Is there any danger in getting close to redline?

[NJ-Brett]

I abuse my TU250 every time I ride it.
Red line is at 9500 rpm where the rev limiter kicks in, and I often bounce off that, and normal operation has the motor at high rpms wide open throttle for long runs.
15,000 miles so far and it runs better then ever.
I never had a bike I would not take to red line often, even old ones, and I never blew one up or had one wear out quickly.
I do tend to change the oil in my bikes often though.

[Nophix]

I'm always bouncing my bikes off their limiters. No ill effects at all. Several of my favorite twisty roads I just toss it in second or third and let the engine work the revs.

[vortexau]

Originally Posted by Gerg

Yeah, Riiiight...

Any modern engine will run pretty close to all day long at near redline. Most, if not all, have limiters that kick in before any damage is done.

Of two current bikes:
R1200, I can't see running up against the redline because it just isn't necessary (although I have hit the limiter a time or two)
TW200, I run that little sucker flat out ALL the time with no ill effects.

Gerg

Near redline? I'm talking of right on redline, or past it.

120mph for twenty miles on a R75/6 with American (R60/6) final ratio, and mph speedo back when Oz was already metric.
I did slow down to 110mph at the occasional wooden plank bridge, then open back up to 120.



Like this but with S90-type fairing and slim panniers.



Bridge surfaces like this taken at 110mph.

[Ranger Ron]

Originally Posted by davidb21

I have a 04 klr 250, i get off work at around 1am and ive noticed my bike really loves the cold air at night so ive been racing around town a little before i get home each night...my redline is at 9.5k rpm and i'll regularly see that im doing 8k-9k in my 6th gear?

Most 250's can't pull redline in 6th. I'm wondering what your gearing is and what speed you're hitting at 9K in sixth??

Ron

[DOGSROOT]

Originally Posted by Gerg

Yeah, Riiiight...

Any modern engine will run pretty close to all day long at near redline.

Gerg

Originally Posted by bush pilot

German junk is so overrated!

You ought to read some of the batshit crazy talk over at RB Racing...

Those guys are seriously whack.

http://www.rbracing-rsr.com/bmwturbos.htm



"We get asked all the time about what should be done to prepare your BMW for turbocharging...Well, this depends on what your goals are. Before we get into this we should give you a brief rundown on what you already have. If your bike was a Honda it would be superbly engineered and every part would be optimized for performance and reliability at the oem designed rated horsepower...double that figure and the rods, clutches and pistons are past their limits. BMW does things a bit differently. They build it to run for 300 hours non stop at 2.5 to 3 times the rated horsepower, then they cut things by 2/3 and sell it to you. The rods, pistons, cranks and base engine drivetrains are overly engineered on most of the models. The exception to this is the early air cooled models which started out as low horsepower, low rpm engines that weren't tested at 150 to 200 hp. Early K100's are practically bulletproof as they start out with 70 hp and at 125hp turbocharged they will run forever. We pumped them out to 312hp and never had a crankshaft problem although at rpms approaching 12000 they would float their valves and break camshafts."

[dirtrulz]

Originally Posted by VxZeroKnots

I know where redline is on my thumpers, it is quite easy to determine without a tach. It comes right before the waaah-bah-bah-bah-bah-bah-bah sound.

Justin Barcia illustrates:

I dont think I could handle being his engine builder and listening to that all that time, would make me cringe, especially since they usually raise the rev limiter also. Its a good thing he doesnt have to buy his own engines or bikes. Seems liek it would be better to land in a gear that isnt already tapped out rpm wise.

[High Country Herb]

Originally Posted by NJ-Brett

I abuse my TU250 every time I ride it.
Red line is at 9500 rpm where the rev limiter kicks in, and I often bounce off that, and normal operation has the motor at high rpms wide open throttle for long runs.
15,000 miles so far and it runs better then ever.
I never had a bike I would not take to red line often, even old ones, and I never blew one up or had one wear out quickly.
I do tend to change the oil in my bikes often though.

A friend of mine bought a brand new TU200 (2009 I think?), figuring he would save lots of money commuting on the highway. He pinned the thing everywhere he went, and kept the oil changed as suggested. After the dealer replaced the second motor under warranty, they told him they would no longer cover the bike if he rode it on the highway. He may have had bad luck, but there always has to be at least one cautionary anecdote, right?

Most likely the bike will be fine, but I do think internal combustion engines wear out faster when ridden like that. I would recommend going one or two teeth smaller on the rear sprocket the next time you get a new chain, and using top grade motor oil. Cheap Walmart oil will get you into trouble running the bike like that.

