[YamahaR3]

Ok, I know, I'm like an old paw-paw. I don't drive THAT slow, but I don't accelerate fast, although on long stretches I do over the speed limit regularly. My majesty red lined at 8K, if you did much over 6500 you were pushing the speed limit on any road in the USA. I shift my car at like 2000 rpm, my truck at about 2200 or so. I just am so scared to throw a rod on this bike shifting at 7K or higher. I took it on the highway and I was doing 65 at about 6K RPM or so, which would mean in normal commuting I shouldn't need to go above 6K by much, but my question is this, wouldn't it reduce the life of the engine to run it as hard as I see people running their bikes? It can't be good for it. I'm a licensed mechanic and recip engines are bastions of stress due to their nature. I don't know.

 

[alexstahp]

I'm no expert but i currently ride an 09 YZF R125 and when i need to go quick (70mph) that thing is constantly being shifted at red line (about 11k) or just a little under and its been fine since 09 so i cant imagine it being a major issue with the R3 i could be wrong though

 

[Zorfnab]

Yamaha has been making high-revving engines for a while now, and I'm pretty sure they've got the bugs worked out...

• The R3 engine is made using a lot of the tech developed on the R1 and R6. Those power plants have been beat on pretty heavily, and the tech is pretty solid.
• The R3 power powerband doesn't really start until around 9K, so effectively you are short shifting it at anything lower.
• The ECU is going to prevent you from doing anything too horrible by overheating or bouncing off the rev limiter. Not saying you can't do damage, but you will have to work at it.
• Last I checked, Yamaha was rated #1 in reliability by Consumer Reports (at least in the US). They don't make as many engines as Honda, but they still put out enough so that this rating has meaning.

The weakest link on the bike (or any vehicle) is the squishy bit inside the skull of the rider, usually due to under-use. Keep the bike serviced, ride within the boundaries of common sense, and the bike (and you) will live for a long time.

That said, both of my cars redline at the high end of 7K and it has taken a while to get adjusted to something revving up to 12K. For the first week or so I was shifting at 4K out of habit... 1200 miles later I am a bit more liberal with the throttle.

 

[H B]

High revving the engine will shorten it's life, no matter what.
Still, if a guy would constantly ride his bike between 8-11k RPM, he would probably manage to get (an estimated guess of) about 75k miles on his bike before the engine is really worn out.
If a guy does 3-6k RPM on his, he would probably get 100k miles out of his.

Either way, for many people that means about 8-10 years of riding experience.
The bike will rather be replaced because of being dated (and newer models are out), or because of the elements (rust), or other malfunctions with it.

To a certain degree, it is indeed better to rev low, even on high revving engines (as long as the engine still feels smooth, and you're not stalling it, or lugging it, by going like 25MPH in 6th gear or so)...