| Author | Message | ||
     Billtco |
New to the board and not an expert rider but I am hooked. I've ridden about 30,000 miles in the last couple of years and have 4 bikes. I was looking for a dual-sport but wasn't interested in the street-legal dirt bike that dominate the category. The RS1100 GS would be great, but it is 250 miles to the closest dealer. I was trying to ride the Dragon with my Valkyrie (and scraping the pegs at every turn) when I saw the Ulysses there. A little research and I headed to the HD dealer to look at one, only to discover one in the rental fleet. So after 300 miles on the Ulysses, I decided this may be the ultimate bike for me. The Uly can certainly handle the twisties far beyond my riding capabiility and the acceleration will match my 1200 Trophy. I am use to cruisers with windshields so I was leery about the practically non-existant shield on the Uly. Found out there is no turbulence or buffeting, just smooth air. Riding upright at 70 felt comfortable and 90 was OK laying on the tank (Oops, breather cover!) Running on what they call roads in the poorest counties in South Texas is where the Uly really shines. Patches on patches, missing pavement, caliche, gravel, sand, the Uly takes it in stride. Running 50 and 60 was smooth on roads that shake the truck to pieces at 40. On all the other bikes, ever the Valk, my back and shoulder starts hurting after a 100 miles. I rode this bike 4 hours with one 20 minute break and felt great. The upright seating position and wide seat that you can move around make a big difference. The gimmick luggage rack actually works. without luggage, you fold it forward and can swing a leg over the back. My Nelson-Rigg roll bag velcroed on the upright rack and fit perfectly between the grab rails. Fortunatly, I have a 34 inch inseam so I could straddle the bike with both feet on the ground. The problem is getting my leg over it to get on. I sat on the lower seat at the dealer, probably an option I wil go for. The infamous fan is really not that noticible when the bike is idling, since the typical Harley motor is trying to shake itself apart. It only runs on high for 30 seconds after you turn the key off anyway. Summary: The Uly can hang in the twisties like it's sport bike heritage (at least for me) tour comfortably at 70-80, run light-to-light with the bad boys and go on anything called a road. I pick mine up on Thursday. Bill | ||
| Dragon_slayer |
Welcome to the Madness....he,he,he,he!  Buellaid for one please! | ||
| Swampy |
Welcome to the Badweb! I was in Corpus Cristi, New Years day, and swam in the Gulf of Mexico, sort of like swimming in Lake Superior in August. South Texas, what a beautiful part of the promised land. | ||
| Aeholton |
Welcome Billtco. I see by your profile that you have chosen the faster of the two available colors. Congratulations. Also, feel free to check out more Uly specific posts in the Big, Bad & Dirty area here on Badweb. (Message edited by aeholton on November 13, 2006) | ||
| Jlnance |
Welcome Billtco, glad you found Badweb, it's a great place, both for the people and the info. Before getting the low seat, you might want to try the 07 seat. It's suposed to be better than either the standard or low 06 seat. | ||
| Madduck |
Bill, I just changed to the 9 primary ratio. I like the bike a lot more now. Takes about 10% off the top speed in any gear but really improve the overall performance for those of us on gravel a lot. | ||
| Billtco |
Though I would post an update. Got the Uly Thursday from Peter a really nice guy. He has a new R1 coming so had to make room in his garage. So I head out of New Orleans on 1-10 till I find a twisty road to try out. All goes well until I didn't believe a 20 mph warning sign. Yep, 2 hours after I buy the bike I crash test it. I was on the brakes so had it down to 20 when it low-sided in the gravel. Found out that Buell built this thing tuff. The left handbar end mirror and shield took most of it and the left bag. The bag stayed on the bike and intact. Scraped the front ornage part and the windshield, the bottom of the lower fork guard and the very bottom of the fork. A couple of people stopped and helped me get the bike back up and looked for the missing pieces. one woman told me that a lot of bikers loose it on that curve. It must be true because they found a half a dozen parts that I brought home only to discover that none of them came from the Uly. I landed on my shoulder and knocked the breathe out but I was able to ride, at least to the nearest motel. I fell much better the next morning and rode the 550 mile home yesterday. The windshield I messed up was the tall buell shield. I have the short one, but wondered if the Bailey's or other after maket shield is better. Do all the taller shields bolt through the fairing piece on the bottom? I would perfer on that snaps on like stock. How about mirrors? I like the Rizoma mirrors but the are a little pricey. Anyway, I am impress with how little damage. Oh, the best part of the trip back is gettin caught in the construction on US 59 leaving Houston. I jump the curb and run down the new road base for a couple of miles before having to get back into traffic. Let's see any other bike do that. I got the bike with both seats and started out with the low one, but I am much more comfortable on the regular seat. It is just gettin the leg over it that is difficult. | ||
| Az_m2 |
Billtco, it only gets better. The other good thing about these bikes is that the replacement parts are cheap. | ||
| Jlnance |
Glad neither your nor the bike suffered any serious damage. You have a good attitude about it. I would be sick! | ||
| Pregrid |
"I fell much better the next morning" Practice makes perfect. |
