2024 Harley-Davidson Ultra Limited: A Comprehensive Guide On Features, Specs, And Pricing

Harley-Davidson rolls its Ultra Limited over into MY24 with all the goodies that has long kept this model at the top of the non-CVO touring food chain. Comfort and convenience were front-burner topics for the design team with performance as a close second, making this a machine that will gobble up the miles while keeping you connected, informed, and entertained. A large fairing complete with a tall windshield and fairing lowers protects the pilot head-to-toe. Plus, it’s all in keeping with the long-standing tradition of the overall look, which makes that crucial historical connection demanded by the U.S. market.

The engine is a Twin-Cooled Milwaukee-Eight with a 114 cubic-inch displacement that’ll drive this nearly half-ton machine with better roll-on and faster acceleration overall as compared to the base, 107 M-8 mill. Copious storage capacity completes the package with secure, dry storage in the hard bags and a Tour-Pak to give it plenty of utility as a tourer, or a very capable commuter/grocery-getter. There’s no shortage of colorways, but the MY24 Ultra Limited shuns the chrome in favor of widespread blackout treatment that touches almost everywhere that isn’t part of the bodywork, per se.

What’s New For 2024

This year happens to be a rollover year, but this is a long-standing model that receives regular updates to keep it fresh and relevant. Its frame is from the ’09 rebuild that saw fewer parts and less welding, plus the addition of a wider swingarm to accommodate a fatter rear wheel. Up front, the forks, boosted to a fat 49 mm diameter from 41 mm for the MY14 Project Rushmore update, along with cushier seats for both pilot and pillion increase comfort and tour-ability. In 2020, the factory graced the Ultra Limited with its then-new Reflex Defensive Rider System package to finish out the relatively-recent updates. It maintains the same level of protection riders expect with a full Batwing fairing complete with wind deflectors on the bottom sides, a tall windshield, and fairing lowers. Secure, dry storage is another carryover, and there’s plenty of it to maintain its utility as a touring motorcycle or an uber commuter.

2024 Highlights

• Classic, American tour-bike design
• Comfortable over the long haul
• Plenty of storage for trips to the store, or out of town for the weekend
• Powerful, 114 cubic-inch engine
• Top-shelf electronics

2024 Harley-Davidson Ultra Limited Performance And Capability

Harley-Davidson powers its 2024 Ultra Limited with the somewhat-souped Milwaukee-Eight 114 that really helps to get its bulk up to speed, up to and including interstate speed with a strong roll-on almost everywhere in the range. Bore and stroke mic out at 102 mm and 114.3 mm respectively, for a 1,868 cc displacement and relatively mild compression ratio at 10.5-to-1 that will prefer at least 92 octane, so yeah, plan on pulling on up to that premium pump.

The 2024 Ultra Limited produces 93 horsepower and 122 pound-feet of torque. That’s up from the 107 mill’s 87/110 figures, so the engine also generates extra heat. Harley deals with this by making this a Twin-Cooled engine that circulates coolant through the head to help keep the valves within operating temp. The radiators tucked away in the fairing lowers are well out of sight, so they don’t ruin the air-cooled look. There’s no oil-cooler either, apparently the Magnificent-Eight 114 doesn’t need it.

Power flows through a chain-type primary drive ahead of an Assist and Slip clutch that adds a layer of mechanical backtorque mitigation to the mix, then a six-speed Cruise Drive transmission, and finally to the rear wheel via a carbon-reinforced belt drive. The Ultra Limited’s top speed is 110 MPH, governed. As for electronics, the engine benefits from corner-optimized systems with both Traction Control and Drag-Torque Slip Control as part of the stock equipment package.

Performance Specifications

Design And Styling

The overall design cleaves to convention with lots of old-school Harley-Davidson DNA on open display in the Ultra Limited. A full front fender is one such point, even if it drops the classic chrome skirt, trim, and script. Good old beercan skirts hide the fork tubes from sight, and make the 49 mm forks seem even fatter yet. They say that black is very slimming, but the blackout treatment does nothing to diminish the sheer visual weight up front.

A Batwing fairing adds to that heavy look with a windshield up top, and wind-deflectors on the sides, plus a Splitstream vent that relieves the vacuum behind the fairing and reduces the wearisome head-buffet effect for long-distance comfort. At the inner fairing, a quartet of round clocks and LED indicators cover the mundane metrics, while the 6.5-inch, color TFT screen handles the BOOM! Box GTS and other higher electronics. You can definitely share your jams with the class through the four stock speakers, and it rocks headset compatibility right off the showroom floor.

The six-gallon fuel tank gives the Ultra Limited some long legs, certainly longer than you are likely to want to go at a stretch even with the comfy new seats. It has the usual round fuel door and console down the middle. Hard bags and a stock Tour-Pak add 4.7 cubic-feet of secure, dry storage to the mix, so there’s room for a long-distance trip out of town, or a short but productive trip to the grocery store.

Specifications And Dimensions

Chassis And Handling

The frame was last rebuilt for the ’09 model year, so it rolls with fewer parts and less welding than the previous generation. It’s the usual mild tubular steel material in a double-downtube/dual-cradle arrangement that fully supports the engine, rather than using the lump as a stressed member to replace part of the frame. The steering head sets a rake angle of 26 degrees, but there’s an offset in the tripletree ’cause the actual fork angle kicks out to 29.25 degrees, and that couples with the 6.7 inches of rake to make for a stable ride that tracks well, even at interstate speeds.

