John Todd Larson wrote:
> As a new rider (both to motorcycles and the KLR650), I am beginning to think
> I am shifting at the wrong rpms. All this talk about "never be in 2nd going
> 15mph" has got me wondering.
> I normally shift between 2500 and 3500 rpm. Is this about right?
Depends on the situation, but considering the engine's youth, I
would shift a bit later.
_Very_ generally, the wider the throttle opening, the higher the
revs you should use.
As the bike is still being run in, I guess the owners manual
might tell you that up to 4000rpm is ok, and by now maybe more.
You will eventually have a ~6500rpm redline, so the engine is designed
to spin.
The engine's peak torque would be somewhere around 5000rpm, so the
designers were expecting the engine to spend quite a lot of time up
around there.
> After
> 2500 miles I am still only getting mpg in the low 40s, so maybe I am
> shifting at too low of an rpm
In my experience, the KLR takes a while to run in, so don't be too
concerned about the fuel mileage yet.
> (admittedly, I occasionally am way off and get
> the chug, chug, chug until I feather the clutch a little).
Well, that's just inexperience. Bike gearboxes are lot closer ratio'd
than most car 'boxes so you have to get used to shifting, and bikes
are designed for that.
> To be honest, if
> I am going 15mph in 1st, I am wanting badly to shift.
Heh, try riding a four cylinder 250: peak power after 17,000rpm,
sweet range past 10,000rpm (e.g. Kawasaki ZX2-R).
> I seem to recall that
> the manual that came with my '01 was suggesting even slower shift speeds, or
> maybe I was reading the chart wrong.
Dunno. Can you quote some of that stuff from the book?
Mister_T
KLR600 ("Big Red")
Melbourne Australia
