Unofficial Royal Enfield Community Forum
Royal Enfield Motorcycles => Bullet Electra & AVL => Topic started by: Rocker on September 19, 2007, 04:18:43 am
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I have lost all but 15% of my hearing and I just picked up a 06 Electra. This bike is so quiet and with the wind blowing on my hearing aides I cant tell when to shift. If someone could give me some MPH shift points it would sure help.
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just feel the vibes you don't need #'s
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I have a four speed, I am sorry, I can't help you. When you know the speeds to change you can then tell by the vibrations, but until then, you can't. It may be of use to get a tachometer fitted, so you can ensure you do not over rev the bike.
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without sound, you really don't know the difference between a motor that's lugging and a motor that's floating the valves. I could be in too high of a gear at a given speed and not have a clue if the motor is pinging or lugging. The vibration works good enough for getting the bike in motion, I don't have any problem starting out without sound but from there, vibration wise is all the same.
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There is a post somewhere with shift points noted, I can't remember where though. First gear should be only to 15mph, 2nd to 25, 3rd to 40? 4th to 50? 5th to 70?? I don't know, but that should be safe. If going up a hill, change down. Lugging an air cooled engine is not a good idea.
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I use a hearing-aid in each ear too, but I have to take them out when riding, because wearing them with a crash-helmet is too uncomfortable. Fortunately I can still hear the engine, and my bike's exhaust is loud! I can really understand your problem though, because there are always difficulties when you can't hear what everyone else can hear. My hearing-loss in in the higher frequencies, and my aids correct this very well but they go to town on the sound of my engine, making it sound like a bag of nails when everyone else tells me it sounds great with hardly any mechanical noise at all.
I can't help you with approriate speeds for normal gear-changes because I have a 350 cc with a 4-speed box. But we learn to compensate for our hearing-loss by using other indicators and your Electra is a new bike to you. I'm sure that given time, you'll get to know where you are in the rev range, and what gear you should be in. Enjoy the bike!
Tom
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There is a post somewhere with shift points noted, I can't remember where though. First gear should be only to 15mph, 2nd to 25, 3rd to 40? 4th to 50? 5th to 70?? I don't know, but that should be safe. If going up a hill, change down. Lugging an air cooled engine is not a good idea.
This 'sounds' about right for when I shift.
Lower shift points when I'm in my neighborhood; high shiftpoints when I'm playing boy-racer.
Hills and loads change the equation slightly...
Matt
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I have lost all but 15% of my hearing and I just picked up a 06 Electra. This bike is so quiet and with the wind blowing on my hearing aides I cant tell when to shift. If someone could give me some MPH shift points it would sure help.
Maybe a tach would help. Some folks on one of the Yahoo groups have had good luck with this one:
http://www.tinytach.com/tinytach/gasoline.php
(http://www.tinytach.com/tinytach/gasoline.php)
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Get a performance kit with a loud exhaust. Tell the wife you need one so you can hear the engine. Loud is more fun. Love to listen to motor music.
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Thank you all for the feed back this will help a lot. I thought I was shifting up early and it looks like I was.
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I usually get mine in 4th at 35-40 mph and stay there. Just like the Indians, I like to feel the thump......Dew.