not a new rider..but only been on street bike for 2 seasons now. my other ride is a cruiser that red lines at 5k so the difference took some getting used to .i just read a post on mpg and babying vs romping on it....my question is what is 2 low of an rmp to shift or ride at? saw were one guys was cruising at around 3 to 3.5. at what point is it not good for the bike? fouling plugs or anything else.

 

Recommended shift points for 08 model are 12, 19, 25, 31 and 37 MPH, which seems to mereally low cause 37 MPH puts you around 3k in 6. Recommended downshift points are 28, 22 and 16. I don't usually downshift until about30 and then I go all the way down to in one clutch pull, then to 1 if I'm actually going to stop. Maybe this is bad technique, feedback please.

I like to keep it around 4K to be able to get quick acceleration if needed. Lots of hills in my area too and sometimes 6th gear at 40MPH will bog down the engine. My 04 F4i will start knocking even. I usually don't slide into 6 until about 60 MPH when its nothing but asphalt up ahead.

 

Don't worry about fouling plugs unless your running an extra rich map or something. When I'm taking it easy and just loping along with traffic, I probably run in the 3000 - 4000 RPM range. I don'tusually look at the tach, I just go by feel. I keep the RPM high enough to ensure the engine is reasonably responsive, but not so high that the vibrations get annoying.

 

thanks. been getting much better mpg doing that.