is 6th gear a "cruising" gear? or is it okay to snap that throttle back for hard acceleration in 6th gear going say 70 mph. i ask because in this case when i give throttle for acceleration it doesn't speed up as fast as it would in 5th gear going 70. so am i lugging my engine this way? should i keep her in 5th?

 

It's advertised as a "6-speed cruise" so I believe it. I raced a guy a few weeks back and dropped it into 6th too soon and he hung right with me. I think if I would have wound out 5th a little more I would have blown him away.

You're not lugging the engine by doing it. Not much of a gear head so I don't know the particulars though.

 

I don't get any lugging unless I'm under 2500 rpm and that happens more at slow speeds. I don't use 6th unless I'm over 60-65 mph. I try to run my motor around 2500 or more. Do you know what lugging is?

 

yes that putt putt kind of metal to metal souind you get at lower rpms.

 

On my last bike with a six speed (not a HD tranny but an HD EVO engine)I used 6th gear for acceleration all the time but I was flying at the timeIshifted into 6th (no speedo or tach so I have no idea how fast I was going).

On my 07 Street BobI find I need to be closer to 70 mph or above before I put it into 6th gear when just crusing around. Below that the bike tends to bog down and I lose speed - lugging seems to start at around 60 mph and below. Now I will say when I am winding the bike out and shift into 6th around 90 mph or more, 6th gear definitely becomes a gear where the engine is in the proper power band and the bike continues to accelerates hard. I wouldn't worry about accelerating hard in 6th if you are at 70 mph's or above - I would not feel comfortable doing it below 65 mph.I would tend to downshift then.

 

Yeah, I don't throw it into 6th unless over 60 MPH. The engine lugs and it is audible if under/around 60. However, I usually shift into 6th as I hit 70 MPH. Like EVO80 said accelerating hard from 70 MPH onward (have only hit 100 MPH) in 6th feels good. Its pretty fun though under 70 to drop it in 5th.

 

I find 6th gear to be all but useless below 70mph. Great for interstate runs though. If you can reach top speed in that gear, it will take forever. When I'm winding it tight, I shift to 5th at 100mph and don't even use 6th.

 

The last ride I took was 100 miles @ 50 to 60 mph (2 lane slow road) at 55 I kept it in 6th
just my .02 worth D/C

 

Downshifting to 5th from 70 mph is fine. I believe there's a rev limiter anyway so if you wind it out, it'll just stay there until you shift again.

 

I don't even hit 6 until I am 80 mph or better. Behind that mph, it is prety much useless IMO. I can take 5th up to around 95-100, if need be. If I'm in heavy, high flow traffic and they are ansy to get to work I save that extra gear. I like to be able to get out of my own way, even at that speed.