[VozProto]

The only bike I have ever had that sustained real damage from hitting the redline too much under load was one that I had modified the top end. Leave it stock and you'll be alright.

The only thing I'll say is that if you are gettin on it, you've already surpassed your peak power by the time you hit the redline.

Just re-read the OP.
Perhaps a larger displacement bike is in order...

[NJ-Brett]

Who makes a TU200?
I never heard of one.
My TU250 has 15,000+ miles on it so far with no issues.
Hell, even back in 1979 I held my Bonneville wide open at 120 mph for 1/2 hour at a time often and I never had problems with it.
I have always run every bike I ever had hard, and never blew anything up except the IT175 that always needed something after every ride, brakes, wheel bearings, crank bearings, reed valves, bore job, it was endless...

Some older bikes, or older designs, would use oil when ridden hard at high rpm's.
My TU uses no oil at all.
Something like a TW200 does not seem to like doing 70 mph screaming for long, but its an old design and it lets you know its unhappy by making noises.

I used to bounce even the Harley off the rev limiter often, no problems...

[High Country Herb]

Originally Posted by NJ-Brett

Who makes a TU200?
I never heard of one....

TW200, sorry.

[NJ-Brett]

Yes, I had one of those, it was not happy running at high rpm's, but it never blew up.
Its an old design.
Its the one smaller bike I ever had that I would not trust to run at high rpm's long.

Originally Posted by High Country Herb

TW200, sorry.

[randyo]

theres a safety margin in the manufacturers determination of redline

my experience

first bike, honda super 90, bought it used for like $50 it was a turd, every other kid in town owned it before I did. I had it about 2 months, no tach, but my bet is 80mph was faster than it was designed to go, but with a long relatively steep downgrade it would, till I heard a ticking noise, I just couldn't give it enuf fuel, it was thursty, so it began to eat solid food, valves, heads broke off, I tore it down, they were like marbles inside

later in life, I had a Honda cb125s, I passed it on to my eldest son, withing a month it suffered the same fate as the S90

move on, my 1982 Yamaha XV920R, no rev limiter, easily pulls 1500 past redline and still wants to pull, don't do it a lot, but occasionally, 60k no issues yet

and finally, my 99 SV650, (gp shift)I admit, I have occasional brain farts, first one is I pull on to a nice stretch of open road, not a car in sight, time to practice a 1/4 mile run 1st gear to redline, click down into second, bring to redline and have second brain fart, ferget ya got gp shift, click back up into 1st, yes, shift into 1st at 70mph+ on a SV650, I'm sure I saw the tach past 13k maybe more the first time was not for long, I got clutch pulled in,

second time, a year or more later, I was really spaced out for some reason, did almost the same thing, but never pulled the clutch in, I just rode out the skidding rear tire till the engine speed and tire speed matched, again it was over 13k for more than a split second though, as many as 10 seconds (on an engine with over 90k)

ooh also a cage I used to regularly abuse, an '82 BMW 320i (e21) I loved to drift it on cloverleafs 500-1000 over redline, still ran strong with 460k original motor when it was rearended and totaled , it was funnest car I ever had

[BikePilot]

Most 4 strokes will need valves adjusted more often the more time you spend at high rpms. It shouldn't hurt the engine though. I agree that it sounds like you badly need higher gearing. Don't flog it 'till it's warm, keep reasonably clean, good quality oil in it, keep up on maintenance (valves, etc.), and ride it however you like. These things are quite durable.

[NJ-Brett]

I used to miss shifts during speed shifting my 1969 Daytona, since the trans was worse then most tractors/trucks/Russiaan bikes.
Full throttle in neutral shifting at 8000+ rpm on a huge heavy piston push rod motor and nothing in the engine ever blew up, the trans was a different story, but it was a wimpy 1st gear story...

I think the rev limiters or red lines are set a bit low, and most motors have the power drop off well before red line, and even the Harley guys often bump up the rev limiter 1000 rpm's without issues.

Maybe you shorten the life of the motor some, but bikes are about fun.

[Foot dragger]

Originally Posted by Gerg

Yeah, Riiiight...

Any modern engine will run pretty close to all day long at near redline. Most, if not all, have limiters that kick in before any damage is done.

Of two current bikes:
R1200, I can't see running up against the redline because it just isn't necessary (although I have hit the limiter a time or two)
TW200, I run that little sucker flat out ALL the time with no ill effects.

Gerg

Thanks,you said it for me. "only a mighty air cooled beemer is tough enough for the feared redline"
A manufacturer puts that redline where it wants,they build the engine and tune it. If it cant rev to redline regularly theres something wrong.
Ive seen what happens when a airhead is spun a little too hard.
Not much worth saving usually.