Interesting discussion, I guess I'm not the only one feeling like this bike is really heavy (Ultra Limited CVO).
I ride with my wife loaded, mostly. It's a very heavy arrangement. If I tip the bike in a parking lot, we have to recruit a young man to help her her upright. Usually this is done without any damage or scratch to the bike because it happens when the bike is stopped. Usually something stupid, on my part.
The point is once you drop down to 5 mph or less, and you are loaded, you have a problem. The front wheel is not responsive. It's too heavy and the heavier fairing doesn't help. The new Harleys have this really cool electronic stuffy that inside the fairing and all that weight is on the front wheel. So forget about doing something cool under 5 mph when you are rolling in the parking lot.
Here's what I did. Even with all that weight this bike is very comfortable on long trips. We often cover 600-700 miles per day. If you are short like me (5' 7" with a 30" inseam), you need to narrow the front of your seat to allow you to get you legs squarely on the pavement next to your bike, if you need to. I took our heated seat to a fellow in Houston, he narrowed the seat, inserted heavier foam in the middle and then covered the seat with real leather, he said from a Mercedes... well he charged like the leather was from Germany. The heater still works fine, the leather is much more comfortable than vinyl, particularly in hot or wet weather.
Now if low speed is still an issue. Get some rear air shocks. Not the harley shocks, the ones that let you change air pressure on the fly (while riding). I purchased mine from Legend in Sturgis. When I'm going into a parking lot or gas station, I drop the air pressure which lowers the bike just a few inches from the pavement. At that point you should be able to get you feet squarely not he ground, both sides, while you partner climbs off the back. This really helps parking the bike in tight inclined areas. I park mine in the corner of the garage with only an inch off the wall.
Now if low speed is still and issue, look at the front end. Lowering the front end will do two things. First is should give you another half inch. Second, if you do this right, the handling will improve at low speed. Legend just came out with some new shocks this month for the Road Glide and Ultra models. I had to order mine directly from Legend. The distributors don't stock them, as yet. These are gas/ oil front shocks! You can preload the spring according to who much weight you'll carry. There are two models, one standard length and the other 1 inches lower. Get the shorter model, I did. What you notice is significantly improved handling in the front of the back. You'll notice the difference almost immediately. these are not like the Harley springs. These are fancy cartridges that you insert into the front tubes. No more bouncing up and down at low speed!! No more nose dive in quick stops!.. usually followed by some head banging with your passenger. This significantly improves handling at all speeds, but it's even comforting at low speed.
Now if you still have a problem, I'd consider one of the new trikes!! I figure I'll need one in a few years. They carry stuff, they don't tip over in a parking lot and they have a reverse gear! For now I'll stay with the Ultra (CVO Limited), but I expect to own a trike one of these years, I just turned 69.
Ed
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Topic: No longer CVO owner (Read 5915 times)