I wouldn't mind having one on my wr250r just for the sole purpose of not trying to shift into seventh gear all the time.

 

Lol - now that I can actually understand

 

Never had one and haven't ever felt the need for one.

 

I've never had one at least I don't think my zx6r has one. I too can tell what gear I'm in by the tach and feel of the engine. Only time I want one is when I'm on a new bike until I get a good feel for where each gear sits at certain speeds mainly on the highway.

 

The gear indicator on my 14 is in the top right hand corner. It is just quicker an easier to glance at that than at the tach. Now as to its use? It depends. Below about 5k the engine and chassis is so vibe free that I can't really tell by feel where the engine is at. And the stock exhaust is quiet enough that I can't hear it at highway speeds.


There has been several times that I downshifted a couple times to go through a town and then sped back up only to realize a few miles later that I am still in 4th gear.

 

shift indicator YES

gear indicator NO


who has the time to be glancing down wondering if your in one gear or another??

I know what gear im in based on experience. its a useless function for me.

 

my zx6r has a shift indicator and I don't even know where it is lol.

 

My current bike has a gear indicator but 95% of the time I don't use it. It was useful having a gear indicator on my GT125r because I was constantly trying to find 6th gear with only a 5 speed gearbox

 

I bought a GIPro for my bike. I love it!
I absolutely hate easing down the highway and not knowing. I hate to shift 6th to find out if I'm in 5th or 6th. I'm anal and just like to know without using any processing toward wondering.
Under most conditions it's unnecessary but on that rare occasion I want it, there it is.

Much like a firearm, or having TP in my tank bag, I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

 

No, I have never owned a bike with it; but I can see why some people might like it and want it, trying to find that overdrive gear that never exists on any motorcycle.

On what could be a similar note, I wish more newer models came stuck with Analog Speedometers and Analog Tachometers set; with a digital readout for all of the other things (Odometer, Oil temp/pressure, Water temp, Voltage, etc).

 

I prefer a digital speedo and an analog tach

• I don't need precision in a tach, since it moves too quickly anyway
  
• I do need precision in a speedo, since cops have raging hard-on's for sportbikes and it's so easy to vary 3~4 mph

 

I prefer a digital speedo and an analog tach

I don't need precision in a tach, since it moves too quickly anyway

I do need precision in a speedo, since cops have raging hard-on's for sportbikes and it's so easy to vary 3~4 mph

^^^ This.

Albeit, I don't mind my analog speedo so much. But I have a strong dislike for digital Tachs. I don't know why, they just rub me the wrong way.

 

I think a gear indicator is a nice and convenient feature, but I would never pay money to add one to my bike. If it comes from the factory, great, otherwise, I can count to 6.

 

I hate the tach on my zx6r however the spedo is night as is the rest of the display.

Digital tachs suckzors

 

I "grew up" without even a tach or a gas gauge/low fuel light! I'm lucky I had two wheels!

I am good without and don't use the one I have on the ninja. I am glad I didn't come to depend on it when i was learning, one less thing to look down at while riding.

 

You grew up? I don't believe it.


My 2nd street bike had one. I did get used to it but never came to depend on it. My current bike has one and it is more of a confirmation than anything. I can't stop myself from looking at it since I do pay attention to the other gauges, but I don't need it.

It has been useful when someone else has to ride my bike though. Like the last time it was in the shop I forgot to tell the tech the shift pattern is reversed. He was puzzled for a moment until he looked at the gear indicator and realized he had put it in 6th and tried to take off.

 

I should also add that my bike doesn't come with a tach, so I can't really judge what gear I'm in based on speed & rpm.

 

I almost never look at the tach and I still know what gear I'm in although dirt bikes are probably different.

 

For generally knowing what gear I'm in between 1st and 6th, I have no use for an indicator. The feedback from the engine is all I need to know if I'm in the "right" gear, even if I don't specifically know what gear that is. Now for letting me know that I'm already in 6th, so there's no point trying for 7th, that would be handy, but I wouldn't be willing to pay for it in any way, shape or form.

 

pretty much sums my opinion up on this topic.

i usually count my gears when i'm on the highway so i keep in mind when i'm in 6th or not but there are times when i forget to keep track and it's annoying to go and upshift to nothing ...

 

Maybe I'm in the minority, but this bike is the first I've had with a gear indicator, and I love it. Just riding around town, I shift based on sound/feel, but then I'm cruising down the road and don't remember if its 2nd or 3rd I'm in. Not that I suppose it matters, but I just like it.

 

It took me a bit to get back used to riding and not looking for the nonexistent 7th lol

 

I would like a digital speedo (to stay legal) and an analog tack.

The gear indicator would be nice to have, I also try to shift into 7th a lot, I tend to shift without thinking about it these days, and when cruising around, I know certain turns are 2nd gear turns, it would be nice to know if it's 2 or 3 clicks down.

 

The PO put a GIpro on my 1098, and I'll admit it's kinda neat and I do actually look at it here and there. I'd never actually spend money to add it though. I still shift by feel and sound, and really only use the indicator to tell me if I'm in top gear or not when cruising.

It's neat, but really just a novelty.

 

^^Dislike because you have a 1098s................

 

My third bike had a gear indicator and I loved it. My current bike doesn't have one and I wish it did. I'll go into a turn thinking I'm in 4th when Im actually in third, downshift twice and end up in first.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Motorcycle.com Free App

 

Imo, the more torque you have the easier it is to get lost in what gear you're in. On my old Ninja 500 I never had to wonder, really. Same with the SV, for the most part. On my old ZZR1200 and especially on the ZX-14R I just demoed sometimes if I wasn't paying attention, again, especially on the 14R I had no fucking clue what gear I was in because the bike wanted to tear my arms off in ALL of the gears. Combined with a stock exhaust you really had to wonder :headscrtch which gear. (The 14R has a gear indicator. My ZZR didn't.)

 

I would have like to have one on my CBR600. About once per track day I found myself thinking, "Hmmm. Am I in third or fourth?"

 

I always downshift sequentially as I decelerate for a stoplight. I prefer not to downshift into first, which can be abrupt. Without a gear indicator, I sometimes do.

For the upshifts, I often test the gearshift lever without the clutch. If there is resistance, I have another gear; no resistance and I'm already in the top gear. Maybe only the 650GS does this.

- John

 

My BMW's both had gear indicators and I found the information to be quite handy. It's information just like the speed or the temp or anything else. If you need to know it then it's nice to have it there. It's not like anyone rides around staring at the thing.

On the track the indicator is even more useful (although my track bike doesn't have one). When you're just poking around town it's not that big a deal to be in the wrong gear and it's less likely since everything is happening so slow. When you're pushing it however things are little more frantic. There are a lot of times where you're ripping through the gears and you're not 100% sure if you dropped from say 5th to 2nd or maybe 1st (did you grab an extra shift in there?). There isn't time to fiddle around with letting the clutch out a little to see if the engine starts screaming and you sure don't want to dump that clutch thinking you're in 2nd when it's in 1st - trust me on that one. If there is any doubt then a quick glance at the console to check would be very useful. There is a really good reason that the biggest number on the console for those SBK and MotoGP bikes is the gear indicator.

It's there to make the bike easier to ride, nothing more.