1995 Harley Davidson Electra Glide Ultra Classic

Sturgis Rally on a 1995 Harley Davidson Electra Glide Ultra Classic.

When you’re a biker from the southern tip of Africa, trips to the Sturgis Rally in South Dakota, USA, are once in a lifetime events. Add to that the fact you’re given the use of a 1995 Harley Davidson Electra Glide Ultra Classic for a marathon trip of 6000km/3000miles in 13 days and you have the makings of lifelong memories!!

I come from a very long and varied biking back round. Growing up in South Africa, I started riding motorcycles at age 9 and have never looked back. I think it is safe to say that motorcycling has become part of my DNA.

I raced in the 125 Junior motocross class in high school and then gravitated towards road bikes after leaving school. The list of bikes I’ve owned is long and varied and includes a 1982 Laverda Jota, a 1986 Kawasaki 900 Ninja, a 1989 Yamaha FZR 1000 EXUP (2 of those), a 1998 Honda Blackbird, a 2004 Honda CBR 1000 Fireblade, a 2005 Honda XLV 1000 Varadero, a 2005 Suzuki Hayabusa, a 2004 Kawasaki ZX10, a 2006 Suzuki M109R Boulevard, a 2007 Suzuki GSXR 1000, a 2008 Suzuki Hayabusa, a 2008 BMW F800GS and finally a 2000 Honda Valkyrie.

When my old friend John Holland from Seattle Washington invited me to come over and join him on a ride to the 2010 Sturgis Rally and on top of that offered me the use of one of his bikes, I jumped at the opportunity! Up until this point I had, neither owned nor ridden a Harley, as you can see from the list above, my background is mostly Japanese rice rockets, and so naturally I was very excited at the prospect of doig a major tour on a Harley!

I arrived in Seattle in early August 2010, and John immediately introduced me to the gleaming 1995 Harley Davidson Electra Glide Ultra Classic. I was immediately struck by the massive size of the bike and then by the weight of the bike when I swung my leg over and lifted it off the stand. I had visions of dropping it in the main street of Sturgis and starting a domino effect and having to run for my life! I am of average weight and height (5’10” 170lbs, or 1.78m and 75kg), and this down the middle average build has stood me in good stead over the years, as most motorcycles are designed with the average sized rider in mind. The Ultra however was the first bike I ever got on and felt that I was too small. John wasted no time in handing me a helmet and suggested that we take a ride so that I could get acquainted with the Ultra. In no time at all my fears were put to rest about the size of the bike, immediately upon getting under way she sheds her weight and she feels light and easy to handle, even at very slow speeds, even walking pace! The dry weight of the Ultra is 765 pounds (347kg), but as I said before, she feels nowhere near as heavy as that once moving. The balance of the Ultra is outstanding, and it is clear that a huge amount of thought went into the riding position and ergonomics of the bike. The seat height is 28 inches (711mm), which gives riders of average height a decent bend in the leg when putting their feet down. The bars were the perfect distance for me, and everything felt completely natural for me. The Ultra truly is a mile eater!

The Sturgis Rally is a weeklong affair and we planned to stay the entire week. Add to that 3 days riding getting there and 3 days back and that translates to a lot of luggage. As you can see the Harley Davidson Electra Glide Ultra Classic has tons of luggage space. It has two hard side panniers with removable inserts for your convenience, as well as a hard top case with a luggage rack on top of that. It also has 2 storage compartments up front for smaller items. 

Loading the Ultra down like a mule made no difference to the handling of the bike at all, it took anything I could throw at it and always felt composed and planted. As the days went by, I became more and more impressed with the bike, it truly has a soul of it’s own and has tons of character, something Japanese manufacturers fail to engineer into their motorcycles. I can honestly say that I get the whole Harley thing now, I understand it finally.

In the engine department, the 1995 model still has the 1340 cc engine, which is no rocket ship, but is willing and fit for purpose.For those interested, the engine produces 60hp (43.8kw) at 5500rpm and 69ft-lbs (94nm) at 3600rpm.Regardless of the figures, it has tons of grunt low down and sounds fabulous. We spent all day riding across the Montana plains at 75 to 85 mph (120km/h to 140km/h) in temperatures in the upper 90’s (mid 30 DEGREES C), bike fully loaded without the motor skipping a beat. Fuel consumption was fair at about 35mpg (15km/l, 6.6l/100km).

The bike has standard luxury features which I’m not at all used to on a motorcycle. For example it has a radio tape with decent speakers which were perfectly audible even at highway speeds. It also has cruise control, air suspension, an electrical plug point, running boards, which made total sense to me when cruising for hours on end over the vast distances in America. The fairing and screen provided total protection from the elements

My prior disdain for the brand had now turned to total respect, this was after all a 15 year old motorcycle with 45000 miles (72000km) on it, and yet it behaved perfectly and even felt new. Everything worked. Nothing felt outdated, it is as cool today as it was in 1995, that’s the thing about Harleys, they’re timeless. There’s nothing cool about a 1995 Suzuki Intruder, it may well have been cool back then, but it certainly is not anymore.  I can only imagine what a current model Ultra must be like with a 96ci or 103ci engine. It’s certainly on my shopping list!

Over the course of 13 days we covered thousands of miles in all kinds of weather and a huge variety of riding conditions and the Ultra proved to be a versatile, reliable, fun and easy ride. From dead straight roads over wide open plains to mountain passes in Yellowstone National Park, to riding through the field to get to our showers in the camp ground every morning. Nothing phased it

Look out for speed law enforcement by aircraft in the state of Washington. We were pulled over doing 83mph (132km’h), luckily the friendly officer let us off with a warning!

In conclusion, if you’re looking for a timeless, versatile ,fun, extremely capable  motorcycle with tons of curb appeal the Ultra Classic definitely needs to be considered!