Ok, this is the situation. About 8 months ago I bought a 2006 Softail Deluxe with 800 miles on it. I absolutely love this bike and have done a lot of mods. Most recently I did a big bore kit and cams beefing the engine from an 88 to a 95. I love it but I like to cruise at 75-85 mph. With only 5 gears when I cruise at 80 mph I really feel the need for another gear. I have a 2011 DYNA that obviously has 6 gears and I really enjoy cruising at 80 with that extra gear. On the Softail I feel like Im really running high rpm's and its harder to keep the bike at 80--it seems to be more comfortable at 70. Should I put in a 6th gear and which one? I have thought about selling this bike and getting a newer model but I really love this bike and have it set up just how I want it (for now). With everything I have done I feel like I would be throwing money away because I would. I would just do everything I have done to this bike on a newer one so it seems sensible to just add that 6th gear. My concerns are obviously reliability...does adding the extra gear have any negative affects on the engine? I appreciate any advice or input. I searched this forum but only found 3 posts. Thanks.

 

I can cruise at 90-95 on mine with no issue. I don't feel the need for a 6th gear.


Do you have a tach, or are just going by sound? It's probably not as a high as you might think

What cam did you put in, and what tuner are you using.

 

Make sure it's tuned correctly and ride it. I cruise @ +80 constantly. Bikes had 5 speeds in them for years, the 6th gear is a bonus.

 

HD makes a 6 speed kit... don't know if it fits your application, but it does mine and since I'm tired of being HD's guinea pig I have decided that buying a new bike is a bad idea. I can save a lot of money by doing what I want to do to my old one and I know what it is and isn't going to do to me. My next 'new' bike will be a six speed when I install HD's or Baker's kit into mine.

C#

 

I share the feeling that there needs to be a bit more. In 5th gear at 80 on the highway I only spin a bit more than 3000 RPM but it is not as happy as it is just below 3000. They can be tuned for that RPM but there is a give and take with performance.

I think I will be going with the 27 tooth upgrade. The trade here will be a bit of loss of power at lower RPM's and the risk of lugging, but I'm sure I can overcome that.

http://www.illusionmotorcycles.com/

Much nicer price than the 6 speed upgrade.

 

I have no issues with my 5 speed, but it has been a long time since I have owned a bike with a 6 speed. I'd imagine if i had both I might feel the same way.

 

Same here, I run on the Calif. Fwys for 60 - 70 miles at a time at 75 -85.

If you really feel the need for a 6th gear the SE Kit will fit into your gear box. Or you can go with a complete exchange Se, Baker or I think Ultima ? The other way would be to change he final gearing (rear wheel sprocket to a smaller or primary to a larger) but you will lose a little on the acceleration

 

I too find myself looking to go up one more gear (6th) at times but it's not there, especially when merging onto the freeway...
(c'mon now, I know I'm not the only one that's done/doing this?)

 

hspring03- No I don't have a tach and I know that your 100% accurate that the rpm's aren't that high.

I know I can run it all day long at 80-85 mph with no issue but to me it just feels like the bike would be more comfortable at 2800-2900 rpms vs 3200. Now I'm talking about trying to make my bike comfortable--if my wife hear's this she is certainly going to be looking for the 1-800 number for the nearest nut house. lol

I actually like the idea of changing the amount of teeth in my pulley and seeing how that works. Since I did the big bore kit and put the cams in I have plenty of low end torque to compensate. I'm actually real happy with the numbers-I went from 76.39 Torque to 91.82 and from 65.60 to 71.65 Power.

Thanks for the input guys and keep it coming.