2007 - 2009 the gearing was seriously tall for sixth gear. They fixed it in 2010. On my stock 07 street glide it was pretty worthless below 70 - 75 MPH and even then only usable on flat interstate cruising. Once I bumped the HP and torque in my motor it's very usable all the way down to 60MPH. I can even accelerate just fine in sixth. The stock bikes just did not have the torque to pull sixth.

 

my 2012 road king is happy in 6th at 55 and up.

 

My 09 does fine shifting into 6th at 60-65 with easy acceleration. If I try to nail it at that speed the engine says "WTF-downshift, dude".

09s have lower gearing than 07 & 08.

 

Pretty certain the gearing change happened in 2010 although I am not 100%. I believe they fixed the gearing at the same time they changed over to the helical cut gear for fifth. 09 models have more power because of the redesigned exhaust system so sixth becomes more useable stock.

 

Same for me, once the needle passes the 0 on 70, I shift into sixth. At least once a trip I pass letting it go as fast as it wants in 5th while passing.... to clean some carbon out. 100 doesn't bother it in 5th, hell it just wants to run. One time I didn't use sixth regardless of the speed just to clean it out and it didn't bother the engine at all.

 

I actually pay more attention to rpm's. 2k I down shift. 6th is fine above 2k but barely. 2,200 is better. I do use 70mph as speed to change from 5th to 6 and back to 5th. I actually get better mileage in 5th at 65 than I do in 6 at 65. RPM's being the key then. 07 EGU seems to like higher rpm's. Guess that's the taller gearing folks talk about.

 

I re-geared my 08 so 1st gear isn't as tall and likewise, 6th gear is more usable. Since the change I can shift into 6th gear at 60mph if I desire.

 

Yep, I notice that on my 09 Streetglide too..........

 

When cruising/coasting I'll take it up to 6th above 55.

 

They definitely added the two teeth on the rear pulley in 09 when they changed the frame. 07-08 are the over geared years