down shifting and high rev shifting Q's

[seethesvt]

so, i got an 88 bigkat and im about to start my second season riding. i have a couple questions about high rev shifting and down shifting.

so if im ridin along doing lets say 75 mph and i want to GO whats the art of down shifting? in my car at 75 i would down shirt from 5th to 3rd, get the rpm's up and let the clutch go and im GOING!! i drive a svt tour. so if im dong it on the bike whats the tecnique so the bike doesnt handle me? is there a way to start out light and work my way up according to how it feels?

ive heard that if you got full throttle and high rpms there is no need to hit the clutch, just hit the shidt lever. ive never done this and i probably will never do this becuase it seems pretty harsh. is it safe?

[DClark]

At that speed, I'd yank the clutch and tap down to 4th.
These bikes have a lot of tq and that should be sufficient. Now, I don't recall off hand what the peak tq/hp number is on the kat, but that might help ya.

[SeanM]

Depends on your gearing.
Best bet is to run through the gears noting at which speed each ear tops out. That will help you in knowing how many gears you can drop to get max power.

[SupRnatural]

Having a close ratio 5 speed in a Kat will pull you through the ranges easily. 1 gear drop will do the trick at 75mph unless you are trying to set a land speed record. A two gear drop is a waste of energy.

[docbarlow]

Max HP is @ 9500 RPM, Max Torque is @7000 RPM
I Try to downshift to 6500 RPM then rail it until around 10,000
Way fun on empty roads
My engine is NOT stock so I feel ok about the abuse - so try at your own risk

[BIGKAT1100]

so, i got an 88 bigkat and im about to start my second season riding. i have a couple questions about high rev shifting and down shifting.

so if im ridin along doing lets say 75 mph and i want to GO whats the art of down shifting? in my car at 75 i would down shirt from 5th to 3rd, get the rpm's up and let the clutch go and im GOING!! i drive a svt tour. so if im dong it on the bike whats the tecnique so the bike doesnt handle me? is there a way to start out light and work my way up according to how it feels? .......

If I'm running 75-85, pull clutch, drop 2 gears (that was "GO", capital "G", capital "O", right ?). I like to feel the engine bite . One gear would be lower case "g", lower case "o". I like upper case better :mrgreen:. BTW, if you it that way, upper case "GO", be prepared for a nice bite because your going to find out how hard your bike pulls right then.

That's just me though. Enjoy

[GenericEric]

at 75 in top gear? kick her down two and let the clutch out.. She'll ramp up real nice. Real nice indeed

[BIGKAT1100]

at 75 in top gear? kick her down two and let the clutch out.. She'll ramp up real nice. Real nice indeed

.... there ya go, a man after my own heart .... angry acceleration, is there any other kind ?

[seethesvt]

Max HP is @ 9500 RPM, Max Torque is @7000 RPM
I Try to downshift to 6500 RPM then rail it until around 10,000
Way fun on empty roads
My engine is NOT stock so I feel ok about the abuse - so try at your own risk

what do you mean rail it? im worried about the bike, i dont wanna accidently pull the front end up and wreck or not give it enough gas then prepairing for the downshift and having the rpms act as engine braking and having the front end slam down violently thus throwing me to the gground or something. its a new thing to me and im pretty sure its alot more dangerious than in a car.

[giftedwon]

myself never have driven a manual car before and this being my 1st season on a bike shifting gears is kind of confusing to me. i only been riding a few weeks and already had the front wheel rise on me while switching gears!.

[tdrcomm]

If I remember right, when I had my Kat I usually ran 75 in 5th, pinned it, then clicked to 6th.

Now I just cruise at 90 in 5th then pin it... and watch time go backwards.

[SupRnatural]

If I remember right, when I had my Kat I usually ran 75 in 5th, pinned it, then clicked to 6th.

Now I just cruise at 90 in 5th then pin it... and watch time go backwards.

All Kat 1100s were 5 speeds I believe.

[BIGKAT1100]

I haven't been riding much lately due to some issues that I'm dealing with but I had been thinking about this thread since I put post on it. As a result I had to make sure of what I wrote. Here is what really up on this tip. You gotta drop to 3rd at 75 mph to get sufficiant "giddy-up", dropping to 4th is just speeding up.