A Frenchy on a XB12S

[njloco]

^^^^^^^^^ very nice guy, can order many parts from him ! ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^.


Some torque amounts listed are wrong ! For oil change and primary oil change just snug them down good.

DON'T BLIP THE THROTTLE, especially when cold, though it's a Harley engine, it's kind of not a Harley engine.

Definitely check all your grounds, including the battery terminals, no matter what they look like, take them off, clean them well, then use a anti corrosive on it, like roller chain spray.

Try and spend time perusing the forum, you'll find pretty much everything you want to know about your machine.

Welcome and good luck.

 

[sinikl]

With regard to the sidestand.... I have a thread on my work on my issue. By the time I realized there was a problem, one bolt had broken off and the other was visibly loose. I suspect the one that broke had loosened over time til it finally snapped.

The previous owner told me you have to "let it take a set" on the stand so I trusted that 'advice' (in his defense it was his son's bike, he was selling because his son was in the air force in Japan). When the stand finally broke it was on a group ride and i almost dropped it in the parking lot waiting for it to finally "take a set" and realized the stand was just flopping around uselessly.

I honestly don't know if you can tighten the bolts in place without removing the stock exhaust, but i know you can't remove the bolts fully without removing the stock exhaust (minor pain).... you have a Jardine, so I don't know what you'll find but i think the Jardine is smaller... so maybe bolt access is better?

Start with removing the chin fairing (8, i think? t27 bolts.... mine is still missing some, and has had some normal hex-head socket bolts swapped in place with washers) and inspect with the bike supported with some alternate method.... you can use the stock exhaust as a jack point but I think you'd crush the jardine if you tried.

To do my stand repair I leaned the bike against a 4x4 wood beam I had lying around, leaning the beam up against a wall and *chocking the back wheel* (you don't want it to roll and then fall off the beam!). With the beam against the frame-saver bumpers on the frame spars, I was able to get it stable enough and leant over enough to find room to work, one side at a time.

If you take the airbox apart including the base (super easy, 4 T27 to remove the cover, 4 T27 to remove the base) you may as well re-route the breather hoses from the PCVs on each rocker cover to a road draft tube (or a breather filter, or a catch can, read threads on this). Mine was routed to a breather filter that belched out a bunch of oil/water milk on the swingarm on the first ride where i properly revved it out and rode it long enough to get the condensate out of the crankcase, causing me to flip out and then be reassured by the very great experts here (Cooter, lunaticfringe, silverrider, njloco and others i'm forgetting, cheers).

My bike backfired into the airbox when the plugs were fouled and almost dead; it has not done, since.

Maybe the fuel smell you allude to is the just generally uncatalyzed exhaust? Mine puts out quite a bit of "sweet" burned-gasoline (not raw unburnt gas) smell esp when warming up (i'm inferring that the warmup map is pretty fat on fuel which is why blipping it is a great way to foul plugs? ). It smells less '60's muscle car' after the motor is warm.

hope all this helps and do check that stand, I was thinking i'd have to take mine to a shop to get the broken bolt out. also leaning your bike up against a dumpster because the stand broke is hella embarrassing.... "where's your Buell? the stand broke?! where'd you put it? over by the dumpster.... ha ha *where it belongs, trash bike ha ha :upset:

 

[Cooter]

Thats all good info Siniki:up:

Put one of these on your tool list Frenchie:
https://t-rex-racing.com/catalog.php?category=45

If your Buell doesn't have a stock exhaust can you can jack up... You can still hang the rear seat section under an A-frame ladder or rafters using tie downs to the pillion peg mounts.

Grab the side stand and see where the looseness is. The pivot pin will have some play, but check closely to see if the engine mount is loose (Like Siniki's), or the kickstand has spread open (re-tighten slightly with a vice), or maybe the pin is broken:upset::

https://www.buellxb.com/forum/showthread.php?21977-11-sidestand-upgrade

 

[njloco]

Hey Cooter, I notice they make models for the rear, does anyone make one, that would work on the front and the rear ?

 

[Cooter]

You don't want to lift up the front without the rear supported unless you like fixing dents in Buell frames:down:

Most rear stands will work with spools, and have pads for the bottom of the swingarm. Very handy for different bikes. Stands are cheap enough and one of those tools you don't know how you did without it, and keep it forever.

My recommendation for a front stand is to get the one that fits in the lower triple, not to one that cradles the bottom of the fork legs. It makes wheel removal, caliper removal on a Buell, and fork removal possible too!

