Where do you shift?

[Intelcamo1232]

Hello! I am new to xs1100's but dreamed of riding one my whole life. My first bike was a 1982 Honda GL500 great bike and I hated to see it go but money and a worn but true 1980xs1100 beckoned. My Honda liked to shift at about 6000rpm and I like to ride somewhat aggressively, but with all the power and a 8500 red-line of the 1100; I'm not sure if 6000 is high, low or spot on? What do you all think?

Thanks,
Francis Livingston

[my79is2bad]

Depends on how i'm riding but usually 5k and above till speed or beyond.

[M4sherman]

I have learned that each bike has a varying sweet spot. My V45's was either 4,300 or oh ****!. my VN750 likes 4,800 or maybe a tad higher and this yami likes either wha,wha wha or WHHAAAAAAA...I need a tac

[subike]

I have never looked at the taco when under hard power on, too busy making sure the way is clear. So cant tell you the rev point.
But what I do, is listen to the motor.
When it starts to sound a bit too busy, I select the next gear.
I know that 100mph comes up rapidly.
Listen to you bike, til will tell you when its ready to take another breath.

[James England]

I found it to be at just over 4,000rpm. This changed when I fitted the XS750 FD (subject of much discussion here).

I think 6,000rpm is on the high side on your bike. I wouldn't be doing that on a regular basis. More like 5k max. Compared to other Xsives, I'm a bit of a boring rider though and probably excessively (forgive the pun) cautious about the health of my engine. Possibly some others find my posts about being careful a bit irritating but I'm always aware that these bikes are up to 30+ years old now, old technology etc and need looking after!

[WMarshy]

Typical for me is 5-6000 rpm, have shifted several time at red line with no ill effects. Just get familiar with your gear box before trying to run it that hard, you don't want to hit the false neutral and over rev the poor girl. Otherwise, ride it like ya stole it.

[jetmechmarty]

8500 :d :d :d

[DGXSER]

Depends on what type of riding I am doing. For usual every day cruising around, I shift about 4k (I also do not look at the tach, just listen to the engine and shift). If I am going for ground pounding pavement peeling acceleration, then much closer to 7-8k. Power band for these engiens is really about 5k right on up to redline.

[Eveready1100]

I'll go with DGXSER on his shift points. This is a big torquey engine that will loaf around all day cruising in the 2000 - 3500 range without laboring the thing all, but will willingly rev thru the top of the red on the tach (not really recommended) and go like a scalded cat when being playful in the 6000 - 8000 range. Also remember that when in scalded cat mode, this is a big heavy bike and you will have to be able to pull the thing up when you have to, so I'd take my time to get used to riding it for a fair while before letting rip.
Mine has been to the bottom of the red in top gear on a number of occasions and it left me in no doubt that it wanted to keep on going through the red but road conditions and my overwhelming sense of self preservation kicked in and I backed off to a much more sane speed.

[CatatonicBug]

I've only ever hit redline once, on a freeway entrance ramp, passing several cages. I usually don't go above 5k, as that is where it sits at normal highway speeds (70-75mph). I usually shift much lower, around 3500-4000 though.

[crazy steve]

For flat-out, let's-scare-myself acceleration, shift points at about 7500 seem to work best. Just remember, once you get past second gear, you're now in reckless driving ticket territory.. (Below that, it's 'display of excessive speed' )

These bikes have such a wide, flat powerband that once you're above about 4K on the tach, triple-digit speeds are only a wrist-twist away. If you want to have fun, challenge your friends to high-gear-only roll-on races from about 40 mph. Very few bikes have the mid-range torque that these do, and you'll embarrass more than a few big-hp machines..

[Pat Kelly]

From using my Color-Tune, I found the carbs transitioned from pilot jets to main jets at around 4200 RPM. Finding the shift point for a particular gear that drops the RPM to 4200 RPM or just above for the next gear to be optimal.
I shift anywhere from 3000 to 8000 RPM, depending on traffic and my mood.
Use of clutch is optional.

[Bonz]

I tend to shift a bit on the lower end of the rpm scale compared to what I'm seeing here.

BECAUSE the XS has such a good torque spread above 3,000 rpm, in the lower gears (1,2,3) I shift at around 3,500 rpm, the engine falls back to around 3,000-3,200 rpm after the next gear takes over. Once in 4th, either with the stock gearing or the 750 final drive swap gearing that I now have, I wait until around 3,800-4,000 rpm for the 4-5 upshift.

In general, the XS isn't a powerhouse below 3,000 rpm for what it's worth in terms of sheer grunt, that was even noted in the magazine tests back in the day. Keeping that in mind and based on what I actually feel from the bike is how I've come to shift as I do.

Sure, if and when I want/need to get up and GO!, I'll run it up much higher before shifting, to 6,500-7,000 rpm. As long as the engine is in good mechanical order (valves adjusted, cam chain/tension in good shape, etc) I see no reason that would be a problem.

Just for the sake of keeping a margin of error on an older bike (not that "older" is the problem, but the low desire to blow something up is strong) that I want to last for a long time and not grenade on me, I don't think I've seen more than 7,500-8,000 on the tach since I've owned the bike. And even then it's only been once or twice.

[XSive Okie]

you don't want to hit the false neutral and over rev the poor girl.

If this condition happens between 4th and 5th, I have found it a couple of times.

To answer the question though, most shifts around 4k, running hard 6500. have wanted to go redline, but if I tear her up, won't have anything to ride until she's fixed.

[Bonz]

Yes, between 4th and 5th is the false that I've hit a few times when going fast and hard on the upshift to 5th.

I've found by deliberately getting the full clutch pull, while completely rolled out of the throttle and by deliberately toeing the shifter very firmly, then I can be pretty certain I won't hit be in the false neutral when I go back on the throttle.

Being deliberate and firm is the key, no partial or weak toe-up on the shifter that might (and does) work on other bikes I've owned.