6th gear. When???
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Road Captain
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 685
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From: Sandy, Oregon
6th gear. When???
Went on a cold, but beautiful 130 mile ride today. WOW! What a great bike! But I do have a question for you all. When do you shift into 6th gear? With these VERY quiet stock pipes I can't even hear the engine, and I don't have the tach on yet. The book says to shift at 55, but shifting under 60 and it feels like I might be lugging down the engine. Please help!
Cruiser
Joined: Aug 2005
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RE: 6th gear. When???
I hear ya, the stock pipes are way too quiet. Peronally I wont get into 6th unless I'm at 70+ and even then it seems to load up on occasion. It seems to be geared high even though its a 1 to 1 6th. My advice would be to stay out of 6th unless your at freeway speeds - high freeway speeds hehe.
Banned
Joined: Nov 2005
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RE: 6th gear. When???
Normally speed doesnt dictate when you shift, load on the engine is when you dictate time to need to shift up or down gears. You can be going downhill and be in 6th gear at 2000rpms with no appreciable load on the engine and be fine. Or you could be going uphill in 6th at over 3000rpms and be in too high a gear still. Use common sense here, the book is nothing more than a basic guide. If your engine doesnt pull strong, your probably in the wrong gear.
Road Master
Joined: Oct 2005
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RE: 6th gear. When???
6th is pretty tall and I usually don't use it unless I'm on the highway. Just use common sense and don't lug the engine. The manual has a bunch of errors in it, the worst being the location of the oil drain plug. Be aware that they've got the transmission drain plug and the oil drain plug mixed up in the owner's manual for '06 Dynas. If you plan on doing any work yourself, then get a service manual.
Road Master
Joined: Oct 2005
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RE: 6th gear. When???
ORIGINAL: TNHARLEY
I thought that the 6th gear was still 1:1 ratio just like 5th on the older bikes. Why do you feel you don't need it as soon? Mike
I thought that the 6th gear was still 1:1 ratio just like 5th on the older bikes. Why do you feel you don't need it as soon? Mike
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Tourer
Joined: Dec 2005
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RE: 6th gear. When???
I also have a 2006 SuperGlide. 60 to 65 mph does feel better. It does feel like the engine is lugging some at 55, in sixth.
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Road Captain
Joined: Jun 2005
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From: Sandy, Oregon
RE: 6th gear. When???
Thanks for the advice, everyone! This is pretty much what I was thinking. I tried to shift to 6th at 55 once (on a flat road) and couldn't tell by the sound because it is so quiet, and the bike runs so smooth that it was hard to tell by the vibrations. But it still felt like it was too soon and I think around 65 would be better.
Thanks for the heads up, Jamie!
The manual has a bunch of errors in it, the worst being the location of the oil drain plug. Be aware that they've got the transmission drain plug and the oil drain plug mixed up in the owner's manual for '06 Dynas. If you plan on doing any work yourself, then get a service manual.
