Redline

[overload]

Hi guys just thought i'd let you know that i took my baby to redline tonight
Is it normal for my ninjette to redline at 13 500 RPM ? and man does she scream wow ...

[OldGuy]

Originally Posted by overload

Hi guys just thought i'd let you know that i took my baby to redline tonight
Is it normal for my ninjette to redline at 13 500 RPM ? and man does she scream wow ...

What were you expecting?

[ztrack157]

on a stock bike 13500 is norm. mine goes up to 14500 cause I'm special

[Kawasabi]

Originally Posted by OldGuy

What were you expecting?

to scream MEOW?

[Midnightrider]

Has anyone kicked the rev limiter in? I've taken mine up to 14 grand and the rev limiter never kicked in. I also realize the tach is innacurate.

[ztrack157]

I can't kick mine in. The BRT Tis lets me set it where I wish. I have it set at 14500 which is what the valvetrain is rated to. I've hit 14300 but no higher.

[OldGuy]

Originally Posted by Kawasabi

to scream MEOW?

I was thinking more of a purr .

I had the day off yesterday and with the beautiful weather took the bike out into the country for a couple of hours. No twisty's but plenty of chances to wind it out to ~13 each time I left a stop sign. She does love to sing and that close ratio transmission makes it so smooth at the high end.

Got some rain coming but more riding weather is supposed to come before the snow really flies.

[Alex]

Originally Posted by Midnightrider

Has anyone kicked the rev limiter in? I've taken mine up to 14 grand and the rev limiter never kicked in. I also realize the tach is innacurate.

All the time. It feels pretty soft when it hits the limiter. The engine isn't pulling as hard at those high revs, and when it cuts ignition there isn't such a huge hit as you bounce off the limiter as there is on some different type of bikes (Ducati's are the opposite example). It will just stay at the limiter without moving any higher.

[Snake]

I have hit the rev limit and like Alex said it is very soft. You reach the rev, the engine stops pulling and it just kinda floats at that speed and rpm.

[Sailariel]

I run my bike at 7,500+. I try to keep the RPM in that range. The bike seems to like that "Sweet Spot". Just because we have six speeds does not mean we have to get there all the time. I kick in six at 65MPH+. In town, I rarely get past third gear. I have heard people on this forum complain about throttle response. The answer is--Don`t lug the machine down. This bike is designed to run at high RPM. If you can`t do that maybe a Harley is in your future.

[OldGuy]

Originally Posted by Sailariel

I run my bike at 7,500+. I try to keep the RPM in that range. The bike seems to like that "Sweet Spot". Just because we have six speeds does not mean we have to get there all the time. I kick in six at 65MPH+. In town, I rarely get past third gear. I have heard people on this forum complain about throttle response. The answer is--Don`t lug the machine down. This bike is designed to run at high RPM. If you can`t do that maybe a Harley is in your future.

Alex you are so cruel but so true. Isn't it nice to be old and just say what we think.

[KJohnson21]

Originally Posted by Sailariel

In town, I rarely get past third gear.

+1

[Momaru]

I've tagged the rev limiter a few times in 1st and 2nd and it 'bounced off'. Really spooked me the first time, still seems a bit strange so I try not to do that anymore

[CZroe]

I'm confused. People ITT are talking like the "rev limiter" = "redline" and then later talking about it like I understood it to be (redline is where your needle enters the red zone on the tach, not where your rev limiter prevents going any higher).

[Alex]

I think it's just a terminology thing. Redline is the fastest engine speed that a manufacturer believes that the engine can perform safely and fulfill all of its reliability and longetivity expectations. More detail from wikipedia right here. In years past, only the operator was choosing to keep the machine below the redline, as going over that could have some pretty significant and pretty immediate consequences.

Just about all modern engines have rev limiter functions that try and prevent an engine from turning faster than is safe, and they do that by either cutting spark, cutting fuel, or both. These rev limiters are set in the ECU, and are typically placed right at what the manufacturer would describe as the redline. In some cases a manufacturer might set the rev limiter a few hundred RPM below the nominal redline, as a bit of insurance just to make doubly sure that engine speeds are kept in check. If the motor is already tailing off and not making much power at those extreme revs, there's little benefit in allowing it to rev to the theoretical redline anyway.

