2014 vs. 2013 Gear Ratios (Especially 6th)

[Guth_imp]

Perhaps the coffee wouldn't be enough.

Boots are a lot cheaper to replace than engines. And I'd rather be the guy with the overdrive who never uses it, but still has it, than the guy without. It's not about top speed, it's about engine preservation and prolongation. More rpm equals more piston speed equals more cylinder wear. 200 additional RPM is quite minor for that one minute you're measuring it to determine the gearing. But if you spent just 6 hours riding that day, that would be an additional (unnecessary) 72,000 rpm spun in one day.
I understand why there is a large incentive among many in our midst not to let the resale value of our existing overdriveless bikes slip, and I sympathize, but I'd probably buy a Vespa or even another Harley before I'd buy a 5-speed. But that's just my opinion, which is based pretty heavily on my riding conditions in the wide-open American West where I live.


Okay, it's a little bit about top-speed. Star Trek would have been pretty boring if Zefram Cochran had never invented warp drive.

Whoa. Just a minute now. Earlier you stated this:

Hey, Cormanus, thus far it's either CB11 or Bonneville T100 with a few mods. So far we're leaning pretty heavily toward the prettier Bonneville, but an honest OVERdrive might be enough to lure me. (But both Triumph and Big-H are lucky that Kawasaki ain't bringing the W800 to my puny, small-minded Isle, because it's a superior bike in every respect.)

So as part of those "few mods" are you going to be cramming a sixth gear into the Bonnie? As far as I'm aware, the W800 is also a 5-speed. That scraping-scraping-scraping that you're so keenly aware of might not be piston rings against the cylinder walls.