Get a nice one because you'll have it forever, the bottom barrel cheap ones are wobbly and not worth the risk. Make sure its wide enough for the rear of the Buell, but IMO no need for over the top whiz-bang chromoly stuff.

This is a Chinese e-bay one, but it's really sturdy and the big wheels let me move it around with the bike on it. Maybe $60?
Z3Vt7j1GQ4GOjFZBaIhD1g by Cooter!, on Flickr

These are both a little nicer (thicker tubing). I had to stretch the rear with a porta-power a little. This is the type of front stand I'm describing.
Untitled by Cooter!, on Flickr

 

[herwawan]

@lunaticfringe: thank you for the good information, and again for the two O-rings! Really much appreciated. I'll update you guys once I've checked all grounds as also suggested by njloco, and the fuel openings if anything. To bring a precision to the smell sinikl, it's definitely what you describe: a 60's muscle car smell. Very good idea to check the breather hose, I'll get on it eventually.

Also, I've ordered a used fan with the good part # (same year as mine, was on a XB12R). I am just unsure how I'll be able to remove the rear suspension. In the Service Book, they lift the bike with a scissor jack but as Cooter mentioned, with my Jardine exhaust, I just cannot do it.

@Cooter, I already have a back stand, plus the bike has the bolts on both on the front and the rear! The Buell already is sitting on it - I don't trust the side stand so much, even less with sinikl's story. Thanks for the good link btw and all the feedback guys, it is now officially on my todo list.

So yeah, to come back to the cooling priority, I am a bit unsure about the removal of the rear shock to change the fan. If I let the bike on the back stand, which put pressure on the swingarm which connected to the shock, it isn't going to work. I found some interesting wooden DIY setup, but I definitely don't have the hardware to throw myself in this kind of build. Same for the A-Frame, space is missing for that.

Maybe I can hit the door of a bike shop around that has an A-Frame or equivalent, and nice enough to let me use it for couple hours so I can proceed. I use to do that a lot in Paris with my old cars, space is missing so much in this city you have to go with every options you have! But I also know this is a different culture here so you tell me if that sounds ludicrous for you haha

EDIT: Well, just found the Bartel's contact in Marina Del Ray on the forum (Jesus there's just too much information here it's amazing) and the famous Mitsu Hoshino is still working there. Only drawback: you have to leave the bike for few WEEKS and he'll do it when he has time! I don't really mind giving such an expert my bike, but I'd rather give him something bigger than removing a shock to change a fan! Maybe an option if somethings goes sideway with my DIY skills in the future.

 

[Cooter]

Mitsu is a great guy, but the job is so simple it would be a shame not to do it yourself. FYI, I'd recommend a new fan, not a used one.

Yes you need to hang the rear swing arm and pull the rear shock out (2 bolts and the resevoir). You should be able to find a car port, ladder, swingset, tree...

While you are in there, use the 7/8" crowfoot on a 6" wobbly extension and ratchet to replace the O2 sensor in the rear header. You will be staring at it, so might-as-well... They are cheap, and don't forget the anti-seize on the new threads!

 

[Joe7Bros]

Bought these whenI had my 1125CR; wide enough for the back tire: Venom Motorcycle Front+Rear Headlift Dual Lift Stand For Buell 1125

 

[herwawan]

Alright gents, here are some big updates on the bike! Thanks to all the precious advice (and parts!) from you guys, the XB is now doing pretty amazingly well. It literally is day and night between the moment I bought it and the ride of today. It went through the 25,000 miles service and got a new Deka battery.

Few things were really urgent, but I couldn't do them myself. I decided to drop the bike at Bartel's for mounting the fan I bought (and a new O2 sensor) as well as a new left fork seal as the bike wouldn't lean anymore (turns out the PO left it leak for over a year). Unsurprisingly, it was almost empty and unfortunately the tube (if it is how you call it in English) is a bit marked - I need to keep an eye on it, there's good chance it will leak again at some point.

And the good thing about them having the bike is that they noticed the front engine mount was dead - so they replaced it. Most of the initial issues are now gone - I still have some rare cuts passing 4k rpm and few afterfire, but this shouldn't be too hard to fix.

I'll also try to update the ECM in the next weeks to adapt to the K&N filter and Jardine exhaust and see if with a little more fuel, this go away.



Such a cool bike to ride. I'm totally addicted. Thank you very much for all the help I got here