Almost 6th Gear for C50

[johbren]

You will love the drive. I watched the auction and made comment over on volusia. Personally I think its the best mod yet. Its a shame DJ got screwed I think i might be leary of the other guys drives but I havent heard anything bad yet. got over 6000 miles on mine and no problems at all. Im just glad I got it when I did.

[old new biker]

Originally Posted by johbren

You will love the drive. I watched the auction and made comment over on volusia. Personally I think its the best mod yet. Its a shame DJ got screwed I think i might be leary of the other guys drives but I havent heard anything bad yet. got over 6000 miles on mine and no problems at all. Im just glad I got it when I did.

Thanks for the comments. I have read comments from dozens of individuals that have this drive, and not one of them is anything but thrilled with it.

I am just glad I decided at the very last second to set my max bid at $526 instead of $511 like I had planned to.

[old new biker]

Well, the drive has now been installed on my bike. Just for fun, I trailered it out to DJ himself, and had him check it out and install it. He is a very young guy, only 26, but when you read his posts and talk to him on the phone, you would think he was in his 40's or something. I met his wife as well, and they are just great, Salt Of The Earth, type people.

Anyway, back to the subject at hand. I have put on around 80 miles, and the more I ride with this mod, but better I like it. The only downside, if it is one at all, is that it takes a bit more throttle and finesse in 1st gear, from a dead stop. After that, it is all good, and I am getting used to the 1st gear start out as well.

Since 5th gear is now more like an overdrive, I was wondering if it would be safe to downshift into 4th at 70, 75, 80 etc...., and this morning I found out.

I was riding down the freeway and found that I got to 80 (indicated) much easier than on earlier rides with the new drive. I also found that I could accelerate to 85 quicker as well. When I got to the end of this stretch, and had to slow down, I checked and found that I had been in 4th gear the whole time. The surprising thing is that the engine was not screaming, at all, like it did in 5th gear at that speed, before the new drive. This leads me to believe that even at 80, if I needed to accelerate, I could downshift into 4th without hurting the bike.

The shift points that I have begun to settle on are as follows:
1st to 2nd / 20-25
2nd to 3rd / 35-50
3rd to 4th / 50-65
4th to 5th / 65-75

This mod seems to makes the C50 and M50 a bit more roadworthy, as you have more speed at hand and can always downshift for acceleration at higher speeds. Many have also stated that their gas mileage went up to around 50 mpg, but I am still on my first tank. I will post back when I have run a couple of tankfulls, given that the weather holds out for a while.

[johbren]

My gas millage usually runs right at 57 mpg at relaxed riding 55to 65 mph. up from an average of 53 with the stock drive. For me about a 7% increase roughly. Kicking it in the ass like merging on to the interstate I find my self shifting into fifth at 65 to 70 mph. I was cruising the other day on the interstate just under 70 mph and came upon a truck going just slightly slower. No need to down shift I just twisted the throttle and around it she went. On back country roads I cruise along at 50 mph in 5th and some times I slow down to 40 before down shifting into 4th. It really improves the bike I love it. I have an 07 with gutted pipes with a glass pack inserted into the end. stock air filter.

[Davecm203]

The bike will have a rev limiter, so it won't hurt it if you rev it till it hits the limiter and then you will know. I think you will be surprised by how high it can rev. I poked around and it looks like the redline is around 7,000rpms. I am accustomed to sportbikes and have owned only one twin sportbike, so I am no expert. (Sportbikes will usually do almost or over 100 in first.) But, it should be able to rev much higher than you are currently with the shift points you stated unless it is geared REALLY low.

[old new biker]

Originally Posted by Davecm203

The bike will have a rev limiter, so it won't hurt it if you rev it till it hits the limiter and then you will know. I think you will be surprised by how high it can rev. I poked around and it looks like the redline is around 7,000rpms. I am accustomed to sportbikes and have owned only one twin sportbike, so I am no expert. (Sportbikes will usually do almost or over 100 in first.) But, it should be able to rev much higher than you are currently with the shift points you stated unless it is geared REALLY low.

As I mentioned in the body of my last post, I had it up to 80 (indicated) and accelerated up to 85, and afterward found that I was still in 4th gear. I never did hit the rev limiter, that I am aware of.

BTW, just curious, what does happen when you hit the rev limiter?

[Davecm203]

Originally Posted by old new biker

BTW, just curious, what does happen when you hit the rev limiter?

Pretty much nothing. It will start cutting out the ignition. It will stop accelerating. It will almost feel like it was starving for gas. You will know it when you hit it. You have probably heard squids on sport bikes hitting it. For some reason they love to sit and rev it to the rev limiter and the ones who geared their bikes really low like to hit it in first and hold it there. I have no idea why. I guess the think it sounds cool. On a twin that doesn't rev as high and only two cylinders sounds different. I hit mine a bit at first on my SuperHawk since I was used to 4cyl that revved higher.

Oh, there will be a point when you feel the hp and torque curve falling off. The acceleration rate will fall off. That is actually where you should shift if you want max acceleration. On a sport bike it is usually at/near redline, on the cruiser it will be lower since it is made more for the street than the track. Just play around with it and don't be afraid to find that rev limiter.

[old new biker]

Originally Posted by Davecm203

Pretty much nothing. It will start cutting out the ignition. It will stop accelerating. It will almost feel like it was starving for gas. You will know it when you hit it. Just play around with it and don't be afraid to find that rev limiter.

Thanks for the info. I think I may have hit the limiter when I was, unknowingly, doing 85 in 4th gear. It did feel like it was loosing power. Not sure though.