I finally got the time and the weather to give
the bike a good workout at highway speeds today.
As you might remember I put the Baker XL-6
6 speed tranny in my 2003 1200C last fall.

I did the install myself, cost of unit $2100,
tranny fluid = $5,
labor = priceless

I took a long ride on the Garden State Parkway from
Asbury Park to Cap May, it's a 113 mile one way
without stopping.

Now the speed limit in NJ is 65 for the major roads
but nobody does that unless they are boken down
and have their 4 ways on and ride on the shoulder. ;^)
So most of the time I was 70+, or 80+ and even 90+.

Sorry SUV/BMW owners using cells phones
do 50 in the fast lane....

My bike when doing 75 in 5th vibrates bad, not
shake you of the seat bad but just enough to make
a long run at that RPM (3300) not pleasent. Now
shifting down to 4th gets the revs up beyond that
band of vibration, but that will burn up the fuel.

XL-6 to the rescue, now shifting into 6th
gets the RPMs and vibs down to a decent level.
So at 75 and just under 3k RPM and I can see out of
the mirrors. Under 70 6th is useless.

My gas mileage was about the same, 46 MPG, It was
on the windy side today and I had no windshield.

For those who want all the tech info:
Stock 1200 not a conversion.
29T/61T sprockets.
SE AC, SE torque slipons
45/175 jets with a N65C needle.

I think the 6 speed is worth it if you tend to
do a lot of traveling at highway speeds, 70+

Declan

I did the install myself, cost of unit $2100,
tranny fluid = $5,
labor = priceless

For everything else........

Sounds like you like it and may it serve you well.

Wow, Thanks for the info. Sounds like a winter project for me.

too bad the new rubbermounts make this an almost impossible upgrade!

i couldnt see you doing that unless you rode at 70 or better which in the most case every nut that rides out there cruises at 75 or 80 on the highway sounds like a good idea for me

I regularly get 55-63 mpg on the hwy and cruise at or above 70mph with a 4 speed. Vibration has never been that much of an issue. If yer happy with it, that's all that counts.

I am gonna do this upgrade. Alot in the summer months we regularly do rides out of town. And I am pretty well the only Sporty rider in a seemingly never ending sea of Dynas/Softtails etc. And they like to be up in the 70s/80s+ speeds. So this would be a good upgrade for me.

Are there any distributors other than Baker?? tnx in advance..

I'm not sure a 6 speed is the way to go, because with a overdrive top gear you loose efficiency. Most top gears are direct drive. It's probably better to just gear the final drive gearing to match your requirements.

I also did the 6 speed conversion. With my 883/1200 conversion gearing it works very well. I use it some times on the back roads but it's great on the interstates. Gained about 2 miles per gallon on the highway. The lower engine RPM's are a lot easier on the engine. Dropped about 600RPM's at 75. Nice kit and easy to do. Alittle costly but I plan on keeping the bike for a long time. I'm starting to get it the way I want it.

I was looking at this kit the other day - having a hard time getting over the 2100 cost of admission ...

Why not convert to chain so you can give yourself a highway ratio?... a hell of alot cheaper than $2,100 bucks...

Why not convert to chain so you can give yourself a highway ratio?... a hell of alot cheaper than $2,100 bucks...

Agreed - but I'd lose some of the bottom end. Most of my riding is back roads, with very little freeway mileage. Northeast Georgia has lots of hills with winding two lane roads - I like the idea of the sixth gear, many times I want just one more gear, when I'm in fifth - I keep looking for the next gear! - I just don't want it $2100 worth!

Now if it was a $1000 - let's just say it'd be installed already!! :smoke

I saw this in a magazine today... this would be incredibly useful for my commute to work. Right now, I'm riding 22 miles on surface streets for fun, hilly 45 minute ride, but I can also take a 16 mile ride down the freeway, and we all know how quick that would go by. I'm barely comfortable maintaining 65mph due to feeling like I'm going to wind the engine out and send pistons flying, not to mention the vibrations turning 2 cars into 20 in my mirrors! Driving the speed limit back in upstate NY, where I grew up, is one thing... but I live in southern California! I'd probably be ticketed for driving too slowly here if I didn't keep up with traffic!

