2009 XB12XT Ulysses Refresh

[Vtwinster]

Background
My previous Buell was an XB9R with a factory race pipe (four bikes ago). I added the factory bags and rode on several long trips. I attended the Buell rally in Albuquerque (2005?) – long ago! It was a fun bike but eventually the exhaust noise became too annoying, even with ear plugs, so I sold it. I live in Colorado and there are many great dirt roads and 4WD trails to explore so my last two bikes were dual sport. The last was a 2017 BMW 1200GS – the best bike I’ve ever owned or ridden. My annual riding mileage started to drop off and I couldn’t justify an expensive depreciating asset so I sold it and bought the Ulysses for less than one fourth the price of the BMW.

The Purchase
Over the winter I bought a “project bike”: a one owner 2009 Ulysses with 9,500 miles, dealer serviced (including oil changes) and completely original. The owner said it was in “excellent condition and with new tires.” I verified the service records with the dealerships (no record of new tires), made a deal to buy the bike and drove 12 hours to pick it up. Upon arrival I found a bike with worn out, flat, and dry-rotted tires, a typical rusty muffler, discolored header and scratched bodywork with missing fasteners -classic over promise and under deliver. The bike started and ran fine so we negotiated a new lower price deducting for cost of a new tire.

Project Overview
Besides updating of all of the maintenance items, I decided to add some personal touches. I also added my typical list of safety features.

Maintenance
Plugs, Oils, K&N air filter, Lyndall Gold brake pads, wheel bearings, Shinko 705 tires (I will be riding off pavement), primary chain adjustment and adaptive muffler adjustment.

Cosmetic Changes
Color matching tail and hand rails, color matching luggage accent pieces (I will add reinstall the luggage hardware when I plan a trip), black satin fork tubes, ceramic coated muffler and header, Buell frame paint to address some cosmetic issues, 3M plastic polish to remove most of the bodywork scratches and WD-40 on the black engine cases.

Safety Upgrades
Stebel air horn, Skene tail/brake lights in the rear and Photon blasters in front and 3M black reflective tape.

Miscellaneous Upgrades
Jack nuts in fairing to facilitate quick removal of the windshield, Buell Comfort Kit (no ECM reflash), Vista Cruise, T-Rex Racing axle sliders, HVMP bar end weights, Doubletake mirrors, 2010 Ulysses clear blinkers, tennis racquet grip tape, CRG adjustable short control levers.


I didn’t take many photos although here are a few.

 

[Cooter]

Wheres that last pic?? Looks awesome!

Congrats on the bike, many miles of smiles are in your future

 

[njloco]

Nice bike, good luck with it.
Two questions, in your opinion, how does it compare to your GS and, where did you mount the air horn ( a picture would be great ) ?

 

[DASTARDLEY]

Great bike,
That last pic is cool where did you take it?

 

[Vtwinster]

Cooter/Dastardly - The last picture is on E. Portal Rd./Tolland Rd. near Rollinsville, CO, on the way to the Moffat Tunnel and the road to Rollinsville Pass.

njloco - The air horn is mounted behind the right side of the fairing. It fits nicely. There is an install DIY on this or the Badweb website, I don't remember which.
The GS is a far superior machine thus, the far superior price! Keyless, electrically adjustable suspension and ride modes (ABS, traction control, throttle management), electronic cruise control, multi-function computer, crash bars, LED headlight, the driver seat height is adjustable separately for the front and rear, quick, fast and the list goes on... The only things I were not thrilled about were the heaviness of the empty luggage, the periodic valve check/adjustment and the price of the bike as well as the aftermarket accessories. If I rode more I would have kept the GS. My BMW mechanic is a racer and he has the same bike (for street use). When he street rides with his racing buddies, he said they are amazed that he can keep up with them on the GS. Yes, the GS is that good on the road and very capable off-road.

Here is a picture of my older 2010 GS on the 4WD trail up to Kingston Peak, further west from Rollinsville, from a few years ago. It's hard to see, although the trail is VERY steep with loose baby heads and it's off-camber too. 1st gear "walk- off", only minor scratches on the crashbar and cylinder head - mostly due from dragging the bike to a position to be able to pick it up. (Sorry, I don't know how to rotate an image.)

 

[njloco]

Please, don't take this the wrong way but, I haven't found a GS yet that can come close to my Triumph explorer on the road, on the dirt is a different story. I would think that the Ully would hold its own on the hard pack against a GS but that's just a hunch since I've never gone up against one in the dirt. Front wheel on the ully is too small for the soft stuff.

 

[Chopperbob]

My 1150GS took naps like that too after careening off baby heads in Death Valley. It was quite the workout to lift. I'd imagine your XT will hold it's own on the curvy CO roads against those Euro ADV bikes. Enjoy your new ride!