Seems to me that constantly running at high revs is going to reduce the life of your engine.

 

that is not an intelligent way to shift at all... 5th gear should be clicked in around 48-50 that puts me around 2000 - 2500 RPM's if not you are racing your engine... why?... if you want to hot rod the bob, then build a hot rod motor... i am not telling you how to ride cause god knows i ride with some people that do not care what they do to their bikes, thy just pound on them... never the less i would not tell anyone that is how your ride a HD... if you did not want the vibration you should have gone with a slop tail and got the counter balanced motor... much smoother... rubber mounts convert power much better to the tire but in turn cause a vibration.. or as my girl will tell you... makes a harley a haaa haaaaa haaaaaaarly!

 

I remember when Harleys only had 4 gears. Period.

 

and you shift them on the sides with levers, and had spark advancers... ha ha ha took me about an hour just to figure out how to MOVE!

 

Actually, I even remember a few 3 speeds. One was where you pulled in the clutch, held it, and twisted that whole grip area for the three gears.

And they really about screwed me up when they moved the rear brake to the right side. With a gear pattern of 1 up, 3 down, it tends to screw you up while trying to show how fast your bike is. Screeeeeeeeetch!

 

may be we all have read this https://www.hdforums.com/forum/showp...45&postcount=1. well that guy shifts to 6th quite early huh?

@canyonwlf7

my '04 fxdx only has 5gears & the ratio is slightly longer than the new 6speed transmission. I occassionaly ride my dad's '07 ultra and i almost never use its 6th, some times i forget that there is the 6th, u know, being used to older version. Shifting up to 6th at 60mph the rpm drops too low, i dont want that, so i stay on 5th. that's the 'safe zone' for me, eazy cruising but still able to overtake those lazy freakin' bump cars easily. Crusing at 55-60mph on 5th is still more economical and chillin than on the 4th.

i've gone 100mph at 5th (top) on my previous '01 nightrain, almost reached its top speed, u know what, my ***** felt like jiggling on a 10.0 earthquake in my jeans!

any bike is the same i guess, my way is when i hear the engine revs high then i shift up, i dont always look at the speedometer, dont wanna miss what's important ahead.

Safe ride!

 

that is funny, hahaha...i'm not that old but i've seen those older bikes..what are they..the knuckle or the pan heads? theres no brake lever on the right hand grip on those bikes, is there?

 

I don't know about your fatbobs , but mine quite easily reaches 60 in third ,before the end of the power band.The manual suggests shifting into 6th @ 52 mph,I don't even think that is healthy for the motor,or the tranny. Why was this thread called "the secret to riding your fatbob"? I didn't know there was any mystery to it!

 

Man, lighten up. My StreetBob is my first ride and I am still a new rider. I don't know about being THE secret. BUT, I think his point is not a bad one but maybe not posited properly. I think everyone knows it, for most, that you don't to get into 6th gear a lot-unless of course on the interstate etc.. And as I have learned for the country roads and hiways I spend a lot of time on- I spent a lot more time in 5th where now I know my bike better I run the same situations in forth. Same for 4th and 3rd etc. My point and maybe what he was trying to say is that for him he has made a step to learning how to best run his bike. We all have different skill levels so when, as a newer rider I see some posts made that make fun of others it makes me want to stay away. I still have my times when I hit the tweeners- rpm's are up but do I upshift or stay? I'm still learning. Iv'e seen it posted before but if the post has no interest for you- DON'T respond man! Ride on!

 

I cruise mostly country roads and I can hit 50 mpg cruising 55 mph in 6th. I haven't tired that in 5th, but I doubt I'm going to get better fuel economy in 5th at 55 mph. When I'm on a twistie where I'm constantly accelerating and decelerating I run a lower gear. Whether that's 4th or 5th depends upon how low my speed is dropping on the curves and how long the straight aways are running.