Shifting Question (2000 VFR800Fi)

Just a little background:

I grew up on bikes and rode and raced off-road from about age 5 to age 16. At 18 I owned an old BMW touring bike, and I sold that bike over 17 years ago and have not ridden any type of motorcycle since.

I just bought a 2000 VFR800fi, and have put about 500 miles on it so far. I love it, and it only has 11,500 miles. It's been a long time since I've ridden, and I've never ridden a bike quite like this one before

My question is this: When I'm shifting, how high should I be looking to take the RPMs? I usually shift around 5,000 and cruise between 3,500 and 4,500. rarely do I go over 6,000 RPM. However, as I'm sure you all know, there is a huge range of RPM that I'm never using, and I've read a few road tests where people have spoken about the bike really being at home around 7,500 to 10,000 RPMs. If I was going to take the bike to 7,500 or so, what gear would be good to cruise at that many RPM?

Can someone give me a basic primer on how to shift this bike properly?

Thanks.

 

You'll find your own comfort zone when shifting this bike. Like you said it has a broad rpm range. Just average riding around town I typically crank it out to 6-7k and find 5k a 'happy zone' the bike seems to like.

I also have a 94 Magna. It doesn't mind taking off from 2500rpm, but this VFR shudders horribly below 4k for some reason, still trying to figure out if that's normal.

Getting on it, don't be afraid to wind it out past 10k. The V4's have a Dr Jekyll/Mr Hyde personality. Calm and composed, but when you ask them for some power they wake up above 7k. Hold on to the bars...:wink:

 

Thank you very much. Is there a "minimum gear" for getting it up past 10,000? The way mine shifts, it feels like it'd be screaming bloody murder if I cranked it up to 10,000 in say, second or third....is it okay to experiment with those RPMs in those gears, I do I want to wait until 4th to try taking it up there?

Also, what is normal range, and "starting to get worried" temperature for the oil? Mine seems to be running pretty solid between 190 and 215 degrees pretty consistently.

Thanks again.

 

Like Chris said - this bike does have a dual personality - from 3500-5500, it's relatively tame, but over 7000 it's a screamer.

I don't think that it matters what gear you're in for a blast up to 11,500 - just watch out for a light front end when you do it in first...

Just get 1,000 more miles under your belt on this bike before you do that.

 

Thank you very much. Any idea on the engine temps?

 

I wouldnt worry about the engine temps unless you're in heavy stop and go traffic during a heat wave, switch over to the ambient air temp setting and enjoy.

 

Sounds like your bike is acting just like mine, so I guess it's normal. Temp on mine runs about the same as yours. These bikes seem to be preety happy to run wherever you want to run them. I ride mine about the same way as you describe and have no problems with the bike at all. I rarely get into the VTEC (6400rpm) unless I really want to go fast.

 

The 5th gen has a 17 tooth front sprocket as opposed to a 16 for the 4th and 6th gen, and I believe the gear ratios are the same for the first 2 gears. I'm going 2 teeth larger in the rear when I replace chain/sprockets, I'm betting this gets rid of that shuddering.

 

Hard to say. Sometimes it feels like it's running on 2 cylinders, especially if I'm in a taller gear and crack the throttle open at 3500. I just need to have the dealer look at it.