I ordered my 2008 POSE (Police Officer Special Edition) Ultra Classic about 2 weeks ago. For those of you who dont already know, the POSE is the same as a civilaian bike but with different paint and badging available to peace officers at a lower price.

Now I am really interested in a 2008 Police Electra Glide sitting on the showroom floor ready to go. The dealer said he is willing to sell me the police bike as he can sell the POSE to someone else. The Police Electra comes ready for patrol with the 103 CI engine, red and blues, siren, ABSetc. but has no frills like cruise control, radio etc.

I would have to change the seat, add a Tour Pak, add a Radio and speakers, and a few other things to the police bike.... but it would still end up cheaper than the Ultra even after all that (as I would be paying $15,800 on the police bike vs $19,100 on the Ultra).

I am a bit worried about the reliability of the 103ci, and know I would miss the cruise control, CB Radio, and the pretty looks of the Ultra.... But I think the savings and extra power may be worth the loss?

Am I missing any big differences between the bikes?
What else should I be considering?

What would you do?

 

Nothing wrong with the 103 itself BUT some of our motors have had issues with starters (compression too high, they were eventually retro-fitted with compression releases) and clutches. If you'd be happy with the cop bike then go for it. Cruise is a must have

 

I don't know about the '08 EG but the 07 RK FLHP I have is super. If you can get the additional things to bring it up in options, you will have all the options witha much more powerful motor. The heads on the police bike are 9.6 to one compression which gives a little edge over the standard 103 upgrade in power and MPG's and if you are concerned about the higher compression, the '08's come with the auto compression release for easy starting (the '07's get new heads as a factory recall). You did not mention changing the rear tire. I don't know about the EG but my bike came with the standard Police tire which is in my opinion softercompound that sticks better but wears out faster. The standard police rim looks good to me and it will take either the police tire or a regular tire. (Non police rims will not take the police tire this is not verfied)The police tire is not recommended for two up riding (because the load range is 200lbs less than the standard tire I guess)and if you are not an officer you can not purchase the police tire.

I just added Rinehart trueduals and the SERT;even more fun to ride.

I don't know how you priced your additional options but a little shopping will show you can get a discount from list atvarious dealers. How are you nailing down the labor to install these options? I am absolutly crazy about my police bike.

 

Regrets for this lengthy post but I have some experience in additng radios and cruise control to police EGs and thought I'd explain the process here.

Adding a radio with handlebar controls to a police Electra Glide is doable but labor intensive and potentially expensive. As for parts, you will need to acquire the handlebar switches and housings and swap out those on the police bike. That's not terribly expensive if you also decice to add cruise control since the cruise kit will come with a right side switch set and housing. And the left side can be had from Electra Glide Classic owners who are adding CB/Intercom to their bikes because that kit comes with new left hand switches.

Next, and you should check to see if this is still true on the '08 police EG, you will need to assemble the Base Audio Connector. This is a 23 wire connector that is OEM on all civilian EGs but absent on the police model. It's the wiring that connects to the rear of the OEM radio to provide handlebar controls of the stereo, power/ground, connections to the speakers, etc. I have done two of these (my '04 and a buddy's '06). It's not hard but it is tedious.

You would also need to buy a Biketronics interface (basically an electronic device that connects between the Base Audio Connector and your aftermarket Sony headunit) so you would have handlebar control of the headunit. Interface and headunit will run about 300 bucks. Then you will need speakers, speaker adapters to mount the speakers, and an antenna.

Cruise control installed on a cop bike is not a plug and play installation as it is on civilian bikes. I installed the HD cruise unit on my '04 police EG, but you will need to assemble a connector (again, present on civilain EGs, but not on police bikes) that will connect the cruise on/off switch that mounts in the fairing cap. Also, there is wiring from the interconnect harness to the gauges that signal that cruise is engaged/disengaged, etc. that the police models don't have, but can be relatively easily fabbed and connected. My cruise unit works perfectly, but as described, it isn't a plug and play install.

I really enjoy my cop bike and have no regrets. And I have enjoyed mofifying it to suit me and learning a lot along the way. However, if you are not going to want to do all this yourself, it will get expensive to pay someone else to do it and, from a resale standpoint, it will still be a police EG which doesn't mean much if you intend to keept the bike for a long time.

Yeah, the 103 would be nice, but for me not at the expense of all of the other electrical/optional equipment because it will be a helluva lot easier (and less expensive)to add a strong 103 to the POSE Ultra, than to add the Ultra stuff to a police model EG.

Both are great bikes; just depends on what's important to you.

 

You'd definitely eat through the $3200 diff updating the classic to the ultra in a hurry just in parts, PLUS the labor. If you know you're going to want to add the radio, cruise andtour pak, I'd wait on the ultra.

 

If you want stereo, cruise, tourpak and all the bells and whistles that come with an Ultra, then I would buy the Ultra, too much work converting a Police bike into an Ultra. If you just want a basic bike withoutall the extrasthen the Police bike is a good choice. The 103 engine is reliable on the police bikes, they had some starter problems in 07 because of the high compression, but the MOCO corrected the problem with compression releases.

 

The police 103 is nothing more than a 96 with a big bore kit...no heads and no cams.
Buy the POSE and for 699.00 plus a tuning download pluslabor put your own big bore kit on it. Now you got a 103 with on an Ultra with all the bells and whistles without the aggravation of having to purchase all the other parts and install them on a Police unit.

 

Hey Kevin....just GET THE *#&$*%^ POSE UC and be done with it!!! stop yur whinin . buddy!

 

We have 6 of the 07 RKs with the 103. So far 3 of em have had starter issues, ONE of em more than once.

 

Go with the UC...It sounds like too much aggrevation with all the extra work, just my .02

Also, something I didn't see mentioned....a friend tried to mount a chopped tour pack on a detachable mount on his police bike and he had clearence issues with the hockey-puck opening saddlebags