Harley recommends those shift points for fuel economy and not performance. I shift my dyna when the motor tells me to. I measure mileage in smiles per gallon anyway. My dyna street bob doesn't even need to come out of 3rd in the city. I shift when the motor smooth's out so o land somewhere in the upper revs until I get to cruising speed then get er into 6th.

 

I have a 2012 Iron and found this thread interesting because I pay close attention to the speeds I am shifting at but of course have no idea what RPM I am at. I have been riding bikes since I was 7 and I am now 44 and this being my first Harley, I was totally unsure of what my exact RPMs are. Like everyone else with a tachless sportster I go by feel.
After reading this I went through the gears several times shifting before I felt the revs got too high and here is what I came up with.
1-2 20mph
2-3 34mph
3-4 50mph
4-5 60mph
When I did this, I was taking it easy on the throttle and going by engine feel.

I am in Canada so I converted kmh to mph. I looked at the RPM charts above and they seem fairly accurate (going by feel of course)except for the shifts to 4th and 5th, it doesnt feel like I am hitting 4000 rpm at that point. I know that if i shift into 4th below 50 mph the engine is on the verge of lugging and the same goes for shifting into 5th, if I am below 60mph the engine again feels like it is on the verge of lugging.
Does anyone know if the gearing is the same on American and Canadian 883s? I know from my owners manual there is a difference between the 883 and 1200 gear ratios. I was surprised to see in my 2012 manual that the final drive pulleys are the exact same size on 883s and 1200s, but there was a difference in the primary/clutch gears. I am not sure if the transmissions themselves have the same gearing, does anyone know?

 

Mine is ok to cruise at 50mph in 5th gear, its not lugging per se, but the vibrations are increased for sure.

Shift points all depend on the mood I'm in, and driving conditions, but I generally do:

1-2 ~25 mph
2-3 ~35 mph
3-4 ~45 mph
4-5 ~ 60mph

If you reference the chart, that means I am shifting consistently between 3400-3800 rpm for around town riding.

Merging onto the highway, those figures change a lot. I hit 70mph in 3rd easily.

 

I'm bumping this thread because I think it's of good value to many and it should be easily searched for. I believe this thread should be a sticky though.