Reving in lower gear vs lugging in higher gear? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Reving in lower gear vs lugging in higher gear?

Yes, a common condition from the HD crowd that brag about low end torque and rather have their feet positioned wide and out front instead of moving them to down shift a gear or two.

They don’t like the vibes from revving their big V-twin. Or it’s hot out and worried about over heating etc. So, you get folks equipping their bikes with oil coolers and lug their bike.




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Decades ago I worked for a diesel engine company. They blamed a lot of main bearing failures on lugging. Lower oil pressure etc.

Most motors have a sweet spot. A flick of the left toe can put them there.
 
Thanks for the post! I wasn't sure about this. No more lugging!
 
All true, but there's no need to scream the engine in second gear with next to no load on it at highway speed. I've seen riders do that, too.
 
I know about detonation in engines and I don't think I lug motors, but I have no idea what it would sound like on a motorcycle. I remember Hot Rod magazine calling it a pinging sound

Also, is it possible to really do this much on any motor with drive-by-wire or secondary throttles?
 
Few bike engines have knock sensors. Detonation at low revs sounds same as a car (pinging) but if the bike has a loud exhaust, it may be drowned out.

I've heard it momentarily on my zx10r with stuff done to the engine if I bog a start. Never did it stock. If I were using that engine in anger it would be getting race fuel.
 
Great, now all we need is more supersport riders revving at 8k + with barely any load on the engine at highway speeds in 3rd gear... I cringe every time.

The article is a good read though, in fairness the main take away is not to rev the crap out of it as I'm suggesting above, but to make sure you're in the right RPM at the right time... eg. downshift if needed when passing or going up a hill if the engine were to bog at lower RPMs. My K4 GSXR1000 is about to hit 100,000km and the bike cruises around 3-4k RPM most of the time since the torque allows for it and feels natural (not so much on a 600cc). I've owned the bike since new and have done all oil changes with conventional car oil (sans friction modifiers) and Fram (yes, Fram) filters - which should hopefully debunk some misconceptions on what our bikes really need for longevity.
 
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Why is it so hard for folks to figure out what an engine needs??? You get 5/6 speed transmissions so your engine is revving at the right spot for the riding your doing at the time. Not because its fun to shift.

We got big v twins in American bikes by default, gas quality was crap so compression was 5:1, 6;1 and you had no torque unless you had displacement, the US postal service in the 40's passed a rule all mail delivery bikes must be a minimum of 60ci , about 1000cc. HD built engines around volume sales to police service and postal, military. Times change.

Lugging any engine is never a good idea, it just stresses components that don't need the extra wear.
 
A stock Harley doesn't detonate like that. The pistons pictured in the article are surely from modified motorcycles with increased compression, incorrect tunes etc. This is classic excuse making by the HD aftermarket, selling parts and recommending stupid ideas to make a bike that wasn't meant to go fast, faster. Though lugging is inefficient and not good for any engine, it is not going to be the cause of engine failure. Hot Bike is just deflecting blame from its interests.
 
Maybe this comes from learning to drive on stick and having it all my life, but really just keep the engine at a happy RPM. If you are cruising with little traffic or reason to speed up or slow down, then run in a higher gear that still keeps the engine at a happy RPM. If you need to pass or slow down, then kick it down a gear or two and do so, then shift up accordingly if needed.

At least on my CBR650FA, the bike is happy anywhere from just below 3000rpm on up. Sure it makes more power above 8000rpm, but unless you are accelerating, there is no reason to leave it there. If I had to pick a number, probably on average I sit somewhere between 3000-6500rpm probably 90% of the time. For reference sake as well, 401 speeds typically mean between about 4500-6500rpm in 6th, give or take 500rpm.
 
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can't see slowly rolling on to get back to road speed being an issue
attempting hard acceleration at low RPM on a torquey motor could be problematic
 
just drop it a cog and drive on, thats why they give you a 6 spd tranny, not so you can wear third gear out.
 
If you have to ask, the answer doesn’t matter — get a CVT or Hondamatic bike and you need to learn one less thing about riding.
 
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If you have to ask, the answer doesn’t matter — get a DCT bike and you need to learn one less thing about riding.

Your condescension would be more effective if you said Hondamatic or CVT, you still have to pick the gear with a DCT
 

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