I sure is dumb! RPM's, Whining, etc

[farm1810]

Guys, I have owned my RSTD for just under a month. I owned and rode lots of enduro bikes as a young man, have had Kawasaki, Yamaha, and H-D road bikes. At 55 years old, I thought that I knew how to ride albeit it has been a few years since I owned my last. I wrote to you about the whine in the bike, at which MPH and in which gear. There was a boat load of advice about allowing the engine to wind out a bit. One poster responded that he never uses 5th gear until 75 mph. I should have just listened. Yesterday my wife and I took about a 4 hour ride. I just gave way to trust in your advice. I ran along in 3rd gear up until just over 40mph. I used 4th the rest of the time except when we traveled on the 4 lane turnpike at 65 - 75 mph and then used 5th. It was one of the most comfortable and good feeling rides I have ever taken on a bike. That little engine just seems to cook right along just as happy as can be at those rpm's & wheel speed. Thanks for the advice. OH, and by letting it rev a little more in each gear, almost no whining whatsoever. Thanks for the great advice. R.

[BG Hawks]

In my opinion the V4 is the best kept secret.

[reddevilmedic]

around town, im rarely out of third. this is my first vr. love it. challenging electrically, but fun. it just comes alive around 4000 rpm. i ride 5500-6000 all the time. kills the mpgs a little but im going to get the different shims from skydoc. maybe pick up a couple more mpgs. have fun!

[hayes]

This is just what I do. You say you stay in third until 40 mph. If I were you I wouldn't go into fourth until about 55 mph. Depending on the road and the distance I usually ride 55 mph zones in 3rd.

Dennis

[RandyR]

With 2 up I'd probably not shift to 4th until 50 or more.

 

On the ride back from the Dragon 2 weeks ago I noticed the whine was much worse when going down hill and not applying much throttle. First time I'd noticed that. But wasn't too bad on the flats or up-hill with rpm's kept up.

[Sylvester]

I can't remember if I was one to respond to your earlier post, but I have always maintained to run 3rd to 45-50 mph and never shift into 5th under 65 mph. These machines love rpm. I have a buddy that rides a RSTD and always lugs it around. He is always complaining of mpg and lack of acceleration. He will never listen to me so I gave up.