Shifting Gears

I'm still a new rider and the VFR is my first bike so I'm still learning a lot about it. I recently found out from another rider that I shouldn't really be in 2nd gear and up if the rpm is around 3500. I am trying to shift gears according to the instruction manual just so I could get more mileage and because that's what they recommend. I was wondering at what rpm do you reach before shifting? I heard that somewhere in the 5000-7200 rpm is where the bike likes to be in because of it's power band. Thanks guys!:treehugger:

 

These bikes are not big thumping cruisers and they do not like low RPM. I seldom run mine much below 3,500 except at idle. I suspect all generations are more or less the same in that respect. They are comfortable all day long running at 5,000+.

 

i typically shift at 5k rpm when tooling around town, higher when riding more aggressively. i'll cruise at 5k as well. 6th gear at 5k gets my about 75mph. hope that helps.

 

I'll cruise town 3 to 4k just cruising,any serious acceleration,it's a downshift to 5k and hit throttle.My vfr2004 has a weird spot @4600,a surge/drop(no power commander).Sporty riding is always above 5k,really sporty above v-tec engagement 6.5k for me.The power starts @ 5k.Keep riding...You'll get it.Beautiful machines.

 

Thanks all. That really helped.

 

x2 on MD's comment, get good first, then worry about the mileage. If you are worrying so much about what gear to be in you may miss something on the road and end up in the hurt locker. Shifting gears at the right RPM will come with time and feel. My two pennies worth.

 

I generally go by feel/sound and don't look when I shift but after I do my rpms are around 4500 so I would say I shift around 5500. I don't know if it's just me but I also find when riding aggressively that keeping the bike over 6k makes it more nimble in the corners.

 

i just love the sound of my staintunes when the vtec kicks in, so i'm usually shifting around 6600-6700. besides, i wanna make sure those "extra valves" get to move around every now and then. no need to just let them sit there idle. they were installed for a reason.

 

I also found that when i shift gears at around 5000 the engine gets hot a lot faster. whats the normal operating temperature for a 1998?

 

If you feel the engine lugging, down shift!! Hell, don't be afraid to run this bike at 4 grand or more around town. It is more detrimental to the engine to lug it that keep it at a higher rpm than one would expect. These are not car engines, which are content at running at 1600 rpms at 70 mph. These are race tuned high revving engines. Did you know that Honda made all the engines for the Indy cars this year! They averaged 10,000 rpms during the whole 500 mile race!!! And that's a frigging V-8!! Now don't get me wrong. Don't go around cruising in second gear at 10 grand, however, keep the rpms up and let the engine work in it's most efficient range! You'll get used to it, and the feel of it, only comes with experience!!

 

thanks again