Two friends and I are going on a 3600 mile ride in about a month. It would be easy to question our sanity, since we're doing it on Softails. Two of us have 88's with 5 speeds (a '00 and a '03). The other has an '93 Softail (I think that has a 1340cc engine?).

My question is, what kind of highway speeds can we maintain without having to worry about damage to the bikes due to rpms (assuming no overheating, etc.)? When I first get out on the highway, it seems like anything over 70mph makes the engine sound pretty twisted up. As I get used to it, 75mph seems ok. I really never get used to the sound of 80mph.

Related to this, none of us have tachs, but if we did, what kind of rpms can you safely run for hours on end?

Thanks!

 

Just ride, you'll be ok.
3500 rpm would be no problem.

 

I had a '96 dyna glide with an 80 ci Evo and it liked cruising at 70 best. It would go faster, but the bike hit a real sweet spot at around 70 and liked it. My '00 Road King was an 88 ci twin cam w/5 speed and it liked going 75-80 best. You can feel the 88 breathe better than the Evo at higher RPMs.

One of the downsides of road tripping with others is that you need to decide on a mutual traveling speed. Your bikes will be loaded & running hard, but you should be able to cruise all day at 70 to 80. I'd do a lubrication change somewhere around mid-trip just to keep all your fluids doing their thing while maintaining viscosity and all that other hoopla.

Ride with Fury,

 

I normally run the interstates at 70-75mph. The reason being, that with my bike's windshield, it takes too much attention on my part to ride 80 or above. I will normally only hit those speed for brief periods, so I can get out of auto/truck 'packs', and build in a 'cushion'. I've ridden with guys that like to run consistently 80-85mph, but that's too fast for me on a sustained basis. The bike is really not the determining factor, IMO.

3200-3300 is right about where I keep the tach, and I've done this repeatedly on trips down I-75 from Michigan to Florida. I wouldn't be concerned abour running at those rpm's all day, every day.

If the three of you haven't ridden together much, I'd suggest taking a 100 mile run on the interstate. Just so you can 'calibrate' your speeds to each other. There's nothing worse, IMO, than going for a ride with someone, only to have them three miles infront. Or five miles behind.

 

Alternate who is leading the pack and talk about maintaining a constant speed. I once went on a ride and one of the riders always slowed down going up hills, sometimes by 10 mph and it drove me crazy. Decide on a speed and keep it at that speed unless safety or traffic dictates otherwise.

 

Don't question yer sanity...softails will handle that kinda trip easily...never understood why anyone thinks otherwise. I have an '05 Softail Deluxe that's pushin 64k...and, I just rode back from Torrey, UT to East TN (2000 miles) in three days, runnin 75-80 mph all day long...no probs.

 

I ride with one of the guys all the time. The other one started riding with us once we decided on this trip. We did about 430 miles last Saturday just to get a feel for things like gas mileage, etc. That ride was what brought up this question. We started doing about 70mph. By the time we were half way, it was more like 75mph. Then our pace creeped up to 75-80mph. By the end of the day, we were hitting 85mph occasionally.

The speed doesn't bother me. I just don't want to hurt the bikes when we are 1500 miles from home.

TequilaJohn, thanks! I was still doing ok after that 430 miles last weekend. The next day about all that was sore were my hands. They felt kind of numb for the first 30 minutes or so after I woke up. It would be nice to have a throttle lock just to shake out my throttle hand once in a while.

 

I have always heard 60% of the redline rpm is the maximum rpm for sustained speed without engine damage ..

True or not ?? Who knows ?? I've heard it all my life , and it has stuck for some reason ..

The BT's redline is 5400rpm I believe .. 60% is 3240 rpm , which oddly enuff on both my EVO Tour Glides seemed to be the sweet spot as well .. On those bikes , that worked out to abt 75-77 mph give or take a bit ..

The 08 Roadie , 3240 , well over 80 at 3240 .. But the 96" seems happy around 3500 , where the EVO's didnt so , who knows ??

 

I agree with this 100% and this is they way most of the guys I know ride.

 

+1 on this!! There's nothing more agrivating that riding w/ a person or persons that ride like they're on the back of a snail!! Especially if they're leading, but the flip side of that coin is most people (at least the ones I know) don't take kindly to being somewhat "forced" to ride above their comfort level. Come to a mutual agrmnt as far as common travelling speed.