At what RPM do you cruise?

[jeffmazz_imp]

Wondering at what RPM everyone likes to cruise their CB. I try to keep mine at or around the 3,000 RPM range. There's plenty of torque to cruise at much lower RPM but I don't want to lug the engine. What are your thoughts on the optimum cruise RPM?

 

[el duque_imp]

What little I've ridden the bike, I seem to like that 3k mark as well.

 

[flynrider]

On the highway, I like to keep it at 5K rpm. I have a '13 with a 5 speed, so 5th gear at 75 mph is 4250 rpm. That creates a little buzz in the handlebar. The buzz disappears at 5K rpm, so I usually just leave it in 4th unless I'm going faster than 75 MPH.

 

[misterprofessionality]

I stick to 4 or a bit more myself, because Even while cruising I am often surrounded by traffic. At 4 I can ramp up to higher speeds much snappier. If I roll full on I can be just under 6k in about a second and have all my torque and almost all my BHP. Also, at 3k the engine brake is kinda weak, and a quick engine brake is a great way to manage distance and speed with finesse. The only time I cruise lower than 4K is on an open highway with absolutely nobody around.

 

[dbarkdoll_imp]

Around 4000 rpm at 70 mph seems to be my sweet spot.

 

[the Ferret]

2500-3500 rpms

 

[Banned_imp]

I'm in the 3000rpm range as well.

Here's a question for you gurus: the CB (I4) feels best to me at 3000rpms but my Ulysses (V-twin) feels better at 4000rpms.

That's seems somewhat counter intuitive to me but I am no expert on the nuances of different motors.

 

[LongRanger_imp]

2500-3500 rpm on my six-speed DLX.

 

[VLJ_imp]

I try to avoid 3,500-5,000 rpm, as that 1,500 rpm-wide block of midrange is where my bike is at its buzziest. Anywhere above 5,000 rpm or below 3,500 rpm, she's mighty smooth. 5,000-plus rpm means too much speed for ticket-free freeway riding, and 75 mph sees the tach nudging too close to 3,500 rpm and the beginning of the buzzy range, so I tend to do my freeway droning at around 70-72 mph, which is something like 3,000-3200 rpm in sixth. I don't recall the exact rpm for 70 mph, but elsewhere on this board mickey has posted the mph/rpm breakdown.

 

[NightRider_imp]

I'm in sixth on level straight roads. Fifth at on curvish country lanes which is where God intended motorcycles to roam, especially the amazing CB series. Dunno what rpm that is. I never pay attention to that. I focus on feel.

That engine has enough torque in sixth to stay in that gear and still feel great for many situations. It's so forgiving which means I can be sloppy about being in too high a gear and still pull out of the jam I might be in at the moment.

 

[Wisedrum]

The streets and roads where I live lead through plain land. I mostly switch up into the 5th gear with my 2013 CB and stay there between 2.000 and 4.000 rpm. More often than less I do not leave this range. Seldom do I ride faster than 120km/h. Only on longer trips I speed the CB up to 5.000 and a little more rpm where it is allowed. The engine becomes thirstier. Over all the CB feels like an automatic motor been drivin' this way. I prefer the smooth pull in the last gear over the more speedy acceleration in the lower gears with higher revs. Sometimes I jump gears like going from 1st to 3nd right into 5th. The CB can do this stuff effortlessly.

Wisedrum

 

[alprider]

my goal always . as low rpms as possible....or just in the highest gear as possible....just speed 30mile/50km absolut no problems (too some slower) or simple hill up in 6

 

[tuareg]

I usually ride at around 3000 rpm@5th gear(2013 w/5-speed) which more or less corresponds to the legal speed limit. I go up thru the gears quickly and stay there. In urban areas I drop to 3rd, so with the familiar buzz at 2500 rpm I can ride at 50 km/h without looking at the clocks(and avoid getting "blitzed").
On the Autobahn i have ridden at 5000+ rpm for extended periods, with short streaks of top speed and surely that is nothing the CB can't handle. These engines are designed to handle much worse, and the occasional lugging even helps.

 

[cookiemech]

I'm gonna be the outlier that says "2000 to 2500 rpm" when I'm just riding around. The engine definitely is not lugging at 2k rpm; I can shift that thing up to sixth at about 40 mph and just pretend it's an automatic. Doubt I've ever run it much above 4000 rpm; it just doesn't ask me to do it.

This would be in contrast to my other bikes: Harley Touring bikes - 2500 to 3000 rpm; old BMW K75s - 3500 to 4000 rpm, KLR 650 - 3500 to 4500 rpm.

Low rpms on the CB just might be the reason I see over 50 mpg all the time!

 

[jimgl3_imp]

this is why I'm trying to find a 37 tooth steel rear sprocket

 

[Roper_imp]

Cruising: 2500 - 3500 rpm. More "spirited" riding: Above 5000, with the occasional redline before a shift

 

[Rocky_imp]

On a freeway, sixth gear and whatever rpm that may be.
95% of my riding is not on freeways or high-speed roads so I don't pay attention to rpm. I ride the winding coastal and country backroads where the fun is.

 

[rotor]

Wondering at what RPM everyone likes to cruise their CB. I try to keep mine at or around the 3,000 RPM range. There's plenty of torque to cruise at much lower RPM but I don't want to lug the engine. What are your thoughts on the optimum cruise RPM?

Just before any further reduction would make the engine labour. Once you know your engine well enough, you can hear it complain.

On this bike it is rather low, in the vicinity of 3K - but it depends on the load: uphill and against the wind will require perceptibly higher revs. And we must never forget that on a motorcycle, the engine works mostly to push the object through the fluid, and the fluid resists with the force that is proportional to the velocity squared.

Just listen to what the engine is telling you...

 

[mattmcuomo@yahoo.com]

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[misterprofessionality]

LOL...MMC just encapsulated my life in one image.