Is there any danger in getting close to redline?

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 (only in 6th, i shift at around 7k in my other gears)

I never hold it at that high rpms for more than a minute or so but is there any danger in going that close to redline?

No problem with running it through the gears and touching the redline or near there every once in a while. Holding it next to redline or at the limiter isn't so good, but nothing wrong with keeping the revs moderately up for power. Shoot, my CBR used to cruise the freeways at 7k all day long. With the previous owner's Yosh pipe, it was quite obnoxious.
If you're near redline in 6th, you might want to consider gearing up to bring the revs down a little.

What Buickid said.

I get close to or hit redline all the time on my KLR650. But I try to keep the revs below 5,500 on the interstate. I put on a one tooth larger front sprocket.

The only motorcycle that I ever cruised sustained right on Redline was powered by the BMW type 247 boxer air-cooled engine. BMW built engines capable of this.

Wouldn't try it with any lesser engines.

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

It's fine with a few caveats:

Keep it maintained; keep the oil fresh, chain at the right spec, valves adjusted correctly, etc.

Don't go near redline or use heavy throttle until the bike has had adequate time to warm up! This varies from bike to bike, but you want the OIL to be warmed up -- not just the coolant (if applicable) Ride easy right after you get going and slowly ramp up the agressiveness.

Boucning off the rev limiter itself repeatedly puts huge stresses on all the engine components because either fuel or ignition is being cut to keep the engine from overrevving.

To me, one of the stupidest things ever is to put a tach on a small thumper or two stroke. I have no idea why the Japanese insist on adding one. It isn't exactly a superbike. It doesn't make enough power to hurt itself or you. So it doesn't need a tach.

None of my current thumpers have a tach and only one previous thumper had a tach. Therefore I have no idea what the red line is much less whether I ride at, near or over it. I shift when the power drops off or it quits reving the way God meant for us to ride.

If you are worried about reving a little one lunger, don't. Run it like you stole it. Rebuild the top end when it gets tired. Then run it hard some more. Seriously. Have fun. It is a motorcycle, right?

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:

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/xvpF69M7sfs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

You have a point. I know where it is, too. I just don't know what rpm.

I spun a rod bearing on my old R90S doing just that, sustained high speed crossing the high desert in NM...German junk is so overrated!

A friend is rebuilding/upgrading his KLR250 with a 330 kit. The manufacturer of the 330 kit CLAIMS that the bottom end is good for about 14 grand. Take this with as many grains of salt as you wish, but it's a roller bearing bottom end and is pretty stout. It seems that the inherent weakness in the KLRs is the top end, and this appears to be borne out by many people's experience. My buddy rides at about 7 grand or higher everywhere. This, combined with an unscheduled dunk in a mud puddle led to the rebuild, but he put 20k very hard miles on the bike before it became an issue.

No problem as long as it has adequate oil and is properly maintained. Redline is maximum safe operating RPM. It will wear faster but the amount is so small you'll never know it.

Ohhh, NOW I get it! THAT's FUNNY!

Yes, he is a supergenius!

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.

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.

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.

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

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."

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.