HI.
Been riding my 2009 FXDL for a month and my first Harley. Question I have is what RPM is luging. When cruising at RPM range of 1800 to 2300 is that to low a rev range for the V Twin?
Thanks

 

My last bike had a tach and I found that I mostly cruised anywhere from 2500-2800 rpm most of the time. I would say 1800 is low and probably lugging depending on what your doing.

 

I've noticed that in 4th, 5th, or 6th gear, when I approach 2000 rpm my bike wants a lower gear. Not so much in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd.

 

Anytime your bike/motor "chugs" like a diesel engine...it's lugging. Depends on what gear you're in & speed you're cruz'n. For me it's mostly sound/feel & you'll definitely know when the engine's lugging.

 

Yup! There's no magic number to look for if you have a tach, use your body to "feel" the bike, and use your ears. Because it's a different answer based on a lot of variables.
*Are you riding solo or 2-up?
*Incline?
*Headwind?
*Even the particular gas you just put in your tank. Yesterday I was out for a whole day ride with my wife on the back....we were out in the country...came up on a no-name gas station when I needed it..had horrible gas, my engine was lugging and running like **** and I found for going up hills I was having to keep the revs up a lot more than usual.

With time, you'll learn where your engine is happy.

 

Aptly put!

 

If I let her go down to 2200 She is on the boarder line. 2500 to 2800 and I'm well safe of it lugging.

 

If you have to downshift to accelerate smoothly, you're probably lugging.

 

As others stated, it depends on the gear.
It is much easier for the motor to gain speed in a lower gear. The gear ratio does the hard work.
Let's say in 1st you have a ratio of 5:1 much easier to twist the wick and go from 1500 RPM to 3000
Try that in 3rd or higher and it is very hard on the motor where you have let's say a 2:1 ratio. The motor cannot rev up as easily and you overwork the engine, and can possibly cause damage.
You will also find she runs much smoother in the 2500-3000 range than she does below 2200, at least for most stock motors.
It is also much less efficient at those lower RPM's and will most likely get worse gas mileage as well.

 

An old mechanic once told me," never run these engines below 2000 RPM", still works for me.