Quote:
Originally Posted by adouglas
C'mon, admit it.... you've gone for seventh gear. We all have.
I'm a big fan of gear indicators especially for the track. Miscounting your downshifts when hauling it down from triple digits for the sharp right-hander at the end of the front straight could be the difference between a perfect corner entry and an over-rev or even a crash.
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Definitely have gone for 7th, well at least for 6th on the Sportster. (actually on the Sportster the shifter feels different once you get in 5th gear, it flips up easily without any tension, I can just give a slight lift up with my toe and know I'm there.) But I don't think I would bother looking down if I felt I really needed another gear.
Well I don't ride on the track (yet). But I can't imagine coming into a corner, down shifting, then taking my eyes off the track and other riders to look at a gear indicator to let me know I was in the right gear.
I'm not saying a gear indicator is a bad thing, I've never owned a bike with one, I have test ridden a few with them and I think a bunch of stuff on the dash is more distracting. Maybe I just haven't had enough time with one to get used to it.
I'd rather have a slipper clutch than a gear indicator. That covers me if I down shift too far and I don't have to take my eyes off the road to look for a little number on my dash. I generally don't even look at my speedometer riding around in Washington DC traffic I just go with the flow of cars, if there is a big space in front of me I go faster.
Quote:
Originally Posted by adouglas
It's simply a peripheral-vision assist, like a shift light. You can make the same negative case for shift lights... why bother when you have a tach?
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I think a shift light that shows up in my peripheral vision just before I hit the rev limiter would be very useful. Doesn't take my eyes off the road, doesn't take any focus to read a number, just a I catch a view of the light I better upshift quick (unless I know I'm just about to down shift for some reason). I would say that a two color shift light that went yellow then red would be at least as useful if not more so than a tach.