It's really up to you and your comfort level.As long as your cruise speed is not lugging the motor,anything beyond that will not hurt the bike.

 

with all of my preivois H-D touring bikes, 80, 88, 96, I always felt the "in the seat of the pants" need to shift at 2800.

for reasons unknown this 2011 103 doesn't tell me "in the seat of the pants" to shift until 3500+. Accordingly I keep finding my self cruising in the 3100-3400 range.

weird....me thinks

 

Every bike will be different due to set up and weight carrying but the optimal on all will always be whatever rpm/mph that that you can can sustain in a given gear with the lightest throttle pressure, least amount of throttle used.

 

2011 103 street glide here with sert,se ac v and hines twin slashes with cat-less true duals. I cruise at anything above 2000 rpms. If going up a hill and notice a lag , I downshift, but cruising between 2 and 2500 rpms feels comfortable to my ears and not stressful for my engine. This is highway cruisin I am assuming your referring to. I like a low rumble vs high rumble

 

I have a 103 stage 2 with 255s and found myself riding a lot in the 2400 to 2800 range mainly because there was less engine noise so I could hear my tunes better and I thought less stress on the engine since I was turning fewer rpms. Last year I had several long term Harley mechanics at indys and dealers tell me I was running to low RPMs. They said you should be running between 3000 and 4000. These engines like the higher ranges and it's better on the motor; I now cruise at 3000 to 3200 in 5th which is around 70 or around 60 in 4th. I get better mileage and have more HP available if needed. With my Fatcats it's louder but I have gotten used to it. I use ear plugs on long rides.

 

this may be more stressful on your engine than you think

 

2-2500 is fine in 3rd gear on level ground but i wouldnt try it in 4th or 5th or when loaded with a passenger or uphill, thats when i pick it up to 2800 or more.

 

...you think low rpm chuffing along at 70 mph, but after reading posts here and talking to Harley techs, yep, you gotta keep the revs up, so on the freeway I shift more now, but I don't mind. I have the stock 96" with BUB 7 slip-ons (I'm thinking about true duals now and 103" eventually) and what effect will TDs have for me on the superslab given which tuner, blah, blah, blah. I love riding my Road King fast on the freeway, but I don't go above 4500 rpm, really.

I guess if you have SE 255s in a 103" with a 2-1 system, I'm wondering, yeah, you'll definitely be torquier at cruising ranges on the freeway on the tach, but for a guy like me for now with stock 96" with stage one tune and perhaps TDs, my rpms would be the same as a function of gearing, wouldn't they?

John

 

I like to keep my 103" just under 3000 rpm's. It seems like at 3000 the power band really kicks in, and makes passing the big rigs a quick event.
My 103 is just stock, with some slip ons.

 

103" seems to like to run at about 3000 rpms to me. It just purrs along nicely, little roll on the throttle and I am upto 70-75 no pob. I am usually running 60-65 in 5th, and shifting to 6th around 70mph. Depending on the situation I sometimes just stay in 5th though. It runs just fine cruising up to 3500rpms also. It also will run fine down to 2500, so I find 5th gear very usuable compared to my last 2 bikes. I guess gearing compared to my 07 and a little more torque compared to my 09.