thanks guys, more good info. that manual better get here soon.

I think the main reason it seamed strange was that my Shadow Aero (old bike) would be in 4th gear at 30mph and 5th anything over 45 mph. so after driving that for the last 7 years it just felt strange that the harly with the motor with twice the displacment complained at being in 2nd at 20 mph. just going to take some concious effort to change my driving habits a bit.

Steve

 

is there another way to find out about this kinda stuff besides the dealer?

Steve

 

You'll get used to it!

I think once you get that surging problem fixed, the 20 mph in 2nd gear shouldn't be a problem. One thing I've discovered on my 09 Ultra, it's running at or slightly above 2000 rpms @ 20 mph in 2nd gear and it's happy as a clam doing it. I don't see why your 88/95 should be any different. In fact, it works that way through all the gears on my bike. Two thousand rpms in 2nd is about 20 mph, 3rd is about 30 mph, 4th is about 40 mph and so on. It really helped me keep track of what gear I'm in when I first got the bike. This is my first 6 speed tranny on a motorcycle and I was amazed at how much trouble I had keeping track of what gear I was in, especially downshifting from 6th as I had 40+ years of counting down from 5 which left me a gear higher than I thought I was. I've gotten used to that too, finally!

Your bike might be geared a bit differently but I wouldn't think it would be that big a difference.

Good luck & Ride Safe,
Steve R.