highway travel

I have an 82 550 maxim. runs great, but when I get her up to 60 or so mph on my speedometer which, quite frankley I have found to be wrong, my tac only reads about 5000rpm. The specs say it wont redline until 9000rpm. the motor sounds like its working hard, but I still have way more juice left in the throttle. how high is too high. I don't want to blow up the motor, but I want to assure myself that Im not over running the bike. anything helps.

 

Redline is too much rpm anything over 10k.

I'm sure your maxim would run along at 8k easily all day.

 

Ditto! These are high revving engines. I've found earplugs to be a necessity riding an XJ on the freeway.

 

I've taken to wearing some cylindrical foam ear plugs all the time now.
The issue of keeping them clean all the time is a challenge.

Makes highway riding for long periods a lot easier.
The harmonic from listening to the engine without ear protection can be a cause of fatigue.

 

5 Grand=60mph on a 550. That's correct, your speedo isn't that far off. The 550 will hum happily along at 6K rpm (70-72mph) or even 7K (80+) all day. My '81 actually seems "happier" (smoother, less strained) cruising at around 6200rpm (about 75mph) than it does at 60mph. That little motor likes to rev, and it will hum happily along in the middle of the powerband...

 

Anything more then a putt around town in go's the ear plugs.But as for rpm's.I ride my 550 between 4 & 6 k around town and have had no trouble in opening it up to 7 or 8 on the highway and holding there for mile after mile.These little motors are made for and love a good blast down the highways.But then i've changed my oil and filter three times since spring and always check it and my chain and my tires before doing the highway.

 

The harmonic from listening to the engine without ear protection can be a cause of fatigue.[/quote]

noise fatuige is a factor on any bike. But don't you just love the whine of that inline 4 at about 5500rpm's. I wear a 3/4 helment with a shield when I ride the Yamaha and that takes care of most of the noise and I can still hear the engine.

 

reviving this thread. i have a xj650 and when i get into 5th and I'm cursing at around 50 or 55 the engine is revved pretty high, or at least it sounds that way. so what i gather is that i can push the bike a little more and it won't do any damage? its strange because theres a redline on the speedometer at 55 or 60. are they trying to tell me something? i hate the thought of being on a road where people are trying to do 65 or 70 and I'm putting along at 55.

 

Back in the day, the national speed limit was 55 MPH ("gas shortage"). A lot of vehicles from that time period had 55 in red on the speedo. If your bike is in a good state of tune, you can run it at 70 all day long and it will love you for it.

 

Just took it out and was at 60-70 for a good stretch. Felt pretty ok.

 

If you're in the market for some ear plugs that are more comfortable than the round foam ones that you get at Home Depot or Lowes, check into Etymotics. They cost about $15 on Amazon, stay in your ear better, are easier to clean. They do stick out a bit if you have smaller ears, so if you wear a full-face head bucket they may get in the way a bit.

 

earplugstore.com
i'm using these two this year
http://www.earplugstore.com/e-a-r-push- ... plugs.html

http://www.earplugstore.com/peneskscean3.html

 

Polock how do you get your ears threaded to fit in the screw in ear plugs?

 

their self tapping

 

About keeping earplugs (yellow foam type) clean, a simple method I used was to get an old piece of my wifes panty hose (keep the rest), put several pairs of plugs in and just throw them in with the wash. Just sit them out and let them dry, cut the panty hose open aaaaaand clean earplugs!
The factory I worked at closed in 2009 and I had been saving the ones they supplied for quite a while. I still have a box about 1/2 full out in the garage, haven't bought any "new" ones for years.

 

Its funny how people keep complaining about the 'high-revving' engine, when they haven't even gotten close to redline yet. LOL

Yeah, these wind higher than a harley, or a car.......you just have to learn that 5500 is NOT high-rev! That's not even at the powerband yet.

You want to hear a high-revving engine? Jump on a snowmobile......those wind out at about 9000rpm.

If you're turning 5k at 60mph, you're not far off from the mark. That's about right. Now, drop it down a gear and give it the gas. It's time for you to find out what the bike can really do! LOL

dave f

 

Yeah I always forget to take earplugs out of my pocket when I do laundry and they come out squeaky clean.

 

That's how I figured out that they were washable too.

 

hell yeah!

 

First time I rode my Maxim-X, I was a bit concerned with what I thought was hi-reving at 100 km/h. I have to say that my previous bike was a 1979 GOldwing, sooo...

A couple of days later, while taking an opportunity of passing a row of cars, I revd it up to the red line in 4th gear...man, what a blast!

Those engines are very smooth and feel very comfortable at hi-revs.