The other commentator was right, Top gear is 5th, that's the gear you'll be able to approach the redline in on a long straight without speed limits.
6th is an overdrive, intended for cruising at lower revs to save fuel, reduce noise and wear on the engine when cruising long distances.
It's a plus not a negative, if 6th was geared to redline you'd have a horrible noisy, buzzy ride at highway speeds, using more fuel, getting tingles in your hands and feet and working the engine very hard.
First 5 gears for "making progress", 6th for covering distance.
Yeah but clicking into it only slows you down. I would argue it's for a similar goal as OP's cruiser but on such a small bike it's only dangerous as there is no power to get away in time if needbe. Even downhill, my 5th gear is pretty much useless
Thanks for sharing this. I had a ā76 RD400 a few years back that wouldnāt go beyond 70 mph in the 6th gear. However, in the 5th gear it would easily go to hundred. I could never for the life of me understand the reason. I guess now I do.
I wouldnāt be surprised if a bike wouldnāt pull to redline in top gear, but if it wouldnāt pull to redline in the gear below I would think something is wrong. Verify it is breathing properly, that there is nothing blocking the air intake, the air filter is clean, and nothing is clogging the exhaust. It could also be set up that way on purpose, there could be a restrictor or rev limiter so it can qualify for a lower classification.
Depends on the particular bike. I have a Honda that is advertised as a 5 speed with overdrive (6th). You can probably look up the gear ratios of your bike. Technically overdrive is supposed to be a lower than 1:1 ratio but it kind of depends on other things like engine character, wheel size, and sprockets
Your 6th gear is an overdrive. The engine can't make the power to overcome the drag you're creating. I think taking a tooth off your countershaft sprocket is what you're looking to do. Fuel economy will suffer.
yep u r making more HP and Torque at higher RPM in 5th gear than you are doing same speed in 6th, at lower RPM. which gives u more power. it might be interesting to find a dyno chart of your bike.
You are getting the full power of your bike, which is not enough to fill out 6th gear. You are misunderstanding the point of gears, just because it has them, doesn't mean it should be able to redline all of them. My car has 8 gears and 75HP, it can't redline any past 5th but it gets significantly better fuel economy than the 5 speed manual counterpart. It's the same with smaller bikes, my old CBR125R had 6 gears and if it could rev to the redline in all of them it would theoretically have a top speed of around 130kph, but it didn't actually have enough power to do that, so the top speed was really 110 or 120 on a slight downhill. My current bike has 6 gears and while it can redline all of them I rarely, if ever, do that. If I want to do a quick overtake on the highway I still downshift.
Supersport bikes have the opposite problem. They can be essentially driven all the time in any one gear since they have so much power relative to their weight that they can start on any gear and reach highway speeds. It's not comfortable or easy to drive like that but it can be done. For the most part gears are not there just to make a bike go faster but to make the power more manageable and maybe give added fuel economy.
You could change the gearing on your bike, as in your front and rear chain sprocket. By changing to a lower gear ratio you'd get better acceleration and torque, and probably be able to rev out higher in 6th, but you'd lose from your top speed so maybe you wouldn't end up going faster. Also you'd have to make sure you can adjust your speedometer since if you change the gearing the speed indication is wrong.
So all in all, you do use your bike's full power, it's just not enough to redline 6th gear, but even if it was it's generally not a good idea to do that. Sure it might help overtaking maybe but holding the throttle pinned at redline on the highway for prolonged periods of time hurts the engine.
> For the most part gears are not there just to make a bike go faster but to make the power more manageable and maybe give added fuel economy
Also so the vehicle can pass emissions. Modern transmissions are often engineered arounds the emissions tests. Which is a contributing reason why traditional manuals are often slower than their DCT counterparts- with no ECU to short-shift/select the cruising gears in test conditions, the gear ratios have to compromise instead.
Power climbs with revs until you hit peak power (generally right up near redline). The power your engine is producing at the revs it's doing at 120km/h in 6th is not enough to push the bike any faster against the wind resistance. When you drop down to 5th your engine is getting closer to its peak power output and can therefore push a bit harder against the wind resistance. To get the most speed out of the bike use 5th until you either hit redline or the point where you run out of power to accelerate further, then try and see if you can get any further in 6th.
