What speed in 6th gear?
#33
RE: What speed in 6th gear?
interesting topic.
I guess experienced riders know best.
When I got my 07 ultra I was told by the dealership to NOT have the RPMs < 1500 or that is considered lugging for the 07s. You can definately hear/feel the lugging at 1500 rpms on a stock setup.
I was told by the dealership and the owner who seems to own a dozen or more HDs to keep it (especially during beakin period) from lugging and a safe rule of thumb was to use 1800 as the 'minimum' RPM for the bike.
Not sure if this is 'true' or not. With the 07s they are so 'lean' out of the box I'm not entirely sure how good/bad 1800rpms are for a 'baseline'. Seems there are strong opinions about 2k or higher which seems to be what I recall running on my 03 Heritage Springer with the TC88.
going back to the thread..... and testing it... I can go down to about 52mph in 6th gear with my RPMs right at 1800. However I don't really recommend this as a whole. 65 is generally what I use as a minimun. I'm just above 2000 rpms when going 65 and it is 'ok' with responsiveness at that low rpm. Much better responsiveness from the engine itself once you are doing about 70ish and want to 'gas-n-go'.
I really wouldn't recommend < 65 (no matter what your RPMs say). if you aren't turning enough RPMs you will just be cranking on the throttle to get to the spead you want as it will be sluggish that slow. What gas you are trying to save by shifting into 6th at such a low RPM you will waste when you actually try and go up to say 70 or whatnot.
It is funny ... I typically don't pay as much attention to my Speedometer. I typically watch my tachometer. I know how fast I'm going based on my RPMs and if I want to easy-shift I usually take it up to 3000 rpms and then shift to the next gear which will drop the RPMs down to somewere around 2200-2500 (with the exception of going from 1st to 2nd).
harder to 'gauge' if you don't have the tach and don't have a shield as the wind-noise can overwhelm the stock-setup and you can't hear crap as it is.
Bottom line.... 65 is what I feel is best for the bike overall as a minimum for 6th gear.
I guess experienced riders know best.
When I got my 07 ultra I was told by the dealership to NOT have the RPMs < 1500 or that is considered lugging for the 07s. You can definately hear/feel the lugging at 1500 rpms on a stock setup.
I was told by the dealership and the owner who seems to own a dozen or more HDs to keep it (especially during beakin period) from lugging and a safe rule of thumb was to use 1800 as the 'minimum' RPM for the bike.
Not sure if this is 'true' or not. With the 07s they are so 'lean' out of the box I'm not entirely sure how good/bad 1800rpms are for a 'baseline'. Seems there are strong opinions about 2k or higher which seems to be what I recall running on my 03 Heritage Springer with the TC88.
going back to the thread..... and testing it... I can go down to about 52mph in 6th gear with my RPMs right at 1800. However I don't really recommend this as a whole. 65 is generally what I use as a minimun. I'm just above 2000 rpms when going 65 and it is 'ok' with responsiveness at that low rpm. Much better responsiveness from the engine itself once you are doing about 70ish and want to 'gas-n-go'.
I really wouldn't recommend < 65 (no matter what your RPMs say). if you aren't turning enough RPMs you will just be cranking on the throttle to get to the spead you want as it will be sluggish that slow. What gas you are trying to save by shifting into 6th at such a low RPM you will waste when you actually try and go up to say 70 or whatnot.
It is funny ... I typically don't pay as much attention to my Speedometer. I typically watch my tachometer. I know how fast I'm going based on my RPMs and if I want to easy-shift I usually take it up to 3000 rpms and then shift to the next gear which will drop the RPMs down to somewere around 2200-2500 (with the exception of going from 1st to 2nd).
harder to 'gauge' if you don't have the tach and don't have a shield as the wind-noise can overwhelm the stock-setup and you can't hear crap as it is.
Bottom line.... 65 is what I feel is best for the bike overall as a minimum for 6th gear.
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