New Motorcycle

I’ve been riding since 1968. My first street bike was a ’67 BSA Thunderbolt. I rode British (2 BSAs, a Triumph and one Norton) until 1981. By then, all the British manufacturers had shut down. So I went to Harley-Davidson, beginning with an ’81 Sportster. In ’82 I got my first big twin, an FLHC. The C stood for classic. The classic had a belt drive, the FLH was chain drive. Loved that motorcycle and I wish I hadn’t sold it. After the ’82 I’ve had a number of Harleys, beginning with my 1985. It was my first EVO engine and seemed like Harley had suddenly jumped ahead about 20 years from my ’82 shovel. (I understand that late model Triumphs do not leak oil.)

I bought a 2025 Street Glide Ultra. Seemed like another big jump. The engineers in Milwaukee did a great job. The motorcycle dropped over 100 pounds, but without losing any functions. They also moved components lower on the bike. One example, the radiators which were mounted at the top of the fairing lowers on my 2021 Limited, are now at the bottom of the lowers. The light bars that carried the spotlights and turn signals on the front and the turn signals on the back are gone. In the front the turn signals are LED mounted lines of lights built into the fairing. On the back, the turn signals are LED on each side of the rear fender. On the subject of fenders, the front fender has reached over the front tire, with a light or chrome ornament on the tip. About 18″ has been cut off. The crash bars on the front are redesigned to cut out a foot of so. The combination of substantially lowering the weight and lowering the center of gravity will extend my riding years, it’s a lot easier to handle. It is most noticeable when lifting the bike off the stand. It is no longer necessary for me to turn the front wheel all the way to the left to get it vertical.

There are a bunch of changes that I don’t yet know how to operate. Things such as adjustable compression braking. I haven’t learned how to operate that and other functions, but since I never had them before it’s no problem. I don’t recall ever wishing “gee, I wish I had adjustable braking compression.”