ride in high gear in city

[stranger12]

hi guys,

i have a 125 cc bike which i use it to ride from home to work everyday and i do about 1000 miles everymonth

the question i have is , is it ok to drive around in 5th or 4th, the reason i ask is because my rev stays on 2-6 which is low but sometime when i need to pull away i either have to drop gear down or push the bike which puts strain on the bike

i have noticed a good mpg when driving in high gear while in city but as my bike is new not sure if this damages the engine in long term , please advice

in your view what is the high rev and more than usual for bike, for instance in cars anything around 2-3 k is ok but of course car can only rev to 5-7 safely depending on the car

Thanks

[Ninereeds]

I know what you mean, and I imagine its because youre trying to up your avg MPG. As far as damagin the bike, im not too sure about that, someone else with some more knowledge will have to answer that.

But i prefer to keep it in a fairly low gear around town/city because it gives you the extra "get out of the shit, quick" option. if you twist the throttle in 5th when someones drifting towards you because theyre half asleep on their morning commute, youre not gonna move fast enough. slam it in 2nd or 3rd and theres a good chance youll get ahead of them and out of danger. keeping the revs up gives you extra balance as well, help keeps the bike upright.

[stranger12]

what is the rpm that u normally keep the bike on while ridding around ?

i thought 4-5 was good but by the sound of your style of driving it will be 7-8 k but again that depends on the bike, mine is only 125 thus why doing 40 miles in 5th gear keeps the rpm on around 5 and doing the same in 3rd will be around 8k

[pointblank0]

Nothing wrong with being in a high gear, but as you say, you will need to drop down to get some speed up again. The only problem I can see really is strain on the gearbox trying to push the bike in a high gear from a slow speed.

[megawatt]

Ride in lower gear around town. If redline is 10,000RPM , ride around town at 5 to 6 thousand, going up to 9000 when accelerating away from traffic. Keep revs down when it's wet or slippery. Put it in top when at constant speed.

[Stu]

but sometime when i need to pull away i either have to drop gear down or push the bike which puts strain on the bike

 

 

If I'm reading this right your not changing down gears when you need to??? and keeping it in a high gear when you are trying to set off?

If so this is not the way to ride a bike go up and down the gears as needed and once up to speed put the bike in the highest gear it will handle!

[Colin the Bear]

Start in 1st. It's called first for a reason. Change up and down to match road speed. The target isn't to get into top as quickly as possible. Match road speed to revs and select appropriate gear.

Or get a twist and go

[stranger12]

@stu,

i do drop gear down but sometime you need a very quick reaction and it is too late to drop down and then accelerate thus just i either open the full throttle or drop to 4 and then open it but always thought that may cause an issue on the gear box

thank for all posts

what i meant by driving in high gear is, most of the time i leave it in 5 and when climbing hill the bike doesn't struggle much but can feel that if i push it then it will so i was asking if that is bad for the engine in your view . my answer to my self would be yes and i have to drop down

in another word i tend to drive around in 4 or 5 most of time . when pulling away from traffic light after 500 meters i am back in 5 so hope this give you a style of my riding which i guess i have to change if i want to look after my bike

[Ninereeds]

in another word i tend to drive around in 4 or 5 most of time . when pulling away from traffic light after 500 meters i am back in 5 so hope this give you a style of my riding which i guess i have to change if i want to look after my bike

 

The best way to look after your bike is to use all the gears properly. neglecting to use 1, 2 and 3 will create problems further down the line. revving the nuts off it and pulling away in 4th or 5th is not healthy for the bike at all. it probably costs less petrol and wear and tear to pull away in first and change up normally than it does to sit there screaming and slipping the clutch.

[Fozzie]

A bike revving high with little throttle is using about as much as a bike revving low with a lot of throttle...

Rev it and keep above 4-5000rpm all the time, you will return the best economy that way.

I got 117mpg out of my YZF-R125 at one time, and it had done 65-70mph ALL day which is 8000-9000rpm.