So I called a vendor for a 6 speed, and he told me $900, and 3 hours to install. I'm a (formerly, now semi retired) ASE licensed mechanic, but has someone here installed the RevTech 6 speed?

I have a 2000 Fatboy. My naybor just bot an '07 Heritage, and says 6th is a little too steep... What about a one-less-tooth final sprocket? Or 1 more tooth w the 6 speed to bring the revs up?

 

I never felt I needed a 6th gear on my 02 RKC and I typically cruised at 75mph. I'm OK with the 6th gear with my 09, but that isn't why I bought the bike.

Beary

 

These transmissions are getting out of hand frankly. Used to be the advantage of a torquey V-Twin meant you didn't have to shift as much. With my 6 speed, I'm shifting as much as a rice burner. I'm waiting for someone to come out with a wide ratio 4 speed. I **** you not.

 

Upgrading from the 5-speed to the 6-speed is some of the best money I spent. However, don't cheap out it. I wouldn't install anything but HD or Baker in it.

The moron that originally worked on my bike installed a gear set that never shifted correctly and the only time the neutral light worked was when you shifted into 4th gear. I don't know whether he ordered the wrong gear set, whether the gear set came with the wrong parts, or whether he was installed parts from other trannys to try and get it to shift correctly. Bottom line is, it had a shifter hub from an EVO tranny and it never shifted right.

Basically, the guy that worked on it was completely clueless and I ened up have to have that gear set yanked and a new Baker gear set installed. Since then the bike has shifted flawlessly. Much better than the stock 5 speed.

The Baker gear set is pricey. But you get what you pay for.

 

I've been "looking" for 6th since I bot the bike 16 years/17k miles ago. I won't spend the 3g's for the Baker, as I also want a batwing fairing and saddelbags. For that $5,000, (fairing/radio/bags) I would buy a Ultra Classic, like the 07 near me w 5k and asking $13,500. I love my bike, but it's showing its age

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Li7lYUgfOFs

 

Some very good posts here.

I bought my 2000 Ultra new and I was always disappointed with the tranny at freeway speeds. At 80 MPH the engine was turning 3500 RPM's, which I felt was excessive and more gas thirsty.

Combined with the fact that my when my wife goes with me she rides lilke a "bat out of h*ll so trying to keep up with her had me cranking a lot of RPM's!

I had a Baker 6 spd installed, which dropped my RPM's to about 3050 at 80 MPH.
The downside(s) to this is I only want to go faster (which basiaclly eats up any MPG) and for speeds under 60 MPH I had to run in 5th gear most of the time or constantly downshift as the stock 88 T/C (with a Stage I kit) just didn't have enough muscle to push the bike.
SO, I had the dealer install the 1550 kit in my bike and that really made a huge difference in torque and the driveability of my bike.

All said and done, if I knew then what I know now, I would NOT have changed my bike from a 5 spd to a 6 spd just to try to save a few bucks on gas, even though I do like the way my bike cruises easier at speeds around 80 MPH.
Some folks says that reducing RPM's extends the life of your engine but I seriously doubt that 500 RPM's would make much diffference. I'll let the "motorheads" argue that point.

One poster stated that he lived in a rural setting and had to drive long distances and that he drove at higher than normal speeds so a 6 spd fits his needs.

BTW, the conversion to a Baker on my bike required a different exhaust bracket and a reducer to synchronize the speedometer with the wheel speed.

Bottom line is, if you need a new trany get what you want,but is it's a matter of simply wanting to reduce your RPM's I'd suggest that slowing down a bit would do you more good than spending some big bucks just trying to save a few bucks in gas.

 

My understanding with the Baker DD is that you change the output gear so even if 6th is 1to1 there is a reduction of RPMs in 6th over the stock 5 speed, not realy sure if there is a mechanical advantage to where you change the gear raito?

 

You also underdrive the primary, supposed to be more efficient? I've head a lot of people with buyers remorse over the Baker. All depends on model and current gearing, the SE gearset for my 06 keeps the OEM ratios 1-5, but adds an overdrive. I love my current gearing but I would like the overdrive on the highway, I'll probably go HD SE eventually.

 

Yeah the gearing on the Baker gear set I had installed keeps the 1-5 ratios the same. So, the ratio in 5th gear is 1:1. The sixth gear is a .86 overdrive. However, I also installed a 30T primary gear to take advantage of the increased bottom-end torque my engine is making with the 95" build.

It has really turned out to be a nice setup for me. It's a screamer from stoplight to stoplight and is still comfortable cruising at 70 - 75 MPH. With the stock 5 speed the engine was howling at 60 - 65 MPH. This setup is exactly what I was looking for when I started the engine/tranny project.

 

I do most of my riding on the SG around 70 mph on the freeway and I feel 6th gear is right where it needs to be for that. It's running around 2600 rpm there.

My Buell has a 5 speed, I don't know if they changed the ratios over what's used on the Sportster but it seems just right and I've never felt like it was missing a gear.

My old Sporty on the other hand, the gearing sucks on it. I'm constantly shifting up to a 6th speed that isn't there. I really want to drop a Baker 6 speed in it, but can't justify spending that much on a bike that old that I don't ride much.