1150RT How to Shift? When to Shift?

[Hollow Road Rider]

I got back it to biking on my new-to-me '04 1150RT last autumn after a 30 year hiatus. I have been enjoying this site and learning a lot from the forums here.

 

First off, let me state that I didn't necessarily get back into biking to save money on gas. I want to ride my bike and enjoy the ride while having safe fun. I am an ATGATT kind of rider, even in the Midwest summer heat.

 

Recently I have been reading about, and trying out, different shifting options and different rpm riding speeds.

 

Shifting Question: I can up-shift with a complete pull on the clutch, and add a little throttle as I let it out or, as I've discovered recently, I can put a little upward pressure on the shifter as I only slightly pull in the clutch and it neatly snicks into gear with basically no throttle twist. This seems to work going down the gear range as well. My take on this is that it would be the preferred way to shift as it means less clutch wear, right? Any reason not to do it this way?

 

RPM Question: I once asked my mechanic if a vibration noise I heard at about 3200 rpm was normal. His response was that he wouldn't know because he never rides his that low. (Turns out the noise was loose tupperware). Recently, I read something here about keeping it at 4000+ for cruising. When I do that it is obvious that I have quicker response options for acceleration and de-acccerlation, but a lot more vibration in the grips than cruising at 32-3500 rpm. Is there a problem with riding that low? Is that considered lugging? It doesn't feel like it's lugging, just less vibrant and responsive.

 

Any thoughts/ advice?

 

Thanks, Tom

 

[TonyS]

Clutch wear is really a non issue on these bikes, unless of course you really rev the engine and drag the clutch, but with the low end torque there is no need for this. As far as the micro clutch shifting I yield to those more knowledgeable than I. Full clutch shifts are so quick and with the proper throttle control there is no wear as the engine speed matches with the transmission speed. Like you, I'll often cruise at 3250-3500 rpm. Having said that, I occasionally find myself cruising in 5th gear at 70 mph. (A lot of your vibration will go away with a good valve/throttle body adjustment.) If I’m riding at all spirited I'll bump it up to around 4k or more. If I can apply a little throttle and the bike accelerates I feel I'm not lugging it. However, I'll certainly downshift before giving it more moderate fuel. 72k miles on an 04 RT..

[Francois_Dumas]

6 years on my (then new) 1150RT and I've read the stories too bout the bike 'needing' to be kept in high rpm's.

 

I guess it is more a matter of 'feel' than of 'need'. And maybe a matter of age and testosterone? If you want to ride like Valentino Rossi, then sure, try and get it near 18.000 as possible.

 

And in the mountains I shift down a lot more quickly to maintain pulling power or to brake on the engine.

 

But using it as the TOUR bike it is, I usually am in the 3500 range too and it purrs along just fine like that, even with two-up and luggage. It has the torque for it, so no worries.

 

Less vibrations indeed :-)

[tallman]

Urban, twisty, need for quick response, keep it in the upper range.

 

Cruising along, lower rpm OK, but you need to downshift for a quick response to environment.

With my 5 speed boxer the only time it saw 3k was on the way past it to 4k+ rpm's.

[Ken H.]

I think you are spot on. Dry clutches don’t like to be slipped and the boxer trannys do indeed seem to benefit from pre-loading the shifter slightly just before pulling the clutch just enough to facilitate the completion of the shift. Minimize hovering in the friction zone, the point where the clutch is not fully engaged nor disengaged as much as possible. Another thing that will help your smooth fast shifts is to minimize your throttle roll off. use just the minimum drop (or rise) needed to match before and after RPMs. I think you are on the right track.

[philbytx]

Yup! That's preloading the shifter and it does make for less "agricultural" changes .

On the slab, 2up and loaded, I will run 3500/4000 RPM in 6th which yields 75/80MPH and the bike is smooth as silk. However, you would need to change down to 5th to execute an "authoritative" pass but the motor IS torquey enough to pull away sedately in that part of the Rev band. In the twisties, gear/speed dependent of course, I usually run no less than 5k, which allows you to use engine braking and also allows good throttle response .

[Jim Moore]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with running the bike all the way up to redline with the throttle wide open in 1st, 2nd, and sometimes 3rd while you're accelerating to highway speeds. It won't harm a thing and it's giggle-in-the-helmet fun.

[philbytx]

Ah Yes!

The old "let's make sure the rev-limiter works" check

[motoguy128]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with running the bike all the way up to redline with the throttle wide open in 1st, 2nd, and sometimes 3rd while you're accelerating to highway speeds. It won't harm a thing and it's giggle-in-the-helmet fun.

 

I spent so much time on sportbikes and smaller displacement machines that I still haven;t completely recalibrate myself to a 8000RPM redline. I frequently hit the rev limiter in 2nd gear making passes on 2 lane roads when 2-up. I have to remind myself to shift sooner and not just go by sound.

[BFish]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with running the bike all the way up to redline with the throttle wide open in 1st, 2nd, and sometimes 3rd while you're accelerating to highway speeds. It won't harm a thing and it's giggle-in-the-helmet fun.

 

first time may scare the crap out of you if not paying attention. you then learn the perfect shift point.

[rustyfingerz]

 

 

Still zeroing in my shifting also, discovered not rolling - off throttle to much makes for smoother shifts. per Ken H. still have to get used to 3500 rpm though. 4000 or higher just seems so alien to me.

new at this 04 1150rt thing.

[BFish]

pm sent

[Rinkydink]

Keep 3.75 qts. (or so) of oil in her and rev her, she'll be just fine...