Out of the Cruiser World

[kilo3]

1 minute ago, betoney said:

What do you mean by "shifting based upon a tach"?  Are you referring to some sort of break-in procedure or riding in general?

Both, having never had a tach and such a quiet/smooth engine, it's hard to tell where I am physically in the revs.
Maybe that's more of an effect of the wind noise than anything.  Never had a four stroke with a redline above 7k so there's that too.

[betoney]

3 minutes ago, kilo3 said:

Both, having never had a tach and such a quiet/smooth engine, it's hard to tell where I am physically in the revs.
Maybe that's more of an effect of the wind noise than anything.  Never had a four stroke with a redline above 7k so there's that too.

I have done that myself, getting on a long on ramp and merging into traffic and realize I'm in 3rd gear at 80+ mph and the motor wasn't even struggling. (I don't shift by engine sound or specific rpm but by engine feel and tend to keep it 4k and above) This motor LOVES to rev and 6k-8k is its sweet spot!  Enjoy!

[Hyena]

Welcome and what a beaut! Love the 2020 color scheme. Do what it seems all of us new owners do and instead of paying down the loan, drop 2k in suspension and upgrade parts

[Wintersdark]

21 hours ago, betoney said:

I have done that myself, getting on a long on ramp and merging into traffic and realize I'm in 3rd gear at 80+ mph and the motor wasn't even struggling. (I don't shift by engine sound or specific rpm but by engine feel and tend to keep it 4k and above) This motor LOVES to rev and 6k-8k is its sweet spot!  Enjoy!

A fun option on the GT models with the TFT dash is that you can customize the rpm setpoints that the tach bar changes color at.  White - Green - Orange.  I have mine set to 4500-7000 green (normal riding) and 7000+ orange (aggressive fun times), with the shift light coming on at 9k. 

 

But yeah, you're absolutely right.  These (and the CP2's as well) really love to spin up and if you're coming from an older bike/cruiser place, it can be a little unusual to just ride about at, say, 5000-6000rpm, but these bikes love being there for extended periods.  It puts you right at the start of the "sweet spot" so a quick twist of the wrist and the bike leaps forward with all those ponies immediately available.  

[betoney]

39 minutes ago, Wintersdark said:

A fun option on the GT models with the TFT dash is that you can customize the rpm setpoints that the tach bar changes color at.  White - Green - Orange.  I have mine set to 4500-7000 green (normal riding) and 7000+ orange (aggressive fun times), with the shift light coming on at 9k. 

 

But yeah, you're absolutely right.  These (and the CP2's as well) really love to spin up and if you're coming from an older bike/cruiser place, it can be a little unusual to just ride about at, say, 5000-6000rpm, but these bikes love being there for extended periods.  It puts you right at the start of the "sweet spot" so a quick twist of the wrist and the bike leaps forward with all those ponies immediately available.  

Changing the tach color sounds like a cool option, I didn't know that was a 'feature' on the GT's.

Concerning the engine's 'sweet spot', after I bought my bike, my brother and I went for a very spirited ride up in the mountains, this was his impression;

"The engine is the most impressive part!   As I was riding it I kept thinking either the tachometer, speedometer or gear indicator must be wrong.  We were going through some sweeping corners and I was keeping the engine where it felt best.  I looked down coming out of a corner and I was passing 70 mph, but I was still in 2nd gear!  I opened it up a little bit on a straight and it got up to 100 and I noticed I was still in 3rd gear.  I had to re-train my brain a little bit - I didn't need to shift as often as I normally do because the power is extremely broad and each gear can be ridden lower and also revved out further.  You can come into a corner a gear higher than normal, and it has plenty of torque to accelerate through the corner, and keep pulling down the straight."😎