I finally sat on a 2009 Ultra at my dealer. It was sold so I couldn't ride it. I did get to start it up while sitting on it and the vibration at idle is definately reduced. I am not sure how I feel about this 'improvement'. I am probably in the minority but I like the shake of the A motor.

When sitting on the bike it felt nearly identical to mine. I didn't notice and increase in seat height or width. The rear wheel looks good but hardley noticable on the Ultra. It looks much better on the Road Glide they had sitting there. The wheels on the Ultra are ok. Not sure I like them better than the wagon wheels or not. The 17 on the front looks better at some angles and at others it looks like the tire is too small for the fender...kind of like the width of the tire is smaller than the 16 used to be or something. Maybe there is more space between the fender now. They need to drop the fender down some and change the angle slightly akin to the CVO Road Glide this year. Not sure I like the looks of the cross over exhaust going underneath the bike or the 2-1 look. I would probably change out the pipes to duals to clean up the look and get rid of the cat I guess.


A couple things on the 09s that are a slight concern of mine:

- If I am not mistaken, the cat converter is in the crossover chamber area so unless you go to true duals you are stuck with it. Simply swapping out the mufflers won't get rid of the cat. Can anyone confirm this? Will this effect Stage 1 power?

- The specs on the flywheel has been increased to .003-.013 for 2009. Not sure if this is going to be good for modifying the engine or durability. Time will tell if the motors are going to be bullet proof or have flywheel problems. I have heard there have been some problems on 07 and 08 flywheels too.

- The frame is bolted together. I know the new frame is supposed to be an improvement but a bolted on subframe section has me wondering. On some cheaper bikes with bolted on subframes, there has been a tendency of bolts sheering under load. This is normally a function of bolts working loose over time. Not sure how the Harley design uses the bolts and the loads, etc. so it may not be an issue.

The jury is still out for me until I can ride one. The Ultras are hot sellers and the dealer can't keep them in right now so I suspect it may be late fall before I get to try one out.

Oh, one other rumour...I suspect we will see a mid-year release of the Road King Custom reincarnated into some type of Dark Custom. Maybe a Night King or something similar. Just a rumour at this point but the Motor Co. has had mid year releases lately and they do not have a Dark Custom in the Touring line. We'll see...