Best RPM for riding

Afan

Afan

... and this is my real name.
Joined
Jun 2, 2014
Messages
502
Location
Urbandale, IA
Bike
1998 ST1100
I have a car with a manual transmission so I was trying to make analogy with RPM on ST1100. When driving car I'm trying to have RPM around 2K as a optimum for engine and gas. What would be on ST?

Also, if somebody can explain it to me, what's the difference (except in gas milage) if I ride e.g. 65mph in 5th gear on 2K RPM or 65mph in 4th gear on 3-3,5K? (Numbers are maybe wrong but you got a picture)

Thanks
 
"Best" at what, economy or fun? They require different engine speeds.

With published Torque and HP dyno curves, you can find the rpm that maximizes the 'fun'.

Honda does not publish fuel consumption numbers (fuel usage vs rpm) for the STs. In absence of this, we're all guessing as to what the best economy RPM's are. But if youre' at constant speed, the highest gear that the engine will carry the bike without lugging/straining usually produces the best economy.
 
At around 3k rpm you'll be at around 60 mph. For gas mileage, I think the lower rpm's are key. Then with the higher rpm's, obviously the gas mileage, like you mentioned, but some more wear and tear on all the moving parts. Probably doesn't amount to a hill of beans but I'm sure it adds up over time. The other thing to keep in mind though, would be the particular riding situation. Downtown riding I like 3-4k rpm's in case a quick move is needed. Likewise, on the highway, I'll ride in 4th (for a short time) if my situation calls for a faster pass or the speed has slowed to 45-50 mph. Otherwise, I try riding in the highest gear when the rpm's will not be less than 2k.


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Agreed to a point. Lower rpm will get better mpg to a point, but then the lower you get the rpm the mpg starts to drop again. I found on the ST1100 the absolute best mpg was between 3500-3800 rpm, but the bike ran stronger at over 4000 rpm of course. At 60 mph I could decide what gear I wanted at the time, 4th or 5th, and it didn't matter. 4th gear at 60mph was closer to 4000 rpm and 5th gear at 60mph was closer to 3200 rpm. Faster than that and I made sure to be in 5th gear. Slower than that and I was 4th gear or lower. On my commute, which has a few miles at 65mph, then many miles at 60mph, and then many miles at 55mph (going the speed limit of course), I would run the first 2 segments of that trip in 5th gear and downshift to 4th for the 55mph segment. I usually ran 40-50mph in 3rd gear, sometimes upshifting to 4th for 50mph. This is all personal preference as you get to know the bike. Some riders here will run higher rpm for any given speed to get the most fun or performance out of the bike. Generally S-T style bikes will want higher rpm than just classic touring or cruising bikes. My GW would run at lower rpm than I could ride the ST. When I pulled the camper I kept the rpm a bit higher at any speed.
 
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In the ST1100s top gear I find the best RPM for riding to be about 6000. In the twisties; but, I'll take anything I can get in the Sierra passes as even in 2nd gear the bike sometimes just doesn't have the umph. ;)
 
BakerBoy said:
"Best" at what, economy or fun? They require different engine speeds.

With published Torque and HP dyno curves, you can find the rpm that maximizes the 'fun'.

Honda does not publish fuel consumption numbers (fuel usage vs rpm) for the STs. In absence of this, we're all guessing as to what the best economy RPM's are. But if youre' at constant speed, the highest gear that the engine will carry the bike without lugging/straining usually produces the best economy.
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+1 based on the last sentence...will carry the bike without lugging/straining.... To that end, having just completed a nearly 3,000 mile trip, I noticed during an extended period of slower than normal highway driving on a rather scenic road, we were doing approx 2,750 RPM. The bike seems to like that RPM. I was on level ground, more or less. No effort, yet moving nicely. Engine was very quiet at that RPM level. Almost no vibration either. I didn't get to do an economy check, but I have to think that's about the most economical RPM rate.
 
