Rebel 300 First Impressions #1 (I just got it today): The bike is a little faster than I thought. It has less vibration than I expected. It seemed less bumpy than my 500. My 500 has radials and steers and turns-in very light, so I thought I would have trouble with the 300’s harder steering, but it just took a few miles to become accustomed to it. The sound of the bike encourages short-shifting (shifting early) 😦 and low rpm riding, which will prevent you from knowing what the bike will do. It starts making a roar about 5,000 rpm and you have to overcome the tendency to shift up. I would encourage people to put a chart on the gas tank cap showing speeds at 4,000 and 8,000 rpm. Make yourself do 26 mph in 1st, 40 mph in 2nd, and 55 mph in 3rd. (The rev-limiter on the 300 is 10,900 rpm or 75 mph in 3rd gear.) The Rebel 300 needs a tachometer, much more than the 500 does. It sounds better than I expected. My opinion is that the 300 sounds best with the stock exhaust – so I will stick with that for now. One benefit is that if you rev it up, you will attract less attention. Sixth gear has plenty of power, so a 15 tooth front sprocket is a great choice if you are on the highway a lot.
Rebel 300 Second Ride – Impressions #2- when I hear the engine start to roar, it’s 5,000 rpm so I can shift up. Or wait for it to wind up more and shift up at 6 or 7,000 rpm. I don’t have to watch the speedometer anymore. If you have a Rebel 300, go 30 mph in 3rd gear and then, staying in 3rd gear, accelerate hard to 60 mph. It won’t hurt the bike. It is definitely quicker than I expected. (OK, the 500 accelerates 32% faster.) …. .. I’m already driving the 300 just as fast as I ride the 500, then tonight I found out the tires are only 15 PSI 😦 Maybe with the correct air pressure, I’ll be able to push a little harder tomorrow. … The transmission in my 300 shifts easier and more positive than my 500 – both upshifts and downshifts.
Rebel 300 fourth Ride – Impressions #3 – – Handlebar vibration actually adjusts the mirrors – it might help if I get new riser rubber washers – the original ones are 5.5 years old. …. I’m really impressed with the low rpm (3,000 rpm) torque of this bike. …. Sometimes it does sound like “just a single cylinder”, but if you accelerate around 4,000 or 5,000 rpm, it has a throaty sound a little like an old Triumph twin. You can hear it better if you lean your head to the right. (I’m not making this up – in parallel twins, the pistons go up and down together, so it can sound somewhat like a single cylinder.) I will be doing “Step C” of the muffler mod soon, and I hope I don’t lose that sound.
Thoughts after 10 days with a Rebel 300 – Impressions #4 – The Rebel 300 is faster than I expected. It is smoother with less vibration than I expected. It accelerates quickly enough to keep up with traffic even without revving it up. I think this is because it has excellent torque even at low rpm. The engine sounds more revved up than it actually is (someone needs to work on an engine resonance/vibration damper 😉). It starts sort of screaming around 55 mph, yet 80 mph is only 7,500 rpm, which the bike seems like it could maintain for a long while on the highway. Rev-limiter engages at 10,900 rpm. A 15 tooth front sprocket would reduce the revs some but it DOES NOT make a large difference – 7,500 rpm would be 85 mph instead of 80. I think a loud muffler would make all of this a LOT worse, but I haven’t experimented with that yet – waiting for my wife and daughter to be gone for a few hours. The Rebel 300 needs a tachometer, much more than the 500 does. …. edit …. Sometimes it does sound like “just a single cylinder”, but if you accelerate around 4,000 or 5,000 rpm, it has a throaty sound a little like an old Triumph twin. You can hear it better if you lean your head to the right. (I’m not making this up – in parallel twins, the pistons go up and down together, so it can sound somewhat like a single cylinder.) I will be doing “Step C” of the muffler mod soon, and I hope I don’t lose that sound. …. The transmission in my 300 shifts easier and more positive than my 500 – both upshifts and downshifts. …. The sound of the bike encourages short-shifting (shifting early) 🙁 and low rpm riding, which will prevent you from knowing what the bike will do. It starts making a roar about 5,000 rpm and you have to overcome the tendency to shift up. I would encourage people to put a chart on the gas tank cap showing speeds at 4,000 and 8,000 rpm. Make yourself do 26 mph in 1st, 40 mph in 2nd, and 55 mph in 3rd. (The rev-limiter on the 300 is 10,900 rpm or 75 mph in 3rd gear.) …. After you get used to it, you won’t have to watch the speedometer anymore – when you hear the engine start to roar, you know it’s 5,000 rpm, so you can shift up. Or wait for it to wind up more and shift up at 6 or 7,000 rpm.
Rebel500 