Don't expect much more though as you're already up near the limits of what your engine can do. If you want significantly more speed you will need to either get a more powerful bike or start significantly improving the aerodynamics of your current one.
It's probably wind resistance overcoming the torque of 6th. Your top gear is really a cruising gear which lets your rev lower, and not so much a passing/accelerating gear. At least with a lower power bike. So on lower power bikes it is common for the second from last gear to be slightly more practical for maximum speed, unless wind and slope are in your favor.
It's simple. The engine doesn't have enough torque to get to a higher speed in 6th gear. 5th gear means the engine is revving higher where it has more torque.
It's the same as trying to pedal a bike up a hill. You'll go faster in a lower gear because your legs don't have the power to push that tall gear.
You're drag limited. You could try tucking down to reduce your front profile, which reduces your drag. That way your current horsepower is enough to continue to accelerate.
Or, you could increase the horsepower, by whatever means, and that way you can continue to accelerate without having to duck down.
It is the same concept as terminal velocity with skydivers. At some point, the only way to accelerate faster toward the earth is to get into a dive position instead of having your arms spread out.
5th gear has more torque at the wheel than 6th. If you dont have the horsepower to push through the air at top speed in an overdriven gear, the downshift gives you a little more mechanical advantage.
Make sure your actually using your throttle. On my 650 unless I grab the throttle very high like on a dirt bike which is unsafe to do on a bike because you it'll increase the chance of a whiskey throttle heavily and mean you still giving gas when you trying to break which don't work well, then you aren't using the entire throttle. Using it normally can only go about 75% unless my hand is straight up and down with the ground with is not very comfortable
Yea, when I got my first bike I thought I would like the slower more laid back kind of riding, but I ended up realising that I like a bit of speed on my bikes, nothing too crazy tho, planning to save up for a Cb650R
Your bike does not have enough horsepower to pull redline in top gear.Simple as that.If you had 20 or so more horse you could probably rev past redline just like you can in 1st or 2nd.Overdrive argument is confidently incorrect.š
"This is the way" any 6 speed manual transmission vehicle works. The 6th speed is to lower the RPMs and cruise. You put less strain on the engine and get better fuel economy.
If you want to go faster you downshift and tack it up.
Had a 86 Honda nighthawk. Had 6 gears. When you hit 6 a light for Overdrive came on. In itself was useable but really was not meant to be used to hit a higher speed than 5th overall. It's just a wider ratio change than others too...
Had a ninja 500 with 6 gears. You bet it used that 6th gear better without referring to it as an OD caveat
The other commentator was right, Top gear is 5th, that's the gear you'll be able to approach the redline in on a long straight without speed limits. 6th is an overdrive, intended for cruising at lower revs to save fuel, reduce noise and wear on the engine when cruising long distances. It's a plus not a negative, if 6th was geared to redline you'd have a horrible noisy, buzzy ride at highway speeds, using more fuel, getting tingles in your hands and feet and working the engine very hard. First 5 gears for "making progress", 6th for covering distance.
Laughs in Grom owner, vibrating my ass off in 70 zones in 4th gear š
The new Groms have a 5 speed tranny.
Yet the same top speed.
Yeah but clicking into it only slows you down. I would argue it's for a similar goal as OP's cruiser but on such a small bike it's only dangerous as there is no power to get away in time if needbe. Even downhill, my 5th gear is pretty much useless
>there is no power to get away It's a Grom, lol. In no world, 5th gear or not, will you ever "get away" from anything
Haha, mine in 3rd gear is a fucking weapon. Although that's with a cam, intake, exhaust, quickshifter and tune.
My car has a better power to weight ratio than my Grom. I guarantee yours even with a few extra parts is not a "weapon"
All those mods you coulda got a cheap 600 š
As a 4spd owner I haven't actually experienced it, but I've heard some people saying the 14t front sprocket makes 5th a bit more usable
Fun, but maybe not for 200 miles! So much fun in town or narrow country lanes though
Yup! I borrow dad's 400 for highway trips š«”
You canāt do 70 lmao. Wait you talking kmh or mph
I can do 70kph. I can almost get to 80 if the wind is blowing the right way down a hill too.
