After riding metric bikes for the last six years, I'm used to engine braking when coming to a stop~ I've noticed when I do this on the Harley, I will get a bit of sputtering and even a pop here and there when down shifting~ My question is.. is engine braking bad for these V-twins.. or just really hard on the motor? I've only got 1000 miles on the odo and don't want to damage the motor prematurely~I'm curious toyour thoughts on engine braking with these bikes?
Thanks for any and all feedback...

 

Read the user's manual. It states that you can and at what speed for each gear.

 

Always the first thing I do when slowing down, provided that the speed is right (see Slope's post above) and prior to braking. I'm usually only hitting the brakes in preparation for entering a turn or coming to a stop (or some a-hole cager trying to kill me).

 

Cool... HDForums is my users manual... the info in here, from actual users, is much better then I could find in a book~

I don't typically pay much attention to the speedo unless the popo's watchin me and I want to make sure I'm in legal limits~ I mainly just ride by ear, if you will~ Guess I just need to get to knowmy bike a little better to be able to hear the proper rpms on my downshifts~ Thanks again for the feedback...