My ’09 TG can average 40 MPG if I keep the speed under 60 MPH but most of my riding is on an Interstate that is posted at 75 MPH and because we are in the middle of nowhere, everyone does 80-85+ MPH. Under these conditions, it would not only be extremely dangerous but also totally irresponsible to do 60 MPH. Yet every winter, some “old foggy” snow bird towing their trailer does exactly that and either kills themselves or other motorist!

As to speed NOT dropping off when pulling a hill; I think we need to define what exactly a hill is! In this part of the country we have “hills” that are 6% grades and can be several miles long. When I pull one of these hills I definitely have to roll in throttle or my speed will drop off considerably; for this reason I seldom if ever use my cruise control on any of my vehicles; unlike the cruise control, I can see that I am approaching a hill and adjust my speed in advance.

 

By "hills", I mean what we routinely find in the mountains of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. You may or may not know that a 6 % grade is nothing there. The only time we feel unsafe is when some idiot flies by at 80 to 85.

 

I am certainly an idiot. When I went to South Dakota last year we traveled Route 90 and on some stretches of road we were traveling 80 to 85 mph and basically passing everything in site. When we go next year I believe we will travel the same way. Just as a point of interest, traveling at that speed we were even passed at times.

 

Point #1:
A 6% grade would be a 6 foot vertical rise in 100 horizontal feet of road.

Based upon your comment, I guess that you are not aware that a 6% grade is the maximum allowable grade on the U.S Interstate system and all federally funded roads! I have traveled each of the states that you listed numerous times and I doubt that you will find a grade in excess of 6% with the possible exception of some old county, mining or logging roads! (See below: Characteristics of the Interstate Highway System)

I have difficult time understanding how your 2009 Tri-Glide can pull a 6% Grade (you claim greater) without down shifting and no speed drop off; when most people state that they cannot!
Point #2:
Agreed, there are idiots using the Interstate Highways; however, IMO, the real idiot is the inconsiderate motorist that travels at 15-20 MPH under the posted speed limit! If you are doing 60 MPH on a posted 75 MPH Interstate; it’s not your safety I’m concerned with.
Characteristics of the
Interstate Highway System
The US Interstate Highway System (officially, the Eisenhower System of Interstate and Defense Highways) was built to a single national standard. However, a few segments of the system that were constructed before the system was formally begun were built to slightly different standards. The deviations from standard are fairly small and relatively rare. We can thus assume that, for practical purposes, the system has the following universal characteristics:

• Grades no higher than 6%
• Design speed of 70-80 MPH
• Curves no tighter than can be negotiated at 70-80 MPH in a normal, low-performance automobile of the 1950s
• Limits on the radius of vertical curvature (this prevents abrupt transitions in the grade of the roadbed) Vertical curve radius in meters = 2 x the design speed in km/hr. So for 160 km/hr (100 MPH), vertical curve = 320 meters.
• Curves designed to 600 m minimum radius; there are known areas where this standard is not met (e.g., Providence, RI, on I-95).
• Lanes 12 feet wide
• Very high standard of road surface smoothness
• Limits on the camber of the road surface
• Axle load limits of 10 tons per axle
• Bridges at least 14 feet about the road surface (design standard is 15' but 14' 4" is not unusual)
• Paved 10-foot shoulders adjacent to the outside (slow) lane
• Narrow paved shoulders adjacent to the inside (fast) lane
• Long acceleration and deceleration ramps to allow safe entry and exit

 

Point #1:
A 6% grade would be a 6 foot vertical rise in 100 horizontal feet of road.

