I have a little over 350 miles on the C14 now. (I'd have a lot more if it had not been crappy Sunday and Monday!.)
I have a few questions that have come up as I ride. I've also searched for and found some answer on some things. stuff.
Cruising RPM- coming from a cruiser, low rpm's are normal. On the Connie, running around 3-4k seems to be adequate, I can roll on the throttle for minor speed changes without downshifting, etc. What do you guys like to run the bike at if you are riding around? Like if you are on a 40mph road keeping a steady pace, do you keep it in a lower gear and let it rev higher, or do you pick the highest gear that will let you keep the rpms where the engine isn't struggling? Are you running 5k rpm or anything like that? I guess what I'm asking is what is the best operating range for the bike?
6th gear- when are you kicking it in? I've been using it around 70 if I'm at a steady cruising pace.
I'm still taking it easy on the throttle, trying to keep the rpm's down under 4-5k for the break in period though I do roll it up a little higher once in a while, like pulling out into traffic on the interstate. Even in the 3-4k range, I'm really enjoying the quickness of this bike. My Vulcan could go over 100- plenty fast enough for any road I ride on. I only ever do that on a couple back roads that have no side entries and good visibilty, so it's not real far or real often. Plus, it took a half mile to get up to that speed from 60 or so. I'll treat the Connie the same. What I really like is the roll on power. Yesterday I came out of a 35 zone that went up to 50 out in the country. I was in 3rd gear, gave it just a little throttle, and was up to 80 in the blink of an eye.
I made a couple adjustments to the suspension today, since I'm a larger guy, 6'2 and 260lbs. I beefed up the preload from what the MOM says for a 150lb rider. I didn't get a lot of twisties on my ride up to a lunch meeting today so I'm not sure how it will feel, but hopefully it'll be a good adjustment for my size.
I'm sure I'll have some more later, but thanks for looking at these!
Dan