RPM how high is too high


N

nucmedman63

New Member
I have been running lots of highways and coming from a v twin when 5000 is redline just woundering where everone stands on whats a good RPM to run steady on the highway
 
It's a sport bike. Any RPM below Redline is fine.

Unless you want to get good gas mileage then keep it low. Or if you're sick of the screaming in your ears.
 
I like to keep it at or above 6K in heavy traffic... that way, if I need to move forward quickly, I can... if it's below that, it takes a second or two to move... So for highway 55-60mph, that's cruising in 5th... if traffic is calm, I'll drop it into 6th.

If it really bothers you, you can go +1 on the front sprocket for a better cruise gear (plus your speedo will be accurate).

But give it a while and you'll notice when you aren't revving that high vs. how it used to be.
 
Well, the gearing on the FZ6R is quite low, so for any steady highway cruising you'll definitely want to be in sixth, for less buzziness and better fuel economy.
 
Aside from mountain rides, a lot of my riding is on 60 mile rides at 80+ mph. My average RPM on those rides is about 7,200 rpm, and I get around 160 mpg.
(MPT, oops!)
 
Last edited:
This is a high rev'ing I4. If I get down to 6000 RPM, I down shift. Commuting, heavy traffic (even if it's flowing at 65 or 70) I keep it in 5th so that I'm up around 7500 just because that's where the beginning of the power is and I may need to squirt out of the way. But if it opens up a bit I'll click up to 6th gear to save fuel.

I was pretty much the exact opposite when I was riding around on my Dad's Fatboy last time. That thing is a 1450cc V-Twin, and it doesn't have a tach (how a motorcycle can be sold these days without a tach I have no idea) So I had to really pay attention to the feel of the power band, which feels completely different than a 600cc I4, to try and figure out shift points. People have made comments about how useless 1st gear is on our bike and that it's only good for a matter of feet. If you rev it up through the powerband properly, you'll be at 50mph before you know it. Harley's are so much worse. I swear, that Fatboy was at around 4500 RPM (don't know exactly because the POS has no tach :rolleyes: ) and out of the power and I was doing about 18MPH. LOL. When I'm riding with my dad and we take off from a light and I'm not taking off fast and getting on it, he's well into 3rd gear before I've shifted out of first. LOL.
 
If you cruse a lot arange your gearing tobe between 6-7K, not below that. I ran 16/38 for the last 9500 miles. It was fine but a bit too long. (6K@80mph) Now that I need tochange chain & sprockets I ordered 17/44. This is exsacly 1 gear overdrive. (Stock 6th = 17/44 5th) Since I'm doing a lot of freeway riding here in Florida this option should be better (6500rpm@80mph) +1 on the front sprocket i
 
flyingminno said:
Aside from mountain rides, a lot of my riding is on 60 mile rides at 80+ mph. My average RPM on those rides is about 7,200 rpm, and I get around 160 mpg.
Click to expand...

per tank???

or, uhm... what's your secret? lol
 
When the tach needle goes all the way back around to 0... :cool:
 

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