Meanie RPM/Power issue

[adamderr]

I just bought a '05 Meanie from a shop a few states away. It got here, looks great...however, the thing is red lining in all gears WAY too early...I can not get past 30 in 3rd, in fifth gear I am redlining at just under 60 mph! My 600 Eliminator could smoke this thing...

Except for that 'minor' problem the bike looks great, sounds great, handles great, does not sound like missing, and even runs well, as long as you are staying under 55 and shift a lot. The shop I bought the bike from said thing thing was running perfect.

'05 meanie
Bub Huggers exhust
Power commander
Thunder intake (round)
Milwaukee Twins Digital Speedo/Tach

Could this simply be a bad map for the PC? Any thoughts? Do I have bigger problems?

[Lobocop]

Is the clutch slipping? If it is running good, and sounds good, you should be able to haul the freight with that bike snapping your head back as you bang through the gears.

[RichLockyer]

Ya, something is seriously screwed up.
Rev limiter on that bike should be around 45, 65, 87, 108, and the limiter in 5th is 134 (you'll never see it).

Is it actually bumping the rev limiter, or is it an issue with the tach? The ignition system will prevent the engine from revving higher than 6200rpm.

If it's not just a problem with the tach, the only thing it could be would be SERIOUS clutch slippage, or someone has done something to change the factory gearing and gave you "stump puller" gears.

[RichLockyer]

Originally Posted by adamderr

Milwaukee Twins Digital Speedo/Tach

Just caught this on re-read.

Are you going by this and not the factory tach? The Vulcan 1500/1600 engine is a dual-fire ignition, so if a tach is designed for a "normal" V-Twin, it will read double the actual RPM.

[troop]

Ha.. good catch. Very doubtful a gearing change. Heck, U.S. Mean Streaks have the lower gearing already while European versions get the same gearing as the Nomads.....

[wayne1001]

Those digital gauges have to be calibrated

[adamderr]

Okay. You guys are a big help, I felt comfortable enough to do a little testing over about 100 mile this morning.

Assuming I can divide the tach by 2
in 4th at 50mph I am at ~3100 rpm
in 5th at 60mph I am at~3000 rpm
in 5th at 70mph I am at ~3500 rpm

Also only got ~ 33mpg not riding overly aggressive; I expected better.

So...this is better news but still seems like it may be a little high. Am I worrying about nothing. Is there anything I should check out?

Calibrating a tach is a bit over my head...then again I have tried.
Clutch seems fine.

[RichLockyer]

That's about right for the speed/rpm levels. The Meanie is geared a bit lower than the Classics.
33mpg, calculated from a GPS, is not bad. Factory odometers are optimistic by around 5%. The Meanie CAN do better, but depending on the mods and the PCIII map, 33 may be the best you can get with that particular setup.

[adamderr]

Anything I can do to do better the mileage or the rpms with my setup?

[RichLockyer]

RPM is determined by the gearing, so there's no way to reduce them.
You could improve fuel economy with a leaner map for the PCIII, but you don't want to go so lean that you start burning holes in your pistons.

Like I said... 33mpg is not horrible IF that is based on accurate odometer readings.