Lugging the engine

[feduke]

Does anyone use 5th gear under 50 mph? I'm at 900 miles now and the shifter is just loosening up and getting quieter but, if I shift into 5th in traffic much below 50 the engine seems to be lugging. I've never had a bike that didn't use top gear around town and assume this is normal. Please tell me I'm right!

 

[dunringil]

5th gear

I don't use fifth gear below 50.

Be careful, don't be lugging around and decide to rip the throttle open. You might find the clutch is the weak link in that chain of components.

Mine is turbo'ed, so I have to keep the rpms up before throttling or my clutch slips. I've read other threads of similar clutch slippage even without the extra boost.

Several guys on here are looking for a 6th gear. Guess that would be for cruising over 100.

 

[Indian]

no lugging

lugging the motor is never good.. drop it down and ride in the correct gear and usually that will mean over 2000 rpm...

 

[DCRocket]

I don't even think about 5th gear until highway speeds

If you're in 4th and under 3000 rpms, I wouldn't shift to 5th

 

[step1]

By doing that your labouring the engine.When running in this is worse for it than over reving.Thrash the bleeder.

 

[dragline708]

No matter what speed i'm doing , personally
I down shift or up shift in slow traffic and try
to maintain @ least 2000 rpm all the times.
Lugging is not good for any engine , it places
undo stress on many parts in engine.
Think of it as using a chain fall 1 Ton rated
your picking up 2000 lb 10 ft in air ... you will
feel alot of pull on chain lifting it .... you will get tired pulling
chain 300 times
Same thing only now you are using a 5 ton rated chain fall
flick of wrist chain spins fast as hell ,lifts load ... maybe you
flicked chain 50 times
It's call gearing use it :wink:
PS: Lugging is very hard on clutch plates


My2cents
wayne < mechanic

 

[Pegasus]

[quote:1lgsdixi]When running in this is worse for it than over reving.Thrash the bleeder.

[/quote:1lgsdixi]

What Step1 said...at 900 miles, you're still breaking it in and should be running it up to 6000 rpms regularly now to seat everything in. Riding at a constant speed during break-in (especially if lugging) is very bad for it. It's a beast...treat it like one :wink:

 

[TurboFan]

There is another problem with running at low RPM on a normal bike. Even if you aren't down where it lugs, you aren't making good torque and when you crack open the throttle in a turn, you lack the torque to 'stand the bike up' which makes it more difficult to corner the bike. Haven't noticed a real lack of torque on the RIII though.

 

[1FastRocket]

Check pg. 36 of the owners manual. It states

Do not let the engine labour, always downshift if the engine seems to "struggle"

:wink:

 

[Billythebiker]

Well that makes sense!