Gear Indicator

[Duck n Dive]

as has already been mentioned, Suzuki had them on their triple range (GT380/550/750) in the seventies, built into the dash.

If they were really needed then why not have them on cars?

Regretably ... I have to say my current car does indeed have one set in the intrument display.

When you take it out of auto the lever works as a push fwd to change up a gear, pull back to change down a gear and the ickle display tells you which gear is active.


I'm certainly not against them - nor am I slagging off those who like them .. I just feel personally that it's more important to be able to feel/tell which gear your'e in.

If you really must look at something what's wrong with the rev counter & speedo.

:dunno:

If a quick glance at that still leaves you unsure then ..............


and that's why I wondered if it was low miles folks (on the 'bird) who found it difficult to tell simply because they hadn't yet got the feel for the relationship between revs vs speed.

Not having a go, just my simple brain struggling to understand :-0)



ps .. I did appreciate it on the GT380 at first .. but after a couple months I was used to the bike and didn't need to look at it......

 

[Wolfie]

Anything that give you one less thing to think about adds to safety so is good in my book.

If you are approaching a situation fast you can forget which gear your in and end up looking silly so a glance at the gear indicator will let you quickly get in the right one.

so looking at a gear thing whilst approaching a situation fast is good safety, shit i would want to be looking at the road, and by the every fact that it is there it automatically becomes something else to think about thus therefore making it less safe than a bike without one.

 

[Duck n Dive]

so looking at a gear thing whilst approaching a situation fast is good safety, shit i would want to be looking at the road, and by the every fact that it is there it automatically becomes something else to think about thus therefore making it less safe than a bike without one.

Agreed ... thta's the bit I don't get either.

I can understand the confusion about a gear for a rider who is new to a particular machine or doesn't do enough miles in a year to really get an automatic natural instinct for it ....

what I really don't get is how on earth for an experienced rider it can be a "safety item" ....

You gotta be looking at the road & hazards ... and if someone gets bogged down attempting an overtake etc 'cos they're in the wrong gear then ..... yikes .. are they using the right form of transport




Now if someone were to tell me that wanted one as they thought it was cool in a blingy way then I'd say .. yep .. can understand that ... goes with fake carbon levers etc. :yo:




:-0)

















p0pc0rn41

 

[Tribal-Wolf]

so looking at a gear thing whilst approaching a situation fast is good safety, shit i would want to be looking at the road, and by the every fact that it is there it automatically becomes something else to think about thus therefore making it less safe than a bike without one.

It's easy to forget and also easy to see. So I would say yes a glance and you know where you're at. Aren't most gauges just visual aids? I mean we don't need fuel gauges, temp gauges, tachos etc. All I'm saying is they are something you can do without but are also useful.

 

[Duck n Dive]

............ Aren't most gauges just visual aids? I mean we don't need fuel gauges, temp gauges, tachos etc.

Yep .. but I don't think I'd be looking at any of those while actually manouvering .. still less in some sort of hazard/safety risk situation


:cry:

 

[ScottyUK]

If they were really needed then why not have them on cars?

I've got a manual car and on the dash one of the modes also displays this .... along with telling you which gear you should be in!

It of course doesn't work as it only considers optimum fuel consumption and not the fact that having control by being in the correct gear may be an advantage.

 

[Tribal-Wolf]

Yep .. but I don't think I'd be looking at any of those while actually manouvering .. still less in some sort of hazard/safety risk situation


:cry:

Maybe not but if you needed to know it would be handy to have it in front of you and it would be a glance not a flow blown stare.

All I am basically saying is more info at hand is not a bad thing.

 

[Duck n Dive]

Maybe not but if you needed to know it would be handy to have it in front of you and it would be a glance not a flow blown stare.

All I am basically saying is more info at hand is not a bad thing.

I will apologise now and say sorry ..... :k


and I promise to try and not yank chains any more on this one :-0)

 

[Quiney]

.............. I promise to try and not yank chains any more on this one :-0)

just as it was getting interesting p0pc0rn41


Also, I've still got my 1976 GT380 with working gear indicator, in the garage, alongside the Bird, and I won't be fitting a digi to the Bird!

