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7th Gear Unit

V

Victor Salisbury

Member
Member
Well, what can I say? Wow, I just installed the 7th gear unit from Steve the 'Shleper of the 7th gear units'. Hat's off to ya Steve. :) I wont reiterate what Slybones penned earlier other than to say, yeah, what he said. Mainly around town commuting to work the last few days, couple of high speed runs. RPM's obviously lower (by 500), vibes seem less noticeable but the bike just feels like it should running through the gears. I'll have better feedback after the Conc ride Paulie is putting on the 31st. Also with passenger feedback since the daughter is also going. Thanks again Steve!!! Not to shabby for a launmewer mecanic ;p
 
Go ahead, reinterate. I might have missed something. I have gotten in some freeway riding lately with the sunny weather we have had. ( thank goodness for electricity and the vest/gloves they power ). Anyways she really purs on the freeway. I am finding I have to relearn to accelerate onto the freeway down the on-ramps. I am used to the sound of reving to about 4K and shifting through the gears nice and easy. This used to put me at about 65-67 range as I hit 6th. Just fast enough for our 60mph limit in town, but not too fast. Not quite ticket risking. Now I am hitting traffic at more like 70+ close to 75. Too fast for the 60mph limit. A ticket waiting to happen. Need to learn to stop at 5th gear when getting on freeway and shift to 6th as needed. 2003 Concours, 46K COG #6953 IBA 28004 http://mysite.verizon.net/slybones/Concours/connieMain.htm
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Vic, Where can I find information on the 'Shleper of the 7th gear units' ? Especially Description and where to obtain one. Thank You
 
Steve, Email Steve Sefsick at Ssef59@tampabay.rr.com Basically he swaps out the gearset in the bevel gear housing which in turn lowers the engine rpms to mph. Slybones has his report at http://www.cog-online.org/clubportal/mboards/viewmessages.cfm?clubID=1328&forum=1406&Topic=15384 Hopefully Steve will kick in here in a minute. Slybones, I'm turning in for now but I'll post back my thoughts in the next few days? Take care all, I have a couple of 12+hr days ahead, yipeeee
 
Vic - glad to do the unit for you, I'm looking forward to your impressions after the conc Republic ride. My findings are that the longer you ride the 7th gear unit, the more you like it. I still have alot of folks who want it, surprising given the current economy - but I'm glad folks like it and want it! Steve Shleper of the 7th gear unit and performance exhaust cam sprockets. My bike - "SHOODABEN" - 1109cc's of what an 04 concours "shoodaben"!
 
Vic,all: Have fun on that ride. Now's a good time of year to go. I got the time but not the dinero! I'll be interested in fuel consumption with that 7th gear mod. After riding all day and evening for 700 miles last month I got 40-42 mpg cruising 'round 80-85. A 7th gear will probably make a couple mpg difference, let alone the sound/comfort/fatigue level. Phil '00 'lectric COG #5879
 
Well a couple of quick observations before the road trip tomorrow. Around the neighborhood, upshifting thru the gears is more,,,,let's say,,,,relaxed? Riding the local streets, again more relaxed upshifting, doesn't seem such a harried process and sometimes I get to 5th and all is good. Before, I'd run up through the gears and be at 6th trying for 7th, no more, this is cool! Vibration is down for the road speed compared to before, well, because we are lowering the engine speed in relationship to the road speed. No clue on mileage, yet. I tended to run pretty,,,uh,,,smartly before so I don't really have a baseline to accurately compare. But I will calculate the numbers this weekend, of course it will be two-up, but I have a pretty good feel for miles per tank that I was running before. We'll see what happens.
 
I switch to reserve at 240mi so often its scary. My first full tank since the 7th gear unit I switched at 242mi. With my trip to Germany in Dec, the crappy weather and being off work, I have not been riding much lately. -- But I start back at the daily grind down I-405 tomorrow morning. So I suspect the Connie will start seeing daily duty again starting Monday. It will be good to get back in the saddle and start getting some miles in again. 2003 Concours, 46K COG #6953 IBA 28004 http://mysite.verizon.net/slybones/Concours/connieMain.htm
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I've had reports of +2 to +6 mpg. I ride my bike pretty "sporty" and it has the big bore kit, big carbs, etc. On our last 2 up ride I netted right at 40mpg, usually around 38 alone (how does that happen? a simple twist of the wrist!). I don't think the 7th gear alone is the fuel economy answer, in fact it might make your fuel bill go up - 'cus you want to ride more and further! Steve Shleper of the 7th gear unit and performance exhaust cam sprockets. My bike - "SHOODABEN" - 1109cc's of what an 04 concours "shoodaben"!
 
As mentioned above, I have switched to reserve at 240mi on the nose so many times its scary. I think 272 was my best ever, and I have never seen close to that since. Anyways 240 seems to be the average with a bit over 250-255 for solid freeway. But the daily commute nets me 240 a tank. Excluding the first tank after the 7th gear, 248 is my lowerst and 255 is the highest switch to reserve in many tanks of daily commuting. I have enough tanks on it two basically say my daily ride mileage is up 10mi per tank. At 6.0gal thats a 1.5mpg increase on the 7th gear unit. And thats in town freeway commute miles traveling 60-65 at best. So its not really using the 7th gear to its advantage. I have yet to make a 250+ mile freeway trip to see how that goes. So I report in at 1.5mpg increase with the 7tg gear unit. 2003 Concours, 47K COG #6953 IBA 28004 http://mysite.verizon.net/slybones/Concours/connieMain.htm
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Purely from a monetary point of view, it will take a few miles for return on investment. The "savings" is not significant. There are other benefits to the 7th gear unit. The "change" is. 2003 Concours, 47K COG #6953 IBA 28004 http://mysite.verizon.net/slybones/Concours/connieMain.htm
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clearly it's a matter of riding style and demands, seems like folks are pretty pleased with the change in general, I tend to ride high in rpm and don't do many highway miles, kinda like feeling and hearing the engine working. it would be nice though to drop the rpms down when doing extended miles at 80 mph and above
 
I've had guys contact me about getting a 7th gear unit and when I ask about thier riding style I've talked them out of it. If you ride secondary roads at 55 - 60 mph, or are primarily a mountain rider, there's no benefit. however if you're a commuter on the highway, or pack on the mikes regularly, then the 7th gear is pretty cool. Here's a good test if you may be a candidate or not - do you find yourself looking for 7th gear regularly, if so, you'ld like it! steve Shleper of the 7th gear unit and performance exhaust cam sprockets. My bike - "SHOODABEN" - 1109cc's of what an 04 concours "shoodaben"!
 
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