How much seat-of-your-pants power?

[IamSpartacus]

Hey guys, I'm new to both the Buell bikes and this forum and have a quick question. I've been riding for about a year and spent that year on an '89 Suzuki GS500E making about 45HP and putting out around 30 ft-lbs of torque. So I was a little nervous about moving over to a '98 Buell Cyclone with almost twice the horsepower and nearly 3x the torque. I thought I'd have to be pretty timid on the throttle compared to my old bike.

However it turns out that I can romp on the throttle and the bike is very tame. I thought I'd have to hold on for dear life and focus on keeping the front wheel on the pavement, but even in 1st gear and wide open throttle I don't feel I'm in any danger of doing a power wheelie. So my question is pretty simple really- is this normal? Did I grossly overestimate how 85HP and 80 ft-lbs of torque performs or is my bike not running at 100%?

Either answer is fine- if the former then I don't need to spend time and money on repairs and if the latter I get to look forward to more bang out of my bike.

Thanks for sharing your experience and wisdom!

 

[go cytocis]

My wife used to have an EX 500 so I'm familiar with those fun little parallel twin Japanese bikes. I'd suggest that there's 2 main factors at play in what you're observing:

1) your GS would have been a bit lighter (let's say ~50lbs for the sake of argument(?)) so in terms of power/weight, the gap between the two closes up considerably.

2) the powerband on your GS would have been much 'peakier' than your Buell. Check out the torque curve on a Buell; it's pancake flat! This means you never get that building rush of power as revs build, like you would have on your GS.

These two factors are likely what's causing you to perceive your Buell as less powerful than you expected.

Having said that, it's always possible that your Buell's not tuned up, or that it's just tired...

 

[IamSpartacus]

So you're saying a Buell is in no danger of lifting the front wheel... Well, that's both reassuring and slightly disappointing, lol. I figured even with a flat torque curve, 80 ft-lbs would be a handful no matter when it is applied.

 

[go cytocis]

Power wheelie? Probably not. My XB12 won't (granted, it's a longer wheel-base Ss model).

You should still be able to clutch wheelie without too much trouble however.

 

[heagachongoose]

Really??? Not trying to be a doucheweed but My xb9r would bring the front up a few feet if I'd romp it in first? Never rode a tuber before though so I can't comment on that. Although I would imagine it not having much trouble pulling up. Or at least eliciting exhilarating experiences. But then again from what I can tell weight distribution and stance seem to differ I can't imagine engine behavior being too much different though. I'd recommend a diagnostic run, not sure if tubers are compatible with ECM spy, I would at least run a compression test. It sounds to me like either something has gone janky or you're just not stroking the cat in the right direction... The power band of the Buell is a bit different than an aged parallel 500. But then again I literally know nothing about tube frame buell's except that I think they are gorgeous and I want one.

 

[go cytocis]

Really??? Not trying to be a doucheweed but My xb9r would bring the front up a few feet if I'd romp it in first

OK, well here's another factor: what altitude are we all at? I'm up at ~1000m (3300 ft) which costs me probably at least ~5hp compared to someone at sea-level.

 

[GregoXB]

Sounds like your bike is cheating you. Put it on a dyno and see if its honest.

 

[wifarmboy]

Cytosis I have a ss got it out last night for the first time and at like 5mph crack it and if I don't let off the bike will be riding me. D&d exhaust is all I got Idk. Also when I take off hard the front tire is barley I mean barley touching first and second and that's with 250lb leaning forward

 

[go cytocis]

Cytosis I have a ss got it out last night for the first time and at like 5mph crack it and if I don't let off the bike will be riding me....Also when I take off hard the front tire is barley I mean barley touching first and second...

If I interpret your screen name wifarmboy, your'e in Wisconsin (I'd love to visit there some time), correct? If so, you're practically at sea level compared to me, which is what I was suggesting above as a significant factor in power output.

