[fighton]

I'm curious about when your ctx shifts into six, not speed but rpm. Mine will shift at roughly 2700 and the engine will seem to "lug" until I'm well in to the 3000's.

 

[castellan]

d tries to get you into 6th asap, and, yeah, it feels luggy. the mode targets newbs and extreme fuel economists. i never use it.

 

[Billnoroville]

I'm curious about when your ctx shifts into six, not speed but rpm. Mine will shift at roughly 2700 and the engine will seem to "lug" until I'm well in to the 3000's.

Maybe those buttons will come in handy to shift it up or down.

On my manual shift CTX I don't get into 6th until 55 and only if its a level road. It brings out the grandpa in me for sure. Once I get into traffic I drop it back into 5th till about 65-70 then. In the lower gears, 2700 to 3500 works nice in say the first 3 gears and if I twist the throttle the pickup is ok. My Dad always said if you give it gas and there is no pickup in speed, you are lugging the dam thing.

 

[MisterHand]

On level ground, mine will be in 6th gear at about 40 mph! And it often feels leggy to me. If I am using "D" mode, then I often switch to manual mode just before the bike shifts into 6th. " manual" and "s" mode are often great alternatives to "D" mode.

Tony ( MisterHand)

 

[gregsfc]

I just finished break in, so I've not been messing with testing power curve much. I've got the manual version and I'm new to shifting an MC, so I've simply just been watching the RPM gauge while up shifting through the gears to keep it simple and keep my eyes on the road as much as possible as a new MC rider (scooter graduate). Later, I'll probably get an idea of how the speeds correlate with these RPM, and can simply watch the speed like I do in my car.

Going through the upshifts, what seemed to work simply for me during break in was to watch the RPM gauge and when the bar would hit around 3200-3400, I would shift up. Of course, since this was conservative driving, I wasn't pushing it hard and was simply accelerating like a grandpa. It took me a while to find this happy medium, however, because I didn't have a clue in the very beginning. The first few times I rode, I was going up over 4000-4500, which would probably be good for sport riding, but for grandpa riding, it was very herky jerky revving this high with only slightly pulling back on the throttle.

Conversely, once up to speed and for downshifting, instead of watching RPM, I've been looking more at the speedometer. I've been following the same system as I do in my car until I get to the lower gears; at which point, I sort of get lost. Fifty or above, I keep it in 6. Once traffic ahead of or a changing speed limit puts me below 50, I downshift to 5th. Once I drop below 40, I'd downshift to 4th. But below these speeds is where I get lost, and I think it's because I'm not yet used to that extra gear, and I'm also not used to not being able to see what gear I'm in at any given point. At this point, going from 3rd down to 1st usually means that I'll be coming to a stop, yield or turn situation, and since those situations are usually around traffic, I've not been able to really keep an eye on my speed or RPM, but I'm starting to make better guesses that don't jar me (downshifting too soon) or lug the engine (not downshifting soon enough or low enough for the the slow-speed turn). I'm still not very good at making right turns without coming to a complete stop, because I never know when I've got down to 2nd. I fear coming out of a turn and then learn when I let off the clutch that I'm in too high a gear and lug it or kill it, or too low a gear and cause me to lose control. So, for now, I've just keep down shifting and slowing till I'm riding super slowly in 1st and then make the turn. It's not exactly smooth riding, but this is going to take me a while learning how to count my gears during these situations.

Luckily, 90% of my miles are open highway.

 

[castellan]

right turns on a shifty bike i usually brake, take it in second with the clutch slightly (maybe a quarter pull, friction zone) pulled and gas it through the curve while releasing the clutch. seems to keep it smooth. if i pull the clutch too much, i'll juice it slightly before releasing the clutch to make sure i don't lug.

 

[wheels]

I use the D mode in heavy, slow traffic otherwise its S mode and manual for the twisties. Remember you can always "paddle" up and down.

 

[cobraguy]

Wheels you may want to use "S" or even manual in traffic. I want to be able to accelerate away from danger rather then brake and wait for it. My wife prefers "D" on the freeway with light traffic and goes to "S" when it starts to get congested she never uses manual, she says it geeks her out not pulling a clutch lever, she'd rather just not think about it.

 

[wheels]

S mode is far better than D mode. I haven't grabbed (no clutch) air since the first day.
I go back and forth about the idea of having the rear brake on the left handle ( My scooters all have/had this), in the twisties it is more comfortable using the foot brake.