Harley Demo Days Today

[ringadingh]

Today one of the HD dealers near Niagara Falls had a demo day to try out the new 08's. Its an 1 1/2 hour ride to get there from where I live and I wanted to go for a ride anyways so off I went. They had 20 different models to try out between the HD's and the Buells. I signed up to try an Ultra Classic and waited for my turn. I hadn't ridden one in at least 4-5 years and wanted to compare it against the Nomad. Once we were underway I noticed that they are a little smaller in size than the Nomad, the windshield is closer to you, and the seating position seems a little tighter and more upright for my 6'2" frame but not uncomfortable, just different. My butt starts to get sore after an hour in the Nomad saddle, although I was only on the Ultra for about 25 minutes I liked the seat better, and think I could spend more time on it without getting uncomfortable. Power seemed to be fairly close in comparison and the shifting was almost as smooth. The six speed tranny really drops the rpms at highway speed, I do think they handle better at low speeds and feel more nimble than the Nomad at 30-60mph. The new Brembo brakes were very smooth and efficient as well.They shake a fair bit at idle, but this disappears as soon as your underway. I like having a full set of gauges and the stereo and cruise. Overall it is a really nice machine, and when the time comes to get a new bike,the Ultra may be getting a second look from me. I really like the Nomads, but by the time I put on the fairing,lowers, tour-pak,stereo,cruise, gauges, etc etc , the price difference probably isn't as great as you may think, and the Ultra already has all of these features. On the other hand, there are thousands of HD's out there, and the Nomads do stand out in a crowd.