50K Shout Out

[mriulvr]

So, yesterday I turned 50k miles on my 04 XB12S. I had to take a moment to send a shout out to all the members who helped me learn about her after I got her, maintenance tips, troubleshooting, tuning, suggestions, wisdom and some pretty good laughs along the way. I was going to list particular members but was sure I would leave people out who deserved kudos. So instead, thanks to everyone.

Other than a couple little quirks that I am still trying to figure out, like that darn tach bouncing around that I am still troubleshooting, she continues to be solid and still brings a smile to my face. I rarely ever see another Buell but did run across someone who followed me home this summer because he knew it was a Buell, had a Buell, and wanted to talk about Buells.

Take care of them and they will take care of you. Looking forward to the next bunch of miles and years riding (and maybe adding a Uly once my youngest finishes college, IF I can remain patient!)

 

[emlupi]

Happy 50K, good luck and many more happy miles!

 

[rjames75]

Congratulations! I hit 50K on my Ulysses last week. Good luck.

 

[njloco]

50K,, good to hear, best of luck on the next 50 K.

 

[Cooter]

Congrats! That's a great milestone. The next 50K will be even more fun:applause:

 

[mriulvr]

Doing 50k Maintenance this weekend. Have a new belt and steering head bearings on order and will replace next weekend. Replacing axle bearings, oil, replace and bleed brake fluid, etc. The guy in my neighborhood who has a Buell stopped by while doing maintenance. He has a blue 2009 XB9SX with about 4k miles and is thinking of selling. Hmm. Maybe.

Cooter, with your, and other's ongoing help and wisdom, hoping to get at least another 50k. Someday in the distant future after kids are all out of the house and have the $$ I want to do a complete teardown and restore. Can't imagine ever getting rid of her. She is a lot like me, has some flaws, not perfect, plenty of character, and keeps plugging away.

Out of curiosity, since we love our Buells, if not a Buell, what would you get, or have, that you enjoy as much as your Buell?

 

[rb70383]

Out of curiosity, since we love our Buells, if not a Buell, what would you get, or have, that you enjoy as much as your Buell?

EBR

Congrats on the miles!!

Actually the bike I was going to get before the EBR was a Zero Motorcycles
Dam The blackforest is new. I like that one.

 

[Cooter]

Ya what he said. EBR

I have been having that same 50K thought about the STT. The conclusion I came to was a Hammer 1275 kit, and a 6-speed conversion:love_heart: Theres really no part on these simple machines that can't be made, modded, or changed to your liking.

"has some flaws, not perfect, plenty of character, and keeps plugging away." Yup, exactly like me too brother.

Hell, whats better than a bike you built for yourself?

 

[Cooter]

And double yes RB. That new Zero is pretty sweet looking with great specs! If I needed a commuter I'd sure be swayed that way

 

[34nineteen]

Don't you also have an MV Agusta?

 

[34nineteen]

"has some flaws, not perfect, plenty of character, and keeps plugging away." Yup, exactly like me too brother.

Thats what she said...

 

[mriulvr]

Thats what she said...

More times than I want to hear!

 

[Mesozoic]

I'm almost at 50,000 miles on my 2008 XB12Ss. It is the only vehicle I've ever purchased brand new from the factory... I actually ordered this one and had it built for me. It is easily the best motorcycle I've owned, among various Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, and Kawasaki bikes. I think I will rebuild and refurbish it for life - the engine has been extremely reliable, as has the transmission. With some modifications I've made mine considerably more comfortable for touring, extending its usefulness.

 

[njloco]

Hey Meso ^^^^^^^^^^^^^, how about giving some info on your bike, like maintenance schedule you followed and, what you changed on your bike to make it more comfortable for you while touring ? I'm sure the newbies as well as some oldies would be interested, maybe some pictures ?

 

[Mesozoic]

Hey Meso ^^^^^^^^^^^^^, how about giving some info on your bike, like maintenance schedule you followed and, what you changed on your bike to make it more comfortable for you while touring ? I'm sure the newbies as well as some oldies would be interested, maybe some pictures ?

Surely. As far as maintenance goes, I've stuck to the factory indicated service intervals. I didn't switch to synthetic oils until I racked up about 5000 miles.

I dumped the factory oil at 344 miles and used some Shell Rotella 15W-40 diesel oil (was living in cold Canada at the time). At about 1300 miles the bike had it's mandatory factory service to preserve the warranty, which includes their own oil change. Since the synthetic switch, I generally run either Redline V-Twin 20W50 or Maxima V-Twin 20W50, whichever is cheaper. Oil change intervals went up to about 3000 miles with the nice synthetic stuff.

For the transmission, I've had great luck with Redline MTL and Amsoil 20W50. I believe I burned my stator out with Belray Sports Trans fluid, however... so I would recommend staying away from that despite the claims of it being compatible.

