I'm not much of a forum poster these days, but thought I'd share my recent experience of a H-D Ultra Limited. With the demise of the trusty ST, I figured riders on this forum will be looking elsewhere when the time comes to replace their bike and this may be of interest.
My current stable consists of my BMW R1150GS and a recently acquired ST1300, which isn't mine but will be my mid-long term daily runabout vehicle (until the owner wants it back, whenever that may be...). I joined this forum when I had my ST1100 a few years ago. I have ridden a number of bikes over the years, although not so much in the last 5-6 year period. I like anything with 2 wheels and an engine - well, almost anything...
I have always liked the large luxury land yachts, kinda my dirty little secret. I knew a couple of guys years ago that had GoldWing 1800s which I thought looked like great fun. They really liked them. When a BMW K12000LT came up for sale recently for a decent price I was very tempted to buy it just for the hell of it. But, the reality is I don't ride much these days and it would have just sat in the garage with my GS.
As for Harleys... well they make some really nice looking bikes. I really like the look of the current Ultra Limited, in the yellow and black it looks fantastic.
http://www.harley-davidson.com/en_AU/Motorcycles/ultra-limited.htmlA local hire company has one available (in grey and black), so I decided to hire it for 24 hours where I did about 600km over 2 rides (one solo, one with pillion).
First impressions... It looks great. It has some modern features (LED lights, touchscreen infotainment etc) which blend really nicely with the retro style. When I first sat on the bike, it seemed really low. My thighs were above the fuel tank, which is a first for me and it felt really small. Almost cramped.
The weight of the bike is noticable when moving it off if the sidestand, but it's not massively heavier than the ST.
The bike was fitted with Screamin' Eagle exhausts. Upon starting the bike, I think they've named them wrong - sounded more like Shoutin' Bogan. They were loud. According to the owner, they aren't actually that loud for Harley pipes.
The handlebars were positioned really well for me and felt comfortable. The forward mounted footboards were surprisingly comfortable too. However the gear lever had a pointless heel shifter on it which only served to limit how far back my left foot could move backwards. It was not needed for gear changes. The brake pedal was a huge car sized thing sat high up on the other side, requiring me to move my foot to use it.
As I rode away, the weight disappeared as soon as I got moving. The first thing I noticed was that the controls were all very heavy... probably deliberate for the 'Merican Iron feel. The clutch was heavy and caused fatigue and pain after a day's riding, the throttle was heavy and the brakes needed a lot of effort for them to work. But they did work well as a result of that effort. I conducted a braking exercise and they stopped the bike very effectively. The gears needed a good stomp to change and result in a loud clunk each time, but they changed fine. Finding neutral however was a pain, usually I got it just as the lights turned green....
Riding in the sunlight also highlighted another minor but very annoying (and potentially expensive) problem. The speedometer. It's very small and the markings are very feint, making it REALLY hard to see exactly how fast I was going. Very easy to stray in to ticket territory. In the dark it was fine as it illuminated nicely.
The next thing I noticed was the seat. While it looks plush and comfy.... it was terrible. After 10 minutes it felt like I was sitting on a solid piece of wood. Of course there are options for other seats, but on a $40,000 luxury touring bike the standard seat should be decent. I was soon in discomfort, which progressed to pain by the end of the day. The riding position places all of your upper body weight through the seat and 2 days later I still have lower back pain and seat discomfort
. Really not what I expected. My pillion found her seat to be comfortable until the end of the day when she also felt lower back pain.
The suspension also contributed to the discomfort. It was awful. On anything but the smoothest of roads it was a real boneshaker. With so many bikes with "Glide" in the name, I was expecting a super smooth Caddilac experience. The worst ride quality I have experienced.
Wind management was't great with a fair amount of wind noise from the fixed screen. There was no buffeting though and there were several vents to open/close as ambient temperatures dictated.
I was expecting a large dose of torque from the large V-Twin. It was the current Milwaukee 8 motor. After I got a feel for the bike, I decided to give it the berries from a set of lights, expecting to have to hold on to the bars as the torque pushed me forwards. As the lights went green, I gave it all it had. I was rewarded with a massive amount of noise, and a disappointingly low amount of forward thrust. I repeated this experiment a few more times until my ears could no longer take it. If I was told that it was a 650 I would have believed it. As for character... I must have missed that. It was just lame, if that counts as character. It rattles and clatters which is still audible over the continuous shouting from the exhaust. Harley must have some very talented engineers, how they can make an engine that makes so much noise and produce so little performance must take a lot of skill and effort.
Overtaking performance was no better. The gearbox seems to act more as a volume control than as a means to access engine power. The lower the gear, the greater the noise but with no noticeable increase in acceleration. Gear selection became an exercise in keeping the noise down. It was like being accompanied by my own set of roadworks. By the end of the day my ears were ringing and I had a headache. Loud pipes are just stupid and antisocial.
At standstill, the engine goes in to 'epileptic mode' where the whole bike just shakes. I think there is a device that cuts one cylinder, to save a teaspoon of fuel or so. As you pull away it takes a moment of what sounds like a minor misfire before resuming business as normal. It's actually pretty smooth on the move.
The handling of the bike was actually OK, at a moderate road pace where the bike felt comfortable. It preferred to travel at legal speeds through the twisties, still quicker than the cars on the road at the time but certainly not record breaking speed. I went up and down a couple of ranges. Obviously it was better solo. I hadn't expected the pillion to have such an impact on the handling on a big luxury tourer but it seems that this bike is really a solo motorcycle. It has some characteristics which I found strange. It took more effort than I am used to to steer and it really didn't want to countersteer, instead preferring to turn as it leaned. A Harley fan I know told me once that they use different steering geometry with the forks behind the headstock, I guess this may be why. Hitting bumps mid corner wasn't much fun with the front and back feeling very disjointed like it was hinged in the middle.
Storage space was as it looks, with the topbox easily consuming 2 full face helmets.
Fuel range is also good, I didn't measure it but upon refuel the range display showed over 480kms. A bit pointless if ass range is only about 48kms...
I really wanted to like this bike. Unfortunately, I didn't. Other 'premium' brands I have ridden (BMW, KTM) have added something over the generic Japanese offerings. Even riding a Vespa scooter is (to me) nicer and more 'special' than other scooters.
The Harley felt like it was made in a shed out of an old bike frame and a lawnmower engine. While the paint and detailing were nice, this did not feel anything like a 'premium' bike. How they get away with such high prices I don't know. It is the worst bike I have ever ridden. It should be half the price of other bikes in the same class.
I rode the ST the next day and it was a revelation. Better in every performance measure than the Harley. Way more comfortable. And I don't even consider the ST to be anything special.
How Harley are still in business I don't know. I used to think I had a space in my garage for a Harley. Now, even if I won one I would rather sell it than keep it.
I apologise for the negative post - I intended to provide a balanced report, but what came out of my fingers seems not to be...
