Blackroadie wrote:
CoyoteManNo1 wrote:
My first bike had a three speed transmission and I thought it needed a forth gear, than I got a bike with a four speed tranny and thought it could use a fifth gear. Now I have the five speed trans and think it could use another gear. Where does it all end?





W. Coyote

I have a 13 speed in my Freightliner......now I want an 18

My old Freightliner was only a 10 speed. Then one day I drove one that had 18. Made for a very long day.

Ive had 18s ...love em. Dont use em all...same as the 13 . But, when downshifting in ice n snow...u dont have as much of a chance of breaking the drives loose. (smaller rpm change).

Most of the HD owners I ride with say they didn't need the 6th gear anyway. But it's there...

Sorry, guess it's cause I don't have a tach. But I find myself reaching for a sixth gear all the time.





BD

jeckes wrote:
Most of the HD owners I ride with say they didn't need the 6th gear anyway. But it's there... I agree, I rode my buddy's Ultra Classic yesterday and it was ticking over nicely at 85 in 5th. Didn't even go into 6th gear.

Blackroadie wrote:
CoyoteManNo1 wrote:
My first bike had a three speed transmission and I thought it needed a forth gear, than I got a bike with a four speed tranny and thought it could use a fifth gear. Now I have the five speed trans and think it could use another gear. Where does it all end?





W. Coyote

I have a 13 speed in my Freightliner......now I want an 18

Been there 18 gears is just to much I like my 10 and 13 gears. Just not the super ten trans I think it sucks, to long of a delay between shifts. But hey I may take it now
My work went to all automatics and im lost left leg reaches out to put the truck in first and right hand has nothing to do and no place to rest

Drive a freight shaker 18 over ..love it.
Now the company is talking automatics
What the heck do you do with your right hand????besides rest it on the drivers arm rest..Bet it goes to sleep half way through a run???

I generally do not shift into 5th unless I am ding 100 km/h (62 mp/h), I find it lugs below that speed, for me a 6th gear would be absolutly useless unless I was doing extended long range rides at 90 mp/h.

As for the 18 speed - love em. When I drove a truck (many moons ago) I loved being able to split gears in the high range (13's & 18's), yes 18 is a bit over-kill for a highway truck, you don't really need to split gears in the low range on a highway truck.

You can't beat a 13 or an 18 for running the hills, splitting gears is a much faster shift than shifting a 10 or a 15, plus you splitting a gear so your drop is only 250 rpm instead of 400 to 500 rpm which can take you out of the power band.

The moral of the story - there is probably a lot of thought that went into the chossen gear ratios for each of the five gears in the RS box.

KPAX wrote:
I generally do not shift into 5th unless I am ding 100 km/h (62 mp/h), I find it lugs below that speed, for me a 6th gear would be absolutly useless unless I was doing extended long range rides at 90 mp/h.

I have to agree with KPAX on this....I typically don't even shift up to 5th unless I'm at 65 or 70 cause it lugs......still got plenty of throttle left, but I won't be going fast enough to accommodate a 6th gear any time soon.

Theres alot of thought that goes into everything on the bikes. But we change them anyway. Not all the changes are functionaly advantageous. I dont think that raking the front end improves handling? Nor does a huge rear tire. But they sure look mean! I would take a 6th gear anytime and have reached for it more than once. Hey.....sometimes I want to go!! lol My bike is fine just like it is. We all know exactly how these bikes ride,handle,respond and cruise. And it is good.
With that said......has anybody ever considerd a 6th gear?