'06 (B)Uelly

[c3powil]

Been there with the Berryman's before I discovered the Harbor Freight "jewlerey" ultrasonic cleaner. Hard to fit a whole carb in there, but can at least get the jets and passageways submerged. Glad my time with carbs are over now, though. I went full KETO so both my bikes (Uly and Honda CB500X)are FI.

Last night the Uly stranded me... Stopped by the convenience store to grab a 6er on the way to band practice. Came out of the store and... no starter response. Nothing. Checked fuses and swapped relays around... all good. Started checking for any abnormalities... nothing. Read a few threads on similar issues. Tried a small wire on the clutch sensor, nope. Eventually my wife showed up with a bag of tools and I got the hex key I needed to open up the start switch housing. There was some corrosion and I was able to use the tip of my screwdriver to start the bike. Got home, cleaned up the corrosion, and were all good. Can someone tell me WHY, WHY are the bolts holding together the switch housing not the same torx bolts as the rest of the machine????? My onboard tool kit has a torx wrench and a hex key, neither of which were the right size for those.

Other than that mishap, I need to remove the muffler so I can access the bolts which hold on the kickstand. The darned things keep vibrating loose and I can't seem to tighten them enough or add locktite without removing the whole muffler.

 

[34nineteen]

You may need to retap/helicoil the holes in the case. The threads may have gotten boogered up by a PO having it loose for awhile.

You'll find a couple of T25 torx's used on some fasteners you'd think could/should be T27's. There is also a small mismash of metric fasteners on the bike as well. Its pretty trivial though.

 

[Cooter]

T27:


Buell T27:



And Ol' Sanford above is right about the kickstand bolts:mad-new: Can be done on a stand with a 90* drill, but you may have to cut the drill bit down.

 

[c3powil]

I know I'm going to regret asking this, but what are the reasons why I wouldn't want to just take some jb weld and "fix" it that way...?

 

[Cooter]

You already know the answer, and that's why you won't do that, right?? RIGHT???

:concern:

Installing a heli-coil is a simple and cheap process that will actually work to hold the bike up. Taking off the muffler is easy enough for access. I want you to do it correctly so badly that I will send you a kit for free if you PM me your address.

 

[c3powil]

I think I know the answer...

Hehehe, but in all seriousness, I have a bad habit of attempting a repair the "easy" way by not removing some part or by not taking the time to dig out the proper tool. Always ends up being harder that it should have been. I think I have a Helicoil set somewhere. If not, I may take you up on that.

 

[c3powil]

I've bump started a time or two, but only with carbed bikes. For some reason, I was under the impression FI vehicles shouldn't be bump started. I'm not sure why I thought that. I'm going to apply some dielectric grease to the starter button innards this weekend, so no more starting worries.

I attempted to remove the muffler yesterday with no success. Took off the chin fairing, started unbolting the mounts, and the bolt closest to the brake lever on the rear mount is impossible to reach with any of my socket extensions. SO, I pulled off the front sprocket cover, removed the rear brake pedal, and finally unbolted the belt tensioner. I could not get the belt tensioner off no matter how much wiggling and prying I did. At that point I had spent much more time trying to get the exhaust can off than I anticipated... I bolted everything back up so I could ride to work today and ended up just re-tightening the rear kickstand bolt again.

I was able to get some bright LED lights installed, since my low beam was out. At least something productive got done.

I don't think I have a helicoil kit, but I do have a tap and die kit. I can try retapping the threads, but I have a feeling that wont help much, right? It would just make the threads straighter, not tighter.

 

[Cooter]

Yes, a tap will just remove more thread material:down: A hell-coil or time-sert is a permanent repair. The muffler can be fiddly, but gather the right tools and commit to finishing it. Easily done in one night.

All that weight on those weak threads and you'll open the garage to find your bike taking a nap one of these days.

