Very handy 1/4 mile tool - Gear shift indicators

[BOHEMION]

http://www.ecliptech.com.au/main_win.html

Hey fellas the dealer for these is local and they are a great price

[fimpBIKES]

doesnt the guy in aus make them?

i bought one off him late last year for the tiller, probably not using it now though
(offers? :D)

[Gsxar]

I like them been wanting to get one for a while.
Let me know what u want for yours Fimp:D
( been looking around for instructions to make my own, so I could have it in a custom shape ;)but not having a lot of luck)

Uuuum, what do you need a shift light for? Can't you feel when it's time to change? I don't even run a tacho anymore, I know exactly when I have to shift. Not going for the 'American' techno-bling factor are we guys?

[BOHEMION]

Ever done a quaterMile on a bike Chalks? So many other things goin on in the head shift light could help. It would help me if it was set up correctly

[Razorback]

Im kinda with you chalk. Since I havnt had either a shift light or a tacho I dont seem to be missing them. Had both on the 1000K2 and neither on the bandit... They are handy, but non essential.

[abusa]

Thats a great bit of Kit Bo and not badly priced.

The Bar or Dot Mode would be work well for Bracket racing in Mod Bike.

There is no way you can race without one, banging it off the limiter isnt the best way of getting it down the track.

Gear Indcators are in the same boat, not necessary but a great asset for racing.

Shayne

[puppet]

shift light and gear position indicator standard on k5/k6 GSXR 1000 but hardly ever look at them.

[Large]

too busy looking at reflection in shop windows...

[fimpBIKES]

$90 gsxar? (plus $5 post)

i emailed the dude who makes em and he thinks it should be fine on your bike
mine is straight, and bbbbRR (colours that is)

[Razorback]

Good on ya Large.... I thought I was the only deekhead that does that LOL :D

[Eclipze]

Hi All... Tony from Ecliptech here. Heard about the thread. Hope you don't mind me chiming in to say hi [:I]

I've heard the comment about not needing a light to tell when to shift before, so nothing new. It's a fair bit more to it than that, but it does come down to how you use it. Certainly some people just wouldn't use it, but then again, it can also depend on the bike you ride. In fact, some of the shift lights that come on bikes are weak in attracting your attention, and you don't end up using them.

I'm not here to try a push anything, don't need to. There are heaps of people that have bought them, some of which have come back for their third unit. One place in the UK sell thems for $284, and people still buy them, so $165 in Oz is pretty good. Surprisingly, the majority aren't buying it for the bling! Below is a bit of text I wrote a couple of weeks ago, that gives a bit more insight in how it can be used.


quote:
As for its purpose, it depends on how you ride and what you want to get out of it. I had a guy this week send me an email. He fitted a shift indicator to his bike and won his class at the drag strip. Helped him concentrate on the staging lights while keeping the revs pinned high, then on consistent shifting. Thats not an example a lot of us would relate to, but there are many more.

The basic concept is to bring the tacho reading into use. It takes a couple of weeks to get used to 'seeing' it without consciously looking at it. You probably have rarely looked at your current tacho, simply because its too difficult to read while riding... particularly while accelerating. But there is a reason why on a lot of sports tachos takes a dominate position on the dash, being larger than the speedo. Because it's useful in getting the most for your engine.

Most people use it for gear selection, setting the lights to the RPM range where you have torque. No lights, shift down. Lots of lights, change up. Sure, you can hear and feel the engine, but it doesn't make you consistent. If your cruising on the highway and preparing to make an overtaking maneouver, do you change down 1 or 2 gears... sometimes a difficult call if concentrating on the traffic and your not accelerating/decelerating to feel the torque available. This can be particularly important if your running a turbo or limited torque curve.

Around the twisties, particularly in unfamiliar terrority, it can keep you running in the right gear. I found this particularly useful on the track, as entering a corner with revs too high will lend to running out of rev range, needing the power to exit (or course this happens 'before' looking through the corner). Really good when looking to pass, where you may not be following your practised lines. You might need to pick a gear up or down from normal to set up for the drive past, without running out of revs at the wrong time. Some people have found with this sort of riding, the sound of the engine is mixed with others and the consistency with changing gears is reduced.

People (including myself) have used it for running an engine in, where you want to vary the revs between two ranges and limit the top RPM during run-in. Some engines are more tone neutral and don't roll off on the power before the limiter. For example, a targa rally car used one because the engine was tone neutral and they kept bouncing off the limiter unintentionally. A mod'd TLR with no roll off in torque before hitting the limit found the progressive indication a neck saver.

Some people actually set it up for use as a kind of speed regulation. Usually you set 1 or 2 lights to be on around your cruising RPM, and if you start increasing with speed without realising you get that additional light come on. For example, in my car, cruising in an 80km/hr zone, if I get to 85km/hr the second light turns on.

So what it comes down to is having a tacho you can read in your peripheral vision, but what you use it for completely depends on where and how you drive. At the professional level, you'll find progressive shift lights on the V8's to forumla 1 cars... even Valentino's bike. I'm sure some people just wouldn't want to use something else, particularly if they have no benefit to seeing a tacho that they have never used before. But there are a lot of people that have discovered a purpose that suits them. Ultimately it provides engine information and facilitates consistency.

Hopefully that gives a good overview. If you want to see what people think that have bought them, check out some of the comments in the testimonials section on the website.

Otherwise... if you have any questions, your welcome to bug me as much as you like [:o)]

[NakedTurboBusa]

Turbo bikes..... must have!!!!!

As for the knockers.... your bikes rev to slow!!!!

[fimpBIKES]

offer withdrawn, i just fired it up again

fuck its cool :D

[Rocket]

Unless I can glue one to the inside of my helmet visor, i'm fucked.
Not enough space.
I guess I'll just have to stick to a single shift light.

Just another 'make up' tool guys.

Use it to 'make up' for a lack of experience of you're own bike :D


But then I also reckon that tyres aren't any good till you get rid of all those squiggly marks they come with. I think it's known as tread :D wotevathafueckthatis.

[Gsxar]

:( Damn got all excited for a minute, let me know if u change your mind Fimp[;).

[fimpBIKES]

mmm, you can have it i guess

it really does look cool, but the veypor does have a shift light already
pm your address and i will send u bank details

[Eclipze]

FYI, Found a couple of recent reviews here...

Streetbike Review…
www.streetbikereview.com

Alcester Racing 7's
www.alcester-racing-sevens.com/shift-i_shifltights.htm

Greeaaat, a motorcycle Journo got all excited about it. Well! I'm certainly impressed. ;)

Did he use it on his tourglide? Fwooaaar he'll be racing now :D

:D

PS do they also come with a down shift light[8)]?

[Eclipze]

quote:Originally posted by chalk10
PS do they also come with a down shift light[8)]?

Yep [^]

Setting the lights to start where the torque picks up will give you a point for downshifting.
Then no lights = down shift ;)

I usually find I downshift just a bit lower on the rpm from where the torque picks up, unless I'm fanging it [}:)]