I ride a Hyosung 2007 gt250r, shitty bike I know, no need to point that out. Anyways, my friend has told me to never let the RPM go under 4500, and if it does I should immediately downshift. I totally understand this in 3rd or 4th gear, but in 1st and 2nd it is such a hassle to do. The moment I downshift to first and give my bike some throttle if I'm going over like 15mph it just gets so loud and the engine breaking is so annoying (I try to keep my RPM at around 5500).

My question is does it really matter if I let the RPM below 4500? Anything else I should know would be appreciated (I've only been riding about 3 months so far).

Your friend isn't that smart. Don't worry about watching the tacho while you are LEARNING to ride man. As long as the engine is still pulling you are fine. Are you blipping the throttle as you downshift though man? That is a far more important skill to learn than watching a fucking tacho, doing so keeps engine speed up around the speed that you are actually travelling at, and avoids the rear wheel "chattering" across the road, ie skipping around, on the entry into a corner.

Here's a nice little article on it.
http://www.sportrider.com/ride/RSS/146_0402_shift_blip_throttle/index.html

After you have figured that out you should look into learning how to use your rear brake in order to control the slide of your rear wheel, this lets you get on the gas a lot harder, a lot earlier, without highsiding. You have to become comfortable with the bike sliding or else you will never get fast man. :)

I think hes trying to tell you thats when you should downshift.
Your just not going to have much power down in the lower rev range.

Quick question, do you have to pull the clutch lever every time you shift when you have a manual clutch? I know that when you have automatic clutches like on ATVs that all you do is let off the throttle and shift.

Technically you can up shift motorbikes without clutching but not if your a beginner. The Hyosung gt250r is a manual clutch and you have to pull the clutch every time you want to shift.

You don't have to, but for the sake of your engine it is better to. There are a few modifications that you can perform on a manual clutch though, be it cable-operated or hydraulic, that kill the need for the rider to manually activate the clutch lever on upshifts. These can take the form of either compression-activated shift rods or tension-activated shift rods.

I don't really have the time to type a proper answer to this at the moment, I'll go more in-depth later, but if you want some information have a look at these common types for a motorcycle application: http://www.powercommander.com/powercommander_iii_usb/powercommander_quick_shifter.aspx

http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/products/ProductDetail.asp?cls=MCYCLE&pcode=HPPTQSTSR4001

Things tend to get a bit more complicated when you try to apply the same sort of thing to an engine with a gearbox with a h-style shift though, such as a car engine. Here's a nice, basic little discussion on that: http://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=201024&page=3

Things tend to get a bit more complicated when you try to apply the same sort of thing to an engine with a gearbox with a h-style shift though, such as a car engine. Here's a nice, basic little discussion on that: http://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=201024&page=3

Another eng-tips reader!

Seriously you never answered me - what do you do for a living?

Another eng-tips reader!

Seriously you never answered me - what do you do for a living?
I did answer you man. I was being sincere. It's just that I work in an esoteric profession so it may have seemed as though I was being sardonic. I'm an apprentice blacksmith. I just like knowing how things work.

What do you do for a living?

The bike the op has is a beginner bike, There will be no point in putting a quick shifter on. If you do a perfect clutchless shift you will be doing no harm to your tranny. But it's not something worth risking unless you know what your doing.

I did answer you man. I was being sincere. It's just that I work in an esoteric profession so it may have seemed as though I was being sardonic. I'm an apprentice blacksmith. I just like knowing how things work.

What do you do for a living?

Actually I didn't think you were being sardonic, because I didn't see that answer anywhere - must have missed it, though I see it now hidden under a huge chunk of text in the post above it ;)

Anyway, I'm a student myself.

Stick around, I like the idea of having more people here with a more technical/engineering oriented understanding/interest.

I intend to keep posting. Most of my knowledge is in regards to motorcycles though, although a hell of a lot of it crosses over to cars as well.

Are you an engineering student?

Indeed I am.

Stick around, I like the idea of having more people here with a more technical/engineering oriented understanding/interest.

What, are nigger and marque jokes beneath you now?

What, are nigger and marque jokes beneath you now?

I'm not even sure what a marque joke is ?

I'm not even sure what a marque joke is ?

