WOW! Nice Ride!

I think sometime Harley creates some of the hype to keep people thinking they need the newest model. I see this in the skiing industry every year. Once you buy a pair of skis, the next year they changed the cut or bevel that makes the new model so better that everybody throws out the $1200 skis they bought last year. I have been skiing since I was out of the crib, so It didn't take long before you realized it was a small improvement and a lot of hype.

I think the 09's have made a few nice improvements, but a lot is super hype to keep those trades coming so they can sell more bikes. I can understand a jump from the evo to a twin camm, that was a major improvement, although I loved my evo when I had it, other than rocker gaskets, that motor gave me no trouble. You have a major investment in that bike, As do we all, I would hate to throw away all the upgrades I have done this year. The stage one alone with pipes was a grand.

Sorry Harley, unless you are gonna trade my bike plus another $1000 for the 09, I simply cannot afford to get caught up in the hype in what you are saying the new bikes will do for me because we all know it will be 4-5 k plus your old obsolete 08)

Better handling? maybe, but I have no problems with the current bike.

Heat? From the friends I have with 09's -the heat is still an issue because of how lean they are

Less vibrations at idle? Sorry, that is the reason my Girl Friend likes Harleys

The rest is cosmetic and I simply cannot afford to spend 5k every time they come up with something that looks better. Just because the media and peer pressure say, I MUST HAVE IT!!!!!!


So there you have it, if you are ready to buy a new bike, maybe your ride is 7 or 8 yrs old and you are ready to spend your hard earned money, I think an 09 would be great, but someone who just bought on 08 or even and 07 to have these improvements has rather got to be rich or has more money than brains.

 

I demoed an 09 Ultra yesterday. I was just a 25 mile ride but I didn't notice any differences that jumped out at me. The feel of the bike was that of a Utra. The one tbing that I noticed right away was the no cable throttle. I didn't care it. No feed back...to your hand...like it's not connected. But of course it's not and it feels like it.

As far as the new frame, the bike felt stiff, firm, and tight...but so did my 07 RKC when it was brand new. I'm sure the frame would make a difference under hard riding on twisty turns. But nothing was significantly different. My reason for the demo was to experience the fill faring and lowers. It was about 50 degrees and I did like the protection from the cold temps. I was thinking about getting an after market Bat Wing for my RKC for Fall and early spring riding. I seen some cheap lowers on EBay too. I would take everything off for the summer. HD's a great for the many option everyone has. So my impression of the 09 Ultra was that for a normal cruise down the highway, the 07, 08, 09 all feel about the same. The big significant HD change was the 96" and the 6 speed.