Hi all. I have been riding for about 40 years. My first bike was a 39 Knucklehead. Over the years it was chopped, rstored, converted to a Panhead, a Pan Shovel, stroked, you name it. Ten years ago I bought an 1800 Goldwaing and I loved that bike. I put 97,000 miles on it and covered the lower 48 states. All of my friends ride Harley's and always have but I fit right in as they know where my heart is, riding.

Last week I traded in my GL1800 for a 2012 Ultra Classic (brand new). My original intention was to buy a used bike and keep my wing, but youo know how sales people are. I got talked into the new bike, and although I loved my wing and am going to miss it, I think I am going to be very happy with my new Ultra.

I was actually quite surprised with the handling of the new bike, and it feels MUCH lighter to me. I feel more comfortable leaning into hard turns with the Ultra. The only thing I really miss is the power (and reverse until I learn to change my parking habits )

Most of my brothers are riding 96" Road Kings, with a few Street Glides and Baggers and a couple of other 103's. Although I myself do a lot of touring, I also find myself bar-hopping with them a lot on the weekends, and for the past 10 years have been way out front when they decide to roll on the throttle and go for it. It felt good to be King, and I want to make sure that I can at least give a good showing.

I have been doing lots of research on ways to boost the performance a bit, and Google keeps referring me to this forum over & over, so here I am. I did purchase 4 years of warranty, so I am sensitive about adding things that may void my warranty. Before delivery, I went with the Stage I air cleaner and a set of Vance & Hines Rounds (which the dealer recommended over the SE exhaust options). When I picked it up, there was also a SE Super Tuner that they gave me.

I was a pretty good wrench when I was riding pans and shovels, but the new technologies are going to take some getting used to. I will be going in for my 1k service soon and they will be dyno'ing the machine. I am considering a cam, and could use any other advice any of you have. I have done a lot of research and have gotten the opinion that if I want to keep my dealer happy for warranty purposes, I should probably go with the 255. However, knowing that I occassionally like to twist the throttle and go from 80 - 100 in the shortest amount of time, what advice do you have? (please, no preaching about my riding style)

Anyway, glad to be here and glad to be on a Harley again. Happy trails to all of you!

 

Welcome back. I have the 255 cam and am happy with the added performance. Don't know about the going from 80 - 100 though as I rarely go above 80. Getting caught doing a 100 would be a 'racing ' charge and an immediate 7 day loss of license here in Ontario.

 

First, congrats on the new bike,
The HD, without major upgrades, will not match the wing in Preformance....that flat six will hall the mail! I've owned four wings, all 1800's..so I do know ohow they run.
But I'm also a HD guy, through and through...all this being said I would ride that puppy awhile before I started diving into the motor much.
I've heard good things about the Woods 555 cams, but I'm not a Motörhead, so I'll let those guys jump in there..
I don't feel comfortable opening up the motor, found the stock motor will a stage 1 was all I needed and I didn't hurt the reliability of the bike....again my opinion....and no warranty issues....

Again congrats on the UC, post some pictures when you can.

 

Glad to see you came back to Harley. I don't think your going to miss that top heavy, hot water buffalo, tippy toe, lawnmower plastic piece of crap very long.

 

congrats on the new bike. Warranty support is pretty important on recent year Harley's so on the upgrades and mods, def should partner with a Harley dealer for upgrades that are considered "supported" by Harley. Once you get past the Warranty restraints and have to pay for repairs anyway, the portfolio of upgrades and mods available to you are pretty amazing.

 

Maybe you should type in Goldwing on the dragon on youtube and see how bad they handle at speeds that rice rockets can't keep up with.. My Electra Glide is plenty top heavy, and gets way hotter than a Goldwing ever would.
Steve in Ct

 

I have both a wing and a Harley and can tell you there is no comparison between the two. The Harley can't get out of it's own way with out shifting down 2 gears. The wing just need a twist of the throttle. The Harley is much more top heavy and has half as much plastic as the wing.
I never noticed heat from a motorcycle until I bought the Harley. And you must have a 24" inseam if you think a wing is tippy toe.
Someday you may try one out just to say you did. Then maybe you will be able to appreciate all motorcycles for what they and not just because they say HD on the side.

 

I think you are restricted to your dealer giving you the most power without voiding the warranty. Will MOCO cover the new cam, I don't know. If your dealer trust that you will be giving them a lot of future business, they may go pretty far in what they cover.

Beary

 

I will assume you are joking. If not, ignore my reply, your message doesn't deserve one.

BTW, nice to meet you too!

 

That's how I ended up on a wing, I test drove it. I can say nothing bad about it. However, I am now back on the Harley and will try to keep the wing out of future posts. Both are great bikes in their own ways.