[05Train]

As one can imagine, I caught a lot of grief from people on the Harley forums and a ton of good-natured ribbing from my riding buddies when I replaced my Ultra with the RT. "It's got no soul". "It sounds like the starter's stuck". "It looks like George Jetson's bike". I've heard them all, and then some.

Overall, I'm very happy with my decision. Anyone who says a Boxer bike doesn't have character and soul hasn't ridden one. In all the good ways, the RT is, in fact, a German Harley.

But I gotta say, it's got some of the quirks that're traditionally thought of as Harley things.

- 47,000 miles on my Ultra, 30,000 miles on my Night Train, and the only oil I've ever lost was in high-heat, all-day runs, and then never more than 8oz over the course of 5,000 miles (the service interval). I've added 20oz to the RT in the last 1,500 miles (bike has 5,500 miles on it).

- "Harleys shake so much they shed parts". Not in my experience, though I did lose the cap to one of my compression releases on the Night Train, though to be fair, that's an 11.5:1 high-compression, built motor. The RT shook the weather cover off of the nav cradle this morning on the way to work.

Like I said, it's a great bike, but it's just funny how things that're thought of as such polar opposites can be so similar.

 

[WimStang]

If your bike is shaking that bad you need to see a mechanic. Mine is as smooth as a baby's ass.

 

[05Train]

Nah, it's not a bad shake at all. It shakes just like the other Boxer's I've ridden.

 

[12R12RT]

I came from a KLR650 to the RT. When I first got the RT I thought that, at idle, it shook like a dog shittin' tacks. The KLR shakes less at idle.

The RT smooths out at speed just fine. And it has lots of soul.

Tom

 

[hopz]

all I will say is...

If you like it now, wait till its broken in.

 

[tompn]

My Harley buddies said "I can't understand why you got a BMW"

My reply "Ride one and you will understand".

Tom

 

[05Train]

My Harley buddies said "I can't understand why you got a BMW"

My reply "Ride one and you will understand".

There's some real truth to that statement. It's a completely different rid in experience. Not necessarily better, not necessarily worse. I own one of each, and they're different tools for different jobs.

 

[Xavier6162]

My Harley buddies said "I can't understand why you got a BMW"

My reply "Ride one and you will understand".

Tom

Reverse Harley with BMW and it would still be true.

 

[05Train]

Reverse Harley with BMW and it would still be true.

Absolutely.

Apparently there was some collusion between Motherships regarding the location of the transmission drain plug. It's nearly as bad as the damn Softail. There's nothing more fun than cleaning half a quart of transmission fluid off of the lift table and the bike's exhaust.

Thank God the tranny oil's good for 24,000 miles.

 

[homewrek]

Ironic that my sister-in-law's beau was just harassing me on going from my Night Rod to the RT.
I was down in Sarasota visiting and he just went from a Road King a few months ago to a brand spanking new Ultra. We were exchanging a lot of barbs going back and forth over a couple of days. I was giving him crap on his 925 lb fully loaded machine vs. my nimble 570 lb sport touring machine.
So on Sunday night, he is leaving my mother-in-laws driveway with my sister-in-law 2 up. There is a huge round spruce off to the side of the driveway. He was riding out at slow speed and all of a sudden I didn't hear the loud pipes. I look outside and see my sister-in-law laying in the spruce bush so I run outside. Sure enough, the beau (really nice guy) who is a very experienced and good rider is lying in the spruce and half pinned under the 925lb Ultra.
I got him untwisted and through down the side stand (he fell to the opposite side) and helped him upright the ultra. The poor guy had his hip give out part way and lost the bike when he put his right leg down.
Felt bad for him, but not really anything more than some superficial scratches that should be able to rub out. He was embarrassed as hell that he was giving me crap for 2 days and there he is dumping the Ultra. I think he'll think twice next time before criticizing my "yuppie" BMW that only weighs 570lbs.
At least I know what it takes to upright a 975lb ultra and could do that again if I had to.