As you all know I am a proud owner of a Softail Ultima with 137 Ultima engine and a 6-speed Ultima transmission.

Since I’m new to this world, I asked several experienced Harley mechanics and they all told me the same thing, that the Ultima brand is the lowest quality engines of all other Harley’s replacements (such as S&S and others).

They also told me that, for example, a common Ultima engine problem is that valves tend to break and fall inside, into the cylinder, and damage the piston and the cylinder walls.

Another known issue is that Ultima has no customer service, no customer care, no support, and it looks like through this recession they might go out of business, or may be they already are…?

So my questions to you are: should I sell or trade or get rid of my Softail Ultima 137 before something bad happens? If not - and this is important- what preventative actions should be taken to avoid unsolvable engine/transmission problems?

Thank you!!

 

My thoughts for what it's worth. Ride it! If it breaks, fix it or replace the engine. It will be hard to sell and not bring much money.
Choppers are fun toys, enjoy it!!!

 

My guess is you'd probably be unhappy with how much you can get for it. If it were me I'd probably just run it till it breaks.
someone more thorough than me would do more research, and maybe do some preventative motor work, like pull the heads and have better valves pit in if that's a failure problem.
the more you look into it the more horror stories you'll find about most all motors. If it runs and doesn't sound like it's coming apart then try not to worry until there's good reason to.

 

I've not messed with Ultima Engines in a while but the ones circa 2006 weren't too bad. The geometry with their roller rockers was actually better than some of the HD heads I've worked on. During that time the 113 ci motors were pretty popular and guys were getting pretty good life out of them.. They were using AVnV, valves / guides and springs.. I did hear that some of the AVnV stuff with beehive springs were braking and dropping valves.. Some of that was based on putting too much preload on the springs.. In that case the issue showed up in the first few thousand miles..

Ultima engine cases are pretty good.. A little thicker than SnS and better front mounts.. I have a set off ultima heads on a 131 ci TC and they aren't too bad. They has all AVnV parts.

Really don't know about the more recent stuff.. IIRC they do come with a warranty..

The worse motor to buy was the RevTech from CCI.. Those had issues with the left main coming loose in the case.

 

You now know what you purchased. Decide. Unless you find someone uneducated it will not sell for much anyway.
Ride it get what you can out of it and start doing your home work now to replace the 137 Ultima engine and a 6-speed Ultima transmission..

 

In the same boat/Bike. Total mystery bike. Lots of fun. Zero customer support. Parts hard to find lots of questions no answers. Noisey as all get out. Sounds like it's gonna blow anyway now. Runs great shifts easy. But motor sounds like a can of marbles always makes strange sounds. But she's still alive. Fingers crossed I can squeeze more fund from her before one of us breaks. Good luck count me as part of your Ultima mystery family. Check out JIREH CYCLES they deal in Ultima parts. If they can get them!!!

 

That's exactly what my partners tell me. Ride it till it breaks. But they won't pay for my Bike repairs so I've learned to wrench on her myself. I fit squarely into the uneducated category. Have not rode a bike in over 30 years woke up with a wild hair looked for years saw nothing that grabbed me. Until this bike. Bought it probably over paid for it. Seller lied thru his fake teeth about everything. Don't even know how many actual miles are on bike tach odometer doesn't work. I bought it anyways just to prevent me from spending more hours on the net looking. I've been wrench on it ever since. Waiting for winter to dig deeper into the motor and find out what all that dam noise is about. Definitely sounds like a broken spring or valve rattling around. It has a 6 speed Rivera Trans. A BDL clutch open belt primary. And SnS push rods and 42mm Mikuni. I don't require 100,000 miles out of this motor just gimme 30000 or more and I'll be happy. Include me in any Ultima heads up stuff. My life was boring as hell until I bought this.

 

Jirehcycles.com they deal in Ultima. Ask for Ben.