My 1300 doesn't have a tach, so I'm just going by feel and sound. If I feel/ hear it lugging, I'll downshift. If she's whining, upshift. You'll be able to tell if she's unhappy. There's been a few times I've upshifted a little early. A light touch with the clutch will keep the revs where you want them without bogging down the engine. And slowly release it, you should be good.
Of course, the best way is to practice. Which to me sounds a lot like get on and ride. Because we all need excuses to ride.
Your 1700 is a long stroke engine, unlike the 650, 950 and 1100 (and I think 1300) so you can let it lug a little more than you can with those bikes. It doesn't need to rev as much to make power. But don't overdo it.
from the Road star owners manual, the min upshift speeds are:
1 to 2 13mpg
2 to 3 19mph
3 to 4 25mph
4 to 5 31mph
what the table means is dont drop down below 19mph in 3rd
dont drop below 25 mph in 4th, or 31mph in 5th
so you can take corners at 19mph in 3rd gear and putter up to speed
and you can slow down in a village to 31 mph and putt putt putt with class thru town with the engine just ticking over.
I like doing this: ride thru town at 30 mph in 5th gear, and when I come out the other side and the speed limit changes back to 55mph, twist the throttle a bit and the bike winds out from 30 to 60+ in one smooth long climb, without shifting like a whiney little Ninja 250. Thats cruising with style and class.
As long as the engine is not balking (pinging or knocking) those are the min speeds that will ensure your oil pump is spinning fast enough to keep pressure on all the bearing journals.
Obviously if you want to twist the grip and take off like a bat outta hell, downshift and rev it higher.
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