So on Friday I finally pulled the trigger on a new 2008 Ultra with ABS. I think my view of this bike may be a little different from a lot of folks as the last thing I rode was a'55 panhead with the stock rigid frame and an 8"-over springer. The other thing is the last time I rode was 15 year ago.

After signing the paperwork, getting my wife's approval on the color, Dark Blue Pearl, and waiting while the staff at Illinois Harley unpacked and set the bike up for me, it was time for my sales rep Cal to go over the bike with me. Lots of little new goodies to learn, but the basics are still the same, throttle, clutch, rear brake, and hey this one has a front brake! Now it's time to take my baby home. I talk Bob, the owner of Illinois HD and a long time aquaintence of my wife and I, into taking the ride with me, just in case! I throw my leg over the seat, fire it up, slam it into first and realize that there are about a dozen guys standing there watching me pull out. All I can think of is please Lord don't let me stall it, lol. I do better then I thought I would and soon was pulling the bike into the garage.

Saturday morning: the bike had a whopping 3 miles on it when I pulled out of the dealership and I was instructed not to take it over 50mph till I reached 50miles on the odometer. So the first hour or so was spent driving side streets and getting the feel for the bike. First thing that sets in is that I either need to lower it an inch or look into a "reach" seat. With a 34" inseam, the bike is a little too tall for me to place both feet square on the ground, and with a bike this heavy I want that sure footed feeling. Next after about an hour I start to notice the engine heat. I was expecting the worse, and quite honestly it is no worse then my cousin's stroked shovel was. After my 1000 mile serviceI am sure Iwill add pipes, A/C and tuner to keep it cool.

Toward the end of themorning I was feeling pretty good about the bike. The low speed handling is astonishing, I was doing slow u-turns & figure 8s with no problems, holding it uprightduring a touch and gostop without putting my feet down, and I even drove it down a brick street we have here just to see how well it tracked. THose big old tires do seem to ignore a lot of the small ruts nicely. I wanted to mention my opinion of the motor and trans on this bike. I love the feel at a stop, the vibration reminds me of the Panhead in a big way, the difference is once you come off idle, it is one smooth ride with no heavy vibration in the bars or in the floorboards. The trans shifts smoothly and drops into each gear with that reassuring clunk that all us old-timers are used to. I think the hardest thing to get used to is no pre-start ritual, this is my first electric start motorcycle and I always thought guys who didn't kickover their bikes were lightweights, how wrong can one man be, this is the only way to start a bike!

Had to take break to attend to family matters and then it was off for an evening ride. Since I now had about 60 miles on the bike it was off to the expressway to see how it handled at speed. I was easy on the throttle, although this bike is doing 80 before you even know it. Ability to move around the lane is excellent once you get used to the slightheaviness of the fairing. That weight is more then compensated for by the fantastic ride even at 80mph. I remember how hard I would have to hold onto the grips with just a windshield, the fairing is a whole different animal. Again because of my size (5'8") the windshield is a bit too tall, my line of sight is right below the top of the windshield, so I will need to take care of that. The radio is a big suprise, pretty clear even at speed. Also this is a nice quite bike on the rode.

 

well said....



[quote]ORIGINAL: DoomBuggy

So on Friday I finally pulled the trigger on a new 2008 Ultra with ABS. I think my view of this bike may be a little different from a lot of folks as the last thing I rode was a '55 panhead with the stock rigid frame and an 8"-over springer. The other thing is the last time I rode was 15 year ago.

After signing the paperwork, getting my wife's approval on the color, Dark Blue Pearl, and waiting while the staff at Illinois Harley unpacked and set the bike up for me, it was time for my sales rep Cal to go over the bike with me. Lots of little new goodies to learn, but the basics are still the same, throttle, clutch, rear brake, and hey this one has a front brake! Now it's time to take my baby home. I talk Bob, the owner of Illinois HD and a long time aquaintence of my wife and I, into taking the ride with me, just in case! I throw my leg over the seat, fire it up, slam it into first and realize that there are about a dozen guys standing there watching me pull out. All I can think of is please Lord don't let me stall it, lol. I do better then I thought I would and soon was pulling the bike into the garage.

Saturday morning: the bike had a whopping 3 miles on it when I pulled out of the dealership and I was instructed not to take it over 50mph till I reached 50miles on the odometer. So the first hour or so was spent driving side streets and getting the feel for the bike. First thing that sets in is that I either need to lower it an inch or look into a "reach" seat. With a 34" inseam, the bike is a little too tall for me to place both feet square on the ground, and with a bike this heavy I want that sure footed feeling. Next after about an hour I start to notice the engine heat. I was expecting the worse, and quite honestly it is no worse then my cousin's stroked shovel was. After my 1000 mile service I am sure I will add pipes, A/C and tuner to keep it cool.

Toward the end of the morning I was feeling pretty good about the bike. The low speed handling is astonishing, I was doing slow u-turns & figure 8s with no problems, holding it upright during a touch and go stop without putting my feet down, and I even drove it down a brick street we have here just to see how well it tracked. THose big old tires do seem to ignore a lot of the small ruts nicely. I wanted to mention my opinion of the motor and trans on this bike. I love the feel at a stop, the vibration reminds me of the Panhead in a big way, the difference is once you come off idle, it is one smooth ride with no heavy vibration in the bars or in the floorboards. The trans shifts smoothly and drops into each gear with that reassuring clunk that all us old-timers are used to. I think the hardest thing to get used to is no pre-start ritual, this is my first electric start motorcycle and I always thought guys who didn't kickover their bikes were lightweights, how wrong can one man be, this is the only way to start a bike!

Had to take break to attend to family matters and then it was off for an evening ride. Since I now had about 60 miles on the bike it was off to the expressway to see how it handled at speed. I was easy on the throttle, although this bike is doing 80 before you even know it. Ability to move around the lane is excellent once you get used to the slight heaviness of the fairing. That weight is more then compensated for by the fantastic ride even at 80mph. I remember how hard I would have to hold onto the grips with just a windshield, the fairing is a whole different animal. Again because of my size (5'8") the windshield is a bit too tall, my line of sight is right below the top of the windshield, so I will need to take care of that. The radio is a big suprise, pretty clear even at speed. Also this is a nice quite bike on the rode. I have had the 40" drag pipes and all sorts of shorty mufflers, and at this point in my li

 

Nice reveiw.... It was a Joy reading it

 

Spoken like a proud new Papa... Enjoy your new friend and ride safe [sm=biker2.gif]

 

All the best on the new ride....excellent review and i am sure you will have even greater things to say in the future....

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DoomBuggy: Congrats on getting your 2008 UC; enjoy!!

 

Fun reading..brings back memories of my first ride three months ago on my RK! Thanks!

 

Congrats on your new ride. I enjoyed reading your review.

 

Awesome! Congrats! Post a pic of the new scoot when you can.

 

Nicely done - it reminds of the way I feel on my 08 Street Glide.