5,000 RPM's in second gear will get you to 80 MPH in a heartbeat - Been there done that this past week-end on the trip to Yuma - I normally cruise @ 80 MPH it's around 2800 RPM in 6th

 

My FLHRC is a dito of ezlife. I don't touch 6th prior to 70.

 

Actually made a point to look at the speedometer this morning on the trip into work, 30 miles. I would push all the points even up further another 5-10 mph. Closer to ekimrk, although I'mupshifting to6tharound 75mph.

Now can I go back to looking at all the cager babes instead of the speedometer...

Take it Ezz

 

Thanks for checking that out. I went out for a ride last night and noticed that I was shifiting a little higher also.

Second -30
Third -40
Fourth -50
Fifth -60
Sixth -70

Sixth gear at 65 works and it doesn't feel like its lugging, but if feels like thevery bottom of the powerband. Drop even a couple MPH and you have to downshift to 5th.

 

I think all the complaining about the 5th gear noise is due to people lugging it in fifth. Just normal back road riding, I never get out of fourth gear. In fact, you really don't need to be in fifth under 55 MPH. The new American Iron this month has an article by Don Peterson on the new primary ratios and what he's saying is that the '07s are geared higher than any past Harley. We already knew that, but I'd like to gear mine down, beacause I don't need it to be geared that high.

 

I agree EX, I took mine Ultra home and had to ride the turnpike. I would have got run over by a semi if I rode at (no more than) 55 MPH. My way of thinking is, you can run it up as long as you don't abuse it. With 500 miles on it, so far so good.

 

Agree with above. I wish the first five gears were like my old 5 speed with 3.7 gearing and 6th gear be a little lower as well. Be nice if you could comfortably get into 6th around 60 @ 2500 instead of 70. You could still cruise at 80+ without taxing the motor.

 

I like my 2007 6-speed just the way it is. 50 mph roads are perfect for 4th gear, at 55 I can use 5th, and 70mph freeways are OK for 6th, because even at 2400rpm, the 96-inch engine has plenty of roll-on power.

It's taking me sometime to get used to the new gearing, compared to my 5-speed FXRS, but I absolutely love the taller gears.

 

I think there areplenty of us here who know how to ride without lugging an engine, and are still experiencing the noisy 5th gear. I'lllive withthe explanation that 1st and 5th are spur gears and the others are helical. The 'sweet spot' for my '06 was lower;my '07 is about 2600-2800 RPM, and Irun through the gearsaccordingly. But at any RPM, even 3000-3200, I get the extra noise in 5th. I'll ride it as is and not worry about it; I've got 4years for it to break under warranty.

 

These are quite close to my shift points, although I tend to shift like DCraner and use 52 and 62 as my minimums for 5th and 6th. This translates into about 2200 RPM in these gears, and below that the tranny starts protesting with clattering in 5th gear only, doing so in 6th only when you get really low, like 1800. I haven't really noticed the RPM's/MPH in the lower gears, but this sounds about right. I'd say shift where the engine feels right, but there's no need to go higher unless it is protesting with clattering. You can tell what RPM's the engine likes and dislikes by the way it feels.

These '07's simply don't like it below 2200, I find, as I could set my old Evo RK at 1800 in 5th all day long with nary a protest. This 96-in. motor just doesn't like it down there, and so I have adapted. I suspect the increased compression ratio (9.2 vs. 8.5) may be part of the reason why this engine isn't happy below 2k RPM's, as the stroke on the two engines is the same.