 

[Duck n Dive]

Also, I've still got my 1976 GT380 with working gera indicator, in the garage, alongside the Bird, and I won't be fitting a digi!

Don't you dare tell me it's a red one b0x1


I keep looking when they come up for sale ... been tempted a few times

 

[Quiney]

Thread hijack

Its was resprayed black in the 80's, but I've got metallic blue tank etc ready for when I rebuilt it. But the red with gold coach lines was very nice!

 

[Duck n Dive]

Thread hijack

..... But the red with gold coach lines was very nice!

Thats the one .. must dig out an old piccy of it ...


:-0)


Might be a thread hijack .. but it's much more interesting :lick:

 

[Quiney]

Here you go - 1976 sales brochure

[/IMG]

Also just noticed that the red one is actually called 'Candy Gold' now there's a real coincidence as my Bird is Candy Glory Red
So the GT will have to go red in the rebuild!

 

[Duck n Dive]

This is the red mine was ..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZ-YcEbWpyo


and just to keep it "on thread" .. this ones shows the digi gear indicator :-0)


I still like the sound @tu*

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-Z5gaCMaUw&feature=related

 

[andyBeaker]

One of the things the digi gear indicator has I suppose made me more aware of is how early you can change down to lose speed. On my route home every night I leave the A2 at the Bluewater slip and was amazed to see that I was slipping down into 2nd while still doing well over 50mph heading for the roundabout at the top of the slip the other night.

I would never in a million years have believed that I was doing that, and the digi thing made me kind of realise. So what does that tell me - simply that dropping into second at over 50 going into that particular roundabout on a dry day with no traffic in front of me was the right thing to do.

Might be dropping into 3rd at 30 on another day depending on what is going on around me.

Or just dropping it if I worry too much about the digi gear indicator:-0)

By the way, my Volvo:bow: has a 6 speed auto and there is a mode that will display the gears on the dash real time. No use whatsover, other than maybe driving in snow or on ice. That I don't do. So it is no use whatsoever unless you want to see if you can drive as economically as possible...........which doesn't necessarily mean being in top gear all the time.

On the plus side, the blue readout of my Acumen unit matches the paint on the Bird a treat......................

 

[dave boyce]

Mmmm..... GI don't need one very rarely touch 5th or 6th gear on a ride out unless I'm on the motorway,2nd gear for 30 to 40 limits 3rd 4th everywhere else.If you use the the revs (you've got 10,000 in each gear)you always have plenty of power on hand for an overtake,if you haven't knock it down one:dunno:.Or for those who ride around in top everywhere knock it down 3.....

 

[Smix]

I only ever wanted a gear indicator when changing down to lower gears to check if I had 3rd or 2nd - just so I didn't get 1st on the next change down.

Since the GI takes a second or three to update, its basically useless for that, so I learnt to work it out for myself! (Well, I already had as the first bird didn't have one!! Second Bird came with one fitted)

It was useful on the Blade as I'd never ridden anything other than the bird then, and I did find myself in the wrong gear, but usually a case of not using the top couple - still no use for what I'd like it for.

Don't have one on the TLs and won't be getting one :-0)

But if people find them useful, thats fine - for me, they just don't work fast enough to be useful where I might want them bl4hbl4h

 

[Wolfie]

I only ever wanted a gear indicator when changing down to lower gears to check if I had 3rd or 2nd - just so I didn't get 1st on the next change down.

Since the GI takes a second or three to update, its basically useless for that, so I learnt to work it out for myself! (Well, I already had as the first bird didn't have one!! Second Bird came with one fitted)

It was useful on the Blade as I'd never ridden anything other than the bird then, and I did find myself in the wrong gear, but usually a case of not using the top couple - still no use for what I'd like it for.

Don't have one on the TLs and won't be getting one :-0)

But if people find them useful, thats fine - for me, they just don't work fast enough to be useful where I might want them bl4hbl4h

and there was me about o say that they were for girls.:bang::bang:

 

[Smix]

and there was me about o say that they were for girls.:bang::bang: