Harley-Davidson introduced its factory three-wheel touring model for the 2009 model year, bringing a purpose-built trike to showrooms after decades in which the company’s three-wheel presence was largely limited to sidecars, conversions, and the long-running Servi-Car. The Tri Glide Ultra Classic was positioned as a full-dress touring trike, combining Harley’s familiar batwing-fairing touring formula with a stable three-wheel chassis, integrated cargo capacity, and long-distance comfort. It gave riders a factory-engineered alternative in a segment that had previously been dominated by aftermarket conversions.
The nameplate arrived as part of Harley-Davidson’s broader effort to expand its touring family, and it quickly became the brand’s signature trike. For 2014, the model received a major update under the Project RUSHMORE umbrella, with revised touring features and chassis refinements that kept it aligned with Harley’s contemporary premium touring lineup. In Harley-Davidson’s later model-year materials, the trike is shown as continuing under the shortened Tri Glide Ultra name, indicating the “Ultra Classic” badge was retired after the 2014 model year.
As a result, the Tri Glide Ultra Classic represents Harley-Davidson’s original factory trike nameplate: launched in 2009, updated over its run to stay current with the company’s touring line, and then superseded by the renamed Tri Glide Ultra designation.