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I took the ’08 Ultra to the Harley dealer a week ago to get a few minor problems looked at under warranty. The two problems were the shocks were very “bouncy” and the clutch was kinda rough on take-off. I had called several weeks ago to drop off the bike, they were taking “appointments” for two weeks from the time I called! Two weeks! I’m glad it wasn’t anything serious or I would be two weeks without my bike. That could say something about the quality of the latest motorcycles or it could be an indication that most people don’t work on their own bikes anymore. Instead of doing their own work, they take them to the dealer for oil changes and minor mechanical work.  I guess motorcycles are getting two complicated for the average shade tree mechanic.

The dealer didn’t find anything wrong with the shocks. Supposedly they did a “exhaustive” test ride and the shocks were fine. They did an adjustment on the clutch and said that a clutch adjustment wasn’t covered under warranty except at the 1000 mile service, so I had to pay for that bit of the service. So, most likely I won’t be going back to the dealer for much, unless there is a connecting rod hanging out of the side of the crankcase.

I installed a pair of Progressive Suspension model 418 Air Shocks. These shocks have progressive rate springs (the stock spring is a constant rate spring) and better valving in the shock. In addition, these shocks have a stronger air system in them, these have a maximum of 70 PSI in the shock where the stock Showa units on the The Progressive units are slightly larger in diameter that the stock units and and the fit is very close. I had to use a few washers to space the shocks away from the rear caliper and the drive pulley.

The ride is much improved with the Progressive Suspension shocks. The bouncing over large bumps is gone, the squirrely handling is gone and all in all the bike rides better and is much more stable in corners and on the interstate highway.

The Harley six speed transmission is very noisy in 5th gear, the gear where you do most of your riding.  The problem is that 5th gear uses straight cut gears.  4th gear has helical gears.  At 45 MPH you can shift from 4th to 5th and the whine is very loud.  After reading some recommendations on the HDTALKING website, I changed the oil in the transmission to Specto-oil 70W140 Platinum gear oil. Several users on the sight indicated that this would help the noise from the straight cut gears in the six speed transmission and smooth the classic clunky shifting. After a good ride I have to agree, it helps both the gear whine and the shifting. It doesn’t eliminate the whine, but it does reduce it.

With just over 3,000 miles on the odometer, the ’08 Ultra Classic is finally starting to run pretty good. I know that new Harleys take a few miles to get fully broken in, but I don’t remember the others I have had taking this long.

My first Electra Glide was a ’96 that I bought used with 1500 miles on it. I bought it from a Harley dealer in Greenville, SC and went to pick it up on a Saturday. Even with 1500 miles on it bike I could feel the engine limbering up as I drove it back home to Atlanta. By 2,000 miles it seemed to be good as it was going to get. On my ’05 Classic, it seemed that again, by 2,000 or so miles the motor was pretty limber. I did notice that by 2,000 miles on the ’05 the brakes were starting to loose their power.

The ’08 seems to be taking longer to get that good feel of a motor that is ready to run. But, finally, I am staring to get that feeling. We did a 150 mile ride on Sunday, rode up toward the mountains to see if the trees were getting any color yet. No color but the bike did run good. Seems to have better power and runs better at higher RPM.

I also figured out how to make the 6th gear work. The owners manual says not to shift into 6th gear until you are going 60-65 MPH, but at that speed the motor seemed to labor pulling even slight grades. We got on GA 515, a four lane divided highway that turns into I-575 when you get into Cherokee County. They were running particularly fast, 75+ MPH! I got in line with some fast movers, and got rolling about 80, I kicked up into 6th gear and the bike ran good. At 80 MPH indicated (the GPS was showing 75 MPH and I figure that is more accurate than the speedometer) the tach was showing about 3000 RPM. At 3000 RPM I found that I could put the cruise control on and the bike would pull the hills just fine. So, to make the 6th gear work, just go fast! It’s a shame that the cruise only works to 85 MPH because that is where the overdrive gear just starts to work good!

This bike has taken some getting used to, more so that my ’05. With the new shocks and the motor starting to break in it runs pretty good. It especially seems to like to run at interstate speeds.