I'm new to the Forum, and I've been digesting everything here and everywhere before I pull the trigger and buy my next bike. I'm pretty sure I've narrowed it down to a 2012 limited. I started thinking Road King and went out and rented for the weekend and me and the OL toured around a bit, nice but she wasn't that comfortable by the end and I felt hunched over. I was also thinking, why do I need a radio and all that jazz, never had those on a bike before, distraction? So went to the dealer and test road a nice new Red Limited and found that I thought it felt more balanced than the King, smoother and I did come back with a smile on my face. I did notice that my right thigh was a heck of a lot warmer. So i'm leaning toward the limited but have the following questions. Yes I have searched, and found semi answers, but hope I might get some more up to date answers from this post.
My questions.
1. What are the itemized differences between the 2012 Ultra Classic and Limited?
2. Does anyone really use the radio and how is it quality wise?
3. What to do about the back cylinder heat? Don't want too loud, and cost?
4. anyone have any problems so far with the 2012's
5. What should I be looking to pay? What have you all paid? And how much of a discount should I be looking to from MSRP, overall with credits etc. I know the season is winding down, are there deals to be had
Any other thoughts that help me make the decision would be a big help?
Looking forward to getting back on a Harley.
Thanks

 

You will love the radio, and the fairing when the weather gets cooler. No idea on price.

 

I'm sure someone here will be along shortly to answer your questions.

Meanwhile, welcome to the forum!

 

I just traded my 11 Limited for a new Road King Classic. If you do a lot of touring the Limited is probably the better way to go. If your touring is like mine that is usually a few hundred miles in a weekend then the RK is well suited for that. I found myself actually having what I think is too much bike for the type of riding I do. I feel the RK is much more nimble and cooler running than the Limited with all the crap on it. Wind is definitely a factor with the bat wing bikes and tour pak. The wind gusts from the side with the bat wing and the tour pak can get very interesting. I absolutely love the RKC. I should have bought it in the first place. Not a lot of differences in the 12 Ultra vs the 12 Limited. In 2011 the Limited had the 103 and the Ultra had the 96. But that all changed in 2012 with all the touring bikes getting the 103. The Limited has heated grips, ABS and security standard over the Ultra. That's about it. The stock radio sucks, I never used it. I never really cared for the fairing. I felt it limited my visibility of the road. The tour pak is nice for throwing junk in but it's like a sail in the wind. Decatting the head pipe will cool it down. I just bought my new RKC for $1k under msrp. Hope this helps.

 

There are quite a few extras on the Limited compared to the Ultra. I just bought my 2012 Limited at the end of August but our pricing up here is irrelevant to the US prices. I've got about 5900 miles on mine now and I've made the following mods:
SE Ventilator
SEPRT
V&H Power Duals
V&H Monster Ovals
The heat reduction on the right side is very noticeable (no more cat). I can definetly feel and increase in bottom end torque especially 2 up. And has been mentioned the fairing and lowers are greatly appreciated in cooler weather. You should be able to get the dealer to list all the differences between the bikes for you. For me it was worth going to the Limited. Hope this helps.

 

Here's my $0.02-

The Limited rides like a Cadillac, there's not much to dislike about the bike, but like someone said above, there's just too much on the damn thing. I have yet to use the CB/Intercom, the weight of the Tour Pack all the time gets old quick when you're riding alone, and I do not smoke cigarettes so don't need the extra outlet. I do tour now and then on trips that will take a few days and on those trips the extras are nice, but they'e not necessary.

As I have stated before, if I could go back and do it again, back to the dealership on the day the Limited came home, a RG Custom or SG custom would have come home with me and I would have saved a few thousand. I would have just added a detachable tour pack to one of those bikes and called it a day.

At times too, I miss throwing around my Road King........

 

I'm appreciating all the info, my thought is to add the detachable kit to the limited so I can remove the tour pack when riding solo, or the OL and I are just doing day trips.
I like the Idea of the radio but wonder if your wearing a full face and using a communicator, I guess you pipe the tunes to the headsets?
After my ride the other day the dealer wanted to make a deal right there, but still not sure what type of a discount I should expect to get as fair. Any thoughts?
Also, having trouble on colours. Road the Red/Merlot, very pretty, but like blue, but haven't seen the big blue pearl or the midnight pearl in person. Does anyone have any pics or opinions on those?
Thanks

 

I'm appreciating all the info, my thought is to add the detachable kit to the limited so I can remove the tour pack when riding solo, or the OL and I are just doing day trips.
I like the Idea of the radio but wonder if your wearing a full face and using a communicator, I guess you pipe the tunes to the headsets?
After my ride the other day the dealer wanted to make a deal right there, but still not sure what type of a discount I should expect to get as fair. Any thoughts?
Also, having trouble on colours. Road the Red/Merlot, very pretty, but like blue, but haven't seen the big blue pearl or the midnight pearl in person. Does anyone have any pics or opinions on those?
Thanks

 

I went looking to buy a SG and came out with a 11 Limited for 2k more than the SG. I had the dealer install the removable TP kit as part of the deal. I took my lowers off for the summer heat (helped a lot) and just put them back on. I bought a SG take off seat on ebay for $100.00. In a few minutes I can have it any way I want it.
Now off to ride before the snow
(got to love those heated grips)

 

Still looking for some concrete ideas on what I should look to pay, also if I want to get rid of the cat and do stage 1 is it better to build that into the price, and have it done before pickup? The red one I road besides being hot on the thigh was popping a bit! Wonder if this is normal?