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SSH IT ZOMBIE posted:
It is the answer on all bikes in 99.9% of situations. Accelerating results in less time to react to an evolving situation, lengthens braking distances and reduces your overall traction budget. It also means that if you do come off, you've increased the velocity at which you crashed.
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Jun 1, 2021 02:59
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| # ? May 31, 2024 14:45 |
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Carth Dookie posted:It is the answer on all bikes in 99.9% of situations. Accelerating results in less time to react to an evolving situation, lengthens braking distances and reduces your overall traction budget. It also means that if you do come off, you've increased the velocity at which you crashed. That is an acceptable answer. My line of questioning comes from a fear out of being rear ended if someone is trying to merge into my lane also at the same time.
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Jun 1, 2021 03:08
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It seems to me that you are asking a question that doesn't make sense, you shouldn't really need to downshift from 6th to go faster, unless the current speed is too low for 6th in the first place. On this bike thats like 30-40mph. If not, you simply open the throttle more, and the bike accelerates. It won't accelerate like a larger displacement bike though. I think you are probably right in that you have found the limits of the small engine if a lot of your driving is done at 75 mph. You just aren't going to be able to overtake effortlessly at those sorts of speeds on this bike. Sure it'll do 90, but it won't be quick. I don't think down shifting to 5th would help at all in that scenario.
ehhhhhh fucked around with this message at 03:18 on Jun 1, 2021 |
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Jun 1, 2021 03:13
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It super does, it was a question answered by Slavvy earlier. My manual suggests being in 6th by 40mph ish. There's no reason to ride around in 5th making the bike's engine scream at highway speeds. Never heard the phrase "drop a gear and disappear"? You basically are giving the engine leverage on spinning the tires, to consume more rpm capacity faster during acceleration. I'll cruise around at 35-40 in 6th. If I need to accelerate at all I'll drop a gear because honestly the bike feels like it is lugging during acceleration at those speeds in 6th. It offers great fuel economy to just cruise and not accelerate though. I don't think as a general statement one should be staying in lower gear and cruising in that gear just for the sake of quick acceleration. I mean you can if the traffic condition demands a lot of speed adjustment? It's not lugging the engine to cruise at a lower speed in a higher gear. Just accelerating in that higher gear would be. It might also depend on the engine though? A Harley with a ton of torque and lower max rpms it might make no sense. SSH IT ZOMBIE fucked around with this message at 03:27 on Jun 1, 2021 |
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Jun 1, 2021 03:22
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ImplicitAssembler posted:Also, if you're in the inside lane, don't worry about keeping up with traffic. I know this is a lot easier said than done, but you go whatever speed you're comfortable at. gently caress the other traffic. Yeah, I’m not really worrying. People can and do pass me. It’s only when I get folks like the friendly semi that decided to park himself 18” off my rear tire to “urge me on” in the slow lane today that I get annoyed. That was less than good for my nerves but what you gonna do, just heading back out there every day is the real victory 
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Jun 1, 2021 03:32
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SSH IT ZOMBIE posted:
This is fine, that's exactly what I was saying. But that is not what your original question was. You were talking about ; SSH IT ZOMBIE posted:I was testing on the highway dropping from 6th to 5th, for a what if scenario of if I had to accelerate away from danger. That is not the same thing at all. It would be dangerous to shift to 4th while doing 85 mph. You are definitely going to engine brake severely at best, and you certainly won't go faster even with a totally open throttle. ehhhhhh fucked around with this message at 03:38 on Jun 1, 2021 |
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Jun 1, 2021 03:36
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ehhhhhh posted:It would be dangerous to shift to 4th while doing 85 mph. You are definitely going to engine brake severely at best, and you certainly won't go faster even with a totally open throttle. Entry spread for such a move would be 65, less than 75. Hell no, 80-85 would be the desired speed to accelerate to, but only for a few moments. Sorry if that wasn't clear. But the whole thing is moot if I should not be accelerating out of trouble as a general statement on the highway. 5th is totally fine for passing if I am in a hurry. I was thinking 4th could be evasive. Ninja 300 it looks ok to do but it is absolutely the limit of the bike. My bike maybe not. I can't find anything on it. Edit: Yeah forget I asked. It's both at the limit of my bike and ahead of my own skill. Imagine if I downshifted three times by accident? More danger than it is worth. Tons of other skills to work on. SSH IT ZOMBIE fucked around with this message at 04:04 on Jun 1, 2021 |
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Jun 1, 2021 03:41
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You don't need to find anything on it. Its derived from first principles. You know that 35mph is too slow for 6th, you know that 85mph is too fast for 4th. Its simple. Choose the correct gear for your current road speed. You don't need to downshift to overtake at highway speeds. That's why your question makes little sense.
