Grappa--you buy yet or just gave it up??

 

Sorry, I've been bad a replying. I did pull the trigger on a 2012 Big Blue Pearl Ultra Limited. Ipo went up to the dealer the day of our first snow and got what I thought was a pretty decent deal. I was knashin my teeth on which colour, or whether to get the FLHTK or Ultra or something else, in the end the FLHTK seemed to fit the bil even though I thought it might be bigger that I wanted... Answer to that is "NO", she's great, has taken me a little while to get used to her size and weight and still will, but she's pretty nimble and the 103 seems to get stronger every day. I'm almost at 1000k miles, which I wish I had reached sooner, but between the weather and work schedule it's been challenging to get the first 1K knocked off. So hear are my impressions so far?
I absolutely love her, and better yet my ol' lady is excited to jump on the back and just go. She went out and got a good jacket, gloves and is ready to ride for an hour or a day, it nice to see it put a smile on her face too.
I really liKe the extra space, the saddle bags, trunk etc. it's great not to have to find a place to put your helmets and gloves after hoping off, just put them in the trunk and go, sweet! The ol' lady likes the cushy back rest and makes her feel secure. I on the other hand find my butt getting a bit numb after a while and wish I had a back rest, I seem to slump rather than sit straight. So, that on the list to look at a new seat, adjustable seat and I think I need 1 more inch pull back in the bars and then I'll be in a good position. I do seem to get a little buffeting in the top of the helmet, not sure if a new seating position will fix that or if a change in windshield height will fix that. I hesitate to increase the windshield height, thinking that might increase drag and more issues in winds. Getting used to the controls pretty well, neutral can be a PITA to find sometimes, I think it should be easier. But I do love the old clunk of the gear change. Clutch is great , throttle is pretty good but find that it does seem to have some fine flat spots at low rpm when feathering at a stop light or low speeds. Brakes, well the front brake seems great, the rear need to be checked. It doesn't feel right to me, I really have to put a lot of pressure on it and it feels like it doesn't return properly. When I try and lock it up(abs mode) it doesn't make the quick abs chatter, it's much longer and clunky feeling. So we'll see on that score. Front end feels a little sloppy lock to lock, I bought a sears jack so I'll check this out, dealer says its ok. By the way, I'm not impressed with the sears jack..what else, radio works great but the LCD information panel is useless in any kind of light at all, that is a poor design. The speakers are ok but if your wearing a full face, you won't hear much unless you open the visor, so I think I will opt for speakers in the helmet, which would probably only use on longer highway trips. If you've go a passenger make sure you have 2 communication sets of some sort, I have one but need to get another for the misses, but am gonna wait till I find a good Bluetooth option I think. Fit and finish of the bike is great! I did find one burn mark in the chrome bag bars but the dealer replaced that right away. She's powerful, pretty smooth and a joy to cruise on. I ordered S and S quiet tour mufflers and ordered a set of jackpot ceramic headers. That's my only problem so far. The dealer was selling streaming eagle, Rinehart, and Hines pipes, so I told home about the Jackpot pipes and the ceramic coated ones which he thought were pretty cool and thought he would carry them, I would be his first order. So he ordered me a set back in November, supposed to be in in six weeks due to ceramic coating, well here we are in January and now being told February to get them, pretty disappointed about that. So the mods will have to wait till spring at this point, might even cancel the headers and go with something else.
All in all I am very happy with my purchase, the dealer has been great, the bike is great and every day the weather will allow; I get a big smile on my face when I fire her up and go for a cruise. Looking forward to spring and finding a sidecar for the dog to jump in and go, he misses not going along for the ride...
Again thanks for everyone's help in getting me back on 2 wheels. Great forum of folks...ride safe... Grappa

 

Congrats on yer Limited. I got one last January. I knew I wanted one.
The more you ride it the better you are gonna get in condition and learn the bike.
Its absolutely a fantastic riding bike. Its only gonna get better as the bike breaks in.
It comes with a lot of good things on it. It has the new style tranny with all the gears in the same direction. Got the new frame.
got the new style multi compound tires. Got a charging plug in the tourpac. Got the vents on the sides of the fairing. Full size tourpac rack. The bike is loaded.
The tire milage on the new style tires is great. There is plenty of room for your wife.
Now all you need to get is a adjustable back rest. Took a couple weeks for my wife to get used to it.
I really like the Chrome wheels too. And the vented lowers.
Hope you have got some foot pegs on the crash bars.
Got a set of these in the short size for my bike. They stay away from the lowers.



Good luck on yer bike. You got one great riding machine. and its only gonna get better.
Hope you got a extended warranty. You never know.

 

Grappa, give your body a bit more saddle time, and you may decide you don't need a new seat or handlebars. Funny how it works that way for me most of the time.

