I traded my '04 RK (40500 miles) for my '08 Ultra. The only negative I have with the Ultra is that is a bit hotter in summer stop and go traffic. I have added a Screaming Eagle air intake and a Fuelpak, but won't know if it helped the heat until the summer comes around. On the plus side, this is a great machine. I have 6300 miles on it so far which includes a round trip Ohio-Florida. It runs extremely well, and is way more comfortable than my RK was. I even like the stock seat which is unusual. While in Sturgis last August, I took advantage of the Harley Demo day to ride all of the touring bikes several times, and settled on the Ultra as I like to do a lot of long rides. The fly-by-wire throttle, the cruise control, the Brembo brakes and the ABS make this a real winner. Absolutely, no transmission noise. I guess the IDS solved that problem.