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Jun 1, 2021 04:01
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ehhhhhh posted:Its simple. Choose the correct gear for your current road speed. I don't think there is such a thing outside of the manual, but someone else can correct me on that. You might have an acceleration goal that influences decision of gear. Fuel economy. Etc. I am sure as heck not merging onto the highway in the manual's suggested 6th gear. That is outright dangerous here. I am usually in 4th or 5th to get up to 60-65ish. SSH IT ZOMBIE fucked around with this message at 04:12 on Jun 1, 2021 |
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Jun 1, 2021 04:08
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If you're curious what speed your bike can/will do in any given gear and rpm, https://www.gearingcommander.com/ will show you.
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Jun 1, 2021 04:13
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bizwank posted:If you're curious what speed your bike can/will do in any given gear and rpm, https://www.gearingcommander.com/ will show you. This is fantastic, thanks! Yeah, what I wanted to do is at the limit of the bike but it is doable.
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Jun 1, 2021 04:20
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Your owners manual will have your gear ratios, but you are seriously overthinking this. I calculated my gear:top speed once out of curiosity, but it’s never anything I’ve thought of in the real world, and I doubt anyone does. Your bike doesn’t have passing power. Just accept it. Any pass you make should be planned out. If you find yourself on a collision course with a car, slow down.
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Jun 1, 2021 04:20
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SSH IT ZOMBIE posted:I am sure as heck not merging onto the highway in the manual's suggested 6th gear. That is outright dangerous here. It's not dangerous. The bike is comfortable from 40mph->max speed in 6th. I think you'd probably benefit from the throttle assist because engine braking (and rev matching) have such an outsized effect on motorbikes. Fine throttle control does what you are asking the gears to do. This might be kinda hard for newbs to get a sense for because the inputs are so small. The throttle assist (by increasing the throttle lever-arm) has the advantage of reducing the magnitude of your inputs which might help you to become sensitive to very small inputs (which are very useful when merging for example). ehhhhhh fucked around with this message at 04:32 on Jun 1, 2021 |
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Jun 1, 2021 04:27
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ehhhhhh posted:It's not dangerous. The bike is comfortable from 40mph->max speed in 6th. It is way slower to do in 6th gear than 4th or 5th which is the point I am trying to make. It is blocking traffic if you are going slower than other traffic, and they WILL run you off the road here. Do y'all not live in an area where people overtake you on the onramp cutting off your merge if you are doing the speed limit, to merge into traffic where everyone is going 15 over and switching lanes? That is pretty much normal behavior here. The bike is also more than happy to come up to speed in a lower gear, safer, because it's easier to merge into high speed traffic with better acceleration capacity. SSH IT ZOMBIE fucked around with this message at 04:38 on Jun 1, 2021 |
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Jun 1, 2021 04:35
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How many of you guys have driven a manual car? A lot of this stuff doesn't seem like lack of bike understanding but lack of understanding as to what a gearbox is even for.
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Jun 1, 2021 04:37
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I drive a manual. I understand exactly what he is experiencing, because I was in exactly the same boat with the exact same skill level and the same bike within the last 6 months. I got given a throttle assist by a mate almost straight away. They gave it to me because they thought I might get a sore wrist. But that isn't really what it is most useful for. Its most useful for exploring fine throttle control, which presumably becomes second nature for experienced riders. A few pages ago people were discussing the importance of throttle control. This was the main take-away from TOTW2. Throttle control is something which is unfortunately barely touched in the beginners training, and also is much more important on a bike than a car, so is not really transferrable. I can definitely see how it's confusing too. ehhhhhh fucked around with this message at 04:53 on Jun 1, 2021 |
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Jun 1, 2021 04:47
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How does a lack of throttle control relate to a bike lacking strong acceleration in 6th gear? Maybe if I was jerking the bike around? I am not like perfect at it by any means but it's not the "problem" here. SSH IT ZOMBIE fucked around with this message at 05:13 on Jun 1, 2021 |
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Jun 1, 2021 05:07
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Well, plan ahead, so that you merge at a suitable speed and don't have to accelerate (much) after you merge?. That should be fairly easy to achieve even on a 300.
