Hi. I'm fairly new to the Harley world. Been riding the other H brand bike. My question is what rpm are most of you with 2012 ultras crusing at in 4th and 5th gear? Sweet spot seems to be around 2000 rpm. Next question is have you noticed a louder tappet or injector noise @ 2300 rpm. Above and below 2300 it goes away.

 

As you probably know, the "H" bikes you rode are much higher rpm motors and certainly designed differently.

You will get a lot of comments on this, but most believe that you should strive to keep your rpm's at or above 2500 or you may be lugging your engine. That causes excess stress on the crank and other components. Some owners live at around 3,000 rpms. Regardless, it's easier on the motor to keep those RPMs in this neighborhood to keep engine and drivetrain stresses well managed.

Welcome to the HD world.

PS..don't worry too much about any noises right now. Just ride that new bike for a while. You will discover that it has a soul, and with that soul come it's own special sounds and feedbacks.

 

I agree with Lowcountry Joe. The 'sweet spot' you suggest at 2000 rpm may be where the exhaust sounds best to you, but in most cases your engine isn't pleased to be running at that low of an rpm. The Twin Cam engines don't mind higher rpm's at all, and I'm often running at 3000 rpm's or so in cases where I'm on and off the throttle such as twistie roads in the mountains. When cruising on flatter roads where the throttle doesn't vary much, I'm usually looking for 2500 rpm or so to be more in the power band than lugging along at 2000 rpm or less. I'm finding that on two-lane highways where I am running at 60 mph, the bike is happiest in 5th gear, about 2800 rpm or so.

 

I'm one that lives at 3000 rpm's . The bike is much more responsive above 2500 especially in 5th and you really need 2800+ for 6th gear. I'm a firm believer in running the bike in it's power band, 2800-4500 rpm's. 0 cost performance mod: run the rpm's up and use what you already have.

 

Dog Pile !

Yes keep the revs up.

also rev dependent is oil pressure and volume- oil is part of the cooling system, it carries heat from the motor internals away to be dissipated. ( not only does the oil flow through the bearings removing heat, but oil is sprayed through jets at the underside of the pistons and cylinder bores to cool them)

as mentioned above, the lower end bearings take a horrible beating at low revs and will not last.


I own old Harleys, I find that newer owners ( consider that production totals now are 10 times what they were in the 80's) have a skewed idea of "what the harley sound is".

The sound they think they should hear went away with hemi heads ( 1984.5), points, a waste spark and manually retarded timing- I keep threatening to sell CD's of my panhead idling so the guys with big stereos can play it at bike night.

The modern H-D motor needs to idle at 1000 rpm or better, has flat top piston, no waste spark, properly controlled spark timing and fuel delivery.
It's a different animal- and it runs better and'll go farther between rebuilds than my old bikes.

cruising 2800 or 3000 is fine, don't be afraid to drop a gear to pass or pull. power delivery is there past 5000 rpms and the rev limit will keep you from hurting anything

2.) I'm Canadian, so they are all "imports" to me...
Many/most of us have or had imports whether English, German, Italian, Japanese or other.
Many of us still do, or until recently did.
I have a Trail 90 next to the Harleys right now- and a '74 Z1a I've had since '78

Imports have been a big part of American motorcycling since '48 or so, very few are the riders whose first ride was an Indian or Harley- although I did start on Servicars and Sidecar combinations


BTW Welcome to the Forums



Mike

 

iS IT SAFE TO SAY MOST OF YOU WITH THE 103 AND 6 SPEED SELDOM EVER GET OUT OF 5TH.3000RPM= AROUND 70

 

Nope. I use 6th gear all the time, but I couldn't tell you at what rpm's as I never look at rpm's I shift when I feel it needs to be shifted. I usually set my cruise between 65 & 70 mph in 6th gear.

 

I hate caps lock, it's hard to read.

I'll get into 6th at 65-70 on level ground, downshifting for a grade or headwinds if required.

AZ hwy speed at 75 is pretty ok for 6th.

70 mph would be about 2700 rpm on an 09~11

75 mph= 2900


Mike

 

I, unlike others (255 cams too) like to "cruise" at 2200 or so. Noisey as hell, bugs the crap out of me. The bike runs good anywhere between 2200 and 3000 (cruising I'm talking), but at the lower end of those R's, they make a bunch of noise.

Get used to it. I havent and never will......others are able to ignore it, or just deal with it better then me.

Welcome.

 

trying like hell to ignore the noise. 2200-2500 sounds like she's going to go wacko. Hopefully after 1000 mile service things will quiet down a bit. Might need a better helmet to block some of the noise out. Just sounds like she's hurting herself. But she's got spunk. Differently a learning experience after riding Goldwings for past 12 years. But just love the Ultra.