I don't know when it may have started, but the CB was included on the 2002 and 2009 Ultra Classics. The Classic did not have the rear speakers or CB in those years. In 2014, the Classic was eliminated form the Electra Glide lineup leaving the Ultra Classic and the Limited. The Ultra Classic came with the 4.3 radio and no CB. The Limited came with the 6.5 radio and the CB.

 

CB is the best option to communicate with the group all the wireless stuff works with the VOX which is not very useful on a Harley's noise and the wind, had something called Chatter boxes before wife start riding the UC those were awful and very annoying to make sure all the crap is charged and carry the charger on the overnight rides.

 

I had a 1992 Ultra Classic EG and it came with a CB standard. So they have been included on the top line electra glide for a very long time. Harley is just cutting expenses while still raising the price of the bikes.

 

With the CB gone, does the Limited still have the intercom. Makes it nice on long rides to talk back and forth with the wife.

 

We have no one to blame about HD dropping the CB but ourselves. In a lot of the rider surveys riders stated they didn't use the CB and HD listened and dropped it.
I for one like it and use it quite often, group rides and when just me and a riding buddy go we have our cb's on and bs going down the road, along with check out that car, garage, woman lol.....the TG doesn't come with one either, but I have it in ours

 

One of the things I have against the buetooth communicators is the lack of compatibility between brands.. i bought an expensive pair of Cardos, went for a ride with a group that used Senas - unable to talk with them (some newer Senas now are better at this). AM CBs all talk to each other regardless of brand..

 

Yes, it does.


Well, they must have not checked with the numerous (thousands probably?) Officers & Road Captains in their HOG chapters nationwide. These folks use CBs to communicate in the rides that HOG is always promoting & trying to get additional attendance for. I would think HD would at least check with some of these folks.

I think more this than anything else. Had they have dropped the CB and the price, you could say they were trying to bring the cost of the Limited down & appeal to those who didn't want or need a CB. This was purely a "for enhanced profit" move.

 

I've been on several of the National HOG Touring rallies in recent years. On those rallies, the MoCo chases their executives out to ride with the unwashed. (Their customers). These guys all spend time in the hotel bars at each overnight stop and are quite accessible to talk to.

I've spent time with guys from their Parts & Accessories group, and learned there is generally a lot of give and take between the Parts & Accessories and their Motorcycle product managers. As an example, when the Rushmores were introduced with Daymaker headlights, the bike product managers wanted the Daymakers to enhance the value of their bikes, but the P&A guys fought against it, because it took away from dealer post delivery Parts & Accessories sales. In this case the bike's won.

While there are groups that heavily use the CB's, I would've bet that it was probably a third of the owner's of bikes that had a CB regularly used it. But the number HD reported from their market research was that 98% did not regularly use it. With numbers like that, it's no wonder the bike guys wanted to get rid of the CB to hold their cost down, while the P&A guys were happy to sell CB's as an after-sale option.

 

I would be ok with just having to add the cb but you also have to replace the whole right side hand control to add the push to talk they need to at least put that on the ultra's. Then you could just plug and play the cb module

 

Wonder if you could retrofit the hand controls from a '14-'16 Rushmore? Lots of folks (myself included) have changed out the original to Lighted and there are probably lots of original hand controls sitting on shelves in peoples garages.