rjs987 said:
Agreed to a point. Lower rpm will get better mpg to a point, but then the lower you get the rpm the mpg starts to drop again. I found on the ST1100 the absolute best mpg was between 3500-3800 rpm, but the bike ran stronger at over 4000 rpm of course. At 60 mph I could decide what gear I wanted at the time, 4th or 5th, and it didn't matter. 4th gear at 60mph was closer to 4000 rpm and 5th gear at 60mph was closer to 3200 rpm. Faster than that and I made sure to be in 5th gear. Slower than that and I was 4th gear or lower. On my commute, which has a few miles at 65mph, then many miles at 60mph, and then many miles at 55mph (going the speed limit of course), I would run the first 2 segments of that trip in 5th gear and downshift to 4th for the 55mph segment. I usually ran 40-50mph in 3rd gear, sometimes upshifting to 4th for 50mph. This is all personal preference as you get to know the bike. Some riders here will run higher rpm for any given speed to get the most fun or performance out of the bike. Generally S-T style bikes will want higher rpm than just classic touring or cruising bikes. My GW would run at lower rpm than I could ride the ST. When I pulled the camper I kept the rpm a bit higher at any speed.
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Which brought my other question "When to switch gears?"
I get used to on my previous bike Suzuki S40 just start in 1st and then after 10-15 feet switch to 2nd gear. when reach 30mph I switch to 3rd and between 35mph and 40mph switch to 4th (depends of the road). Over 45 to 50 mph I switch to 5th. I have some strange feeling that 40-50mph in 3rd gear is raving and torturing the bike. :(
 
I'm a fun rider and my gear selection normally keeps my tach in the 3-6k range. If I rarely look for fuel economy and traffic allows, then my tendency is toward the 2-4k range.
 
I used to get 100 mpg on my '71 Suzuki 50cc two-stroke.

By contrast, my '72 Yamaha 250cc twin two-stroke got about 40 mpg (similar to my ST1300)

If I was concerned about getting high mileage, I would have never, even thought of buying any high performance bike or any bike over 600cc!
 
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SupraSabre said:
I used to get 100 mpg on my '71 Suzuki 50cc two-stroke.

By contrast, my '72 Yamaha 250cc twin two-stroke got about 40 mpg (similar to my ST1300)

If I was concerned about getting high mileage, I would have never, even thought of buying any high performance bike or any bike over 600cc!
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Sorry for not being clear on the question, I was thinking about optimum solution and what's the best for a motorcycle.
 
Don't worry about what's best because best depends on the traffic, the terrain and the curves in the road. Just keep it below the redline at all times and let the engine do the braking for you too. The worst thing you can do is always lugging the engine in too high a gear for the speed you are going. IMO, continual riding below 2,500 rpm is not a good idea. On a twisty road, I keep the revs up about 4,000 rpm, as this gives good acceleration out of a curve and lots of engine braking before one, saving wear and tear on the brakes.
 
Since nobody else mentioned it, I'll throw in an anecdote from the UJM era. Me and my buddies were racing around in the mountains above Ventura/Ojai/Santa Barbara in some very tight twisties. We were in 2nd/3rd gear most of the time, so I just kept the revs in the 6-8k range for probably 30-40 miles or so. When I went to fuel up I was quite surprised that my fuel consumption was fairly normal considering how much I was thrashing the bike. Probably had to do partly with the relatively short distance traveled at those RPMs compared to the rest of the tank, but I think it also had to do with the fact that we were not changing speed all that much. I think the stop/go acceleration is what has the biggest effect on fuel economy, and once you're moving the engine RPM has a lesser effect if you're not changing speeds all that much.
 
The best mpg that I ever attained was 55mpg on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Reflecting on that ride, I stayed in 3 gear mostly with the rpms between 3k and 4k. The ST is geared quite high compared to most bikes. Using that torque starting the bike moving in stop and go riding lowers your mpg. Lugging the engine hurts the mpg and is bad for it. Thats where most engines will ping. Just don't lug the st, and you will get great mileage. The ST1100 gets really good gas mileage for it's weight and performance characteristics.
 
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