revs and clutching

 Hi,
    Anyone give me some tips on when to shift.  I have been practicing for
less than a week and I just try to make it smooth as possible.  I noted on
the speedometer approximately where that is for going up and down.
Is that the prescribed method?  Anything I should know to keep the engine
life younger?
Is it necessary to rev as high as possible all the time or just on blue
moons to clean out or whatever that does?

Thank-you in advance for your interest.

 wrote:


Don't look at the speedometer.   I mean, you should know how fast
you're going, of course, but don't let the speedometer tell you when
to shift.   Listen to, and feel, the speed of the engine.

The engine has a range of revs where it's happy.  You can tell.  You
can feel it!   If you get above the range the engine screams and
sounds unhappy, so you have to shift up.  If you get below this range
the engine shakes and sounds unhappy, so you need to shift down.

(I know that saying 'the engine sounds unhappy' is not a technical
explanation, but that's how it seems to me.  You can feel when the
engine is happy.)

After you find that range, -then- look at the tach.  From then on you
can use the tach to help you decide when to shift.

Of course there's a red line on the tach that you should never exceed.
But in every bike I've ever owned it wasn't easy to get up to that red
line, and the engine felt like it might just explode any second.  That
can't be good for a bike, to be running just as fast as it can for an
extended period of time.

And then it depends somewhat on what kind of bike it is.  Some bikes
have very wide power bands, which makes them easier to ride.  I rode a
Harley last year that didn't even have a tach, and it really didn't
need one.  It didn't care what gear it was in!

I'd say there's certainly no need ever to rev it up just as high as
you can, unless you just like to make a lot of noise.  (But apparently
there are some bikers who think motorcycling is all about making a lot
of noise.)  If you keep it in the range where the bike seems most
comfortable, where it runs the smoothest and seems to make the best
power, both you and the bike will probably last longer.

To keep a bike young, I would say

   (1) keep up with oil and fluid changes and other minor maintenance
(air filter, valve adjustment, chain tension, etc.)   Check the oil
level as often as you need to.  In my motorcycling career I have had
-two- bikes run completely out of oil, and I'm the first one to say
there's no excuse for that.

   (2) ride the bike regularly--they really deteriorate if you let
them just sit for a year or two.

  (3) ride like a grownup, not pretending you're in the Grand Prix
every day.

 
<Blazing Laser> wrote in message

hey, thanks
how did you get your nickname?
I need another course in minor bike maintenance looks like.  I did not even
know how to put the gas tank plug back in the first time I filled it.   If
not in the engine stop position you do not get the key out period.  It has
been 25 years so things have changed.

 wrote:


You're welcome!  I'm sure you'll get more answers to your question.
Opinions are like a--holes, everyone has one.  8^)


I run a little one-man business doing laser engraving.  My customers
are mostly machine shops who need part nos., serial nos., corporate
logos on parts, labels on instrument panels, dials and scales, that
kind of thing.  'Blazing Laser' is sort of a double entendre because
(1) the laser blazes a mark on the part and (2) this kind of work is
always in a hurry so I am blazing fast.  Plus it sounds cool.  My
business card is engraved on piece of .015" thick stainless steel.


Boy you're not kidding!  My current ride, the first time I got on it,
I started it up, put it in gear and it died.  Started it up again, put
it in gear and it died.  After about five tries, the prev. owner tells
me there's switch on the kickstand, you can't run the engine with the
kickstand down except in neutral.  Motorcycles are becoming 2-wheeled
cars.

 wrote:


Good answers! I'm gonna snag them for my FAQ!

--
Timberwoof <me at timberwoof dot com>
faq:  http://www.timberwoof.com/motorcycle/faq.shtml
It's easy to say a war is so important your neighbor should go fight it for you.