 

That's a + 1 on what you said. Totally agree 100%

Ride the bike and let it break in, and enjoy it. you have a great machine.
As you ride more you will build up your muscles and back and learn the bike as it breaks in.
You have a great bike.
Wouldn't trade mine for nothin.

 

Here's a couple of thought on some of your questions.

ABS I would say is a must.
Heated grips, I love them, I'm riding in 32 degree weather with just unlined deerskin gloves, nice! But they have 6 levels of heat on them and you really can't go past level one with out catching your hand on fire!
I like the badging
I like e big blue pearl, really pops in the sun, but out of it just looks blue. In my opinion it needs a good pinstripe between the black and the blue to really make the bike stand out more.
I really like the back lit LED titainium gauges
The tour pack trunk is lined, which is nice, could use a organizer..$$$
Saddle bags, need organizers $$$ and they are not lined. Should be though.
They come with carry out bags which I haven't used yet but may be nice when going on overnights, yet I know you can get nicer ones after market.
I like the chrome wheels, I think they are a little easier to clean than the others, I really like traditional spoke wheels, but cleaning, sheesh!
Floor boards for myself and the misses have been fine, might get the spiffy chrome covers for hers, but not something that's necessary.
If you have a garage with an electric door, get the garage door opener accessory that turns you hi/lo beam switch into the garage door switch..really a must have.
Negotiate 2 headsets, gotta have 2 if your going 2 up.
The snap glove box covers have to go, replace them with the magnetic covers, the others are a PITA.
Your right. The Harley site is really not that helpful, could use some stream lining.
Hope this helps a little.

 

First, congrats on the new bike Grappa!! Nice writeup!

I think we have made our decision to go that way as well (Big Blue Limited) I will sell the black lowers to my friend and add the blue ones like on the Ultra. Definitely putting the magnetic covers on those glove boxes (after dicking around with the snaps at the dealer)and the liners. Glad you mentioned that garage door opener, definitely would be a sweet option and would be used often. Will do on the other headset, sometimes I wonder if Harley is daft on those types of decisions. I understand wanting to upsell but jeez, one headset on a touring bike with push to talk :-(

Appreciate the feedback and let's see some pics!

Dave

 

Grappa,

Congratulations on your new motorcycle.

The more you ride it the better everything seems to get. Yes Neutral is going to be tough until you make that first adjustment at the 1K service. Till then place the pivot of the shifter under the middle of your foot with the toes on the front and the heel on the back of the shift lever and it will gently go into neutral easily. That's what was suggested to me on this forum and it works like a charm.

As for the ABS Brakes, I agree with you that it is now a must on any new bike I buy. I have used my ABS twice since September and I really am thankful to have them.

The back rest is one thing I have to have. It is also important to keep good posture on this bike. It's heavy and handling it is easy, but keeping your back straight and not slouching, with learning how to turn at low speed is a must for these bikes. "Ride Like a Pro" DVD's will do wonders for helping you maintain slow speed control and proper turning techniques.

The stock seat is nice, I did upgrade to the heated version and it is wonderful for my old fat butt. But I wouldn't change it out just yet. Give it some time, the hammock seat is amazing on long trips.

I agree about the lack of organizers for the bags. I just ordered lid organizer bags for my bike. For what we paid you would think H-D would include something, at least an option to add them on at a discount.

I would also add that you will find the FLHTK is easy to handle and amazing out on the road. Nothing I know or have ridden comes close to comfort for the rider or ease of handling. Soon you won't give a second thought about how to maneuver a 900# bike, it will be like second nature to you. Enjoy your new ride and may you and your wife have many safe and enjoyable years riding it.

 

I traded in my 04 ultra Classic for a 2011 FLHTK in Light and Dark Candy Rootbeer August 2010 after getting back from Sturgis. Great bike. Would highly recommend the Ultra Limited to anyone considering one. I have about 15,000 miles on mine so far even here in Illinois where you can't ride for a good part of the year.
Have Vance and Hines Power duals and the High Output mufflers with the Harley Super Tuner.

So far I've added the inner painted fairing in dark rootbeer, braided cables,misc. chrome, lighted floorboards, airwing lighted tour pack rack, SE led tourpack lights.
Currently in at my dealer for winter storage and having SE 255 cams, led headlights,brake light and turn signals put on. ( I like to be seen on the highway at night).
Was talking to a guy at sturgis last year that had gone from an older CVO ultra with the 103 to an Ultra Limited. Said the power lacked until he did cams. After cam job, he said his ran like his old Screaming Eagle.
Looking forward to seeing how much the SE255's will improve power on mine.

 

Congrats , when you are riding and see your bikes twin it might be me..... yes the Color was my only big decision... and as far as the riding comfort... yes its wider, higher and the stock seat seems to be alot better the the 07 seat... best of luck and enjoy tat new ride,, and yes my Wife loves the new ride also