Rode '09 Ultra Classic .....

[Bikenut]

None of the niggles the Road king had, like touchy throttle, sticky clutch or vibes in the floorboards......except the 5th gear whine. A bit noisier than the Road King. Bike only had 30 miles on it, I added another 10. Very nice unit. Handled great. Actually felt small... but roomy. I really wouldn't mind owning one.  

And I forgot to check the rear cylinder cut out thingy again.

No more test rides for me. The new bike fever is flaring up again.

[atadaskew]

It whined in 5th gear but 6th was ok?

[OldBob]

How was the wind management?  With a Street Glide, it seems that a lot of air passes under the "bat wing" fairing, and comes back at the rider.  However, Ultras have lowers.  They don't connect to the fairing, but the air deflected by the lowers _might_ upset the air flow off of the fairing.  Does it?

Bob

[chornbe]

It whined in 5th gear but 6th was ok?

Yes, they do that. From what I understand, 5th is straight cut, while the other gears are helical style.

[Bikenut]

Straight cut 5th, yep.

Wind. After reading chornbe's complaints I was specifically looking for that and didn't really notice it. I have a friend with a classic(no lowers) and he swears by the smaller chrome fork mounted wind deflectors like I have on my Road King.  I've ridden his bike and didn't notice any  distracting updraft. Now the Ultra and the Classic both have the deflectors on the bottom of the batwing where the Street Glide typically doesnt.  No?  Could it be that simple?

I'm used to a ZRX, ZX12R and a TL1000s. Not exactly "tourers" although I do tour on them. Only the ZRX remains. my H-D experience is limited. I really love my RK but the new Ultra is calling my name.

[chornbe]

I'm going to try to those fork-mounted deflectors. If they work, it'll restore my love of the bike. I like the bike, but the buffeting makes it hard to get excited about all-day rides any more.