Hey guys, how's it going? So it has officially been 1 week since I purchased my 04 Red n Black Honda CBR F4i. So far... I absolutely love it! It's my first bike and I'm not regretting the decision of not buying a 250 so far... I've been pretty good about controlling my throttle power. Speaking of that...

When you are going for the fastest possible start off the line... how high / fast will you ride out each gear? I'm just curious, I honestly haven't went past 7 - 8k in first. I'm still getting down the smooth and faster accelerating starts from 1st

When you're cruising highway and going around 60 - 70 what is an ideal gear? I noticed there isn't a huge different from 4th gear and 6th in regards to RPM.

Today driving home from work on the highway going about 65 - 70 the entire way, I was getting a feeling for countersteering at those speeds. Do riders typically countersteer around highway corners at that speed or just if it's necessary to make it sharp enough? Seems like more of an emergency swerve maneuver to me...

Thanks everyone!

 

I've never gone above 65 cruising in anything less than 6th. And if you're trying to get off the line quicker, I'd say get used to the bike, and be prepared for a little wheelie action. I personally steer on the highway, keeps me more alert through the turn. Versus just leaning. But I take it to about 5-6k revs and shift into second. Maybe a little less depending on how slow I take it.

 

Your going to burn more gas in 4th at 60-70 thats for sure....I think everyones in top gear there.As far as quick starts...I mean are you drag racing or something?

 

Counter steer ALL the time. The degree to which you do it is the difference. A soft push on the left bar will have you turning gently left... a big push on the left bar will put you in a nice lean.

Juliet has a great thread on counter steering which I recommend.

 

i would definitly recommend the lean aspect. You will need to get used to it. Definatly read the post on counter stear and the whole aspect of it. I ride to work everday which round trip is about 35-40 miles depending if i want to get off the highway. If you shift up at about 5k every gear you will stretch the mpg out. I average any where between 47-52 depending how late i am running for work. i cruse to work at about 70mph in 6th gear. I lean for all my turns on the freeway till it comes to a stop and then i have to use the bars to manuever.
Now as far as your ? on the how far can you go in first. My 02 can hit 14k and that is about 72mph. You can ride out all your gears that way. I in no way rocommend topping out your bike so soon in your riding carrer. It give it time and get used to the bike. Learn to lean and control the bike. I know its fun to go fast but don't make the same mistake i did and wheelie the bike think you have control hit a sharper cornern then you used to and end up dumping the on you. It sucks and ended up costing me 500 buck in the end. And welcome to forum and if you have any ?'s no matter how dumb them may seem feel free to ask. Most will point you in the right direction.

 

If you haven't been past 7-8k yet you haven't gotten into the power curve so just be prepared when you do go past that point because the bike will start moving.

If I am cruising I cruise in 6th gear at that speed. Typically I cruise in 6th from about 50+

 

Great choice of bike!

 

These little four bangers dont start making decent power till 8k.. they were made to ring the sh*t out of at high rpm's because of the lack of torque like a v-twin has.

 

at speed you are countersteering regardless. Leaning is also just part of riding a sportbike properly. Now I am not saying lean so far you look like ya trying to be a Hayden or Rossi on the hwy or even turning into a parking lot. But with just a week under your belt you have more important things to worry about. Practice braking, panic stops, searching out escape routes, and the list goes on.

 

Thanks for the tips guys... some great points.

I've gotten good practice stopping quickly simply from riding highway and stopping at all yellow lights instead of accelerating ha. Haven't locked up either tires yet, might work on that tonight just so I can get use to releasing the front break when it happens.

I guess what made me think of countersteering was when turning lanes going at higher speeds. If you simply lean when you're not going around a turn... you'll get over there but perhaps not as fast as you could. With a little countersteering and leaning, it made a big difference.

Another quick question... when you ride for the first time of the day... do you typically wait for your RPM's to ideal around 1.5k? Mine will typically start around 3k and work its way down after a few minutes.