As far as mods go, I think the main improvements I made came from the following:

• Pazzo or CRG adjustable levers - very nice. Prefer the CRG, actually... they are engineered better.
• Michelin Pilot Road 2CT tires. Excellent rear tire wear and sporty performance from the same tire.
• Drummer SS exhaust system. Great sound, increase in power, forced me to perform custom ECM tuning.
• DDM Tuning LED lamp kit. Major increase in light output and visibility to others.
• Fine tuning of suspension settings. Required a lot of test riding, but well worth it. The stock suspension parts are high quality.
• LSL Superbike Low handlebar. A little lower than the stock bar, was right for me. Setting up the cockpit on any 2 wheeled machine, whether it's your motorcycle or your mountain bike, is a key factor in comfort.
• Installation of in-dash system voltage readout. A stator failure prompted me to do this and it has been invaluable.
• SBS brake pads. Easily the best brake pads I've used thus far. I like them better than EBC, Ferodo, and the stock Nissin parts.
• Laminar Lip. Excellent deflection of wind at high speeds.
• Custom ECM tuning. This also involved upgrading to the 2010 MY header with dual O2 sensors. I run a baro sensor and have baro compensation enabled in the ECM. The fuel maps were carefully trimmed from extensive datalogging runs and have resulted in a bike that fires up with authority at any altitude, any temperature, and runs hard. I'm certain that properly tuning the engine has extended the life of the engine. I feel that at almost 50K miles now, the engine is just breaking in!

A couple of shots prior to the Laminar Lip and the headlight guard I currently have installed.

 

[njloco]

All good info, thanks. I'll be making some changes this winter and I'll be referencing your post.

 

[mriulvr]

Meso, thanks for sharing. I have also tried to improve my XB12S for touring and commuting. I bought mine with 18k miles in 2011 for $3300. With kids in school and involved in lots of activities that we had to take them to, I didn't get to ride it as much as I wanted until kids started driving and heading off to college. Now she is my daily commuter, 25-100 miles round trip depending on the route I take, and done several trips from north central Texas to Indiana. I have done many of the same mods.

- Adjustable levers, but not as expensive as yours,
- Renthal Ultra-low handlebars. Like them but with I had gone slightly higher.
- Synthetic Oil both holes. Originally was using Mobile 1 but have since gone with Amsoil 20W50. Amsoil seems to produce smoother shifts.
- I too change oil every 3k miles. Not a big deal to do and oil gets pretty dark beyond 3k miles. Keep her happy.
- K&N air filter
- breather reroute
- Went with the Hawk muffler. Would LOVE to get Dean's can and pipes but tough sale for wife.
- Flashed the race EEPROM and tuned from that, which was pretty close in closed loop except for lower RPM and Throttle which need bumped between 3 and 12%.
- Fender eliminated and installed an XBLights integrated tail light.
- Recently upgraded my cheap front LED turn signals to Rizoma Action turn signals.
- Replaced my aging wobbly bar end mirrors with these kemimoto mirrors, which are great for the money.

- Had a voltage gauge installed due to the infamous 46 connector that caught me dead on the road several years ago. It was a cheap one and the plastic lens eventually got dull and cracked so removed it and am looking at replacement options.
- Repaired the clutch ramp about 6k miles ago
- Replaced dead fuel pump about 10k miles ago
- I have run Pirelli Angel GT tires since I bought her and been happy with mileage and handling. Saw Pirelli has gone to the Angel GT 2 and read about some issues. Will probably replace rear soon with Angel GT, fronts are still in great shape, then am going to strongly consider the Michelin Pilots.
- Going to replace the belt and rear wheel bearings when I change the rear tire. Current belt looks good so will keep as a spare.
- Just received All Balls steering head bearings in the mail this week and will be replacing them soon. Current ones are fine but no sense waiting until they aren't.
- Coretech Super 2.0 Saddlebag and Tank Bag for trips.
- Considering either sending my EMC to IDS to get Hawk tune flashed or buying a new one from them.

Have a tach bouncing and every know and then get a hiccup with a warning light that only lasts a few seconds but leaves no codes when I check. Either an electrical connection issue or possibly EMC going bad. Went through and cleaned and treated all the earth grounds and connections this summer but that didn't take care of the issue. Just reclined and treated the pink wire for the tach at the dash and EMC this weekend but haven't had her back on the road to see if that fixed the issue.

When I lived in Colorado I had a 1200 Sportster and rode with a friend who had a Buell that I fell in love with at first sight. After finishing grad school and moving to TX, bought mine as a graduation present to myself. Still love riding her, brings a smile to my face, and cannot imagine riding anything but a Buell. Would love to add a Uly once my last kid who started college this year graduates.

 

[njloco]

Has anyone heard any first hand reviews of the Bridgestone Battlax S22's ? Supposed to be a really good street tire .

 

[Mesozoic]

Has anyone heard any first hand reviews of the Bridgestone Battlax S22's ? Supposed to be a really good street tire .

Not sure about the S22s, but I have the S21s on my 1125CR and like them. The only thing I would say negatively about them is that the center strip traction compound is not as hard wearing as the Michel Pilot Road 2CT that I run on my XB, so if long distances on slab are a thing you might consider another tire. Performance wise I have no complaints, though. Can't go wrong with Bridgestone.

I did some of the mods that mriulvr has done as well, like the K&N air filter, fender eliminator, turn signal upgrade, better mirrors (CRG Lane Splitters), upgraded angular bearings in steering head, 3-bearing rear wheel upgrade, and the Coretech saddle and tailbags. Those are solid upgrades, for sure.

 

[njloco]

The you tube video reports on the S22's are that, they are a big improvement over the S21's, as an example, the center strip is much better. Don't get me wrong, I really like my Pilot road trail 4's but they say that they aren't as good as the S22's on dry pavement but, are better in the rain but not by much, the 22's are also a lot cheaper !

lf I get a set I'll let you all know what I think of them.