When I arrived at work yesterday I spotted a new motorcycle sitting in the parking lot. One of my employees bought a 2011 Electra Glide Ultra Limited. Obviously I had to walk over and check it out. The new owner came out with a big smile on his face to show me all the features. Certainly a nice looking bike...he got the two-toned (blue over black) paint. I told him we must be paying him too much, but of course he thought otherwise. The Ultra Limited comes standard with the 103 cubic inch motor (1690 cc). Hopefully I'll get a chance to take this bike on a test ride in the future to see if the larger engine brings this bike into the same power band as our R*. As expected, the Ultra Limited comes loaded. I liked the overall look for that style of bike. The wife and I aren't sure we are ready to move into a touring bike yet, but if we decide to go that route in the future, we certainly would have to give this bike a serious look. Any rate, thought I'd share my initial thoughts after seeing this bike.

I was just checking out a video on youtube by Tampa Harley that showed one.
Damn that's a beautiful motorcycle.

Very nice. As are many other new bikes. At an MSRP of $24,700 not worth it to me.

I second that thebru!

-M7

Bru, I'd take 2 of yours before 1 of theirs

At that price they can keep it, that's why I do not own a Harley, you're paying for the name and the status.

In defense OF HD, there is good quality there, I have to say that my son has three of them, they have never left him on the side of the road, his oldest bike is his 1994 883 conversion to a 1200, its got about 90 thousand miles and still running strong, He has also had no problems with the other two, but he does take them all every year to the local HD dealer to get them serviced.

So if you do the proper maintenance they do last, but at a great cost, everything with HD on it is very expensive to work on at a dealer.
it's like the difference between buying a Rolex or a Timex, but to me what really matters is that you ride.

Dennis

Thanks IRONMAN. It's nice to have money left over to personalize your bike. I'm still not even close to that MSRP.

Facts are the 96" is in the same power band as the roadstar 103". actually has 1/2 hp more but slightly less torque. The 103" has to be opened up to feel a real difference. They have a catalytic converter in the head pipe that chokes them off some so you really dont feel anything different over the 96". It can be debated if you can feel 2 hp anyway. I believe that is about all they are different in the stock 96 and 102. 65 vs 67 in the literature I have seen on them. I opened mine up and had it dyno tuned, it is at 73 hp and I honestly dont know that I feel a difference over it when it was 65. Except my gas mileage is lower. and it does run cooler which is why I did it to begin with. these new bikes are so lean from the factory its nuts.

Saw this ARTICLE a few days ago, it looks like they need to re-group the marketing dept...

javawave wrote:
Facts are the 96" is in the same power band as the roadstar 103". actually has 1/2 hp more but slightly less torque. The 103" has to be opened up to feel a real difference. They have a catalytic converter in the head pipe that chokes them off some so you really dont feel anything different over the 96". It can be debated if you can feel 2 hp anyway. I believe that is about all they are different in the stock 96 and 102. 65 vs 67 in the literature I have seen on them. I opened mine up and had it dyno tuned, it is at 73 hp and I honestly dont know that I feel a difference over it when it was 65. Except my gas mileage is lower. and it does run cooler which is why I did it to begin with. these new bikes are so lean from the factory its nuts.

While I believe you, my experience on the 96" left me "wanting" for power when compared to the R*. I rented a Road King two years ago and an Ultra Classic this summer, and while both bikes were nice, I felt they lacked for power. In both cases I was riding in the mid-west where elevation isn't an issue. Based on that limited experience I would be concerned riding two-up with the 96" in the mountains where I live.