RPM vs. speed

[charlie55]

Hi all:

Still in the break-in period for my Blur, and everything's feeling a little tight. I realize that things should loosen up as the miles accumulate. Just out of curiousity though, and assuming a clear day and level road, what's your tach indicating at given speeds, such as 20MPH, 30MPH, etc.?

Also, what's your approximate RPM reading when the clutch first starts to engage?

Finally, is the stock tach as prone to inaccuracies as the speedo, odo, and fuel gauges?

Thanks in advance,

Charlie

[NathanielSalzman]

It's going to depend a lot on how hard you're accelerating, how wide you've opened the throttle, whether you're climbing a hill, and those sorts of things. Because it's a CVT, it's not quite as direct a gear ratio as you'd have in a normal manual or automatic transmission where the gear ratios are set. Your start and end ratios are fixed, but it's going to be continuously varied in between (which is why it's called a CVT). It's going to vary from rider weight to rider weight also, as the bike searches for the optimal ratio based on what it thinks you're trying to do.

As for whether or not the tach is accurate, I have no idea. It seems to be, but chances are it's ballpark. Having a tach on a scooter or anything with an auto transmission is kind of a faux feature just to make them seem more fancy or sporty or take up empty space on the gauge cluster. Especially with the CVT because it's not like a car auto tranny where you can at least pick a lower gear when you want one. On the Blur, all you can do is feather the throttle until you've tricked it into doing what you want.

You might also want to check your crankcase oil level. If there's too much oil in it, the scoot will feel really sluggish. It's also worth noting that the mid-range of the power band is a bit weaker than the rest of the power curve.

[slowpoke]

now that my Blur is broken in it runs 65 mph(bdu)@ 8500 rpm. That's flat straight and no wind. I've never got close to redlining the revs.

[jrsjr]

now that my Blur is broken in it runs 65 mph(bdu)@ 8500 rpm. That's flat straight and no wind. I've never got close to redlining the revs.

That sounds about right to me. Something I noticed was that I could detect the slightest uphill grade or headwind by watching the speedo. If I was running uphill/headwind, I would lose 3-4 BDUs right away. Does that agree with your experience?