Laden seat height is a tad tall at 27.5 inches off the deck, but it could be worse. The factory uses shorter shocks to keep the seat height down, and this cuts into the suspension travel with 4.6 inches of travel up front and only a 3-inch stroke out back. The Showa forks run with the Dual Bending Valve technology that delivers a superior ride to plain vanilla forks, and out back a set of hand-adjustable shocks complete the stems.

H-D’s 18-inch Gloss Black Slicer II wheels round out the rolling chassis and come shod in Dunlop’s H-D Series rubber with a 130/70 ahead of a 180/55. This is a heavy bike with a 917-pound curb weight, so naturally the factory doubled up on the front discs with a pair of 300 mm discs up front and another out back. Both ends run four-bore anchors for plenty of stopping power, and the cornering ABS feature gives you all the tools to manage all that stopping power. The Electronically-Linked Braking System helps to improve stability during heavy braking actions.

Chassis And Suspension

2024 Harley-Davidson Ultra Limited Price And Availability

MSRP on the 2024 H-D Ultra Limited starts at $32,499. Naturally, that’s for the new base color, Billiard Gray, which honestly looks like primer that they forgot to paint over. The old base color, Vivid Black, is now a $750 upgrade. Plus that makes it black on black, so it’s like a small black hole on wheels. White Onyx Pearl is another smooth grand with its Stormtrooper looks, right along with the Sharkskin Blue colorway. If you want that two-tone Red Rock / Vivid Black finish, you can expect to pay another $1,800 over MSRP. Finally, and my favorite, the Tobacco Fade package bumps the ticket on up another $2,900.

Pricing And Features

2024 Harley-Davidson Ultra Limited Versus Its Competitors

The American style of full-on dressers is actually a fairly rare thing, outside a few less-noble models that we won’t mention here, but Indian has a perfect answer for the Ultra Limited with its Roadmaster Dark Horse model. Indian has its own “Limited” version, but it ain’t a blackout, so here we are. Honda remains in the same slice of the market with its venerable Gold Wing Tour model that hits many of the same design high points, but arrives at a very different overall mien nonetheless.

How The Harley-Davidson Ultra Limited Compares To The Indian Roadmaster Dark Horse

• 	2024 Harley-Davidson Ultra Limited	2024 Indian Roadmaster Dark Horse
  Engine	1,868 cc V-twin	1,890 cc V-twin
  Transmission	6-speed manual	6-speed manual
  Torque	122 LB-FT @ 2,750 RPM	126 LB-FT @ 2,900 RPM
  Driveline	RWD	RWD
  MSRP	$32,499 – $35,399	$32,999 – $35,249

Indian’s Roadmaster Dark Horse fits the American mold to a T and carries its own genetic markers from bikes from its own history. The war bonnet fender ornament is perhaps one of the more powerful links to the past for an Indian motorcycle. Its Thunderstroke engine displaces a massive 116 cubic-inches with 126 pounds o’ grunt on tap for a razor-thin torque advantage over the H-D’s mill. Indian’s own RIDE COMMAND infotainment package sweetens the deal, but the safety electronics are a tad lacking compared to the Ultra with standard ABS, Ride Modes, and Rear-Cylinder Deactivation on board. Rider protection, comfort and storage has little light between the Indian and its longtime rival, H-D. Price won’t save the Roadmaster. It starts at $32,999, and it only has two colorways, one of which is a black hole like the H-D Ultra Limited in Vivid Black.

How The Harley-Davidson Ultra Limited Compares To The Honda Gold Wing Tour

• 	2024 Harley-Davidson Ultra Limited	2024 Honda Gold Wing Tour
  Transmission	6-speed manual	6-speed (opt DCT)
  Torque	122 LB-FT @ 2,750 RPM	125 LB-FT
  Driveline	RWD	RWD
  MSRP	$32,499 – $35,399	$28,700 – $33,000
  Model	Ultra Limited	Gold Wing Tour
  Horsepower	93 HP @ 5,020 RPM	125 HP

Honda joins the fray with its Gold Wing Tour, which is more Asian/Euro looking, but still does the exact same job as the other two. This is no new model either, the Gold Wing has been a threat in the U.S. market for quite a while now, and it’s a proven design. The bodywork gives the game away, but what’s under the hood is impressive. Honda powers its entry with a 1,833 cc, water-cooled opposed six-cylinder engine that churns out 125 ponies and 125 pound-feet of torque for a definite performance edge. Plus, the Gold Wing family has a reputation for sportbike-like handling that belies its great size.

Honda alone has an automatic transmission in its DCT feature that also has a reverse feature and a walking mode for easy parking lot maneuvers. On the manual gearbox model, a slipper clutch adds some anti-hopping protection to the mix. A Hill-Start Assist and Selectable Torque Control feature rounds out the electronics, but the bike comes in limited paint choices. Electronic suspension puts the GW over the top, especially at that attractive, $28,700 starting price point.

He Said/She Said

He Said

My husband and fellow motorcycle writer, TJ Hinton, says,

“Yep, it’s a classic H-D dresser with a healthy helping of comfort, infotainment, and power from a modern Big-Twin engine. The twin-cooling feature is nice as well as it
really
extends the engine’s thermal stamina, even under harsh operating conditions. Since this is a lot of bike, the extra performance won’t be felt as keenly as on a lighter chassis, but it will keep acceleration as one of the evasion tools available to the rider, even at superslab speeds.”

She Said

“This full-dress tourer is just about the epitome of comfort and handling without going full CVO-tastic. The powerful Milwaukee-Eight 114 has stomp-pulling power
way
down low and there’s ample roll-on anywhere in the rev range. Add plenty of cargo capacity, and you’ve got a capable tourer with top-shelf features and comfort that will last all day.”