35mph- what gear?

[Tom in NM]

"sounds" right

The thing with 35mph is that you don't have the wind to carry the sound away and you hear the engine sounding real busy in 3rd while it seems relaxed in 4th.

I'm use to the two wheel versions of bikes and I'm so use to "listening" to the bike to tell me when.

The sound does make a difference - my Spyder has much less vibration than any other bike I have rode. I found without the engine/transmission sound (helmet and iPod ear-canal buds), I could not tell when to shift until the RPMs got very high. If I was watching traffic, I could be in 2nd entering the expressway.

Without the cue from the sound of the engine, I was really pushing the RPMs up. The vibrations were not enough for my brain (based on previous riding experience) to translate that into a "shift" signal to my hand.

Tom

 

[FANG]

2nd to 3rd usually 2nd at 35mph. I tend to watch my tach not my speedometer.

 

[BAZMAN]

mph

as long as the engine rpm is at least 2700 you can switch to the next gear, i am in new mexico at 5000ft alt. and you can tell by listening to the
engine. thats why i get between 37 and 40 mpg. you will have no problem shifting into 5th gear at 36mph. i can shift into 5th at 35mph. listen to the
engine. it will tell you when it is not happy.

 

[Sarge707]

If I shift to 4th and the RPM,s aren,t at least 3,500 I go back to 3rd.

 

[Dudley]

as long as the engine rpm is at least 2700 you can switch to the next gear, i am in new mexico at 5000ft alt. and you can tell by listening to the
engine. thats why i get between 37 and 40 mpg. you will have no problem shifting into 5th gear at 36mph. i can shift into 5th at 35mph. listen to the
engine. it will tell you when it is not happy.

If I shifted into 5th gear at 36 mph I don't think my Spyder would run! The engine is in extreme lugging mode at that combination! As so many experienced riders have been posting since the beginning, the Rotax is a high RPM engine. The first 3 gears are pretty much personal preference, but I never ride less than 4500 rpm in 5th gear or 4th gear! I believe that engine damage will occur when driving under the power ban. It may not be immediate, but it will happen. But again, it's your machine, just giving you some good advice from 40+ years of riding.

 

[boborgera]

as long as the engine rpm is at least 2700 you can switch to the next gear, i am in new mexico at 5000ft alt. and you can tell by listening to the
engine. thats why i get between 37 and 40 mpg. you will have no problem shifting into 5th gear at 36mph. i can shift into 5th at 35mph. listen to the
engine. it will tell you when it is not happy.

Same as my sm5. The only difference is if i cheap out and use 87 oct.
I have to up the rpm's to 3200. I've riden bikes for 40 years, i had more
bikes than i can count on three hands, My Spyder has almost 9,000 miles.
No engine/exhaust/intake mod's all stock. 32 around town 36/39 h/way.
Back in the 60's i could out think the manufacture's. Now with F/I and
computers all those mod's just make noise and eat gas.
Just my thoughts :dontknow:

 

[Firefly]

Why do you have to keep the RPM's high? Doesn't that strain the engine more. I would be in 4th. at those speeds where I feel the engine is not strained. I am not an epert though, just makes sense to me.

35 mph in 4th you're pretty close to lugging the engine.

3rd would be the typical gear for cruising--- but you could easily still be in 1st or 2nd accelerating.

You can hit 63 mph and still be in 1st gear. I typically would still be in 2nd gear at 63 mph when I'm riding aggressive... 3rd gear up to around 80... 4th up to 115... and 5th up to 130+.

The engine like the higher rpms and is built to take it.

 

[bjt]

I've ridden (more like coasted) in 5th at 35mph and it's the absolute low end for 5th gear. To accelerate from there, you have to be very gentle with the throttle and increase it slowly or downshift to 4th or 3rd.

 

[BAZMAN]

lugging

this all goes by my personal expierence, you can tell when the engine is lugging, as long as the engine is 2700rpms or above i don't have any problems with it, i broke my engine in very easy, that may be the reason.
if i am at 37mph in 5th gear. and if i need to move in a hurry i just downshift
to 4th and have no trouble. my spyder has never seen the redline.
i didn't buy the spyder as a pocket rocket, i bought it for its stability and
safety. it seems to me you would have more power at lower altitudes, i am at 5000ft.

 

[Firefly]

5th gear going that slow is just not good for the engine.

I broke mine in really hard--- per these instructions:

http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

This engine is built to take a beating - might as well beat it while under full warranty.

 

[aka1004]

i would have just shifted to 2nd at 35 mph
my spyder does not like it when it's running at low rpm.
on my normal, causual ryding

1st 0-30
2nd 30-45
3rd 45-55/60
4th 55/60-70
5th 70 and above

 

[docdoru]

1st

 

[Roaddog2]

You can't really compare the Spyder to a Ducati, Harley, or Honda...apples and oranges. I can ride at 3k on my BMW quite smoothly, but it is sure happier above 3,500. That engine has a redline of 8,200 rpm. The Spyder redlines at 9,500 rpm. To get the same level of smoothness and power as my BMW, I have to keep the Spyder to at least 3,500 rpm, and it is happier at 4K or more. This is in proportion to the higher revving max rpm.

You probably won't damage your engine running a Spyder a little way below 3,500. You probably won't even cause predetonation or lugging on throttle application, or fouling of the plugs or O2 sensor, with today's engine management systems. You will have poor performance accelerating, going up hills, or bucking a headwind. If you have an SE5, you may even experience unexpected automatic downshifting. You will feel less vibration, which may be preferable to you. If the trade off in performance is acceptable, by all means continue. You will not hurt the engine or shorten its life by keeping the revs a little higher, either, and may even extend it's life, or at least reduce future maintenance. The choice is entirely yours.

:agree:These machines are not LUGGERS well explained Scotty 35mph is 1st and 2nd gear territory for me :thumbup:

 

[Star Cruiser]

I find myself going 35,36, 37 mph a lot the last couple of days- and using 3rd sometimes, 4th others.
What gear do you use?

I would usually be in Second Gear. If on a slight downgrade I might be in third, but like to keep the gear the same going up OR down the grade. Keep the revs between 5,000 & 6,000 rpm for a nice cruise speed

 

[BRPjunkie]

At 35 mph (or at any speed) the gear I use is helmet, boots, gloves, jacket and pants. Just trying to lighten things up a bit.

 

[NancysToy]

One of the good reasons to not select too high a gear at any speed is to get better engine braking on deceleration. Less noise from the squeeky brakes that way, too.