2013 Slim owner here, wondering what you guys think about the proper speed threshold for 6th gear. The moco handbook says 55 mph minimum for 6th gear if I'm reading it right. My friend who rides an Ultra says 55 mph is lugging the engine in 6th gear according to the factory trained tec at his dealership.

I have added Rush slip-on mufflers, but have not changed the A/C as of yet. I have the Vied's on hand to install but was waiting until I did the A/C. I can sense a slight loss of torque, I think. Since changing the mufflers it does seem to be a little soon to be in 6th at 55. Actually, 65mph feels like a much more appropriate shift point.

This brings up one of my pet peeves about the Slim and other bikes with similar instruments. I have always used RPM's as indicators for shift points rather than MPH. The tach is more or less useless for this purpose on a Slim and others with the little digital feed for gear/rpm. This was a main reason for wanting different pipes from the quiet stock ones. At least with the Rush pipes, I can listen to the engine for shift ques. I will be installing a larger, easier to read tach at some point soon.

So, what do you guys/gals think about this ? Is 55 mph lugging the 103 in 6th gear?

 

55 sounds a little low. I won't use 6 till at least 70-75...
.. and the H-D analog speedo-tach is a big improvement over the stock digital..

 

Yeah I don't really go by their recommended shift points. It was the same for my sporty they said something like 50mph for 5th gear, when it reality that was closer to 60mph before shifting to 5th.

I feel like under 2k rpm, and sometimes over 2k depending on the situation is lugging it. Just my 2 cents.

 

6th gear is basically an overdrive. Mine doesn't "lug" at 55mph in 5th gear, but I have no power there.. It's not until i'm cruising around 65mph that i'll throw it in to 6th

 

Shift when it feels right. Most Harley's don't have tach's. Ride by feel. Be more in touch with the machine.

 

On my Ultra Limited 103, accelerating I up shift from 5th to 6th at 70-75. Slowing down I down shift from 6th to 5th at about 65. No slower than 60 in 6th gear.

 

6th gear is not an "overdrive gear" it is the same 1 to 1 final drive that the five speed was. Overdrive is ratio's of over 1 to 1. HD went to the 6 speed to provide lower gearing in the first few gears to get going quicker.

HD engineers know more about the shift points than anyone. So if they say 55 it is fine. On my Softail's and Dyna's 55 mph is 2,000 rpm and that is not "lugging". On the touring bikes 55 is 2,200 rpm. My 2000 Deuce 5 speed runs 55 mph at 2,000 rpm's also. In the 5 speed days no one mentioned running in 4th because 5th was overdrive.

Any one of them pulls strong in 6th from 2K up. I ride 30,000 miles a year of which about 20K is on Illinois 55 mph speed limit roads. The TC88's, 96's, 103 and 110 run all day in cruise at 55. Don't even need to down shift for a hill.

 

I have tried 6th gear at around 55-60 but it never felt right to me until at least 65 or above.

 

I noticed mine would run lower speeds in sixth gear after I put the power commander on. I can run 45 or 50 in sixth as long as I don't need a lot of pulling power.

 

I know these guys built the bike and all that and are probably a whole lot smarter than me but I can tell you after 55 years of driving stick shifts, there is no way I shift into 6th gear under 60, maybe 65.