I do a lot of highway driving and am tired of numb hands and feet from all the vibration above 70 mph. I own a 93 FLSTC and am looking to replace the trans with a 6 speed. I have read many of the posts on the site regarding many of the brands, Baker, Jim, Revtech, Ultima, ect. I don have the budget for a Baker or Jim. My bikes engine is mostly factory other than exhaust, re-jetted carb and a big sucker cleaner. I have seen a few posts on the Ultima and Revtech. However many are over 5 years old. Has any one had some failures, excessive gear noise or hard shift issues with the less expensive 6 speedsb lately? Any info would be much appreciated.

 

Your 98 is solid mounted EVO non balance engine I think? Think it will help? Talk to Mark on here. He's the Baker expert. Sure he can cut you a discount and they do not come any better. Shot Mark a PM with this thread. Know my 04 5 speed is OK at 70..Little no no difference. Michelin tires over the Lops helped a lot other then it cut fuel mileage by about 45 mpg?? HA..When mine had the front spoke wheel, no one could get it balanced correct for some reason. Now I do not even balance tires with quality wheels and tires.

 

I second RIPSAW's advice.

Although you don't have the budget right now, I would save (as long as it takes) until you are able to afford the Baker transmission.

 

You are going to want to massage your engine before putting a six speed over drive on it.

Head over to the Evo section.

 

Costs about a tenth as much to install a little larger front drive sprocket.

 

Checked on line at JP cycles and Ebay for the drive pulley. They don't show different sizes. I concerned about loosing low end torque with a smaller pulley. That was a great idea I didn't think of! Thanks for that comment. I will contact my Harley dealer and see what they offer. I'm still surprised that not many have discussed any positive comments about the Ultima, Revtech and Rivera Primo. I dont understand the comment regarding massaging my engine for a 6 speed. I though the gear ratio was the same other than the OD.

 

Start saving up and do it right! A sprocket change will help in some areas but you loose it in others. Can you change the ratio on the comp sprocket on an evo?

 

You also don't hear anything about tons of failures which also tells you a lot. I've run a Jim's gear set in my 94 ultra for a lot of miles and had to rebuild it twice. Once from a design flaw on a dog that broke and went thru it. Cost me $700 in parts to rebuild it that time. Second had a throw out take it out and rebuilt it again. $550 this time as less parts, but they really went up.
Currently running an Ultima gear set in it I paid $509 on sale. It only has about 2300 miles on it, but over 1000 of it was highway to AR and back running 75-80 a lot of the times. Changed the fluid at 100 and then again at 700. Clean as whistle.

Massaging the motor means you need the horses to pull the lower gearing of the 6th gear and bone stock really doesn't cut it. Think cam, etc.

Griz

 

Yeah thinking the pulley idea is not the route. Still waiting to hear from others about the lower priced tranny's.

 

The stock N grind cam just plain sucks. Your engine is putting out a lot less power than it should. As a result, overdrive will be a bit much.

You are going to want to replace the cam and change the cam bearing to a Torrington bearing. Andrews EV13 and Andrews EV27 are two popular cams but there are many others. This is also the time to install a fresh set of lifters.

Install a free flowing air cleaner and a set of slip on mufflers. Swap out the stock ignition for a Dynatek or something similar.

Rejet the carburetor.

If you pull the heads, put it back together using a .030" head gasket which is slightly thinner. This will increase the compression slightly.

The above can be done at relatively low cost to increase the output of your engine. Some say you need a big inch engine making big numbers to run overdrive but in my opinion the above simple upgrades will suffice, especially getting rid of the lame stock cam and resetting the carburetor.

Baker DD6 and Baker OD6 are the best transmissions out there but carry a hefty price tag.