I have always thought the Buell's were very cool bikes, but I could never justify purchasing one...I have always been a big dirt rider and did not want to spend money on a street bike at the expense of my dirt hobby. Well, I came across a 2005 XB12R with 2600 miles on it for 4500. Too good to be true? Almost. It is a clean bike, never dropped and no mechanical issues, runs like a champ. I went to look at the bike and decided to ride it the 160 miles in the rain to my in-laws as I was on vacation without my truck. The original owner removed the muffler because he liked the way it sounded. He lost all the mounting hardware, but still had the muffler. He also painted the entire bike camo....definately not my thing. I fabbed up some temporary muffler mounts and ordered the mounting parts I need. PO also removed and lost all the active exhaust stuff. So I wired the muffler open and rode it 500 miles home, also ordered the cable and software from Ebay to turn off the light. The bike is just awesome, but I need to paint it in the worst way. It is a shame that he painted the frame and covered up the beautiful dark color. Does anyone know what that coating is? I would love to chemically strip the frame and try to save the original color, but I think I may be out of luck. I am planning to cut the muffler open and gut it, then ad my own baffles, does anyone know if that makes it outrageously loud? My biggest issue is the paint, any good tips on removing the paint from the frame and plastic? I am busting out the sand paper tonight!