So I bought the Uly as my first bike...perhaps not the smartest thing I've ever done. On delivery day I think I had a grand total of 8 hours on a motorcyle my entire life. I quickly discovered that the 1203 requires that you use a little finess--long story but the Uly and I slid across a parking...
read more
So I bought the Uly as my first bike...perhaps not the smartest thing I've ever done. On delivery day I think I had a grand total of 8 hours on a motorcyle my entire life. I quickly discovered that the 1203 requires that you use a little finess--long story but the Uly and I slid across a parking lot on our first time at bat. Fortunately, we both were fine. Gotta give a round of applause to the engineers who armored this thing--it's very tough and we both walked away with only a little scratch. Since then I've managed to keep it on the wheels. I bought the bike from a dealership who had it as a demo--benefit: I have all the accessories that were available at production. I started riding the bike as a commuter and quickly found myself taking the long way home. I moved to CA this past fall and took the bike on a ride in New Mexico--great time. Here in Cali it's a commuter and my weekend escape vehicle. The seat height is very tall, I have the optional lowered seat and I can barely flat foot this thing loaded. The Thunderstorm V-twin makes plenty of power to keep up with traffic. I have had my mileage range from 38-56 mpg, usually it's around 45. Generally it does better when I'm solo, when it's warmer and when it has 93 octane gas (only 91 is available here). Mileage doesn't really matter much since it's all better than my truck. I find the guage cluster to be low and out of the line of sight but usually that's not an issue...sometimes when you are all by yourself in the twisties you may look down to discover that you are going much faster than you thought you were. First gear on this bike is a little high and can make riding off-highway at very low speeds a bit of a challenge; in normal city driving it's not an issue. The fuel-range is great, the bike rides well and handles effortlessly. At high speeds the sipes in the front tire may make it want to hunt back and forth ever so slightly (about an inch) but it's not dangerous and if you are ever on an unbarricaded mountain road and hit a patch of gravel in the turn, you will be grateful for this machines ability to instantly recover itself without loss of control. The rear brake is kind of underpowered but the front brake is huge and more than takes up the slack--DO NOT GRAB THE FRONT BRAKE HANDLE. The suspension on the Uly is great and is adjustable from like 135-450lbs or something. I don't play with it much but the bike comes with a table of presets to go off of if you wanted to set it up for two-up riding. I leave mine in the 220-260 range for me and my gear--minus the gear it is the slightest bit on the stiff side but still handles like a champ. Riding in gravel for the first time will probably scare you since the normal tight/connected feeling that the steering has will suddenly be gone, but the Uly still handles pretty well as long as you aren't crazy. In emergency braking, the front tire seems to stay connected very well, the suspension dive is pretty substantial though (I didn't know it could compress that much) and it may scare you more than whatever you were trying to avoid, but the bike remains controllable and will allow you to seamlessly transition into avoidance. The engine does vibrate a bit until you hit 3000 rpm or so, but of course you do get the benifit of a satisfying V-twin roar. The electric cooling fan is sometimes loud and stays on longer than I would like it to but it seems to work well. The accessories I have are all pretty useful. I think the GPS is great but I try not to look at it too much, it is an excellent little piece of gear from Garmin and even dims itself at night to protect your vision from glare. The lowered seat was an imperative for me, it's comfortable and I don't find myself wishing to stop even on the longest rides. My machine came with the twin saddle bags which make the Ulysses a practical commuter and and excellent touring bike. I have had no problems with the side bags, they are waterproof and very tough, the right one took the brunt of the fall that first ride and survived with just a scratch. The tall windshield is something I have to look into still, the Uly offers great protection to your knees and your hands but I could do with a little less wind buffeting. The Ulysses seems to handle fine in the wet, I have ridden through many pop-up thunder storms and one hail storm and had no issues. I haven't done any two-up riding yet, but I have hauled 50 lbs in the saddle bags without any noticeable change in performance. I have had the bike in for one routine maintenance at around 1000 miles and the dealer replaced the O2 sensor as well...mileage improved. I have also had one non routine maintenance--I had the RH turn signal wiring harness replaced after it became intermittant--appearently it got pinched either in that first ride or by one of the tie-downs I used to secure the bike in my trailer during the move out here. Additionally, I broke the license plate light bracket one morning while trying to quickly remove the cover...it was like $6 to replace so I will chalk that one up to my own impatience. The fit & finish on the machine is great, it always starts (as long as you remember not to leave the key switch in the accessory position overnight), it's tough, and it's plenty powerful. I don't know that I would add much to it except the windshield and perhaps a set of driving lights but that's just me.
Show less
