HD Forums Australia
Home
Online: tussuck
Topics

Rev Limiters - should bikes have them

  • Liam
    Liam
    6 years ago
    My 2008 XBones is the first bike that I have ridden to my knowledge to have a rev limiter.
    I've never had it kick in. To my way of thinking if it did kick in it would be Telling me I've forgotten how to ride a bike.
    But all I hear on a Sundays are bikes using the rev limiter (RL) as some sort of mating call. Realistically riders think to tide at RL revs is the way to go.
    Look I'm an old fart and I know it but that RL sound from bikes on the street makes me wanna belt those noisey arseholes.
    My be its just me.

  • Daggs
    Daggs
    6 years ago
    pretty easy to hit it the lower gears when you are really on it (especially with a worked engine) but once you know your bike it shouldn't happen often.
  • Ratbob
    Ratbob
    6 years ago
    Yeah there's always knobs out there but it's just a safety/insurance thing, miss a gear or get carried away, fall off and the throttle jams open (Yes, hopefully the fuel will turn off but that could fail) so it could save you some bucks in a worst case scenario.
  • Hoodeng
    Hoodeng
    6 years ago
    Anything injected has a built in rev limiter , nearly all programmable and fixed oem carb module ignitions are also rev limit capable. I have heard guys bang the limiter and then try convince me they caught the shift every time. Over rev as Dags pointed out is easy in low gears and hard to catch , a rev limiter set lower that what you expect to see is preferable as you are shifting not long after peak torque anyway for best acceleration . In a free rev situation the engine will rev straight past the limiter as there is no resistance on the engine, that is when you hear the engine barking , the limiter first retards ignition to control revs then cancels spark to totally control the revs, that is the ba ba ba you hear .
    One condition rev limiters have no control over is down shift , if the kick down through the gears is very aggressive, the engine gets dragged straight past the nominated rev limit,rev limiters only work on an accelerating engine .... I have had engines here that the owner swears has never seen the limiter but has multiple rocker tip patterns that in a fixed collet engine means only one thing , big revs.

    Cheers.
  • paulybronco
    paulybronco
    6 years ago
    Quoting Liam on 18 Nov 2018 01:08 AM

    My 2008 XBones is the first bike that I have ridden to my knowledge to have a rev limiter.

    I've never had it kick in. To my way of thinking if it did kick in it would be Telling me I've forgotten how to ride a bike.
    But all I hear on a Sundays are bikes using the rev limiter (RL) as some sort of mating call. Realistically riders think to tide at RL revs is the way to go.
    Look I'm an old fart and I know it but that RL sound from bikes on the street makes me wanna belt those noisey arseholes.
    My be its just me.

    How many bikes have you ridden....most bikes reach a point where there is little point revving harder as forward progress has slowed/ceased, time to get the left foot under the lever and re do it again
  • tussuck
    tussuck
    6 years ago
    ALL my bikes for the past 30 years have had a rev limiter set at 5200rpm.
  • Hoodeng
    Hoodeng
    6 years ago
    Pauly , stock bikes and mildly modified will behave as you say ,they nose over before they get into trouble,, a decent hotty will cannon shot straight past the limiter without hesitation .Some of the ones i have built for myself like my old 100" Sporty was set at 7800rpm, and in low gears left some information on the data logger that suggested i may have been out to lunch on the shift.

    Cheers.
  • paulybronco
    paulybronco
    6 years ago
    Quoting Hoodeng on 18 Nov 2018 10:19 AM

    Pauly , stock bikes and mildly modified will behave as you say ,they nose over before they get into trouble,, a decent hotty will cannon shot straight past the limiter without hesitation .Some of the ones i have built for myself like my old 100" Sporty was set at 7800rpm, and in low gears left some information on the data logger that suggested i may have been out to lunch on the shift.

    Cheers.

    Like the lunch comment....been there myself trying to get between corners without that extra upshift
  • Stew70
    Stew70
    6 years ago
    Each to their own,  but.    Why hit the limiter on a harley?  I know there is a lot out there with V-Rods that might.    But.  For me, I've spent a fair bit of money on a bike I want to look after,  not rev the shit out of.   If your racing,  Harleys,  Sport bikes,  Drag Bikes,  Dirt Bikes etc fair enough but for everyday use,  no you don't need em.   But,  if there is an issue with the bike, whether you drop it or some mechanical fault and it rev's out, then fair enough,   but otherwise not needed imo.  
  • Daggs
    Daggs
    6 years ago
    Quoting Stew70 on 18 Nov 2018 12:15 PM

    Each to their own,  but.    Why hit the limiter on a harley?  I know there is a lot out there with V-Rods that might.    But.  For me, I've spent a fair bit of money on a bike I want to look after,  not rev the shit out of.   If your racing,  Harleys,  Sport bikes,  Drag Bikes,  Dirt Bikes etc fair enough but for everyday use,  no you don't need em.   But,  if there is an issue with the bike, whether you drop it or some mechanical fault and it rev's out, then fair enough,   but otherwise not needed imo.  

    Like you said each to their own. I've spent a fair bit on mine too but mainly on the engine.
     I know it is built strongly enough that it will rev quite hard safely. Nothing wrong with a few revs...
    My rev limiter is set at 6200, 1000 more than stock but not as high as it was suggested it could be set at (7800).
    I've only hit the limiter a couple of times in 1st or second, no way any harm could have resulted. 
    My rides are mainly just cruising speeds but it is fun to open it up every now and then.
    11 years of riding this bike, my riding style, zero issues (touch wood lol)
    No point spending all that money to just putt around all the time
  • tussuck
    tussuck
    6 years ago

    I have stretched to 6,500 on the tweaked Evo, and even then hit the limiter too frequently.  Even my modern Sporty is dialled back to 5,500 as the factory limit sounds just too rattly...lol


     I wish I still had my old Yamaha FXR250 - it redlined at 19,000 rpm.  Such a blast to ride that she lived on the limiter a lot....lol

  • Wideglider
    Wideglider
    6 years ago
    Quoting tussuck on 19 Nov 2018 01:11 AMedited: 19 Nov 2018 01:13 AM

    I have stretched to 6,500 on the tweaked Evo, and even then hit the limiter too frequently.  Even my modern Sporty is dialled back to 5,500 as the factory limit sounds just too rattly...lol


     I wish I still had my old Yamaha FXR250 - it redlined at 19,000 rpm.  Such a blast to ride that she lived on the limiter a lot....lol

    Hey tussuck, what kind of cam have you got fitted in your Evo to make use of 6,500rpm?
  • tussuck
    tussuck
    6 years ago
    Quoting tussuck on 19 Nov 2018 01:11 AMedited: 19 Nov 2018 01:13 AM

    I have stretched to 6,500 on the tweaked Evo, and even then hit the limiter too frequently.  Even my modern Sporty is dialled back to 5,500 as the factory limit sounds just too rattly...lol


     I wish I still had my old Yamaha FXR250 - it redlined at 19,000 rpm.  Such a blast to ride that she lived on the limiter a lot....lol

    Quoting Wideglider on 19 Nov 2018 02:12 AM

    Hey tussuck, what kind of cam have you got fitted in your Evo to make use of 6,500rpm?

    EV35 originally and then an EV31 blower cam....man she went like a friggin rocket when the turbo.
  • brash
    brash
    6 years ago
    mine lives on the limiter haha. Maybe this is why I kill lifters.

    (torque x rpm) / 5252 = hp

    if you have the cam that will go the distance, twist that wrist :) In particularly sporties. Certain black slob in Sydney that could sing to 8k rpm.
Topics