Have a 2006 ultra and have the stage 1 and 36 is about what I get doing 70 mph down the freeway

 

Should orta be able to find you if I can make it that early. 2 Jobs and 80hr weeks have got to stop... atleast for a week

 

I cant stay out of the throttle either but I did try really freakin hard last weekend and rode a bunch of 40mph roads 2-up.... broke into the low 40MPG.... Guess I should try being good for a few days commuting to work and see what it does

 

Sometimes you just need to get where you are going.

 

Same for me and power band is 2500-3200

 

OP: 2000 rpm is definitely not lugging. Lugging occurs when you open the throttle too far at low rpms.
I regularly ride my bike in the 1500-2000 zone just loafing along. It will do no damage provided you bike is in tune.
Man, you must be totally confused after reading all of the crap replies. 40 mpg is nothing to be ashamed of from your 88"-er. Sure it would be nice to get a few more mpg's but you'll spend a pretty good bunch of cash accomplishing that.
If you're still interested, give a call to Fuel Moto and maybe do some research on the nightrider website. You'll learn plenty and you'll get it from people that know what they're talking about.

 

2,600 mile trip @ 60 to 70 mph for a solid 50 + mpg on a 10 Ultra with full load of gear. Went to the New England States and came back through Canada. 90% of the trip was 6th gear and cruise control. On the Canadian 40l fill up ride 200 miles pull off and fill up again. Repeat until dark. Into 6th at about a 1/4 mile. So 1 -5 don't have but a few seconds use in every 200 miles.

Don't understand better mpg in fifth gear. One must go at least 200 mile trip to get road mpg. That would be ridiculous traveling in fifth gear down the interstate.

Otherwise the mpg would be for around town and that would be hard to even get to fifth.

 

Leftcoaster,
yeah right, confusion. well the original suggestion was to run 2500-2800 at cruising speed, that got me a whopping 36 mpg. so i ran the opposite, low rpm, not down to your 1500 but closer to 2k. next fill up, 45 mpg. that was being very conscious of speed and rpm. now i am happy at my 40mpg average.

 

My 12 SG gets 42....no matter what!!!even WFO all day!!!seen this drop from 44-45 when I got the rims on not sure wtf maybe they are a little more weight......town driving vs 75mph hwy riding vs taking it easy and riding hard I come out the same at the pump......

 

Just so you know: My '06 - 88"'er is now a 95", 100+/100+ machine that regularly gets 40+ mpg. If I keep the speed below 70mph (3000rpm) I usually see 45-49 mpg. My bike is far from stock and it's cost plenty but I'm happy with the results. I have lots of power and I can get great mileage to boot.
I also saw that kind of mileage while the motor was still 88". But it took a PCIII ($350), a Big Sucker ($100), Rinehart TD's ($600) and some dyno time ($300) to get it there. Those were 2006 prices - it'll cost a bit more now. Also, my tuned 88" would pull away from all similarly tuned 96" bikes and embarassed a couple of CVO's. Much fun was had back when HD over-geared the Glides. My bet is that it would still give a 103" or 110" a good run.