High/Low Top Gear?

[ELIMINATOR]

I get 50mpg out of mine, even though it now seems like it has the "low" 6th gear. About 4K revs =70mph.

Thought about consumption; at sustained high speed the "high" 6th is more economic, but at lower speeds, the "low" 6th can be used, but the "high" 6th gearbox would have to be dropped into 5th, so using more fuel. So it may depend on the roads that are used?

I can stay in 6th down to about 40mph........................... i think, I'll look see tomorrow.

 

[sproggy]

Fuel consumption is affected by other things - stick panniers on and an 1150 will drink fuel at motorway speeds (OK, autobahn speeds) like you wouldn't believe. It's not the most aerodynamic of bikes at the best of times, but luggage and high speeds combined make it far worse.

 

[Voyager]

Fuel consumption is affected by other things - stick panniers on and an 1150 will drink fuel at motorway speeds (OK, autobahn speeds) like you wouldn't believe. It's not the most aerodynamic of bikes at the best of times, but luggage and high speeds combined make it far worse.

+1

I have an '04 1150GSA (30 litre tank), it does 4,000 rpm at 70mph.

Touring around the Highlands I can get 350 miles to a tankfull.

Going from Edinburgh to the South of England on Motorways I can only get 250 miles between stops.

Both with full Metal Mule luggage sets on.

Makes a big difference.

Bob.

 

[King Rat]

350 miles - 250 miles... that is a big difference and makes my fuel consumption look about right.

Might look at that tall 6th cog though.

 

[ELIMINATOR]

Just goes to show how crap either the speedo or rev counter are.

2,000 rpm = 40mph

4,000 rpm = 70mph


And yes Smartarse i was in 6th gear on both occassions.

I'l have to check it out at 6,000 rpm tomorrow.

 

[clivewhilde]

I bought a GS new in 2002 and I was given a no cost option of either a sports 6th or an overdrive 6th. I chose the sports 6th and did loads of high mile foreign trips and wished I'd got the overdrive. I now own another 2002 GS with the overdrive 6th and wish I had the sports 6th back. It just dies when you knock it in to top at least the old one would pull to the red line.
So to answer your question, not sure when it became an option but unless the owner knows I reckon its pot luck what you get!
If I remeber rightly, sports 6th was about 5000rpm at 100mph, overdrive is 500-750rpm less........

 

[davegs]

Gears

With a low top gear my 1150 definatly improved consumption with TT panniers fitted, with the high gear it must load up the effort required by the engine as these things have the same frontal area as an air brake on a jet fighter!. Have a look next time your close to a jet as they aint that big and they must work.
Dave GS.

 

[jimbo]

Just to mention most GS speedos under-read by a fair few mph at an indicated 70...

 

[littleredrooster]

Just to mention most GS speedos under-read by a fair few mph at an indicated 70...

....I think you mean 'over-read'....a speedo 70mph was a genuine (GPS) 62mph on mine, and about the same for most others I came across.

 

[King Rat]

Was it an AMERICAN GPS? They have smaller miles than we do, just like they have smaller gallons....and smaller * oops, no, better not say that.

 

[Grizzly]

It's Never Simple!!!

My understanding is that the standard 1150GS could be ordered with either the normal 6th gear or the taller "economy" 6th. the taller 6th is what I asked for when I ordered mine in 2001 - and it shows "E" in top. I beleive this choice continued to the end of the 1150 but I think they dropped the different RID's on later models - so all show "6" regardless of ratio.
This change may have coincided with the arrival of the adventure? - which also had choices - you could order a "low" 1st with a "standard" 6th or a "standard" 1st with a "high" 6th - but you could not order a "low" 1st and a "high" 6th in the same box - is that right??
Like Funduro my 1150 is a Sept '01 but I ordered the "high" 6th which shows as an "E" and 4000rpm is roughly 80mph.

Cheers......................Grizzly

 

[sproggy]

My understanding is that the standard 1150GS could be ordered with either the normal 6th gear or the taller "economy" 6th. the taller 6th is what I asked for when I ordered mine in 2001 - and it shows "E" in top. I beleive this choice continued to the end of the 1150 but I think they dropped the different RID's on later models - so all show "6" regardless of ratio.

Mine's a very late 2002 (so late it had a servo fitted - almost certainly after Adventure production started) and has tall 6th reading "6" on the RID which supports what you say. My 2000 model had "E" on the RID with tall 6th.

