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[djd]

I put 45,000 miles on my '04 Ultra (bought used) in a year, 45,000 on my '08 (bought new) in a year, and just picked up my '09 Ultra last Friday. I put 800 miles on it last weekend, so haven't had it in every situation yet, but I liked it from the start, and like it even better with every mile.

Cornering is fantastic. I used to scrape floorboard brackets frequently with the '08. Not anymore. It handles the same curves at higher speed, with ease, and since it's taller, no scraping.

Suspension is a bit stiff, but it's new. The air shocks can run 50 lbs max versus the old ones at 35 lbs max. I carry a passenger and have them set to 45, which is about right. I heard the amount of travel on the rear suspension has doubled from 3 inches to 6.

Getting locked in grooves seems to be more a function of tires than the bike. Stock Dunlops on the '08 would find the grooves while Metzlers totally ignored them until they got flattened out at around 11,000 miles or so. The 180mm tire on the '09 ignores grooves. It'll take 2-3 months to find out how they do with some miles on them.

The '09 frame got rid of the annoying frame flex you could feel doing full-lock u-turns.

Another thing I notice is that the exhaust sounds equal on both sides rather than being right-side dominant as it was on past models. It's a very deep tone, well balanced, and the color of the outputs of the pipes is telling me both sides work. In the past, the right was black, left mostly silver. The '09s are running about even.

The '09 seems to have more torque. Could be the changed final drive ratio or the 2-1-2 exhaust.

I like this bike!

Dave