LISTEN to the engine. It will TELL ya what too do!

 

Hey thanks --- Sounds like good advice here! So you think I'd be OK if I redlined it & then shifted down to 1st!!!!!!!!!! Think I'll take my new Classic into the burnout pit too, at the next rally I can find!!!




I know you're just kidding! I can see it in your tone of voice!

Thanks everybody ---- I'll try to stay above 2000.

 

I bought an 07 Heritage used and had a major issue with noise coming from the lower end. Found that the lady who had the bike rode it around lugging the engine in the 1500 to 2000 rpm range. Knocked the crankshaft out of true. Dealer had to rebuild the lower end and have the crankshaft trued. Don't lug a 96inch motor below 2000 rpm.

 

Running at low RPM sounds cool - but when you need to get your a$$ out of hot water (think - chick on a cell phone) you're dead in the water when you twist the throttle, unless you're running over 107 inches. A teen-aged driven SUV can really damage your engine. And frame. And Paint. And ......

 

I don't let mine go below 2200.

 

Lugging can happen in any gear and any rpm depending on the gear. You can lug the engine in 1st if you keep it at idle, you can lug it in 6th at 3K if the load is big enough or the hill steep enough. I wouldn't get set on any specific gear/rpm combo, every situation is different. If you can roll-on some throttle and the rpm increases without odd noises or the bike lurching, your ok. Found this on another forum;

"If properly defined, no. A lot of people improperly define lugging to be a certain rpm(without regard to other factors).
Lugging is a harmful "running condition" resulting from a combination of many things but most relevant are:

1) throttle setting
2) rpm

You could add in many other details like weight of the bike, up hill, down hill, fuel quality, quality of tune yada yada yada.

Edit: There seems to be a certain rpm for each engine at which point (and above) lugging becomes a non issue. Or in other words that is the rpm at which you can paste the throttle and not be overloading the bottom end. That particular rpm is different in every different recipe of parts and state of tune in each engine.

My experience is all HD's I have ever ridden would pull smoothly from about 2300 rpm on up. Some of them would pull smoothly from 1800. It really depends on a lot of variables.

This is not to say that I often accelerate hard from those rpms. I don't. There is not much power on tap at those rpms. If I'm gonna ask the bike to giddy-up, I'm gonna get the revs up to allow it to produce results. Even with gobs of torque on tap if you wanna get gone quickly, you need horsepower. TQ X RPM = HP (loose definition)

What this is meant to say is that as long as you are judicious with the use of the throttle, you can leisurely pull from as low as 1700 rpm on any HD I have ever ridden. (I have not ridden yours)

Don't get too wrapped up in having someone tell you what's right for your bike. BTW I do agree with all of the posts above on the different ways to describe where that imaginary line is. Go out and ride it and learn what lugging feels like and draw some mental parameters for yourself on your own bike."

Here's the link http://www.*****************/forums/tw...ing-again.html

 

stay away from the crack... it damages you motor skills...

 

 

a throttle rever huh? 3rd gear at 1500 rpm's is lugging the engine, I always down shift at 2000-2200 rpm's. Most people do it to get that Harley rumble so they will be cool, not relaizing they are hurting the engine. It's your bike, do what you want.

 

I like to keep the RPM around 2500. I may let it drop down to around 2200 if I'm riding around town in 3rd gear with the speed below 35, but only if it is level or downhill. My ride just wants to cruise at 2500 - 2800.