Simple!

First, neutral, second, third, fourth, fifth!

 

When i take my sportster on the highway here in Ontario it's a nightmare. I find the bike isn't a bike for the highway. I enjoy riding my sportster 72 around 80km/h and thats about it. when i get up to a hundred it's just uncomfortable. I suppose if you put a shield on it then it wouldn't be a problem but in my opinion it would look ridiculous. I don't recommend the bike for highway driving or any kind of driving above 80km/h. I put a tank lift on mine also so i only get about 75km per tank of gas. Something to keep in mind if you ever go on long drives with friends.

 

The lack of 6th is not an issue. Either one of those two will handle freeway speeds. Of course a windshield helps on this and most any bike at those speeds. Break in and stage 1tune will make it even smoother. Don't expect much from the stock seat, but I have found that to be true of all but 1 bike I have owned over the last 32 years.

 

My custom is great on the freeway...especially after adding all of the stage 1 goodies plus Vieds. Is it as comfy as a touring bike? No. But, I love riding it a highway speeds.

FWIW...when I test rode the 1200T, I felt totally cramped and literally couldn't wait to pull back into the dealership so I could get off of it. I'm short, too...5'7". When I got on the custom, it was like night and day difference...I felt comfortable right away.

 

Don't deceive yourself, *ied's are not working in open loop mode. And you go into open loop mode every time when you open your throttle a little bit more.

 

It's called sarcasm.

 

I rarely leave 4th before 65, and I am perfectly comfortable at 80 in 5th on the freeway. I say, No Problem! And my 1200 c is Stock on engine, transmission, and pipes.

 

I considered he 1200T for a brief moment. Great bike with a lot of extras for a good price. The lower stance.,seat, and mid controls is what killed the deal for ,me.
Bought the Custom and threw bags, windshield, Kuryakan mini floor boards, and a bunch of extra stuff on it. Now its set up as a mini bagger, and handles America's fourth largest freeway traffic with ease. Cruising at 75 mph is a breeze.

 

I own a 2015 1200T and have put on 3,528 miles in 3 months of ownership. I use my bike for light touring and work just as you plan on doing.

When I'm cruising at 60-70 mph my bike is turning 3,000 to 3,300 rpm. In that speed/rpm range, I get a moderated vibration when accelerating, and little vibrating when cruising. At first I thought: "great vibrations at 65--the speed limit," but find myself mostly cruising at 70-75 where there is no vibrations. In fact at any speed above 70 mph I feel no vibrations and the images in my mirrors are clear. I also noticed that the vibrations are diminishing the more my bike get broken in. I read about others saying the same thing: more miles=less vibrations. One writer of a 1200T said all the vibrations went away. I want that to be true, but I find that hard to believe. I don't even know why vibrations would subside with more miles. Do rings seat themselves and/or do parts polish into themselves that much? Anyways with 3,528 miles, the vibrations are barely noticeable in either the hand grips or the foot pegs, so I would say the 1200T will meet your needs as it certainly has meet mine. I love my bike!

kwn36 mentioned the 1200T being cramped and the 1200C was not. That is because the 1200T comes stock with further forward mid controls VS the 1200C's forward controls. That makes for a big difference indeed. I also did not like being cramped and didn't like how I had to lift my entire foot to shift with the further forward mid controls. When I put on forward control, the cramps and the awkwardness of the shift lever went away--It was like day and night--forward controls rule on a Sportster!

One final note: Don't worry about the top end speed of the 1200T. My bike ran very smooth and vibration free right up the 106 mph I got it before my wife slapped me to slow down. The needle was climbing rapidly and I have no doubt that I could have pegged the 120 mph speedometer.

 

You want to commute buy another Honda. Or a Yamaha. Fury and Stryker both perform and look great on the highway.

Sell the Phantom and buy a Sportster, or a Dyna for joy of riding.

Sportsters are not the first choice for commuting, whatever the owners tell you.