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[Screamin08]

Just wondering how each of you guys and gals ride your SE's.  I feel like once in a while im not getting the power I should out of my bike. When I was younger and riding in those days what would be considered a sport bike....you just downshifted and nailed the throttle...I dont think you should do that with a cruiser, or am I wrong??

[spada84]

My 10 SEUC runs best between 3000 and 5000 RPM.

I have a friend who was complaining that his bike would not hold speed when going up long grades.  I told him to down shift that 96 twin cam and let it spin.  He said he never had the motor over 2500 unless going over 75.  Saw me a week later and said it was like having a new bike.

So, yeah, down shift and twist it.

[jcraig147]

My 10 SEUC runs best between 3000 and 5000 RPM.

I have a friend who was complaining that his bike would not hold speed when going up long grades.  I told him to down shift that 96 twin cam and let it spin.  He said he never had the motor over 2500 unless going over 75.  Saw me a week later and said it was like having a new bike.

So, yeah, down shift and twist it.

I yearn to ride mine between 3500 and 4500 rpm.

 

[SDCVO]

I have had my SERGC for a couple of months now and put around 2500 miles on it. My last bike was a EVO and though I did just about everything I could do without hurting reliability, I had to keep that bike "on the cam" all the time to enjoy my ride (Andrews cam I had in didn't really come on till around 3000 RPM's). With this one with those 255 cams in it, it is really enjoyable anywhere between 2500 and around 4200 RPM's (see attached Dyna) and though this is a 6 spd opposed to a 5, I am not switching gears nearly as much.
Though there is never such thing as "enough power", with just a set of pipes and a good tune, these bikes run awesome but they will never be Sport bikes... Enjoy the ride!!

[07CVO.RK]

ride it like you flippin stole it!!

[michaelbmenaker]

Just wondering how each of you guys and gals ride your SE's.  I feel like once in a while im not getting the power I should out of my bike. When I was younger and riding in those days what would be considered a sport bike....you just downshifted and nailed the throttle...I dont think you should do that with a cruiser, or am I wrong??

You are wrong. Not much extra power to be found above 5,000 - 5,500 but tons between 2,500 and 5,000. Spin it, man.

[jayray00SERG]

Keeping the revs above 3000 wakes the bike up.

[Midnight Rider]

Not really much point in running the engine on a stock 110" motor past about 5K RPM, though it doesn't hurt anything to do so.  Anything between 2500-5800 is fine.  If I'm running 2500 on a two lane hwy and want to pass somebody in a hurry, I downshift and twist it...that'll get you by them quick enough.  On the Interstate, I'm generally already at close to 3000 when cruising, so I just twist it because you're already in the "sweet spot" at that RPM.  In the twisties, I ride and shift my bike like I would a sport bike, downshifting to prepare for the curve, engine braking, keeping the rpm no lower than 2500 and usually more around 3000-4500.  Don't be afraid to let the engine brake the bike when riding it agressively on those types of roads.

[ultrafxr]

Not really much point in running the engine on a stock 110" motor past about 5K RPM, though it doesn't hurt anything to do so.  Anything between 2500-5800 is fine.  If I'm running 2500 on a two lane hwy and want to pass somebody in a hurry, I downshift and twist it...that'll get you by them quick enough.  On the Interstate, I'm generally already at close to 3000 when cruising, so I just twist it because you're already in the "sweet spot" at that RPM.  In the twisties, I ride and shift my bike like I would a sport bike, downshifting to prepare for the curve, engine braking, keeping the rpm no lower than 2500 and usually more around 3000-4500.  Don't be afraid to let the engine brake the bike when riding it agressively on those types of roads.

Absolutely.  In the twisties you gott kep the revs up.

[gstrickland]

I had a 2003 SERK before my 2009 SERG that I have now. I usually ride in the back if riding with a group, simply because of the rpm's that I ride at and the combination of a thunderheader. This will usually blast almost anyone behind me into submission in short order. I ride mine like a "900lb. dirt bike" always have always will. My bike does not like "lugging" and never has from day one. I'll be willing to go out on a limb and say that I have never been in 6th gear with the exception of maybe 10-12 times total. Unless I'm doing at least 85 m.p.h. and try to shift to 6th gear, my glide will throughly let you know that it's not the right gear.......24,000 miles on the odometer now, I concurr.."ride it like you stole it."

[Screamin08]

Thanks everyone.....thats just what I wanted to hear. Took her out today, and boy what a difference!!!!

[North Georgia Hawg]

Simply put - you should accelerate until the torque produced is falling faster than the RPM is rising... that's the point at which you need to upshift for maximum acceleration. If you don't know that point, your "seat of the pants" dyno will tell you if you pay attention to it.

These big V-Twins are nothing like the inline fours you may be used to... more RPM does NOT mean more acceleration, because these engines produce a LOT more torque than they do HP, and they are made to run at relatively low RPM (max of about 5,000 RPM or so... and many cams are "all in" before that point) compared to the 10K+ RPM that the smaller inline engines run at. Once you're past the point at which the torque is falling faster than the RPM (and HP produced) is rising, you need to upshift to get the engine back into its maximum power band. Engines run on math.

If you get your bike dynoed, the torque and HP curves will tell you exactly when to upshift, if you know how to read the chart. 

[CVODON]

To answer you, yes you are wrong, drop a gear and grab a handful of throttle. This is the strangest thread I have ever seen. How to ride??? What?? RPM Makes power, more RPM the better.

[North Georgia Hawg]

To answer you, yes you are wrong, drop a gear and grab a handful of throttle. This is the strangest thread I have ever seen. How to ride??? What?? RPM Makes power, more RPM the better.

You are very misinformed if you believe that more RPM = more power on a Harley big twin. This might be true for much smaller-displacement Asian inline fours - but it is definitely NOT true for large-displacement Harley V-twins. Harley V-Twins produce a lot of low-RPM torque, whereas Asian inline fours produce very low torque but lots of HP at very high RPM. They are totally different engine philosophies.

The maximum power band (in RPM) for your Harley V-Twin engine depends entirely on your engine build - your intake, your CAMS, your compression ratio, your exhaust, and your TUNE. All of these things affect where your engine makes the most total power. This will, in the vast majority of all street cases, very likely be below 5252 RPM - the torque/RPM crossover point. Unless you have an absolutely monster HP race build, you will very likely be making less total power at greater than 5252 RPM than you will be at under 5252 RPM. Most Harley street engines running typical "street" cams are "all in" at some point under 5252 RPM, and the torque starts dropping off faster than the HP is building - thus the engines is making less total power at the higher RPM, no more. If you are running very high-lift/high-duration cams, have race-ported heads, very high compression, etc...you may see total power increase up to even 6000 RPM - but probably 99% of all Harley street bikes do not fit this ultra high-performance profile.

As I said - once you are past the point at which the torque produced by the engine is falling at a rate which exceeds the rate at which the RPM is rising, you need to upshift to continue to accelerate at the maximum rate the engine can provide.

HP = Torque * RPM / 5252, and there is no escaping this simple equation...

You need to keep the engine in the proper gearing that will enable it to make its maximum power - and that gearing varies greatly from bike to bike, depending on your specific build.

But go ahead, rev your big V-Twin up to redline, see what happens to your acceleration rate. It will likely plummet. You will accomplish nothing other than tearing up your engine, and likely throwing a rod or bending a valve due to valve float...  

Ken

[Cvostu]

Ken,,,  I learn so much from you.