What gear when powering thru the hills?

[Ward P]

What gears do you use, how often do you change? when powering thru the hills?

Heading thru the Granya Gap the other day, I realised something.

I find when riding 1 up, the 'busa is grunty enough, that once I get into a windy section of a road, that I seldom, if ever change gears. With the newly acquired Gen2, which has a gear position indicator, I've now noticed, that I find that the bike just seems to end up in 4th when I approach the first in a series of tight corners. And once there, I don't change at all right through a windy section, even if that windy section is pretty long.
4th has plenty of legs for the few hundred metres between corners, yet will pull from fairly low revs provided you have kept good mid corner speed, but isn't too peaky out of the corners to have the back let go. The little I could lose in initial pull out of the corner just means that I can possibly hold off apply any braking for the next corner. For me, really heavy braking is a mind f*** on approaching a corner, it unsettles the bike and I can brake too much and wash off too much entry speed. Better to approach at the right speed then power thru and increase mid corner speed. When I pin it out of the corner 4th doesn't let the back go, but still provides plenty of grunt and acceleration, and the next corner's right there anyway.
Rapid changing up and down thru the gears sounds cool, and a good rider might be able to make up a little bit of time between corners, but I think it would be pretty minimal, and concentration lost in changing gears, controlling rear slide and grabbing handfulls of brake, then changing again, instead of planning the corner might actually slow you down while making it feel faster. A smaller, less powerful bike needs the gears to keep in the power, but the 'busa's torque will just lope along in 4th keeping your riding style smooth and not unsettling the bike, and just maybe . . . making you quicker overall. ???

[Driller]

I think you've answered your own question in there Wardy

only thing you have to ask yourself is are you racing or not

[BikerBoy]

Hey Wardy....do you remember CSS level 1, step 1?
4th gear all the way....no brakes allowed. Smooth entry, smooth exit.

[revhead]

in tight stuff ,on my gen 1 i use 2nd and 3rd a lot this is with a lot of other riders around,generally if im on my own 3rd n 4th

[Kendo]

Yep, 3rd and 4th for me, dictated by the road.
Given in 4th a theoretical 242 for Gen 1 or 251 for Gen 2, you'll run out of license long before 4th runs outta legs between corners.

[storm]

Slow in fast out.and smooth is fast.4th gear alone without changing gears braking etc should keep the bike stable than bobbing up and down.what RPM r u around ward?

[pan]

Depends on your sprockets

[revhead]

Slow in fast out.and smooth is fast.4th gear alone without changing gears braking etc should keep the bike stable than bobbing up and down.what RPM r u around ward?

i thought fast in smooth through fast out

[Batfink]

Not a fast rider here but I do enjoy my corners.....
always was told and believed the smoother you are riding the faster/better you are (faster may not be the right in my case LOL).....
when I rode a friend's son R6 I did notice I had to ride the gears more to keep bike from sounding like crap in the lower revs, the busa seems happy to put away in nearly any gear...
As for breaking hard, IMO the only times you should be doing that is either on the track or trying to dodge a FUBAR....

[Ward P]

Slow in fast out.and smooth is fast.4th gear alone without changing gears braking etc should keep the bike stable than bobbing up and down.what RPM r u around ward?

mostly sittting around 4-5000rpm. travelling at around 70-100kmph thru the twisties (35 to 55kmph corners.)

---

only thing you have to ask yourself is are you racing or not

I NEVER race on the road . . . unless someone overtakes me

[gggsxr11]

Riding by yourself do what feels comfortable.
Riding in a group do whatever it takes to keep in touch with the lead rider.

[BSA]

Riding by yourself do what feels comfortable.
Riding in a group do whatever it takes to keep in touch with the lead rider.

FIRST gear cos the engine braking is brilliant :)

[BikerBoy]

Riding in a group do whatever it takes to keep in touch with the lead rider.

reply SMS...."what do ya mean slow down in front....how about you hurry the f*** up"

[batool100]

Look where the shift cable goes into the derailleur. There is a a small round adjuster with nubs on it. You want to turn that barrel adjuster counter-clock wise 1/2 turn at a time and try it. The shift cable has stretch a little and the spring on the derailleur is pulling it into the next smaller gear.

[Kendo]

Look where the shift cable goes into the derailleur. There is a a small round adjuster with nubs on it. You want to turn that barrel adjuster counter-clock wise 1/2 turn at a time and try it. The shift cable has stretch a little and the spring on the derailleur is pulling it into the next smaller gear.

Wrong kind of bike me thinks. My Busa doesn't have a rear derailleur