I've had my Sportster XL1200C for about a week.

1 - Gear selection
In a car, it's quiet. If it's revving, it's because I'm going up hill or I forgot it's in manu-matic mode. Otherwise, quiet. On the Sporty, which has Cycle Shack pipes, it's never quiet, lol. In my community the speed limit is 25mph, and 2nd gear is where I stay. If I go to 3rd, it lugs. On my local county road with 40mph limit, 3rd it about as high as I go. My brain is telling me to upshift, I guess because of the noise. Does it sound like I'm in the right gears for the speeds mentioned? I don't have a tach. I don't think the RPMs are high, but I'm just not used to riding for miles in lower gears.

2 - Turning technique
I need to improve on starting a turn from a stop. For right turns, I'm leaning the bike slightly and turning the bars while stopped, so I can make the tighter turn. But once I get going the front wheel wants to go back to straight too soon, and it's making me turn wider than I want. Part of it is my need to improve my balance when starting out. Any tips? Should I be using some back brake on these starts?

 

1. I don't have a sporty, but hopefully you have the manual. In there, there is normally a table that shows gears and mph. I was surprised in my Dyna manual at how low the speeds were because it feels like its lugging at the speeds they mentioned. However they designed and manufactured it so they know best. My bike is happier revving a bit though.

2. This is where parking lot practice (aka PLP) comes into play. That technique you mentioned takes time to get comfortable with. I tend to just start slow and drag my rear brake a bit as if I was making slow speed maneuvers. Either way, practice in a lot and it will eventually click. The technique you mentioned is shown here

 

Your gear selection sounds fine, at 40 you could go into 4th though. The feel for turning will come, you can take it a little slower for now if the bike is sitting up too quick.

 

With slow tight turns a little rear brake will help steady the balance of the bike, and stop that 'wanting to go straight feeling'.
Try it somewhere safe the first time, takes a bit of perfecting.

 

Another thing that will help your right turns is the outside in track. Start from the left side of the lane to turn. The above video will help. If you haven't already, you might want to take one of the safety courses in your area.

 

1) Get some ear plugs.

2a) If you are going to make a right hand turn, start from the left side of the lane.

2b) If you are going to make a left hand turn, start from the right side of the lane.

 

Take a motorcycle safety class if you havent. Gives you a chance to learn some skills, and not risk dropping the sporty.

Shift where it feels right, but i think the manual says to shift at 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50.

 

Awesome replies, thanks all! I did take the MSF btw.

 

When I took the (equivalent to) MSF course the instructors taught us a technique you can try: when approaching a stop where you must make a sharp turn, "pre-turn" your bike by angling it in the direction you want to turn before stopping.

This works well in on-the-road situations but obviously won't in a crowded parking lot so you still need to practice the techniques already mentioned. Good luck!

 

Also look where you want to go, not where you don't want to go.