Do you keep a mental note of what gear you're in??

[kenh]

So quiet eh? That's cute.

I have not had stock pipes since 2007.
My Scorpion exhaust is so loud on the FZ6 I have to roll the bike to the end of my driveway before starting it in the mornings or I'll wake my wife and the neighbors 100 yards away! :BLAA:

I installed a Two Bro slipon this summer and the exhaust note is great, however on my first ride (to work) I had to order a pair of diffusers it was too loud. I have a neighbor lady whose always cussing at my kids when they look at her so I usually start it up with the business end facing her house. :Flip:

Not to highjack, but because the bike pulls so well I pay most attention to gear selection when I am approaching a corner, although if you are too low you can do a quick upshift or a quick downshift if too high with maybe a little trailbraking as needed.

 

[iviyth0s]

I installed the healtech gear indicator as the 1st major mod after rim tape and tank protector. I love it for knowing exactly what gear, for commuting its excellent. once on the open road, getting into higher gears for longer its easier to "justknow" which gear youre in( imo anyway)

Nice, how much did that run ya and was it hard to install??

I used to always forget that I had a sixth gear (driving 5 speed manuals all my life) so I got in the habit on the highway of going "Oh yeah..." and clicking it up into sixth. So now I keep forgetting that I learned I have six gears and trying to click it up into sixth when I'm already there.

Having a gear indicator wouldn't help me, I'll probably do the same thing every 15 miles on a stretch of highway just because it's habit - I don't look down at the dash first.

Other than that, I may not be able to tell you what number gear I'm in, but does it really matter if I'm in 3rd or 4th? Never. Very rarely do I hit 1st unexpectedly, but if I do it's after a lonnnnggg day

Yeah, that might be my problem since I have a 5spd in my car. It's easy with average power car with manual and a 5 speed because 1 gets you going, 2 and 3 are the speedy up gears and 4 is that highway power gear and 5 is the cruise gear. With the FZ6 any gear is the power gear so I can't keep track with power alone.

A gear indicator would be a luxury.

Gears 1, 2, 5, 6 no problem knowing when in.
Gears 3,4 I usually guess.

It's all about the revs and the power band. There's no real point counting gears.

It's funny this topic shows up right now. I was just thinking about this on the ride into work this morning

Indeed

Yeah, it'll probably get easier as I get used to what revs happen at what speed.

Figured I wasn't the only one, so I knew this'd be a popular thread

Yep, that's exactly how the story goes. I think the dude started to turn from a stop and stalled in second. I've stalled my own bike at a stop sign before by virtue of being in second.

As for the subject of third / fourth. They are hard to keep track of. I might know which is which when on mountain roads, where staying in fourth is feasible for the whole ride, but I can remember wondering which one I was actually in, even there.

Makes sense, I was picturing just going forward since even my Ninja was able to pull up a hill in 3rd from a stop (I couldn't get it to rock down to first since the grade was too much). Yeah I'd likely drop or almost drop either bike stalling in a slow turn.

My smarta55 response for the day -


I always know what gear I'm in, because I put it on before I got on the bike. :BLAA:

Most of the time it's my Joe Rocket helmet, an AGV leather jacket, a pair of gauntlets, a pair of jeans and not-so-sturdy shoes.

Haha, I have a Joe Rocket jacket, HCI carbon fiber helmet, fingerless or gauntlet gloves (depending on weather), my cargo pants (sometimes jeans), and running shoes. (I'm extra bad here, I know)

I'll see your SAR for the day and raise you one;
I just bang it up and down until we're both happy! :thumbup: :BLAA:

However, 7th remains elusive and 2nd gear starts only happen when the bike needs stalled and taught a lesson! :Flip:

So quiet eh? That's cute.

I have not had stock pipes since 2007.
My Scorpion exhaust is so loud on the FZ6 I have to roll the bike to the end of my driveway before starting it in the mornings or I'll wake my wife and the neighbors 100 yards away! :BLAA:

I'll give my bike some better pipes once I've done other things. Were they hard to install?? Any videos??

I installed a Two Bro slipon this summer and the exhaust note is great, however on my first ride (to work) I had to order a pair of diffusers it was too loud. I have a neighbor lady whose always cussing at my kids when they look at her so I usually start it up with the business end facing her house. :Flip:

Not to highjack, but because the bike pulls so well I pay most attention to gear selection when I am approaching a corner, although if you are too low you can do a quick upshift or a quick downshift if too high with maybe a little trailbraking as needed.

Haha awesome, what do you mean by diffusers??

Yeah, I know what gear I'm in when turning since I usually pick the one most complimentary to the degree of the turn. But it's that damn "7th gear" that always gets me

 

[MG-242]

I must admit I really never think about what gear I'm in, but I can almost always tell you what gear I'm in, if that makes sense. And, I rarely look for 7th or whatever is below 1st. I don't think it matters what gear you think you're in as long as you are in the correct gear for the situation. When I'm on the track I can tell you within a foot where I downshift\upshift, but I have to stop and think what gear (the number) I'm in when I make notes or someone asks. I know what turns require 1 click down or two, but never think oh, I'm going from 4th to 3rd, etc. Same with the street. I don't keep track of what gear I'm in but if I think about it, I can always tell what gear I'm in. I guess I don't think if it's 3rd, 4th, or some other gear. Maybe I'm thinking of other things like, is that guy going to pull out, is he turning left, right, is that water or oil on the road, you know, the really important things or maybe my small mind just can't hold all of that information To complicate matters even more, in a typical week I will ride about 4 very different bikes and my story is the same. Maybe I'm just so "one with a motorcycle" that I don't think about it :thumbup:

Also, someone mentioned about starting in second. I do start out in second quite often with no problems. It matters most if I'm starting out up hill. I think I can feel the clutch start to engage and feel whether I have enough throttle or need to add a little. But, if I'm at a light or stop sign with traffic, I'm always in 1st just in case I need to get moving quickly. One of those good habits we teach :thumbup:

 

[Hobbesca]

Ha I just finished a long stretch off from work, not sure how many times I tried to shift to 7th, and here's a heads up. If 7th isn't there the first time it ain't gonna be there if you try again.