There is a big jump from 5th to 6th but I like the relaxed motorway cruising ability. And a BBPower chip (check out the high rev gains in power and torque) will give it a bit more punch in 6th that it's lacking at the moment. It's OK ridden solo but two-up it needs 5th to pull hard if you're below 70mph.

 

[King Rat]

Interesting development on the speed to revs thing manifested itself today. I hadn't taken any notice before, but because of this discussion I have been making mental notes.

Monday, 4100 = 70mph exactly, trying just to see what the revs were. On a worn, very worn tyre, like down to its last mm.
Yesterday I put new tyres on. Today I was on a longish ride, so chance to really concentrate on keeping 70, exactly again by way of direct comparison. With the new tyre, 3900 = 70mph. The difference in diameter made a noticeable drop in revs. My tank range also went up, riding exactly the same as usual, loaded the same, but an easy 310 miles from the tankful and still 1 bar on the fuel guage. Last week I was only getting 280 miles before the light came on, so a definite increase in long leggedness with the new tyre, with the correct amount of wind in it too, which probably makes a difference to the fuel consumption (reduced rolling resistence).

Just for everyones info and interest. Thats all.

 

[sproggy]

By my calculations 5mm of tread added to/removed from a 150/70x17 rear tyre will make about a 1.5% difference to the gearing. At 4,100rpm, adding 5mm more tread would therefore drop the revs to around 4,040rpm - a fair way off 3,900.

But you changed the front tyre as well, and the speedo works off the front wheel. A new front tyre will travel further for a single revolution than a worn one will (because its circumference is greater), leading to the speedo reading lower than with the worn one. So your new 70mph is slower than your old one which explains at least some of the larger than calculated drop in revs. That and the inaccuracy of both the rev counter and the speedo.......

 

[Steptoe]

Shapeshifter and i were using our GPS for the speed/rev/petrol consumption comparasion when we came back from morocco.

ADV bike gearing was 500 rpm more in top gear at the same speed than a standard GS gearing - which at every fuel stop meant 5 ltrs more fuel for the ADV .

And thats a very relevant comparasion of riding next to each other at the same speed over 1400 miles and two and a half days.

 

[Shep]

Shapeshifter and i were using our GPS for the speed/rev/petrol consumption comparasion when we came back from morocco.

ADV bike gearing was 500 rpm more in top gear at the same speed than a standard GS gearing - which at every fuel stop meant 5 ltrs more fuel for the ADV .

And thats a very relevant comparasion of riding next to each other at the same speed over 1400 miles and two and a half days.

Well, you two know how to have a good time on a trip

 

[Steptoe]

Well, you two know how to have a good time on a trip

It wasn't a trip - it was a fuel consumption engine RPM exercise.

 

[King Rat]

Wish I hadn't bothered now. Sulk, sulk.

And I thought I was being helpful, only to be told I have been riding like a snail.

IT ISN'T FAIR.

 

[Packer]

2003 1150GS specified with a high 6th gear, I was told not to exceed 4000rpm in top whilst running in and was quite happy to find that equated to an indicated 80mph. So roughly 20mph/1,000rpm in 6th.

Not so happy to find that compared with a number of different GPS's the indicated speed on the speedometer on a level road was 10% optimistic.

After a broken speedo cable banjoed the speedo drive I replaced it with an alternative that results in a reading several percent lower at the speedo, i.e. more accurate. WHA06532 from Motorworks LLP. £28.78 + delivery & VAT last September. I reckon it's only about 5% optimistic now but of course it makes my fuel consumption worse on two counts, 1) my true speed is higher so I use more fuel and two the odometer doesn't over-read so much

 

[sproggy]

Not so happy to find that compared with a number of different GPS's the indicated speed on the speedometer on a level road was 10% optimistic.

The rules are (not sure whether it's a law, something to do with Construction and Use regulations or something else) that a vehicle's speedo must read within 10% of the true speed BUT it must not over-read. So to cover themselves legally and to allow for non-linear readings, tyre wear affecting gearing, owners fitting non-standard size/profile tyres etc, vehicle manufacturers intentionally calibrate speedos on new vehicles as close to -10% as they can so that there is no chance of a speedo under-reading and them being held liable for the consequences.

So the GS is by no means unique in this respect. Whatever you're driving or riding (and if you haven't messed with it), if your speedo says 80mph you'll actually be closer to 70 than to 80. The good news being that you think you're going 10mph over the speed limit and making good progress, but the police and their 'safety cameras' won't be interested in you. That's until you fit a GPS and watch the speed on that instead of on the speedo at which point, as you mention, you start to use more fuel....but you arrive a bit sooner.