I have an 83 Honda Magna V45 which has a light that says overdrive. When I shift into 5th gear, this light turns on.
What is overdrive and when should I use it while riding?
2007-06-05 05:03:24 · 8 answers · asked by AAcesUp 2 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Motorcycles
Overdrive is when the output of the transmission is faster than the input. It should only be used when you are driving at a high enough speed that the bike will not bog down when accelerating.
2007-06-05 05:09:14 · answer #1 · answered by Bob W 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
i have rode a lot of v45 and v65,s
and they all had 6 speed transmissions
the od light should tell you when you go to 6th gear
it just means a higher gear
if you are running 50+ and don,t need the extra power go to od
the trans ratio is probably higher than 1:1 but the ratio from the crank to the clutch lowers it so it is not as fast as engine rpm so i wouldn,t really consider it as an overdrive
if it really did convert to od such as in a car it wouldn,t be turning 5000 rpm,s at 70(approx) it would be closer to 1500 which would be way too high of a ratio
2007-06-05 22:25:21 · answer #2 · answered by re2345 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Overdrive is an old expression and it refers to the gear ratio on final drive being more than 1::1
Therefore the back wheel turns more than one revolution for each engine rev. The idea is that at highway speed you do not need all the engine torque that is available, but you need more speed. So you use it only at highway speeds where you do not anticipate much change in RPM
2007-06-05 10:11:34 · answer #3 · answered by Bill 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Any vehicle with overdrive is pretty much the same. It's the highest gear on the vehicle designed for high fuel economy. The trade-off is acceleration. If you tried to accelerate while in overdrive, even wide open throttle won't speed you up very quickly.
2007-06-05 08:04:17 · answer #4 · answered by lepninja 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It's the top gear of the transmission. 5th in your case.
It's just a stupid idiot light that Honda put on the V45 to increase it's appeal and boost sales.
Use 5th gear when you're cruising at 55mph+ and there is no need for speed, to increase gas mileage (the same as any bike).
Suzuki used to put gear indicator lights on their bikes to let you know what gear you were in.
It was for the dopes that couldn't count and keep track of what gear they were in.
2007-06-05 05:24:06 · answer #5 · answered by guardrailjim 7 · 0⤊ 3⤋
It's just a special feature light. It just basically means 5th gear. I had it on my Magna too. It's nothing special, use it when you'd usually use 5th gear.
2007-06-05 08:41:57 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Overdrive is 5th gear...simple.
2007-06-05 06:27:52 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
overdrive is short for LESS POWER NEEDED AND LESS FUEL USED,in short it is a fuel saving cruising gear when you are not needing more power.
2007-06-08 21:16:34 · answer #8 · answered by twisten 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