What the rider sees on the tach as the redline before that red zone may or may not be in sync with the actual redline as measured off of the ECU. Just like our speedometers, tachs are notoriously optimistic, and typically read high, especially in the higher rev ranges.

[cnichols79us]

Originally Posted by Sailariel

I run my bike at 7,500+. I try to keep the RPM in that range. The bike seems to like that "Sweet Spot". Just because we have six speeds does not mean we have to get there all the time. I kick in six at 65MPH+. In town, I rarely get past third gear. I have heard people on this forum complain about throttle response. The answer is--Don`t lug the machine down. This bike is designed to run at high RPM. If you can`t do that maybe a Harley is in your future.

Very well put.... I tried to keep my Revs down for quite awhile, especailly with all the Hoopla you can hear about "Proper Break-in Period" and so on. But my Ninjette hated it. Once I realized shifting at 7000-9000 rpm made the bike happy, riding got much more enjoyable...

Have never hit the limiter myself. Been once or twice I thought I should have, but never did.

[Mo1981]

I'll normally shift around 12k, when I do stretch it out. Around town, I'll keep it down to 9k or so. I've never hit the limiter either.
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[Cedilla]

On a fast take off I usually shift at 11k after that the power just levels off very noticeably. I usually have the engine running between 6 to 9k. Seems like the sweet spot. 7 to 8k seems to be when the fairings like to buzz. The engine likes to cruse at that rpm range, but I don't because even with ear plugs that fairing buzz really starts to wear on me after a few miles.

[2WheelGuy]

I try not to let the revs fall below 10,000rpm. I usually shift at about 13,000rpm but I often spin it well past 14,000rpm to keep from having to make an extra upshift before a turn.

[bdavison]

Here is pretty much how my shift pattern goes. Bear in mind this is on the new gen 09SE.

If I want to really twist that sucker...
From a stop...1st gear to 10k, 2nd gear to 13k, 3rd gear to 13k....by that time Im low level flying.

If I just want to get in front of the pack and quick...
From a stop...a real quick 1st to 9k, click it to 2nd and hammer it. That usually sticks me out front of most of the cagers.

Normal cruising type start....
From a stop...1st gear to 9k, 2nd gear to 9k, etc.

On a highway or something, I get up to speed in whatever method, then I gear it to whatever is needed to keep it in the 7K range or so. The pull from 8K+ is good, so if I need the power, its on tap in that gear.

I really dont see any need to go past 13K. Beyond 12K the powerband is dropping off, and all your doing is just converting a full tank to an empty one, and making the bike work hard for very little results.

Its funny getting on another motorcycle, because you are used to running high revs, and you gotta be careful or you'll blow up the other bike without even thinking about it.

[karlosdajackal]

Max Torque 22 N·m {2.24 kgf·m} / 8,200 rpm
Max Power 24 kW {33 PS} / 11,000 rpm

So your optimum power-band is 8200 rpm to 11,000 rpm. Red line on mine is 12,500 rpm, so between 11,000 and 12,500 you are not producing any more power just making more noise. I've no idea where the limiter is probably around 13,500 rpm.

This is useful as when you lean over you should be on the gas just to maintain speed as the tire is thinner when over on the side so you actually need about 500rpm more just to maintain speed the same speed from when you where upright. Also you have some scope to continue your turn and accelerate without needing to change gear (and use that power to keep 60% of the weight on the rear wheel and help the bike turn).

In normal riding I use about 7,000 to 12,000, only lower than 7,000 for slow moving traffic. It actually pulls ok for slow traffic from 3,000rpm in 2nd bellow that its a bit lumpy.

Even though mine is fuel injected the carb bikes are 99% similar. Mine might be a bit smoother at low rpm as the FI bikes have a dual throttle system where the rider controls 1 throttle body and the ECU adjusts the input with the other throttle body for each cyclinder.