Ford are shit, etc.

Ford are shit, etc.

This.

Ford are shit, etc.

Funny joke.

Falcons > Commodores.

Funny joke.

Falcons > Commodores.
If you have a mullet and a penchant for VB maybe...

Kleenex - Your friend is an idiot.

Keeping the engine over 4000rpm will probably create more wear than at lower revs.

Do you pull away with 4000rpm? I hope not. You shouldn't. You pull away with 1000-2000rpm.

Going by a google picture, the bike you have will be quite happy running at 2000rpm. Why downshift and rev the nuts off when you don't have to? Keep it above 1500rpm and it wont stall, above 4000rpm at the same speed your just wasting fuel.

Oh and yes, use the clutch every time when changing gear. Unless you want to rebuild the gearbox in 6 months?

Also, im not bullshitting. i passed my full motorcycle test a few months ago, and my car test two years ago.

Kleenex - Your friend is an idiot.

Keeping the engine over 4000rpm will probably create more wear than at lower revs.

Do you pull away with 4000rpm? I hope not. You shouldn't. You pull away with 1000-2000rpm.


Nah the thing is when I come to a stop of course I shift down to first or neutral then take off in first. The only time that it's an issue is when I'm taking a sharp corner in second and my RPM drops to about 2000.

Thanks everyone for the help, anything else is still appreciated.

edit: and of course I always pull in the clutch when shifting!!! I wasn't aware you could even shift without doing that (unless of course you feel like stalling out!).

Nah the thing is when I come to a stop of course I shift down to first or neutral then take off in first. The only time that it's an issue is when I'm taking a sharp corner in second and my RPM drops to about 2000.

Thanks everyone for the help, anything else is still appreciated.

edit: and of course I always pull in the clutch when shifting!!! I wasn't aware you could even shift without doing that (unless of course you feel like stalling out!).
Save clutchless shifts for the track man, when tenths of a second lost through disengaging the clutch actually matter. There's no real point doing it on the road to be honest.

Yah clutchless is for the track. If you are riding that bike at 2000rpm you're and idiot. They rev much higher than a car. I ride a ninja 250 and it doesnt even start to pull until past 5000. The hyosung redlines at 10500 i believe. so if i were you i would ride it at like 6-8000 rpm. just my $0.02

Fuck your 4-strokes. Get an RGV or an RS. Anything with a VJ22 engine, the 21 was shit and the 23 is shit unless you spend mass amounts of cash.

A nice vj22 engine will reliably do 210km/hr. Reliably for a high-performance, two-stroke engine anyway.

Fuck your 4-strokes. Get an RGV or an RS. Anything with a VJ22 engine, the 21 was shit and the 23 is shit unless you spend mass amounts of cash.

A nice vj22 engine will reliably do 210km/hr. Reliably for a high-performance, two-stroke engine anyway.
I would have, but it's near impossible to find bikes like that around were i live. trust me, if i could have i would have got one of those i would. iv'e got mine to 200km/hr but that's not to great for your engine. oh well, maybe my next bike.

I would have, but it's near impossible to find bikes like that around were i live. trust me, if i could have i would have got one of those i would. iv'e got mine to 200km/hr but that's not to great for your engine. oh well, maybe my next bike.
Look for a Kawasaki ZXR400SP for your next bike. Kawasaki back-torque eliminating system = slipper clutch. They have the highest top speed for a 400 too, you just have to be more committed when riding them then compared to a vfr or rvf.

http://www.masterofinsanity.co.uk/

Look for a Kawasaki ZXR400SP for your next bike. Kawasaki back-torque eliminating system = slipper clutch. They have the highest top speed for a 400 too, you just have to be more committed when riding them then compared to a vfr or rvf.

http://www.masterofinsanity.co.uk/

They didn't sell those in north america did they? That's a sweet looking bike, i was also looking at a cbr600 but they are kind of expensive.

Look for a Kawasaki ZXR400SP for your next bike. Kawasaki back-torque eliminating system = slipper clutch. They have the highest top speed for a 400 too, you just have to be more committed when riding them then compared to a vfr or rvf.

http://www.masterofinsanity.co.uk/

There are more realistic bikes to buy.

There are more realistic bikes to buy.

Like??