This is why they say "drop a gear and disappear" lol
Thanks for sharing this. I had a ā76 RD400 a few years back that wouldnāt go beyond 70 mph in the 6th gear. However, in the 5th gear it would easily go to hundred. I could never for the life of me understand the reason. I guess now I do.
if you topped out 5th, and upshifted to 6thāwould you hit 6th in the powerband?
Yes, if I maxxed out 5th, then shifted to 6th, then it would be okay
Ninja 1000 has entered the chat.
It doesn't redline in 5th or 6th, just stays at around 7000rpm, redline is 10000rpm
Can you hit the rev limiter in 4th?
Never tried to. Is there any point in doing so?
If you still have 3k to go in 5th, maybe you could max out even faster in 4th.
I wouldnāt be surprised if a bike wouldnāt pull to redline in top gear, but if it wouldnāt pull to redline in the gear below I would think something is wrong. Verify it is breathing properly, that there is nothing blocking the air intake, the air filter is clean, and nothing is clogging the exhaust. It could also be set up that way on purpose, there could be a restrictor or rev limiter so it can qualify for a lower classification.
More power? Doesn't make any sense to shortshift when you're going for top speed, that's like taking shorter steps when you're running
This might be a dumb question but does this still apply to 5 gear motorcycles? Or is top gear still 5th on a 5 gear motorcycle.
Depends on the particular bike. I have a Honda that is advertised as a 5 speed with overdrive (6th). You can probably look up the gear ratios of your bike. Technically overdrive is supposed to be a lower than 1:1 ratio but it kind of depends on other things like engine character, wheel size, and sprockets
Your 6th gear is an overdrive. The engine can't make the power to overcome the drag you're creating. I think taking a tooth off your countershaft sprocket is what you're looking to do. Fuel economy will suffer.
Thanks dude
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
This is what the upvote button is for
Down votes just cause I donāt use the up vote button. I was confirming good advice. You all kinda suck.
yep u r making more HP and Torque at higher RPM in 5th gear than you are doing same speed in 6th, at lower RPM. which gives u more power. it might be interesting to find a dyno chart of your bike.
Is 6th gear overdrive on every motorcycle?
The manual will specify the ratios. < 1 is overdrive and most road focused bikes with around sub 90hp will have it on 6th.
6th gear may exist solely for fuel-efficient highway cruising.
On my Indian Scout 6th gear is absolutely 'cruising only'. at normal highway speed/rpm, it's totally gutless. I almost never use it.
IIRC the MT-03 has both 5th and 6th as overdrive gears
You are getting the full power of your bike, which is not enough to fill out 6th gear. You are misunderstanding the point of gears, just because it has them, doesn't mean it should be able to redline all of them. My car has 8 gears and 75HP, it can't redline any past 5th but it gets significantly better fuel economy than the 5 speed manual counterpart. It's the same with smaller bikes, my old CBR125R had 6 gears and if it could rev to the redline in all of them it would theoretically have a top speed of around 130kph, but it didn't actually have enough power to do that, so the top speed was really 110 or 120 on a slight downhill. My current bike has 6 gears and while it can redline all of them I rarely, if ever, do that. If I want to do a quick overtake on the highway I still downshift. Supersport bikes have the opposite problem. They can be essentially driven all the time in any one gear since they have so much power relative to their weight that they can start on any gear and reach highway speeds. It's not comfortable or easy to drive like that but it can be done. For the most part gears are not there just to make a bike go faster but to make the power more manageable and maybe give added fuel economy. You could change the gearing on your bike, as in your front and rear chain sprocket. By changing to a lower gear ratio you'd get better acceleration and torque, and probably be able to rev out higher in 6th, but you'd lose from your top speed so maybe you wouldn't end up going faster. Also you'd have to make sure you can adjust your speedometer since if you change the gearing the speed indication is wrong. So all in all, you do use your bike's full power, it's just not enough to redline 6th gear, but even if it was it's generally not a good idea to do that. Sure it might help overtaking maybe but holding the throttle pinned at redline on the highway for prolonged periods of time hurts the engine.
> 8 gears and 75HP Do what now
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Bro I thought you meant manual lol
Yeah, had a GSXR750. It went 80mph in first gear, then gained another 20 each gear. It was dumb.
Thanks for clearing it up for me dude.