Based upon your comment, I guess that you are not aware that a 6% grade is the maximum allowable grade on the U.S Interstate system and all federally funded roads! I have traveled each of the states that you listed numerous times and I doubt that you will find a grade in excess of 6% with the possible exception of some old county, mining or logging roads! (See below: Characteristics of the Interstate Highway System)

I have difficult time understanding how your 2009 Tri-Glide can pull a 6% Grade (you claim greater) without down shifting and no speed drop off; when most people state that they cannot!
Point #2:
Agreed, there are idiots using the Interstate Highways; however, IMO, the real idiot is the inconsiderate motorist that travels at 15-20 MPH under the posted speed limit! If you are doing 60 MPH on a posted 75 MPH Interstate; it’s not your safety I’m concerned with.
Characteristics of the
Interstate Highway System
The US Interstate Highway System (officially, the Eisenhower System of Interstate and Defense Highways) was built to a single national standard. However, a few segments of the system that were constructed before the system was formally begun were built to slightly different standards. The deviations from standard are fairly small and relatively rare. We can thus assume that, for practical purposes, the system has the following universal characteristics:

• Grades no higher than 6%
• Design speed of 70-80 MPH
• Curves no tighter than can be negotiated at 70-80 MPH in a normal, low-performance automobile of the 1950s
• Limits on the radius of vertical curvature (this prevents abrupt transitions in the grade of the roadbed) Vertical curve radius in meters = 2 x the design speed in km/hr. So for 160 km/hr (100 MPH), vertical curve = 320 meters.
• Curves designed to 600 m minimum radius; there are known areas where this standard is not met (e.g., Providence, RI, on I-95).
• Lanes 12 feet wide
• Very high standard of road surface smoothness
• Limits on the camber of the road surface
• Axle load limits of 10 tons per axle
• Bridges at least 14 feet about the road surface (design standard is 15' but 14' 4" is not unusual)
• Paved 10-foot shoulders adjacent to the outside (slow) lane
• Narrow paved shoulders adjacent to the inside (fast) lane
• Long acceleration and deceleration ramps to allow safe entry and exit

 

Based upon your comments, I can see that you haven't ridden on a lot of roads that I have. We spend our time riding, rather than researching useless info.

 

[quote=pork;5791972]Based upon your comments, I can see that you haven't ridden on a lot of roads that I have. We spend our time riding, rather than researching useless info.[/quote]

Pork, you have just identified your problem, maybe you should spend a little time researching rather than spouting off erroneous statements and representing them as facts!

I am still waiting for you to enlighten us and explain how your TG is capable to climb a “nothing” 6% grade without down shifting or adding additional power.

And while you are at it, maybe you can explain a previous post in which you claim that your oil temperature reached a high of 280 degrees on a 90degree day while stuck in traffic but miraculously defied the laws of physics and cooled down to 230 degrees once you resumed speed!

In yet another post a member was gracious enough to share how they jack up their TG and even cited the recommended procedure and lifting point from the TG manual and you had the audacity to question them as to the “stoutness” of the frame! For someone that stated that you came to this forum to learn, you sure spend a lot of time preaching and spreading propaganda!

Sir, these fantasy stories are insulting to the inelegance of every sincere poster genuinely interested in expanding their knowledge of their TG and calls into question your future creditability!

I sincerely apologize to everyone else on this forum for the rant but I could not stand anymore of this B.S so I had vent.

 

I know my 2010 won't pull no 6% grade without shifting some gears and twisting the right wrist. Heck a couple crappy little hills on I75 in Kentucky had me down shifting and jumping on the throttle while I was running 75 mph, it was do that or get run over by the rest of the traffic.

 

Jimer, just FYI, there is a 7% grade on Interstate 64 in W. Va. By the way, I have a one ton, 350 V10 Dodge Dually that I have to down shift to maintain speed on almost any grade in the mountains. So, I don't see what the problem is with downshifting for more power.

 

I haven't been able to take my SG Trike in the mountains yet to find out what it will do with speed. I get to do that in the spring. You all have to remember the 6th gear is a over drive cruising gear and isn't designed as a pulling gear. So it stands to reason that you would down shift on grade of 6% grade or better. I would think if you are having problems with small hills then maybe you need to look at how much weight you have loaded in your trunks, weight is a factor.

I was a over the road truck driver for over 30 years and have traveled a lot of interstate through out the country. When I was loaded with 47,000 lbs of freight I would have to drop a couple of gears to get up some mountains, but if I was empty I would sometimes not drop a gear at all. So weight does make a big difference as well as speed. If you are traveling at 63 mph coming up on a steep grade then you might drop a couple of gears on your trike to get up to the peak.

So speed and weight is the factor.