I wonder if Santa will bring me one for Christmas this year haha!

I wish they had one for rubbermounts. Mine is a conversion with the lower gears. I could keep the low end grunt and run smoother at speed.

I saw this in a magazine today... this would be incredibly useful for my commute to work. Right now, I'm riding 22 miles on surface streets for fun, hilly 45 minute ride, but I can also take a 16 mile ride down the freeway, and we all know how quick that would go by. I'm barely comfortable maintaining 65mph due to feeling like I'm going to wind the engine out and send pistons flying, not to mention the vibrations turning 2 cars into 20 in my mirrors! Driving the speed limit back in upstate NY, where I grew up, is one thing... but I live in southern California! I'd probably be ticketed for driving too slowly here if I didn't keep up with traffic!

I wonder if Santa will bring me one for Christmas this year haha!

I'd have thought it'd be cheaper for you to get a 1200 conversion and gearing. And that would give you more poke / better driveability all round.

Agreed. Doing a conversion and changing the gearing gets you more versatility.

I saw this in a magazine today... this would be incredibly useful for my commute to work. Right now, I'm riding 22 miles on surface streets for fun, hilly 45 minute ride, but I can also take a 16 mile ride down the freeway, and we all know how quick that would go by. I'm barely comfortable maintaining 65mph due to feeling like I'm going to wind the engine out and send pistons flying, not to mention the vibrations turning 2 cars into 20 in my mirrors! Driving the speed limit back in upstate NY, where I grew up, is one thing... but I live in southern California! I'd probably be ticketed for driving too slowly here if I didn't keep up with traffic!

I wonder if Santa will bring me one for Christmas this year haha!

They have/had them in the Drag Specialties catalog (for easy reference). I don't really understand why solidmounts get vibe spots. I only have AC, slipons, and jetting and don't have any vibe spots until I get close to the rev limiter. 65mph highway with my solidmount 883 is on the low RPM side of the powerband for mine. Anything under 60mph and its too low for 5th gear. If you are trying to goose the throttle in 5th under 60mph it will shake because you're asking for power at basically idle speed or below.
Edit: This is for the solidmount Sportsters.

They have/had them in the Drag Specialties catalog (for easy reference). I don't really understand why solidmounts get vibe spots. I only have AC, slipons, and jetting and don't have any vibe spots until I get close to the rev limiter. 65mph highway with my solidmount 883 is on the low RPM side of the powerband for mine. Anything under 60mph and its too low for 5th gear. If you are trying to goose the throttle in 5th under 60mph it will shake because you're asking for power at basically idle speed or below.
Edit: This is for the solidmount Sportsters.

Proper tuning does have an effect on felt vibration. The engine will run smoother when it's running at or near optimum potential.

For that much money plus the labor cost to get it installed, I would rather just get a new 1200. It's awesome if you can do this sort of job on your own though.

I have a tuned 2008 1200 and on the highway at 80mph, it's amazingly smooth. Especially compared to my last 2005 883. I was always looking for that extra gear when hitting highway speeds. Not anymore though....

The 1200 conversion is in my future already, but I wonder... wouldn't the 6 speed on a 1200 be even better?

If you have the coin, perhaps.
But, a general purpose 70-85 hp conversion (depending on your build), will pull a five speed with tall gears, quite nicely.

Most of the time when people put the XL6 in, they also shorten the primary and/or overall gearing.

In my XL6 equipped Buells, I run a 26T front pulley with the stock 61T rear. It's still pretty tall in 6th, but it works better.

I have a 2003 converted to 1200 trike, do Baker make a box with a reverse gear, or can you get a mod to use the starter as a reverse on the Sporty, similar to one for the BT's?:clap

Yes that is what I did after a while, I run the 27T/61T combo now.

Sorry no reverse in Baker or any other Sporty trans that I know of.

Most of the time when people put the XL6 in, they also shorten the primary and/or overall gearing.

In my XL6 equipped Buells, I run a 26T front pulley with the stock 61T rear. It's still pretty tall in 6th, but it works better.