I have really been thinking about a gear indicator ....

 

[Prince Valium]

I count subconsciously while riding and shift up or down as needed based on revs. I wouldn't mind a gear indicator but don't need one as I prefer to keep my head and eyes up. Occasionally I'll lose track of what gear but that doesn't happen that often as I can usually tell by the sound of the engine and speed, etc.

 

[agf]

Nice, how much did that run ya and was it hard to install??

I'm thinking it was about $180
here is a link to the pdf that tells you a bit about it
http://www.healtech-electronics.com/download/GIPRO-X_Intro_en.pdf

Its almost plug and play, you simply put a plug into the speed sensorloom, there is a plug on the healtech loom that goes between a Joiner under that tank or seat cant quite remember and you need to pick up some power from the switched side of the ignition, It reccomends taking it from the running lights, which is easy to find and splice into.

 

[Susan]

I go by the tach and the speedometer, and most of the time that tells me what gear I'm in (I admit to not being all that fabulous at math even at the best of times).

To be safe, I always double-check that I'm truly in first when I'm stopped in traffic (even though before I began doing checking, I got excellent at taking off in second gear where it's flat, on a hill...).

And I reach for seventh regularly.

Because I suck at math. :BLAA:

 

[Def]

Always...I find there are no surprises coming into a corner at speed when I know what gear I'm in.....but then I always...and I mean always...shift using my clutch.

 

[Monica A]

I shift by feel and the way the engine sounds. :thumbup:

I do too, but with the FZ's lack of torque I really would like to know what gear I am in because if I come up to a 15mph curve I really really need to be in 2nd gear. Otherwise it doesn't matter. The FZ's has great highband power. I wish it just had more low end torque.

I learned recently, it doesn't matter what gear I am in. If I want to pass a car on a two lane road, downshift (sometimes twice) and peg the throttle. Yippee!! That's fun folks.

When I ride my hubbie's 1986 VFR750 or my son's 2005 SV650s, I love the low end torque (hubbie hasn't let me ride his 2005 VFR800 yet, I'm working on him). The SV will launch in 6th gear at 2000 rpm. First time scared the crap out of me. Second, third, fourth, etc. times were a blast! Darn kid won't let me ride it too much. hahaha I wonder why..... The VFR is a blast too, but the skinny tires are a bit hairy.

 

[regder]

This is my 7th season riding the Fizzer, putting on way too many km's. At this point I have an almost telepathic connection to what gear and rpm the bike is in without having to check.

 

[ReapeR]

just go ahead and spend like 50 bucks on ebay, get a universal led gear indicator, many colors available and never worry again.

 

[Fishwiz4]

I have read that they can be a pain to calibrate and are not always accurate. Is that not true?

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk 4

 

[Susan]

Always...I find there are no surprises coming into a corner at speed when I know what gear I'm in.....but then I always...and I mean always...shift using my clutch.

Why does it matter so much what gear we're in, as opposed to having the RPMs up high enough?

 

[atticuss66]

I try to use the rpm's to gage what gear i'm in. It is a learning experience because it has such a wide range.

I too have looked for 7th and then realized my rpm's where too slow...time to open this puppy up!!!!

 

[agf]

I have read that they can be a pain to calibrate and are not always accurate. Is that not true?

I was concerned when I fitted the Healtech indictaor that the instructions said I was going to have to run up to highway speeds to get the shift recognised and it was going to hard to set it while riding. BUT when I took off up the street from home I got into 6th in a pretty short time and all was good, so it was waaaay simpler that I had imagined.

as far as accuracy.... on up shifts its always spot on and downshifts it reads accurately but sometimes when coasting to the lights and shifting down form 3 to 2 to 1 it lags a little when its basically at idle speed and the clutch is in. but when you take off again in 1st it reads 1 on the readout, so it is not mis-reading the gear


I would def add one on a bike if it doesn't come as OEM

 

[Wearyeyed]

I don't normally, though it doesn't take long before a stiletto gets caught on a peg or the nylons start pulling at my leg hair before I realize I am clearly in the wrong gear...

:BLAA:

 

[Susan]

I don't normally, though it doesn't take long before a stiletto gets caught on a peg or the nylons start pulling at my leg hair before I realize I am clearly in the wrong gear...

:BLAA:

I hate it when that happens.

 

[randysway]

I try to keep a mental note of what gear I'm in when I'm riding. Normally, you can kinda tell by the RPMs and your speed. It also helps to not have to go through more than 3 gears...
I guess I would be interested in getting a gear indicator.

 

[Susan]

I was thinking more about this today (while on hubby's CBF1000, which doesn't have a gear indicator that I noticed). I decided that and as long as you have a speedo and a tach, and you have the little green light to alert you in case you've managed to put it in neutral, the gear you're in... is about as meaningful as ladies' clothing sizes (if you're a guy, just trust me that they're completely arbitrary). Speed and RPMs matter a lot.

 

[Neal]

Why does it matter so much what gear we're in, as opposed to having the RPMs up high enough?

I agree.

Doesn't matter what gear you are in anyways.

As far as people trying to shift into 7th gear??

Are you going 130 mph+? I don't see why you would be trying to shift upwards anyways unless you were going over that speed, you RPMs would be too low to warrant shifting upwards(on stock gearing).