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Jun 1, 2021 05:14
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SSH IT ZOMBIE posted:How does a lack of throttle control relate to a bike lacking strong acceleration in 6th gear? Well, yes. Let's say if you are merging into traffic going slower than you are. If you don't roll off smoothly, or roll off too much, the engine braking will mean you decelerate too quickly. This will mean you need more space to merge comfortably. This is going to be bad for you if the driver behind where you are merging is inclined to tail-gate, because you will be rapidly decelerating and your brake light won't even be on, so their reaction will be delayed. If you are merging into traffic that is going faster than you, you will need to match their speed before merging, select the gap into which you want to merge and then accelerate into the gap, and then decelerate to match the traffic speed again. This acceleration and deceleration are all done using the throttle, not the gears. And while not impossible without a throttle assist it might be tricky if you are new to it because the hand movements are very small. ehhhhhh fucked around with this message at 05:24 on Jun 1, 2021 |
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Jun 1, 2021 05:18
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ehhhhhh posted:I drive a manual. I understand exactly what he is experiencing, because I was in exactly the same boat with the exact same skill level and the same bike within the last 6 months. I think putting a gadget in the mix is just adding needless complexity. It isn't a high strung sportbike or Harley out whatever, learning to use the throttle properly isn't hard. 99% of of riding problems can be solved without buying something. This thread is veering dangerously toward the blind leading the blind, idk what happened to most of the other regulars but please, if you're reading this, do post even though it's tiring repeating the same poo poo to different people. Anyway it sounds like the problem is lack of planning ahead + expecting too much from a 300 + being afraid to use the revs for *reasons* but mostly the first one.
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Jun 1, 2021 05:21
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Some real goon stuff itt
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Jun 1, 2021 05:22
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650 Vstrom will easily pull in 6th gear from 120kmh to 160kmh  Just keep riding and youll figure out how your bike works and how to control it.
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Jun 1, 2021 05:27
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Instead of continually relitigating what the manual says, why not hunt down a calm, empty stretch of road and play around with your speed and the gears? Keep half an eye on your tach. Depending on how much power your engine makes (and where in the powerband), and how it's geared, you'll find out pretty quick where it runs out of power, how much rpm it jumps by when you up or downshift, and crucially, what that sounds and feels like so you don't always have to keep your eye on the tach. Plus you can get in practice blipping the throttle on downshifts. Learning this, with less chance of firing yourself into the sun if you get it wrong, is part of the reason why you bought a small bike to start on. There's always poo poo to practice. I suck and am bad at motorcycle and one of the things I'm working on this season is downshifting while braking, cause I'm clumsy at it. And I've been riding for - gently caress, fifteen years now? I adore the Rex but I'm starting to wish I had a little Ninja or mt-03 to gently caress around on.
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Jun 1, 2021 06:17
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I have thought about getting one of those things though to relax my wrist. When I first started riding it was getting kinda sore but it hasn't lately. Probably a weird strength thing.
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Jun 1, 2021 06:17
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Phy posted:Instead of continually relitigating what the manual says, why not hunt down a calm, empty stretch of road and play around with your speed and the gears? Keep half an eye on your tach. That's more or less what I did, but I've never had a tach.
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Jun 1, 2021 06:23
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They're what 12? bucks. I'd say its worth trying out. Slavvy's probably right in the long term, and I very much agree in principle to avoid useless trinkets. Having said that, ergos on bikes are much more important than ergos on cars. I tried taking mine off before the licence practical test cause I was nervous but put it straight back on again and took the test with it on. I don't ride highway long enough without it for wrist fatigue to properly set in so can't really comment on that. Its a no-brainer for me. ehhhhhh fucked around with this message at 06:52 on Jun 1, 2021 |
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Jun 1, 2021 06:34
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Yo who's got the vid of those old geezers on motocross bikes and one guy tells a story about how a new rider comes up to him asking what's the best thing to buy for his bike if he only has 300 bucks to spend and he tells him 300 bucks worth of gas through it.
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Jun 1, 2021 06:38
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I am not really having a problem with major unexpected engine braking. I do have some minor throttle control problems where my speed is waffling between 60-70 on the highway, slowly, but that's just something to be mindful of to correct. It's within the realm of people driving cars without cruise control. I'm not having an issue rolling on or off throttle to get to a desired speed. I rode with a friend and he was waffling between 45-75, if I ride with him again I might ask him about it. It was making me a bit uncomfortable but he could have been doing it on purpose. I guess before I took the MSF in first gear sometimes I was getting some whisky throttle action. Hasn't been an issue since. 😅 I was using some crutches for throttle control like grabbing the edge of it only and half my hand is on the bar ends. I'm no longer doing that. My biggest issues right now are with cornering - high speed I'm only comfortable at doing corners at posted speeds or a little over, and low speed. When road conditions allow I'm trying to push it a little on both, speed wise, so I have more margin for error when I am going posted speeds in heavy traffic.
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Jun 1, 2021 06:45
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lol found it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1WqSADLtqo&t=142s
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Jun 1, 2021 06:46
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Unnecessary things I got: Harley split vision mirrors, got a thread adapter. I like how they look basically, and they are very adjustable. Still doing head checks. Touring windscreen I might not even install Sena Bluetooth adapter for my HJC RPHA 90S helmet. I really like it though haha. I don't think I'm going to do anything else to the bike. My friend threw a slip on exhaust on his Honda CB500 and it actually made it run worse. He might need to gently caress with the ECU. I'm not doing all that, I actually like my quiet rear end bike.
