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How bad is it if I hit the redline (forgot to shift)

dududuckling

Cruisin' Guzzisti
Joined
Mar 5, 2018
Messages
120
Location
Santa Barbara, CA
Hi,

The V7 III Stone does not have tachometer, so I always went by the "feel", but sometimes I missed it.

How bad is it if I forgot to upshift? I.e. Merging on the highway and forgot to shift up from 4th to 5th, or 5th to 6th, that the red warning exclamation light came on. Or like this morning, I was going downhill and realized that I was still on second gear doing 40 mph.

From the factory, the rev limiter is set at 4500 rpm (lower limit) and 6500 rpm (upper limit). I presume it will blink when passed 4500 rpm and stays on pass 6500 pm?

I have done this a couple of times, maybe once or twice a week, and the bike is still in its break-in period. Is this like the rotary engine where a redline a day keeps the mechanic at bay?

As well, sometimes it develops low-end growl with wide open throttle. And then the exhaust sound went back to normal Guzzi. Is this normal? I.e. Wide open throttle at 2nd gear doing 25 mph or 3rd gear doing 30-35 mph, then went away at 40 mph. I just notice this new noise recently, the past 100 miles or so.

Thanks.
 
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I love when that low end growl develops.

ive done it a few times, its not going to do anything to your engine, theyre a lot more robust than you think, and in the end after thousands of miles you feel like your engine is losing power, get the big bore kit :) Saul Guzzi fam
 
Just don't brag about it at the dealer, he may not warranty anything if it breaks.
I have seen this happen. I think the limiter is a good thing, keeps you from floating the valves.
 
The red warning light is the upshift warning to tell the rider to upshift at the set point.
The rev limiter that's built into the ECU programming stops the engine from revving over 7200 rpm to prevent damage.

Generally speaking, running up to the red warning is simply telling you to upshift. You cannot force the engine past 7200 rpm without doing a forced downshift at too high a speed and causing the engine to be mechanically driven past 7200 rpm.

If you open up the throttle too much at too low an rpm, the engine is going to struggle and vibrate a bit more than if you're in a lower gear. This puts a load on the crankshaft and connecting rods. Once the engine climbs its way to its proper rev range, it will sound sweeter and work more smoothly. It's better to keep the revs and the gear you've selected properly matched to your road speed.

I'd suggest you learn to feel what the engine is telling you and shift up and down as appropriate to your road speed... It's never a great idea to either over-rev or under-rev an engine: Both accelerate wear on the engine components.

The differences between a piston engine and a rotary engine being over revved are many. Neither are good things to do.
 
Thanks all! Sometimes that low end growl comes on even when I am in the proper rpm range, depending on how much I twist the throttle.

For instance, when I am in 3rd gear at 35 mph, I can twist the throttle gently and it accelerates as usual until I shift up at 45 mph, or I can fully wide open throttle and it accelerates a lot quicker, but with the growl. Merging on the freeway, I normally do the latter (wide open throttle, low-end growl) from 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th. 6th is there. When the noise disappears, its like almost time to shift up again. Maybe I'm doing it wrong? ;)
 
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If you open up the throttle too much at too low an rpm, the engine is going to struggle and vibrate a bit more than if you're in a lower gear. This puts a load on the crankshaft and connecting rods. Once the engine climbs its way to its proper rev range, it will sound sweeter and work more smoothly. It's better to keep the revs and the gear you've selected properly matched to your road speed.

Thanks - looks like I need to take it more gently. I first found out about this when going home, uphill, with a car behind me fast approaching.
 
As the engine breaks in the sounds that it makes will too.

I don't think you are doing any damage hitting the red line/limiter.
Thanks all! Sometimes that low end growl comes on even when I am in the proper rpm range, depending on how much I twist the throttle.

For instance, when I am in 3rd gear at 35 mph, ;)

That is lugging the engine!!!!!
Please don't do that unless you want issues down the road.
35mph is 2nd gear let that engine wind up a bit!

Way better to wind it up than to lug it.
 
On the bike, 2nd gear tops out somewhere between 35 and 40 mph, maybe 38 mph - the red limiter light comes on. Its such a narrow band sometime I just shift up without even looking or waiting for the light to come on.
 
Basically...long story short, hitting rev BY MISTAKE isn't death...just don't hold it there.

As for lugging the engine...try not to ride the bike constantly below 3000 RPM at any given speed if you can help it...the bike doesn't like to be that low of RPM...
 
Basically...long story short, hitting rev BY MISTAKE isn't death...just don't hold it there.

As for lugging the engine...try not to ride the bike constantly below 3000 RPM at any given speed if you can help it...the bike doesn't like to be that low of RPM...
Completely agree, at about 4000 RPM the motor is so smooth and torquey, just can't help smiling.
 
4500 rpm is the max they recommend for the 1st 1K miles. Then the tach gets reset to the higher number.
During the beak in period I tried to keep it below 4500 but did ride agressively within that limitation. I offen hit the higher RPM limit in the power gear even though I have a tach on the V7 Special. My thoughts re the rev. limiter is there to save my arse and prevent damage.
Todays modern metallurgy, advanced lubricants, and very accurate machining result in a motor that pretty damn tough. Ride it like ya stole it, it'll be OK..... :rofl:

Paul
 
You could always add one of those $12 eBay tachometers that give a digital rev counter. Zip tie it to the handlebar until you get the feel of the motor then get rid of it after that.
 
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