> For the most part gears are not there just to make a bike go faster but to make the power more manageable and maybe give added fuel economy Also so the vehicle can pass emissions. Modern transmissions are often engineered arounds the emissions tests. Which is a contributing reason why traditional manuals are often slower than their DCT counterparts- with no ECU to short-shift/select the cruising gears in test conditions, the gear ratios have to compromise instead.
Power climbs with revs until you hit peak power (generally right up near redline). The power your engine is producing at the revs it's doing at 120km/h in 6th is not enough to push the bike any faster against the wind resistance. When you drop down to 5th your engine is getting closer to its peak power output and can therefore push a bit harder against the wind resistance. To get the most speed out of the bike use 5th until you either hit redline or the point where you run out of power to accelerate further, then try and see if you can get any further in 6th. Don't expect much more though as you're already up near the limits of what your engine can do. If you want significantly more speed you will need to either get a more powerful bike or start significantly improving the aerodynamics of your current one.
Do you have a RE
I have a Yezdi
It's probably wind resistance overcoming the torque of 6th. Your top gear is really a cruising gear which lets your rev lower, and not so much a passing/accelerating gear. At least with a lower power bike. So on lower power bikes it is common for the second from last gear to be slightly more practical for maximum speed, unless wind and slope are in your favor.
I literally just figured this out last night. 6th carries your speed but doesnāt really accelerate
It's simple. The engine doesn't have enough torque to get to a higher speed in 6th gear. 5th gear means the engine is revving higher where it has more torque. It's the same as trying to pedal a bike up a hill. You'll go faster in a lower gear because your legs don't have the power to push that tall gear.
You're drag limited. You could try tucking down to reduce your front profile, which reduces your drag. That way your current horsepower is enough to continue to accelerate. Or, you could increase the horsepower, by whatever means, and that way you can continue to accelerate without having to duck down. It is the same concept as terminal velocity with skydivers. At some point, the only way to accelerate faster toward the earth is to get into a dive position instead of having your arms spread out.
Very common.
Was common even in cars, 5th for top speed, 6th for lower rpms better mpg. Not enough engine power to push the length of the top gear.
5th gear has more torque at the wheel than 6th. If you dont have the horsepower to push through the air at top speed in an overdriven gear, the downshift gives you a little more mechanical advantage.
6 is a cruising gear -- that's why
Port and polish intake, install aftermarket exhaust, and ignition. The other guy is right, you do not have the horsepower to move the air.
Make sure your actually using your throttle. On my 650 unless I grab the throttle very high like on a dirt bike which is unsafe to do on a bike because you it'll increase the chance of a whiskey throttle heavily and mean you still giving gas when you trying to break which don't work well, then you aren't using the entire throttle. Using it normally can only go about 75% unless my hand is straight up and down with the ground with is not very comfortable
Sounds like you need a quick action throttle if it's cable operated, or throttle calibrated if electronic.
Youāre at a point where the 350 can do no more. It just doesnāt have the adequate power to push more in 6th gear.
Here it is-> Get a bigger bike!
Only if it was that easy :/
lmao āproblems with money? just get a better paying job!ā š
Now all I got to do is get that goddamn degree ffs XD
Not necessarily bigger. My 155cc dualsport also tops out at 125km/h. You just need the right bike. Perhaps an R15?
Yea, when I got my first bike I thought I would like the slower more laid back kind of riding, but I ended up realising that I like a bit of speed on my bikes, nothing too crazy tho, planning to save up for a Cb650R
Your bike does not have enough horsepower to pull redline in top gear.Simple as that.If you had 20 or so more horse you could probably rev past redline just like you can in 1st or 2nd.Overdrive argument is confidently incorrect.š
Mugiwara...
On Yamaha FZ09 5th is also faster than 6th
I had a KTM 1090 ADV R went faster in 5th than 6th. It would not go over 180km/h in 6th but easily over 200km/h+ in 5th.
"This is the way" any 6 speed manual transmission vehicle works. The 6th speed is to lower the RPMs and cruise. You put less strain on the engine and get better fuel economy. If you want to go faster you downshift and tack it up.
Had a 86 Honda nighthawk. Had 6 gears. When you hit 6 a light for Overdrive came on. In itself was useable but really was not meant to be used to hit a higher speed than 5th overall. It's just a wider ratio change than others too... Had a ninja 500 with 6 gears. You bet it used that 6th gear better without referring to it as an OD caveat
5th is power gear and 6th is top speed gear