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Jun 1, 2021 07:06
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Is there a good/official resource for power curves?
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Jun 1, 2021 07:38
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before i replaced my dying battery i was out riding and pulled off the highway into a convenient weigh station to take an important call. i had missed the call any ways but they would phone back. i put my kickstand out before finding neutral and the engine cut off but i examined my bikes full tank wet weight of 420 lbs according to the scale. after they phoned back and the call was finished my bike wouldnt start so i had to bump start it in the also conveniently located and inclined church parking lot right next to the weigh station, I pushed the bike up and it took a couple of tries to fire up, but thank the lord it turned over and i was on my way  
numberoneposter fucked around with this message at 08:16 on Jun 1, 2021 |
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Jun 1, 2021 07:51
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Blue ninja buddies. 
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Jun 1, 2021 13:14
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this "what gear should I be in" talk is baffling just ride and figure it out stop thinking just ride
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Jun 1, 2021 13:37
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when your engine is bogging, shift down. when your engine is red lining, shift up. hth
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Jun 1, 2021 14:16
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I seem to bog the engine a little on slow speed turns because the throttle tends to be choppy given anything but super smooth input in 1st and sometimes 2nd. I'll take slow turns in 3rd gear and can really feel the engine chugga chugga chugga. I can never remember whether I can alleviate this by being in 2nd and feathering the clutch a little to smooth out input or whether that's just a disaster waiting to happen.
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Jun 1, 2021 14:44
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Fix whisky throttle issue by cocking your wrist back a little/not grabbing the throttle with too forwardly rotated wrist and or lean forward a bit, keep your arm a little loose. Feathering the clutch isn't a fix, just a solution so you don't loose control. You won't die. I catch a little bit of jerk in first now and then and I get disappointed in myself before fixing it Relatable though, for a different reason. I am having problems turning in third onto side streets without bogging the engine, so I am usually in second. I am usually doing those kinds of turns 12-15mph, third will nearly stall at that speed. I wanna be faster. SSH IT ZOMBIE fucked around with this message at 15:14 on Jun 1, 2021 |
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Jun 1, 2021 15:00
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SSH you are really over thinking this / Slavvy is right some blind leading the blind poo poo. If the freeways near you have normal traffic spreads of 75-85mph than ya the 300 isn’t going to have all the tools available (i.e. quickly passing cars that sketch you out) you learn to work with what you got. Go find the stretch to play around and basically if you have a decent amount of revs left in whatever gear your in you can drop to get some amount of faster acceleration, the open stretch of road suggestion will help find that. But really the earlier post that you just slow down and work with what you have and give extra space is right, because if it takes everything to sort of pass someone and then they decide to speed up once they’ve merged on to the freeway (or see you trying to pass and get offended and speed up for that reason) you are now right next to whatever vehicle you were suspect of before but now moving at a faster rate of speed giving you less reaction time and space. In general though for accelerating standard practice would be to drop to a lower gear and cruise at a higher gear, also as Slavvy said that’s just how a transmission works. I live somewhere with freeway speeds you talk about and my first bike could barely do 70 downhill, you just gotta adapt, but I understand the uncomfortable feeling of it.
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Jun 1, 2021 15:21
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Slavvy posted:I think putting a gadget in the mix is just adding needless complexity. It isn't a high strung sportbike or Harley out whatever, learning to use the throttle properly isn't hard. 99% of of riding problems can be solved without buying something. Correct on all three points. Take your manual, find the pages with information about oil type and quantity, tear those out and throw the rest of the manual away. Recommended speed per gear is bullshit and if you approach motorcycling with the engineers mindset that, if you do x as instructed in the manual, y will happen and it will be the thing you want happening, the rest of this hobby is going to get more frustrating. You don’t need a tachometer anyway, almost nobody does. The more you look at it, the less your eyes are on the road and the less you’re feeling and hearing what’s happening with the engine speed and bike speed. In fact, put some tape over it so you can’t see it. Don’t introduce more dumb gadgets into your learning process either. Legions of motorcyclists before us never used crutches to learn. After you’ve actually developed the muscle memory and fine motor skills to work a hand throttle (1000s of miles), maybe add in some things to make life easier. Ssh it zombie it sounds like you need to stay off the highway and learn the bike before introducing challenges that have nothing to do with your learning of the bike itself. Having the need to accelerate out of danger or through an obstacle or pass someone at high speed is mostly a thing you invent for yourself. Stay off the highway and build a good practical understanding of throttle and engine speed control before complicating things needlessly.
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Jun 1, 2021 16:22
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| # ? May 31, 2024 14:45 |
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I’ll also add that riding with other people during your first month might not be a good idea. Especially if you’re inclined to try to keep up with a more experienced rider and especially if they are unpredictably varying their speed between 45 and 75 mph.
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Jun 1, 2021 16:30
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