 

[Cooter]

Mini-marts typically have a steady influx of customers, other than yourself. Why didn't you flag down one of them to simply give you a throw-the-clutch-away-bump-start and ride it home? Or is that too old-school now to be part of any motorcycle ownership skill-set?

Nothing special happens with the starter button that you can't replicate by spinning the engine by any means you have. You can bump start anything with a manual. A diesel VW Rabbit in a 105* Tech school Arizona parking lot is one that comes to mind:upset:

The key to Barretts valuable advise^^^^ is to overcome the high compression in your V-Twin.

Put it in a high gear so the rear tire is turning faster/engine RPM and therefore requires less torque (rear wheel traction) to spin the engine. Use your weight to squat on the seat (right when you slam the clutch out) to get the most traction with the rear tire. Once you get it to bump over compression once, don't stop! Keep going until it starts.

 

[c3powil]

I'll pop that thing off sooner rather than later. Hopefully this weekend. I'm going to head to the store and grab a heli-coil kit, as I can see they will be pretty useful to keep on hand, and a sledgehammer to help with my other ride.

 

[Cooter]

They really are handy to have in the toolbox. My offer stands if you'd rather me send one to you:up:

I think a sledge hammer was in the original tool kit under the seat, but Erik put the handle halfway through the steel. Ya know... mass centralization. He really is genius!

 

[34nineteen]

Don’t listen to CoOter. On Tik-Tok and Facebook there is an account called “5 minute crafts” which shows how to fix all kinds of things a using regular household items. No need for wasting money on tools or parts you may only used once! If you insist on this helicoil tomfoolery, I’m sure 5 minute crafts can show you how to make one out of items found in the kitchen junk drawer!

 

[Cooter]

You spelled craps wrong.

 

[cvc]

Sure Cooter says you can bump start a buell but in my experience not a chance when my 165lb a$$ drops on the seat even at 20 mph on a downhill it just slides the rear tire. After being “rescued” from that dead battery I almost believed the previous owner’s story that it had 11.5 compression pistons swapped in. That and it’s way faster than my Uly.

 

[Cooter]

My extra 50 lbs of 'center-of-gravity' helps :black_eyed:

I forgot to mention that it helps tremendously to first roll it backwards (in gear) to give the engine some momentum before it hits compression. Using the Lunatic Industries patented starter bump procedure with the clutch lever is a good thing to try as well. Once it gets over TDC it should keep spinning.

Either way, it's MUCH easier to maintain your 13-20 year old bikes electrical system so that the yellow button works every time, lol.

 

[c3powil]

Hehehe, yea well I may try bump starting it just to find out if I can do it. Thanks for the offer, Cooter, but I found the channel 34nineteen was referring to. Apparently, you can take a paperclip and twist it around the bolt to align with the threads and it works just as well.

 

[c3powil]

Okay, I've ordered the correct helicoil style kit from Amazon. And after watching a Projectfarm video on Youtube, I now fully understand how much better a thread repair like this is than something like JB Weld or more threadlocker. This weekend I will attempt to remove the muffler again.

The Uly has been LOVING this cold weather (33 degrees F this morning!) and the heated grips the PO installed have come in real "handy" (hehehe). My current commute of 20 miles round trip means I don't really have to worry about the cold anymore. I used to ride 80 miles round trip, and I had to be much more cold conscious. As long as the ice is off the road, I'll be riding.

 

[Cooter]

He's great! I was going to post that for you:black_eyed: TTC Torque Test Channel is fun too. Mostly power tool testing but some "projects"



Don't use this one for the kickstand bolts

 

[c3powil]

Alrighty boys. After letting her sit for a few weeks I finally had the courage to drill into my moto and install the heli kit. It was way easier than expected. Aluminum is soft, I guess. Got the kickstand back on and the exhaust all bolted back up. Ride to work this morning yeilded no rattling... so far.

Thanks for the help and the extra push to get it done right. Future me thanks you even more than present me!

 

[Cooter]

Congrats, thanks for posting the results and glad you are back on the road!