What gear should I be in? n00b rider question.

[Stereordinary]

Just like the thread title states, I am extremely green to riding, and find gear shifting to be a bit confusing right now. I have the owner’s manual, but frankly can’t make sense of the table. Am I really supposed to be in sixth by the time I hit 35mph? That’s seems like a lot of shifting! I know there’s a general “listen to your engine” rule, and each bike might be a little different. But does anybody have a basic guideline to go by? Go easy on me please, I’m trying to learn this the right way.

[Freddy]

Just like the thread title states, I am extremely green to riding, and find gear shifting to be a bit confusing right now. I have the owner’s manual, but frankly can’t make sense of the table. Am I really supposed to be in sixth by the time I hit 35mph? That’s seems like a lot of shifting! I know there’s a general “listen to your engine” rule, and each bike might be a little different. But does anybody have a basic guideline to go by? Go easy on me please, I’m trying to learn this the right way.

You'll never find the answer your looking for in a book. At the same speed, are you going up hill, along the flat, downhill? Are you sitting behind a car wanting to overtake at the first opportunity? In each of those situation the 'correct' gear to be in may be different.

The "listen to the engine" is the only correct answer. Well its more "feel" the engine. The bike will tell you when its sluggish and struggling, especially when you open the throttle.

You don't say what model bike your have, but as you're new to riding I'll guess its one of the smaller capacity models (upon second reading you mention 6th gear so that rules out a 750). As a general rule, these smaller capacity older design in-line 4 cylinder motors only run sweetly when the revs are up a bit. So as a guideline, when in doubt, change down and keep the revs up. Inline 4's are designed and meant to rev, you won't hurt anything keeping the revs up in the middle rev range or even higher. You'll be doing the engine a favor. If you wanted a low revving motorcycle you should have bought a Harley.

[Freddy]

Rather than just a theoretical answer, try the following to figure it out for yourself.

Find some quite safe stretch of road. Change into say 3 or 4th gear and then ride experimenting using the throttle accelerating up and down in that one gear using the near full rev range. Accelerate hard sometimes from low revs, accelerate relatively slowly at other times.

While doing this take note of how the bike responds and at what rev range it is at. Obviously don't get too fixated on looking at the tachometer.

You should be able to observe a rev range when the bike 'wants to go'. It's happy and says to you 'lets do this bud', not 'do I really have too'. That's the rev range you want to ride around most of the time. Change gears to stay in that rev range (other than say just lazily floating along in traffic). On my 750 that will be around the 4000 rpm mark.

P.S. And learn to to rev match and downshift if not already. You want to try and be in the correct gear before that corner, not changing down as you want to accelerate out.

[Freddy]

Just returned from a ride, thinking if around the 4000 rpm rev range was right. Yep, 90% of the time I was between 3000 and 5000 rpm.

Won't tell you the other 10% of the time (and it was more than 10% spent on the free local public race track known locally as the Nasho). Just on dark its very quite and the 'track officials' have long since packed up and gone home.

https://eatsleepride.com/c/28818/nasho_ ... _australia

[Shedman]

When it stops going faster change gear! Just kidding, I wouldn't have the first clue about telling someone when to change gear, its just something I've been doing naturally for 45 years.

[Freddy]

When it stops going faster change gear! Just kidding, I wouldn't have the first clue about telling someone when to change gear, its just something I've been doing naturally for 45 years.

My take on why its more difficult to figure these days for someone starting out. Was the the car you learnt to drive in 45 years ago a manual or automatic? Like most people probably a manual. I was exposed to heavy trucks even before I had a drivers licence as an apprentice mechanic. All manual gear boxes that you HAD to double shift to change down.

A kid learning to drive these days, virtually all automatics, how many people buy a manual car these days. Things that we take for granted like being able to anticipate the engine is going to labor on that incline if I don't change gears, or what gear I need to be in before the corner to pull out of it, all seem a bit of mystery to the driver who has never had to think about these things.

[Shedman]

When it stops going faster change gear! Just kidding, I wouldn't have the first clue about telling someone when to change gear, its just something I've been doing naturally for 45 years.

My take on why its more difficult to figure these days for someone starting out. Was the the car you learnt to drive in 45 years ago a manual or automatic? Like most people probably a manual. I was exposed to heavy trucks even before I had a drivers licence as an apprentice mechanic. All manual gear boxes that you HAD to double shift to change down.

A kid learning to drive these days, virtually all automatics, how many people buy a manual car these days. Things that we take for granted like being able to anticipate the engine is going to labor on that incline if I don't change gears, or what gear I need to be in before the corner to pull out of it, all seem a bit of mystery to the driver who has never had to think about these things.

Freddy, I have never driven an automatic car and tbh I don't think they are that common in the UK, at a totally uninformed guess I'd say maybe 5-10% of cars might be automatics and I'd work that guess out only by the number of people that I know that drive them.
I would have to say that when it comes to changing gears its probably down to my eyes and my ears, seeing what the road ahead is like and listening to the engine sound then passing that info to my left foot (or my right foot on my Enfield).

[Freddy]

I'm truly surprised there are so few automatic cars in the UK. Here in Australia 99%, cars of all sizes, would be automatics. About the only person who would buy a manual would be some 'purist' off roader (automatics still work better in this scenario, I own one, as long as you fit a transmission cooler), or a 'petrol head' who wants to play make believe racer.

Other than that, all automatics. Virtually impossible to sell a second hand manual car. Most people now don't even know how to drive one.

[Stereordinary]

I’m approaching this as someone who is not a car driver at all. But I will say that here in America, the vast majority of cars are automatic.

[Shedman]

In the UK, if you pass your driving test in a manual car you are entitled to drive an automatic as well, if you pass your test in an automatic you are restricted to driving just automatics. I wouldn't know how to drive an automatic, its probably easy but I have never had the need or opportunity to try one. I suppose the number of auto and manual cars in the UK is probably the exact opposite of what you have in the US and Aus and I would presume that selling a used automatic car here would have a bit o a limited market. My late Father in Law drove an automatic because he lost a leg in the 1950's riding a Velocette, unfortunately drunk drivers were around in those days as well.