DO you really dislike shifting?

[Stig / Major Tom]

Rode my son's CB500X the other day.  I'm not short, and that bike is tall! Don't know the seat height...but the whole bike is tall.
If I  buy it, I'll probably add the lowering kit. Maybe not - if it were to screw up the handling. This thing is dumb easy to ride. Engine is so docile. Can pull away with no throttle.

I read so often that people ride scooters because they hate shifting.
I miss shifting. Always enjoyed it. Probably would feel differently if I had to commute throufh a crowded city, which is also not fun on a scooter!

Anyone else like shifting?
"Snick, snick" and away you go! Cool!!

Stig

[Viper254]

Yes and no - I've got no problem with gears out on the open road, and they'd probably suit the commute I ride nowadays a lot better.

However, when I was at my scooter-riding peak as a courier it was all city centre, stop-start and weaving all day long. In this environment I fell in love with the ease of twist-and-go.

It's been a couple of years now but I'd like to think that a gear box would still come naturally

[klaviator]

I still have two motorcycles.  I don't mind shifting at all.  In stop and go traffic I prefer an Automatic but  otherwise I don't really have a preference except on mountain roads where I prefer shifting.

[EvilTessmacher]

Hmmm... That's a tough question.
Personally, I like the idea of having that one less thing on which to concentrate. I try to ride defensively, paying a certain amount of attention to what's on the road around me, and not having to shift removes one more thing from the equation, no matter how habitual or subconsciously it's done. Twist and go just simplifies things, I suppose.

[Gnzbrg]

Got a couple motorcycles and a couple scooters.  They all have their uses.  Love riding the scooters around town and for short rides. But I've always enjoyed riding down a good back road, snicking into fourth as I enter that curve, powering through, and settling back to fifth.  Aahhh... 

Next week I'll be "up ta Camp" in Maine, running my KLR 650 up and down those mountain roads.  Be getting me plenty of back road riding in THEN, boy-ee!

[Stig / Major Tom]

One thought.....riding through town on expansive blvds....on a motorcycle, clutching etc. keeps me more in tune with my
surroundings. Twist and go is sometimes a brainless activity.
Just me probably. ...
Stig

[Clampett]

Shifting.......
It's just something to do on the big bike. Neither like/dislike here.....
different things affect different riders in their own way.
To me the shifting is just something that takes my away rather than adds to the riding enjoyment. (unless I'm in twisties AND competing )

[CROSSBOLT]

I used to really like the mechanical power train where it took some skill to do it correctly especially when the manufacturers started adding more gears beyond four. However, it is hard to beat INFINITE numbers of ratios! I think that's why a lot of these scoots perform so well: they are always in the right gear!

[GLV55]

Hmmm... That's a tough question.
Personally, I like the idea of having that one less thing on which to concentrate. I try to ride defensively, paying a certain amount of attention to what's on the road around me, and not having to shift removes one more thing from the equation, no matter how habitual or subconsciously it's done. Twist and go just simplifies things, I suppose.

I will second everything said here - sums it up perfectly for me.

[klaviator]

I used to really like the mechanical power train where it took some skill to do it correctly especially when the manufacturers started adding more gears beyond four. However, it is hard to beat INFINITE numbers of ratios! I think that's why a lot of these scoots perform so well: they are always in the right gear!

Actually, they're not.  Coming out of a tight uphill hairpin most scooters just bog down at low RPM.  I rode some twisties with a couple of T max riders a few weeks ago.  They both complained about the tight hairpins.  On my Versys I could pick the right gear and just blast out of those corners.  My Majesty does the same thing.  It isn't really in the "right gear until I'm going around 40 or so.  My Super 8 also bogs down at times.  My Smax on the other hand has a great variator and if I'm going over about 18MPH with the throttle pinned it will be at or above 7000 RPM, right at peak torque.

The other problem with a CVT is it doesn't do engine braking nearly as well as a manual.

[PaulF]

I don't mind shifting and miss riding a motorbike at times.  The Honda CB500X is a great looking bike and should be more popular.

[Stig / Major Tom]

I don't mind shifting and miss riding a motorbike at times.  The Honda CB500X is a great looking bike and should be more popular.

I like it, too. (esp. the upright riding position) He added a white front fender, adj. levers, and those skid things on the side, reflective rim tapes, and Tailblazer pulsing bulb--- after this photo. That's not a loud muffler.
Photo of us in the village, shortly after he bought it. (my old Forza)
Stig

[CROSSBOLT]

Klaviator has a point. Slow speed is a bit limited. It would be better if we had the option to stop the variation at the lowest speed (highest ratio) for the tight twistys and parades.

[Viper254]

Surely a CVT with a correctly weighted variator should be in it's element - low speed power should be what it's good at!

[klaviator]

Surely a CVT with a correctly weighted variator should be in it's element - low speed power should be what it's good at!

True, but most variators don't seem to do this well.  If you tune it for low speed power you will be running at higher RPMs at higher speeds at the cost of more engine wear and fuel mileage.  The Smax seems to be well tuned for this but it gets around 80 MPG vs the 100 MPG the PCX gets.