I just took delivery of a 11 TG Ultra two weeks ago. Traded in my first experience with a touring bike, an 05 Ultra. The change this time was easy, really like the trike.
After many years, 62 and 63 Pans, 60 serva-car trike (that is an experience), then on soft tails, 98 FL Springer, 01 FX Springer and an 02 FL Springer, the switch over to the touring model was tuff. Hated it for several months and regretted trading in my 02 FL Springer. (still have the 01 FX Springer)
I had always spent the money on motor mods on the soft tails. In most cases, big bore, gear driven cams, heads, pipes and all the tuning plus all the bling. When we got the Ultra, decided to leave it stock. (the wife did) Well when it sank in that we did touring two up, this Ultra did what it was built to do. Wife felt that the money saved in bling was better spent on motels and being on road. I can not argue the point.
Performance wise, the bike was a dog, ran hot. Overall, worked for how I was using it. Love the cruise and stereo.
Now the 11 Tri Glide, only have 2000 miles on it. For a 103, yes it to is a dog, but it moves us along from point A to B in comfort. Rear brakes on this 11 still leaves allot to be desired, if they have improved them, feel for the 09 and 10 owners. For some reason I thought sixth gear would be OD, need to stop thinking. At 3000 RPM still moving around 72 MPH. Yes it also runs hot. (not as hot as the 05 Ultra) Tyranny is noisy in first, a little hard to find neutral when hot, shifts better than old Ultra, seems it is closer ratio than previous bikes. Feel a little uncomfortable in heavy traffic, with width of bike, less room for avoiding things. Will get accustom to that with time. Have gotten use to push and pull steering and enjoyed some twistys in Southern Indiana last week.
My conclusions on trike: I am glad I made trade. It does what I bought it for, touring. Will leave it stock for a few years and let you know as I go along how I feel about the package. Only minor gripe with company, throw in the trunk bags with the bike. You get them with the Ultra saddle bags. Guess they need the 90 bucks.
Glad I made the trade.
Dennis Swan
Muncie, Indiana

 

I reside in southeastern Virginia and purchased my Tri Glide new in January 2009. It is my third mc and my second HD. I have approximately 17k miles on the trike. I have ridden from my area to Daytona Beach, Florida and return in late February early March 2009. I have also ridden to and from Panama City, Florida in June 2009. The distance is approximately 700 and 900 miles to each city respectively.

I had heated grips, heated seat; pull back handlebar, SE exhaust plus an assortment of the “standard” chrome and non-chrome accessories installed. I also changed out the air temp gauge to an oil temp gauge. I switched to HD synthetic oil at the 500 mile service. I also use synthetic in the transmission. The engine oil and filter are changed every 2500 miles (part of lifetime service).

Since owning the trike, I have had two major complaints. The first was a leaking trunk which took three tries to fix. The last one was a redesigned HD gasket which corrected the problem. The second was the rear brakes and rotors. At 10k miles the mechanic told me that I would need new pads at the next oil change (12.5k). At 12.5k not only were the pads gone but the rotors had been scored to the point of having to be replaced. This seems to be a common complaint among Tri Glide owners.

This summer I had a LeNale engine fan plus two Big Sky oil cooler fans added partly in preparation of going to Sturgis. All operate off the fairing accessory switch with the LeNale fan having an independent local switch. I decided to keep the stock HD oil cooler rather than go to the Jagg 10 row cooler partly to develop a basis of reference.
I left for Sturgis Thursday August 5 and arrived the afternoon of Sunday August 8. I was towing a toy hauler camper with the trike inside. I was staying at a campground located about 6 miles south of Deadwood at 5500 feet elevation. The altitude was quite a difference from my home location which is only a few feet above sea level.

The first thing that I noticed was the gas. The octane was only 91 at almost all places but did not contain ethanol. My fuel mileage averaged 38-40mpg for the week whereas I was getting about 35mpg at home. The other noticeable feature seemed to be that the fuel burned hotter than that which contained ethanol. I say this because the temp on the trike got as high as 230 degrees even with all the fans working. I have to quantify that because the ambient temp was quite high during my stay at Sturgis even though I was in the “hills”.

When the oil temp got up to around 220 degrees, I noticed the “spark knock” sound. The sound was not present when the oil temp was around 210 and below. Another noticeable operating trait was when starting the engine at the upper elevations and then going to the lower elevations, the engine seemed to run better. However, when started at the lower elevation and riding to the upper elevation the engine seemed to lose power. I attributed this to the computer allowing more air to the cylinders at the upper elevation but that is an assumption on my part.

I rode about 750 miles for the week I was at Sturgis in temperatures ranging from low 50’s in the morning to 98 degrees in the heat of the day. Not only was the riding great but I gained some valuable information/experience on the operation of the trike in those conditions at that altitude.

 

You found a lucky gas station. My dad and I was just there over the 4th of July holiday and never did find any gas that didn't contain ethanol. We took octane booster to be on the safe side and needed it on several occasions when the only thing we could find was 89 octane dosed with ethanol.

 

On Sept. 25-26, our local dealer is sponsoring the yearly travelling H-D new model demo tractor-trailer. They supposedly will have the '11 TG for demo rides. I want to get in on that one. If anyone's interested, it's Patriot H-D in Fairfax, VA.

 

If you get a ride let us know what you think about the gearing.

 

Absolutely! I'm also curious about the new larger rear pads. Of course, I can't expect similar braking like the 11.5" rotors on the 2-wheel touring bikes!

 

I have a 2011 Tri Glide and am very happy with it, sans the faulty trunk lid lock. I think the 103 motor provides as much acceleration as my 2009 ultra. I do think rear brakes are weak and the torque steer when accelerating in a turm takes getting used to. But, overall, I am very pleased with my 2011

 

If you ever get the opportunity to test ride someone's stock 2010 TG Ultra, take it. I'd be very curious to hear your opinions on braking and acceleration in comparison to your 2011.

 

We purchased a 2011 TriGlide a few months ago. So far we are generally pleased with the purchase. The heavy suspension and increased cargo areas make this a terrific long distance bike. We have been able to ride at the most ten hours with minimal rest stops. The MoCo fixed the gear ratio problem from previous years. Six gear is still a little disappointing however. So far the only major concerns are the heat from the 103 engine and the catalytic converter, and the squeak in the rear breaks. The trunk leaking issue has been fixed also.

 

I have a 2010 Tri-Glide and am experiencing what others are discussing, loss of power and excessive heat. Last week I took the trike in for the 5,000 mile check-up and we discussed the problems. The dealer is suggesting I put on slip-ons, air cleaner and stage 1 download. Has anyone done this to their trike? It was also suggested to change the front sprocket on the rear belt.

Another dealer shared that a customer rides with a friend that did this to their bike. He said he couldn't keep up with them now. I am seriously considering going this route.

There are days when the trike goes smooth as silk, but there are other days where it is a major problem. Losing power is dangerous when I can't keep up with traffic especially going up a hill or if it is a windy day.

For the heat problem, they are going to put some wrapping on as they found this is helping.

I love my trike, but there are some issues!