I'll definitely agree with you that it's possible to get the front wheel off the ground with a hard launch, or with WOT in 1st, but I guess by 'power wheelie', I was meaning being able to get up to the balance point at just about any speed, in just about any gear, with throttle alone.

Regardless, I still think the OP is in little danger of flipping an Cyclone with some enthusiastic throttle use.

 

[IamSpartacus]

Hmmm... Interesting. The tubers run carbs, so no fancy ECM diagnostics. I was planning on doing a compression check anyway, so maybe that will clear things up a bit. Good to hear the XB12's can get some lift, but they are putting out about 15HP more than my Cyclone.

But yes, the tube framed Buells are pretty- particularly the '97-98 M2 and the S1. Very happy I was able to snag a 1st gen M2 even if they are slightly less powerful than the later Buell models. Picked it up for $2200 and sold my GS500 for $2000. Talk about bang-for-your-buck. [up]

 

[go cytocis]

Very happy I was able to snag a 1st gen M2 even if they are slightly less powerful than the later Buell models.

Hey, if you own a Buell, it's probably because you already understand that there's a lot more to riding than outright horsepower. I came to Buells from I-4 litre bikes after a particularly nasty speeding violation that landed me in court. I was looking for something I could use all of the throttle on, without losing my licence; my XB suits that purpose perfectly!

 

[Alien]

My Uly will power wheelie if I crack the throttle and lean back a bit.

 

[GregoXB]

I like how the poster narrowed it down to either the bike isn't powerful enough or the bike is broken. Don't get offended but; how competent of a rider are you?

 

[IamSpartacus]

I like how the poster narrowed it down to either the bike isn't powerful enough or the bike is broken. Don't get offended but; how competent of a rider are you?

As I said, I have been riding for a year (daily commuting, year round riding season). It is my understanding that it requires zero competence to hop on a bike with more power than you can handle and end up in dire straights. Since I have come nowhere close to dire straights on this bike, I deduced that it is either not too much bike for me to handle or it is and my engine needs a tune up. I thought that was pretty sound reasoning.

 

[go cytocis]

My Uly will power wheelie if I crack the throttle and lean back a bit.

Yup, a Uly with its extra 3" seat height hanging out over the rear wheel will do that!

 

[TorkLow]

Pick up a V-Max. That'll put some power in the-seat-of-your-pants.

 

[BuellyBagger]

On my 02 cyclone I had to blip the throttle and then hit again to power wheelie, ya know kinda bounce it once and then it would stand right up. And yeah my ULY, its nearly impossible to keep it down in first(under hard accel of course) or if you have a passenger 2nd 3rd and 4th

 

[lawdog]

Well XB9 gearing, intake, exhaust, and tuning made my 09 XB12R from lame to rocking. It really made a huge difference. I don't know how stock your bike is but there are some noticeable gains to be had if done right. I enjoy the lower gearing of the XB9 and the increased power of the engine. I could bring the front wheel off the ground in the first three gears. (Not full on wheelie but skimming above the pavement during hard acceleration). I don't like to wheelie.

 

[IamSpartacus]

This is a '98 Cyclone (no Thunderstorm heads, no EFI) with a K&N intake and Vance & Hines exhaust. I'm not wanting to do wheelies, I'm just trying to get a feel from other Buell owners how their bikes perform for comparison. Hopefully this week I can get the compression checked and go from there. The previous owner added the intake and exhaust but didn't rejet, so it ran super lean and hot. I'm just wondering if that is indicative of other performance issues that need to be addressed on this bike. It also has roughly 20k miles on it, so I'm wondering if the valves need adjusted and therefore might be leaking some of my compression... Or maybe even all the heat buildup from running so lean may have fried a ring. It had a fried lower rocker box gasket when I bought it, so I'm just nervous that there are other issues lurking beneath the surface.

 

[go cytocis]

I'm wondering if the valves need adjusted and therefore might be leaking

It's a pushrod motor with hydraulic lifters; no adjustment required. If you had poor compression, you'd also have hard cold starting problems.