So I'm in my first season of owning my 2010 hammer. I read the owners manual and it suggests shifting through the gears at 10mph increments, ie 2nd at 20, to 3rd at 30, up to 6th at 60, but to me that seems a bit low.
The motor seems to spin a lot happier in the 2700 to 3100 range, and torque is nonexistent at those lower rpms.
So my question is where do you cruise and shift at? And does it affect your fuel economy much?
You are more correct than the manual is and you get a high five from for that. Not only is the engine happier at higher revs, but you also have more control for speeding up, slowing down and in curves. Personally, I don't let the revs drop below 2500 and use 4000 plus or minus in the twisties. Yee Haw!
Re shift points: I usually use 3000r more in traffic and 4000 or more when getting on to a highway.
My bike is a 2012 XCT, but I think it's similar to yours. For me, 30ish is in 3rd, 40is is in4th, and then after about 50 or so its 5th up to about 65-70, then 6th as overdrive. I came from a GoldWing and it lugged like crazy--if you were moving put it in 2nd, then it was happy in either 3rd or 4th up to 50 or so.
The Vics do like to rev and I am continually fighting the urge, especially at slower speeds, to shift too soon. But I am learning and after about 3000 miles or so, have achieved a great deal of comfort and confidence across all speeds.
I love this bike! Smooth. Always gets comments. Pretty. Doesn't talk back or argue. And carries _all_ my stuff around for me. What more could you want?
1st and second go quick 3rd is until maybe 40 then 4th will carry anywhere from dropping back to 30 up to 50, 5th from 35ish to whatever feels right for the riding I am doing and 6th kicks in when that feels right as well. Shift at what works for the riding, if the engine feels like it's working hard shift up or down as needed. The speed is irrelevant.
Been riding multis for 60 years and relatively new to the cruiser culture. Boy howdy, you guys sure like to lug the bejeezus outa your engines. Hope Ma Vic compensated by overbuilding the bearings. Revs will not hurt a motorcycle engine...film at eleven.
sometimes i shift first at 30,2nd at 60, and 3rd at 90. then i usually ease off the throttle shift into 5th and slow down to 10 or 15 mph over the posted speed limit. waaaaaammm baaaaa
One of the primary effects of adding a Power Commander to my bike was it allowed me to move the power band down a bit so that it tends to kick in pretty nicely around 2400 rpm. Prior to that I would have to keep it up in the 2700 range to have that "kick in the pants" responsiveness. Every once in a while I'll ride at a bit higher rpm's just because it's more fun, but it does effect gas mileage rather significantly. Under normal driving conditions, which around here means mostly non-highway 45 - 50 mph, I cruise in 4th and have plenty of torque and average 38-39 mpg.
From what I can tell, the typical ECU flashes you get from the dealer run pretty lean in that lower range, which is why the engine seems happier at a bit higher rpm where they richen the fuel mixture. That's probably a result of them having to comply with EPA guidelines.
Well and that's the point of the last bit, it's whatever the motor needs. There is no lugging when I let it roll down to a lower speed because I don't try to whack the throttle open to accelerate. I just let it roll on and slowly build up speed.
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