RidingTheRockies said:
It's all about throttle! 1/8 throttle low range, 1/2 throttle mid range, and WOT high range.
I would consider it to be all about RPM, regardless of throttle setting or the gear you are in.
If you are in too high a gear, going slow and open the throttle wide you are still going to have the "low end" response from your engine.
How the engine response ultimately effects you may depend on the gear you are in. If you are in first gear and on flat ground the bike will accelerate very quickly and pass from "low to mid to high" very quickly. If there is any "bog" during this transition it would be very noticable.
In the higher gears the transistion between "ranges" is much slower and you may not experience any ill effects that are the result of a sudden change. If you have a range that just doesn't work, however, the higher gears can really suffer. For example, in first gear you might survive lugging the engine where in 3rd gear you might just come to a stop.
Rod