quick glance at my tach. I'm not going to sit and watch my tach to make sure I hit the exact perfect RPM before shifting, while the scenery is whizzing by. I usually get it between 10.5 and 11K, which is close enough for government work as they say.

 

[yellowFZ6r]

Guys,
I have had my 6R for about 1.5 months now and am still breaking it in. i really dont run it past 6000 RPM, but it just feels slower to me than it did when I first got it. Could it be that I am just getting used to it, or could something be wrong with the bike itself. By the way, the bike is new. I just remember when I first got it flooring it to 6K seemed very quick to me, and now it seems like nothing (very slow). I'd like to know what ya'lls opinions are.