Greeting its great to be a new member,

I do not currently own a HD but I am very interested. I own a C90T suzuki and have had two Gold Wings.

I am at a cross road between a Yamaha Venture and HD Classic Ultra. By all accounts both ae great bikes. The styling are similiar as are the price. The HD is $3K more expensive - no biggy.

The venture is a proven bike mainly because Yamaha has not changed the bike in serval years. HD Classic Ultra also is a proven bike and it too has not changed much in the past serveral years, except for 2007. So here my concern, upon reading some threads in this forum a lot of concern has be voiced about the new six speed transmission. Its new this year and maybe not as "proven" as it should be. Will HD correct the problems are will HD simply correct reported faults. Or are the problems aload of bull!!

My wife and I want a HD and we want to ride. Should I be concerned about the 2007 Classic Ultra?

Blackhat

 

I have a 07 Streetglide, same basic mechanical stuff as an Ultra. No problems here.
The thing about Harleys is it will hold it's value better then the Yammaha, not as good as they once did but still better then a metric.
When Harley comes out with a fix it will most likely be a recall, all will get changed unless you don't bring your bike in.

Might as well plan on upgrading the EFI controller right away, the Power Commander has maps for stock bikes. Mine runs great.

 

Buy The Ultra You will love it

 

Welcome BlackHat!

I can appreciate the homework you have been doing and that's a good idea!

Having had many bikes from various manufacturers over the past 30'ish years, I can safely say that I am glad to be riding Harley's as of late.... THere are a number of intangibles that come with it that you only begin to understand and identify once you're there.

If you look at HD historically, they have stood behind their products. Many of the things you've read here are from poeple that are frustrated at the time of posting. Some things are big things, some are not. The biggest component to getting the various issues addressed is finding a decent dealership and forming a good working relationship with them. If you don;t like one.... find another.

Get yourself the Harley you want and don't look back!

 

What would you expect the response to be here? No dilemma, go with HD!

 

I too had a simliar dilema.....I had actually decided at Bike Week in Myrtle Beach to buy the Yamaha Road Star....just for giggles and out of sheer boredom one day I decided to see how good the Harley Salesperson was and was gonna make them tell me WHY I should spend the extra on the harley . I walked into the dealership and saw the White Gold/ Cobalt Blue Road King....and I was done....had to have it/////love at first sight......I guess this is to say.....go with whichever one strikes your fancy.....both are good choices.
Keep us posted

 

1. I want you to remember you came to a Harley forum so you know what most of the opinions are going to be here. With that said, I own an 06 Street Glide. In 06 Harley had to adhere to stricter EPA standards which caused to have to lean the bikes out more. I did have my bike retuned using a SERT (Screaming Eagle Race Tuner). There are several different fuel management systems out there. They differ in a lot of ways but most will get the results you want which is a richer mixture.

All bike manufactures have there issues, mine was no exception. Harley did do right by me. I have logged over 6000 miles on my bike this summer with no issues.

When choosing between two different motorcycle manufactures I tend to look towards a number of thing. Like, resale, reliability, craftsmanship, quality of parts used and most important of all when it comes to a Harley.......CLASS.

I have owned several different kinds of motorcycles by different companies and I can tell you that my Harley is and always will be my favorite. The bike feels solid, good construction, great quality of parts used and a great ride. The best part to me is the awsome sound you get when you install some good pipes.

The other great thing about riding a Harley is all the great people you meet. People that always want to ride and you can always talk motorcycles with. I think if you got the Ultra you would not regret it. If you do experience problems be calm and work with you dealer. Let them know your concerns up front and see how they respond. I wish you luck in your venture and remember to buy what you want, not what other people think you should get.

 

Best stick to metrics, if you buy a harley and experance the difference in how you feel riding it, you will let the others collect dust. No kidding, Ive just sold a 05 yamaha warrior bought as a last winter project, looked at the venture, liked the old school speedo that looks like it came out of a 60 buick. Yamaha has a host of issues as do honda and others, do not take what you read here as gospil, a few with problems have new members thinking every 07 is affected and its just not true, way more with no issues than with out there, you will hear or maybe not a whine in 5th gear this is because it was designed with a stronger type cut gear as was 1st, what no one has brought up is 06 and back had 4th gear whine on some, did a search and found 2 pages on it, yet no one ever says anything about it, why? Cause now they realise its normal, same as they will with this model. I just picked up my 07 saturday and love it, does it need something, yes it does, for maximum power,heat reduction it needs the exhaust pipes changed along with the air cleaner and a remap of the ecm. But it runs awesome as is. I cant explain why owning a harley is different from any other brand it just is.If you like it, go for it!

 

Your gut is pulling you the right direction. Heart and Harley and Heavenly all start with an "H"

 

I have never heard anyone ask is that your Yamaha---everyones allways ask me is that your "Harley" you know the second question; which I answer "I only have one helmet".