What gear are you in?

[JINKSTER]

Gear indicator seems like a hot item, but I am wondering whether all riders feel the need for them.

At first, I was often lost what gear I was in. Later on, I simply counted, and got lost very rarely. And even later on, I just knew what gear I was in by feel. So, know between automatic counting and the feel for the motor, I feel I really don't need the gear indicator.

What are you thoughts?

i have an 03 busa with many mods including a GiPro ATRE/Gearshift Indicator and?...i cherish it as a valued mod..reasons?...ah...namely dialing in for a certain road where it's just like "in my face before entering a favorite curve and knowing i'm in the optimum gear for powering through rather than tricking out the tach or touchy feely guesswork..i'm no novice rider and yet still?..if i'm just out enjoying the scenery?..there's been more than once that i should've been cruising in 6th when i was unwittingly still in 5th...till i looked at the tach and speedo and did the math..so?..is it an absolute necessity?...nope...but is it damn nice to have?...yep!..you betcha!

jmho & l8r, Bill.

 

[Blanca BusaLess]

I grew up on dirt bikes and none of them had one. It usually only takes me a few hours on any bike to be able to tell what gear I am in. I am not perfect or a bike God or anything just that like I mentioned I have had more dirt bikes than street and you kinda get used to using your arse and ears to figure which gear you are in. I do like the fact my bike has one now because it also has your typical green neutral light. This I like because even though it is again something that can be felt I enjoy the peripheral reassurance of the green glow when I come to a stop . I have had more than one bike slip into gear because I thought it was in neutral and it actually was in between a gear. Some of the older dirt bikes were famous for having large 'gear gaps' and unless you sat there for five minutes flippin the shifter it was diff to tell where you were sitting still .

BUT I AGREE WITH OTHER POSTER - WTF REGARDING THE FACTORY SPEEDO ? I CANNOT BELIEVE 10k GETS YOU SUCH INACCURACY !
The faster you go the more it is off. Only good thing is , is that it is off to the positive and makes you think you are going faster than you actually are. Good for the mental satisfaction and ticket safety. 100mph is actually only 88mph according to my gps. I can think I'm flying around at 100 and still be within the bounds of most FHP officers .
I would rather not have a speedo if it is not gonna be accurate.

 

[Fastfrog007]

They really need to offer a 7th gear and ill be set!!!

If i keep tryin, i swear ill find it eventually. Click? Nope, already in 6th

 

[Dozerdriver]

If i keep tryin, i swear ill find it eventually. Click? Nope, already in 6th

A couple revs to play it off too...

 

[Liltroy]

A couple revs to play it off too...

always

 

[IG.]

It is interesting to look in retrospect at my own perceptions of figuring the gear.

When I started riding, naturally was pretty much lost. Tried to keep the count, but would lose it often.

Over time, learned to count pretty well, and very rarely would find myself in the wrong gear.

And then on to the next phase, where the counting is being replaced by the feel. Where each gear has its own character, and somehow there is no need to count. Actually, there is even no need to know the gear. You just know whether it's the right one, or whether you need to go down or up. On occasion, I would be off by one though which doesn't bother me much.

I probably wouldn't mind having a gear indicator if it already was there, but something stops me from getting one. Somehow I like going by the feel - it connects me and the bike better. And deep down I know that if I had the gear indicator I would be looking at it way too often and would ultimately lose the feel I have now, which in turn would disrupt that intimate connection between me and the bike - a connection which makes the two of us a single unit - another creature. Not quite a human, and not quite a machine. Where you let go of all complicated human emotions and surrender yourself to the raw feeling of playing around with a three dimensional space, making it worthwhile every moment of this experience.

I drifted here a bit...

 

[memorex]

I never think about what gear I am in. I go by the feel of the bike and sound of the engine to tell me if I am in the right gear or if I should go up or down.

 

[red barron]

I think that's just something eles to look at when i'm tryin to consentrate!!!:duh:

 

[aussiebusaboy]

After years of riding and racing dirt bikes the need for a gear indicator is not needed.
If you have never had one before then its a nice novelty but i rarely look at mine (k9) and use the feel of the bike to tell me when and what to change to.

The only thing that governs my ride style is the speedo around town.
Although the busa is the most forgiving of bikes when selecting the wrong gear, not many bikes can let you cruise through town in 5th gear@ 3k rpm and still get any sort of response from the bike under power.

Slowing down to a crawl at the lights and then powering off in 3rd, just try that on a 250 or 750 for that matter.
I love the 2 stroke 250s for this reason simply because you have to use all of the bikes capabilities and you have to get it right or the bike wont perform, thats what riding is all about.

I can honestly say the busa is the best bike i think i shall ever own.

 

[BIG GUY]

In my opinion you don't really need one. I have gotten use to the sound of the bike and the way it feels beneath me.

 

[Copperone]

I have a GI Pro. Don't really need it (I know what gear I'm in), simply a convenience.

 

[busa1300nut]

yeh' i look for 7th every now and then. biut other than that i usually know where i am at.
Posted via Mobile Device

 

[mestona]

Got lazy once I got my Gi-Pro on my gen 1 now I've got the stock one on my Gen 2

 

[x-d-x]

I have a gen 2 so it already has one but coming to that from not having one was nice! Never really had a issue before but now you can always be certain