What a great forum this is !
After a 50 year break from riding, I once again feel the wind in my face. So I am definitely a novice once again. I bought a 2015 Tri Glide in April. My question is about (generally speaking) which gear to ride in at what rpm. I was told by the dealer that I wouldn't need 6th gear until above 55 mph. I have come into 50mph zones that might go on for a mile or more and I'm still in 6th and rpms are 1900-2100. Are my rpms too low? I could downshift into 5th but then I'm running higher rpms. I'm trying to train my ear so I don't have to watch the tach but I worry about 'lugging' and doing harm to it. And I guess the same goes for all gears (except 1st maybe). What's the lower limit on rpms?
Thanks

 

On my brand new Breakout, I've been keeping the rpms between 2000 and 2700. I have 120 miles on her now and have made several 3500 rpm run ups. Just keep it above 2000 and you will be fine.

You're not going to hurt the bike. Just remember to not ride at the same rpm for for long periods of time.

Your owners manual explains what to do during break in. I just ride like normal, except I keep my rpms up a bit for the first 500 miles.

 

I usually ride in the 2000 to 3000 rpm range in all gears. I only use 6th gear over 65 mph.
You can tell by the sound of the engine if you`re lugging it.

 

Down shift to 5th gear.

 

I wait until the shift light goes on.

 

3rd gear on my bike doesn't go over 3000rpms until I hit 50 mph. I'd say definitely run at over 2000 rpms. Grats on the new purchase.

 

This is a good read on RPM: http://www.reddit.com/r/Harley/comme..._lugging_your/

I always want to be in a gear that will let me effectively use the power that's available, the last thing you want is to need a quick throttle response and be in too high a gear. Once the bike is fully warmed up I tend to shift at 3500 - 4000 RPM and cruise around 3000. During the occasional group ride I can and have used 6th gear at 60 MPH on long flat roads but realize I'd need to rev-match down to 5th or 4th for any actual power, on more technical roads I'll be in 2nd or 3rd with the RPM's up so I can get a smooth continuous throttle roll-on through curves.

Don't be afraid to run her up in the RPM range, these engines are tough and you're not going to do any damage


Edited to add: yea, I'm one of the MotoTune break in believers http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

 

I usually keep my rpms right around or above 2000 for all roads and speeds.

If I am riding at 24 - 2500 and can shift up, I will as long as the rpms don't go lower than around 2000.

The bike seems to run good there.

 

I usually run around 10mph-1st gear, 20-2nd, 30-3rd, 40-4th. 50-5th, 60-6th.

thinking you trike has lower gears so you could prob run a little less mph in each gear.

 

I typically upshift at ~4k and downshift at ~3k on my Dyna.