so...uhm...what's the redline on these things?

[AOD]

my tachometer redline starts at 9,500 RPM...i generally shift before 9000 RPM if i'm doing a 'scare the crap outta myself run' because anything higher sounds...well...scary. of course many of us have probably missed the 1-2 shift and ended up in neutral only to hit the throttle hard and hear the engine whine. :x

so on my way home i decided to push it a little more...i held the 1-2 shift, and the 2-1 shift for a bit longer. anyone ever hit 11,000 RPM in their bike? i did! 8O 8O

my mods are below...i doubt the original points could do much over 9,500 RPM...i was impressed to see the beast pull off that high of a run. it freaking rocks. 8)

~Adam

[redliner1973]

Why do I see 'Thermonuclear Meltdown' in the future?? :twisted:

[earlfor]

Re: so...uhm...what's the redline on these things?

Generally, a 9500 rpm redline means the redline rpm is 9500.
There is a reason its called REDLINE. :-)

Earl

my tachometer redline starts at 9,500 RPM...i generally shift before 9000 RPM if i'm doing a 'scare the crap outta myself run' because anything higher sounds...well...scary. of course many of us have probably missed the 1-2 shift and ended up in neutral only to hit the throttle hard and hear the engine whine. :x

so on my way home i decided to push it a little more...i held the 1-2 shift, and the 2-1 shift for a bit longer. anyone ever hit 11,000 RPM in their bike? i did! 8O 8O

my mods are below...i doubt the original points could do much over 9,500 RPM...i was impressed to see the beast pull off that high of a run. it freaking rocks. 8)

~Adam

[KEITH KRAUSE]

11,000 rpm is beyond the powerband of your bike. Meaning you are making less power at that rpm. If you had a HP/torque chart for your bike, I bet it would say max torque and HP is reached at about 8500/9000 rpm? Over-revving your motor to get that last little bit of speed is asking for major trouble. If you over-rev in a drag race you are losing time. To accelerate your quickest you should shift right at the top of your powerband, not beyond it.

[Anonymous]

The bike may even be making decent power at 11000 RPM, but your pistons are traveling too fast in FPS (feet per second) after red line stuff can separate and break apart, temps get too high and oil is less than effective. Slow it down, unless you like buying new motors, like I seem to.

[KGB]

to add to it.......

And the valves float and contact pistons or slap so hard against the seats the bend.......

How accurate is your tach? Most have some error in them.
And unless you have an air shifter or are extremely quick with the shifts at full throttle, you've already exceeded redline.
The GS550 will take SOME abuse, but not excessive.
Unless you're rich, motor rebuilds and tickets, keep it under redline.
It's there for a purpose

[AOD]

believe me i dont normally go over 9000, but this was just a little trial. the thing pulled hard to 11000 RPM. 8O

Keith, i'm aware of drop-off in HP at higher engine speeds. it varies from engine to engine usually depending on how much air is getting into the engine. i tune a fuel injected engine for a formula car project i work on every year, and with a restrictor on the intake we assume a 10000 RPM choke point where power isn't being made anymore.

as for someone who said the pistons are going too fast at 11000 RPM. have a looksee at the redline for the GSXR 600, 13500. the Yamaha R6 15500.

i guess i just wanted to see if the ole beast could do more then 9500. it did like a champ.

~Adam

[redliner1973]

as for someone who said the pistons are going too fast at 11000 RPM. have a looksee at the redline for the GSXR 600, 13500. the Yamaha R6 15500.

~Adam

remember that the pistons on those bikes are different than the ones on a GS. Just like a B&S lawnmower piston won't rev to what a GS will without either grenading itself or warping itself. parts are made for a specific max rpm. any more ( and as you are probably familiar with working on Formula cars and all) and that "Thermonuclear Meltdown" though starts re-appearing!! :twisted:

[Hap Call]

I will have to admit to accidently over-reving...the tach went well beyond 11,000 rpm. It did not damage the engine but it left brown marks in my boxers when I realized what I had done. The GS 1100 has a 9000 rpm red line and will actually go to about 10,000 with no problems (and evidently to 11,000+) BUT it is not something you should do a lot of. Everyone is correct in that going beyond the powerband is kind of useless. Valve float is the biggest killer...

Hap

[kkesler]

I accidentally pegged the tach at 12k on my 850 once. Valves did start a' floatin...

That was ~15 years ago. Bike still runs fine (knocking on wood).

Kurt

[Anonymous]

i cant believe that they even go to 9k or 9500, this seems insane completely this cant be good for valve train and cam and rod bearings and such, how couldit begood for any engine at all ? i wont even take mine over 4k maximum, never! too much RPM to me,. 4k RPM is alot to me for a bike or any small 4 cycle engine,
and whats the diff from GS or non-GS ? whats the difference ? its still piston and rods and 4cyl no matter what series unlessis 2 cycle.

[moto_dan]

i cant believe that they even go to 9k or 9500, this seems insane completely this cant be good for valve train and cam and rod bearings and such, how couldit begood for any engine at all ? i wont even take mine over 4k maximum, never! too much RPM to me,. 4k RPM is alot to me for a bike or any small 4 cycle engine,
and whats the diff from GS or non-GS ? whats the difference ? its still piston and rods and 4cyl no matter what series unlessis 2 cycle.

Nothing over 4k rpm? Surely you're not serious. There's absoutely nothing wrong with running our GS's up to 9-9.5k on occasion and sustained RPM's in the 7-8k range won't hurt them. The modern 600's are winding to 15k with no problem. If you've never wound your engine past 4k then you don't have a clue to how well it runs. :roll:

[lhanscom]

If I had to keep the engine under 4k, I could hardly move. On the highway doing 70 is over 5k. The valve train is designed to handle the rpm, and the piston speeds aren't much different then cars I don't think. They just have a shorter stroke so they don't have to travel as far.

[Anonymous]

fast68 - The differences in engines far exceed the 2-cycle vs. 4-cycle top level view. How fast an engine can rotate safely would take quite a bit to cover. The mass of the parts, the material used, the design configuration, and more, all play a part.

I don't know what the red line on a 450 is, but when I buy an 1100, one of the reasons I purchased it was for the performance. To not use it on occasion seems intolerable to me.

I guess it's all in philosophy. The German's never used to put cup holders in their high performance automobiles. When they were in that car, they were there to DRIVE - not drink coffee and eat a donut.

[mdole]

i cant believe that they even go to 9k or 9500, this seems insane completely this cant be good for valve train and cam and rod bearings and such, how couldit begood for any engine at all ? i wont even take mine over 4k maximum, never! too much RPM to me,. 4k RPM is alot to me for a bike or any small 4 cycle engine,
and whats the diff from GS or non-GS ? whats the difference ? its still piston and rods and 4cyl no matter what series unlessis 2 cycle.

Nothing over 4k rpm? Surely you're not serious. There's absoutely nothing wrong with running our GS's up to 9-9.5k on occasion and sustained RPM's in the 7-8k range won't hurt them. The modern 600's are winding to 15k with no problem. If you've never wound your engine past 4k then you don't have a clue to how well it runs. :roll:

Even bikes contemporary with the old GSs would run higher redlines. My 84 Honda Sabre was 10,700 and I remember a friend with a smaller Honda from the mid 80s a 400cc or 450cc 4 cyclinder that had a 12 or 14k redline.

Mike