A few days ago i made mention I was shifting into 6th around 50 to 55 MPH and many members replied saying I was shifting into 6th way too soon. Most said they didn't shift into 6th until they were driving past 65 and several members said they didn't shift into 6th until they were past 75MPH.

Well let me just say I respect your opinions ... you know your bikes and the Dyna is brand new to me. But since I got varied opinions I decided to check the owner's manual.

The suggested up-shift speeds in the owners manual for the dyna 6 speed are

First to second 15 MPH
Second to third 25 MPH
Third to forth - 35 MPH
Forth to fifth - 45 MPH
fifth to sixth - 55 MPH

I'm sure shifting after 55 is fine but apparently I wasn't shifting too soon according to the book. It didn't feel to me that I was lugging down the motor by "short shifting" at 55 MPH. ........ Guess i wasn't!

 

Glad to see you checked your manual, however, Heres what works best for me:
First to second 15 MPH
Second to third 25 MPH
Third to forth - 35-40 MPH
Forth to fifth - 50 MPH
fifth to sixth - 60-65 MPH
Remember that lawyers are involved with writing the manual and they know that the speed limit in many places are 65mph tops. So, to cover their asses, they aren't going to tell you to shift into sixth at or above the speed limit.

 

I have a new 2008 superglide, and do not even think about shifting to 6th till about 70mph....Never even put her into 6th till about 700 miles i guess. 5th gear feels great at 60 plus mph...55MPH in 6th gear in my opinion is lugging the motor for no absolute reason ! I cannot begin to tell you how many folks i see LUGGING the hell outta their harley engines...Not just folks with 6 speeds either. Personally in my opinion the manual is not quite right about shifting to 6th gear at 55mph.. 65 would be fine, but 55 is just too slow in my opinion.

For what its worth, all the suggested shift speeds are on the low side, and i do not over rev or dog my engine at all. Just my opinion. I typically shift to 2nd at about 20 mph etc.

 

You have a REAL good point about the lawyers and the posted speed limits!!
Definitely something to consider!!!

 

Assuming you have an '07 or newer, 55 mph in 6th gear is right around 2000 rpm...marginal at best. 1st to 2nd at 15 mph puts you at about 1250 rpm when you get into 2nd; 2nd to 3rd at 25 mph puts you at about 1550 rpm when you get into 3rd...way to low.

 

Ray... Try shifting into gears like ayebyte said then try shifting gears like you normally would. How do they feel? How do they sound? How was the performance? Just compair both methods and see how they compair...

Are you running stock exhaust??? B/c when you change to an exhaust you can actually hear at speed, you will notice a big difference in your shift points. Atleast i did anyways and so have my other buddies. I know before i upgraded to stage 1, i was shifting pretty close to where the manual said, also are you still in break in? B/c i think they say you should shift at lower rpms than you would with a motor that is broken in...

Just food for thought!

 

I never go to 6 till 65

 

Actually I have Rush slip ons and it has some Screaming Eagle upgrades, the bike is an 08 but technically it's used ... I'm the 2nd owner. The 1st owner bought it in the winter of 08, put some upgrades on it then the poor guy couldn't make his payments so it went back to the dealer, now she's mine. It now has a little over 2000 miles on it and of course has had the 1000 mile service. Even thought I'm the 2nd owner the bike is still very new and the warrantee is still good for another year and a half. .... Also when i picked it up they put it on the dyno to make sure everything was right because although it's still new it's broken in.

I can hear the bike (sounds awesome) but it's still very new to me, I've had it less than a week and my last bike was a VTX 1800 which had a bigger motor with a totally different sound and feel. So it's just a matter of me getting use to how it sounds and knowing the best speeds to shift for the motor and transmission. I'll get there :-) and I really appreciate all the advice!!

 

Here is what I found to work with my 2007 FXDSE

First to second 15-20 MPH 2800rpm
Second to third 40-45 MPH 2800rpm
Third to forth - 55-60 MPH 2800rpm
Forth to fifth - 70-75 MPH 2800rpm
fifth to sixth - 85-125 MPH 2800-3300rpm

 

6th gear at 65 mph.