Ditto
I use the tach more than the speedometer, I wouldn't ride a bike without one. As for sound of engine my pipes are so loud can't hear the engine if I wanted to.

 

use your revs

 

I never watch the tach at low speed around town, it's easy to tell if the motor is running freely. It doesn't take a lot of power to move a bike at a constant 30 or so mph so why would you want to rev a vtwin with virtually no load. If you need to accelerate quickly then of course you need to get the motor into the power band by downshifting.

 

On my UC I usually shift up between 3300-3500 and anything under 2000 is lugging.

 

When to shift up or down depends on the load the bike is under. Are you carrying a passenger? Are you going up or down a hill? Are you expecting to slow down or speed up in the next few seconds? The speed and gear you're in also affects the load the bike is under, doing 30 mph in a 25 mph zone can be done at lower revs. I like to ride at RPMs that allow me the option to speed up or slow down without shifting if traffic does that same.

 

That is they way I ride..never in a hurry...even the Vespas beat me off the light lol

 

These are considerations also. Not mentioned much, though. Going up an 8% grade obviously changes the RPM you need to be in vs flat or descending. I'll let the revs drop if I'm going on the flat or expecting to be slowing or stopping. Uphill, I'll get her more wound up. On the 5 speed trans, sometimes 25 MPH speed limits in town can put me in between gears for good RPM. Second is a bit too low of a gear and third is lugging a bit.

 

Yep. I experience the same thing. Do I speed 10 over in 3rd at 35 mph or do I ride like a slug at 25 mph in 2nd? There doesn't seem to be a sweet spot for 30 mph.

 

When I ride cross country on two-lanes I like to ride through towns and not even take my feet off the highway pegs - just leave her in 5th and roll along along at 30. Any slower than that and she starts to complain (my King, not my wife). Then I just roll it back on slowly and work my way back up to cruising speed - 55 or 70 or whatever. Always puts a smile on my face. Definitely avoid lugging the motor - I have a carb - you can tell easily if motor isn't happy. If it doesn't like it (too slow, or maybe a hill, or whatever) then I just click down (usually two in a row) and i'm on my way.

I've been riding harleys for a while. I read somewhere a long time ago that the MoCo built the old ones to do just what I described - back before there were freeways. The whole idea was to be able to just roll along across America and leave the bike in 4th gear. I read that. Figured I'd give it a try. And I like it.

 

I do that on my Kawasaki Concours 6 speed. it is very happy to get you roll into town at 30-35 in 6th, then just speed up leaving town, never leaving 6th gear. I wish my Harley had the same capabilities.