5sp Vs. 6sp. whats the difference when riding?

[Motogeezer1949_imp]

I've been riding my sons '14 DLX a lot and I can tell you from experience, regardless of what the numbers say, in real world use, the difference between 5th and 6th is insignificant.
I think the bike has 1700 miles on it so far, mostly mine. We don't ride the interstates much, but do a lot of cruising at 60 and 70. Often I look down at the gear indicator while cruising and find the bike in 5th.
Personally, I wouldn't hesitate to purchase a '13, especially if the price was right

[the_undecider_imp]

I was a little miffed to learn the 2014 had a 6 speed right after I picked up my 2013. Logic would dictate more cogs are better, right? Maybe, but Honda did a great job matching the 5 ratios to this engine. You can get away with that when you torque curve is so flat.

I find that cruising 70-75 mph is smooth and at 4 rpm, it pulls like a tractor without downshifting. With such a power plant, less gears means less shifting. I still try to shift to the nonexistent 6th gear, but I also tried shifting to "7th" on my V - Strom and in my former car.

I haven't ridden a 2014, so all I can't say if it's better. I can say I like my 2013 and don't feel like the extra money I'd have paid would have been worth it for the transmission alone. There are certainly compelling reasons aside from that to get the newer model. I am happy I found a good deal and was able to pay mine off already.

[Cormanus]

I've been riding my sons '14 DLX a lot and I can tell you from experience, regardless of what the numbers say, in real world use, the difference between 5th and 6th is insignificant.
I think the bike has 1700 miles on it so far, mostly mine. We don't ride the interstates much, but do a lot of cruising at 60 and 70. Often I look down at the gear indicator while cruising and find the bike in 5th.
Personally, I wouldn't hesitate to purchase a '13, especially if the price was right

There seem to be a few about. You should buy one. You know you want to.

[CB4ME_imp]

I've been riding my sons '14 DLX a lot and I can tell you from experience, regardless of what the numbers say, in real world use, the difference between 5th and 6th is insignificant.
I think the bike has 1700 miles on it so far, mostly mine. We don't ride the interstates much, but do a lot of cruising at 60 and 70. Often I look down at the gear indicator while cruising and find the bike in 5th.
Personally, I wouldn't hesitate to purchase a '13, especially if the price was right

There seem to be a few about. You should buy one. You know you want to.

Agreed. Put some miles on the bike and see what you like and what you might want to improve or change.

With the money saved on a 2013 you can get some accessories to make a great bike even better. And a 19t countershaft sprocket change is very easy and inexensive if you want to lower revs a bit without impacting performance.

[HikerToo_imp]

I think I read the new Honda VFR800 sport touring bike is doing over 4K RPM's at 70 MPH....so apparently its no big deal to sit at 4K RPM's for hours at a time.

But for me, the CB1100 does not feel like a bike that is at it's best cruising at > 70MPH anyway...

[meowguy_imp]

Over the years I'm grow less surprised how many are affected by vibration, wind, buffeting, seat, etc... makes me wonder why they ride motorcycles? Plenty of modern motorcycles have 5 gears, and I could spend money much more efficiently on a touring bike and not a CB if I was planning on touring. Or better yet, I'd drive a car.

That seems a reasonable deduction to me.

[AzBob_imp]

I was a little miffed to learn the 2014 had a 6 speed right after I picked up my 2013. Logic would dictate more cogs are better, right? Maybe, but Honda did a great job matching the 5 ratios to this engine. You can get away with that when you torque curve is so flat.

I find that cruising 70-75 mph is smooth and at 4 rpm, it pulls like a tractor without downshifting. With such a power plant, less gears means less shifting. I still try to shift to the nonexistent 6th gear, but I also tried shifting to "7th" on my V - Strom and in my former car.

I haven't ridden a 2014, so all I can't say if it's better. I can say I like my 2013 and don't feel like the extra money I'd have paid would have been worth it for the transmission alone. There are certainly compelling reasons aside from that to get the newer model. I am happy I found a good deal and was able to pay mine off already.

I blew the cobwebs off the CBR the other week and rode it to work. Six gears is more work. I ride in the highest gear I can get away with, so I'm basically just going from 3-5/6th right away. More lever presses = annoying.

[rboe]

Most of my bikes are six speed units so the foot tends to want to shift anyway.

[The Spaceman_imp]

I ride my 5-speed all day long (literally) at 80-90 mph, and it seems fine to me. Then again, I rode a Shovelhead Harley for 20 years, so draw your own conclusions.

[ChipBeck_imp]

Gentlemen,

I love my CB but I'm always reaching for that nonexistent 6th gear. The big torque motor has plenty of power to pull a 6th gear and calm high speeds down. I'm changing my countershaft sprocket when I can find the time but that's a half way measure. I will probably trade for a 6 speed CB and would have already if I didn't like all my current mods/setup so well. I would definitely buy a 6 speed if I had the choice starting out.

Chip