I've always wanted one!!!
- Thread starter Mantoe
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Gloomshadow
Well-known member
He is saying that the only thing you can do to it if you already have the race ecm is check if you have a K&N air filter and the race exhaust.. once you have that there isn't much you can do to make it any better without changing engine internals.
as for increased comfort, the seat is already pretty good as long as you don't weigh much and I found that softer hand grips can help a little bit. I wouldn't bother raising the bars.. the layout is already real good for the "R" mission statement. You can already ride it all day long without much problem.
as for increased comfort, the seat is already pretty good as long as you don't weigh much and I found that softer hand grips can help a little bit. I wouldn't bother raising the bars.. the layout is already real good for the "R" mission statement. You can already ride it all day long without much problem.
user_deleted
Well-known member
very nice find mantoe and great looking firebolt. you have several "comfort" options if you find the stock tubes are wrist-breakers, as did on my firebolt. build your own risers and purchase 4 inch longer front brake hose.....american sporbike has riser kit that is nice for the price...and the ultimate is the LSL spiegler kit as listed below. it is very popular with board members. some have even purchased their own bars, lightning top triple clamp...and did the conversion themselves but with the lightning clamps you lose the ignition switch housing location.
http://stores.sportbiketrackgear.com/Detail.bok?no=17631
http://stores.sportbiketrackgear.com/Detail.bok?no=17631
You sir, are smelling exactly what I'm stepping in! Do you have any pictures of your setup?
They are, but the ergo's are horrible for the street. I live in houston. I have to drive a pretty good distance to find some decent twisties, and the rc would make you pay for it every time. haha
user_deleted
Well-known member
i'll post some in next day or 2 when i get time. if you want to make your own handlebar choice you can do the lightning top triple clamp conversion....it is a direct bolt on as long as you buy one suitable for your 43mm fork tubes...choose your own bars, and fabricate an alternate ign. switch housing along with buying longer front brake hose. keep in mind that approx. a 2 inch bar rise and 2.5 inch pullback is the limitations of your stock cables. OR you can fabricate your own riser if you have access to aluminum chunks, tig welder, and some patience.
hi............I kind feel reminded when I got mine in 2005 which looked excately the same when it came out of the box.
There is a German company by the name of LSL
www.lsl-motorradtechnik.de/
They make a very nice superbike conversion kit for the R and this is comparetively cheep. The parts are well made, the brake line is included. Its an easy solution that I had on my bike from day one. I now have a BKG tripple tree and that is also quite nice. In case you are interested to change the front end in a more radical way........I can put you in touch with a guy who makes custom made tripple trees for me. We have solutions to bold the front end of the Duc 1098 or the Aprillia RSV4 factory on the XB Buell. Its pricy but it totally transforms the bike. Double Brembos add real stopping power.
Also in my opinion........without decent equipment ist is actually not straight forward to make risers. And I would not go near this with a welder.
Ayrton Senna died because they fiddled with his steering collum.......ok that was a F1 car..........but the stress on the handlebar of a bike is not to be underestimated.
In case you want to see pics...........check the 1430 and 1208 sections on my site..............some of the oder older stuff is in English..........the 1430 bike has evolved significantly since 2005
Have fun with your bike.
Chris
homepage..........www.xbtiger.de
There is a German company by the name of LSL
www.lsl-motorradtechnik.de/
They make a very nice superbike conversion kit for the R and this is comparetively cheep. The parts are well made, the brake line is included. Its an easy solution that I had on my bike from day one. I now have a BKG tripple tree and that is also quite nice. In case you are interested to change the front end in a more radical way........I can put you in touch with a guy who makes custom made tripple trees for me. We have solutions to bold the front end of the Duc 1098 or the Aprillia RSV4 factory on the XB Buell. Its pricy but it totally transforms the bike. Double Brembos add real stopping power.
Also in my opinion........without decent equipment ist is actually not straight forward to make risers. And I would not go near this with a welder.
Ayrton Senna died because they fiddled with his steering collum.......ok that was a F1 car..........but the stress on the handlebar of a bike is not to be underestimated.
In case you want to see pics...........check the 1430 and 1208 sections on my site..............some of the oder older stuff is in English..........the 1430 bike has evolved significantly since 2005
Have fun with your bike.
Chris
homepage..........www.xbtiger.de
SilveradoTX
Well-known member
- Joined
- Apr 19, 2011
- Messages
- 569
Welcome aboard, and great looking Firebolt! [up]
kelley386racer
Active member
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2012
- Messages
- 32
I feel like I'm looking in the mirror that is exactly what my 2000 RC 51 look like when I bought it. 20,000 miles later I traded it in on an 05 XB 12 s lightning same colors. I chose the lightning because I knew it was time to sit a little more upright. Welcome brother and good luck with the conversion.
Thanks! As much as I hate to admit, I'm getting old. :crying: The Rc51 is just getting too hard to commute on.
The first ride back from the sellers house,when I bought the buell, I thought to myself, this is going to a fun little bike. After about 1k miles I still feel the same way.
Now I need to get the suspension sorted. When I had her leaned over pretty hard yesterday I felt like I lost the front. I think I don't have enough rebound.
What do you guys think?
Infernorodz
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- Jun 20, 2012
- Messages
- 93
Congrats!!! Nice Bolt...I love my 05... One thing I did recently was a breather reroute I have race ECM, K/N,drummer exh.. It made it so much smoother I wish I had done it 6-7 years ago...
Otherwise have fun and enjoy modding the hell out it, this site is full of all sorts of incredible info...
Otherwise have fun and enjoy modding the hell out it, this site is full of all sorts of incredible info...
Thanks!
I've been reading up on the breather mod and it seems fairly straight forward. Did you put a catch bottle on yours or just the filter? Which one is recommended?
Sorry for all the questions. I'll get up to speed pretty quick I hope.
christianmb
Well-known member
- Joined
- Aug 17, 2009
- Messages
- 786
Welcome, Mantoe!
As far as the front end getting "light" in the corner, it depends how much throttle you were giving it
. If you have the manual, you can set the suspension per the manual. That is a good starting point, then tweak it from there. I have had my front end get light in a corner, but I was giving it a handful of throttle, and found out it wasn't even on the ground!
As far as the front end getting "light" in the corner, it depends how much throttle you were giving it
. If you have the manual, you can set the suspension per the manual. That is a good starting point, then tweak it from there. I have had my front end get light in a corner, but I was giving it a handful of throttle, and found out it wasn't even on the ground!I may just take it to someone and get it set up right. When I bought the bike it was set up for a 140 lb rider (Im 6'1" 215lb).
I set it up for my weight and the front feels more squirly than it did with the original setup. I think the preload is right just need to get the rest setup correctly..
I set it up for my weight and the front feels more squirly than it did with the original setup. I think the preload is right just need to get the rest setup correctly..
hi mantoe..............the problem with the lack of feedback of the front in comparision to the RC51 can be explained with the fairly cheap components of the stock Showa fork..........you are used to something much more refined then the XB got to offer..........twideling with the stockvalves will not resolve the issue you have.......its a confidence issue that depends on precise feedback.......(you wrote that you are able to ride of the chicken stripes [cool].........now we are talking.........no disrespect, but 80% of XB riders I see have an inch on either side on the rear..........not to mention the front tire)
I had mine taken apart and refined by Zupin Racing. I would look for a fork specialist in the US that puts in some decend valves, shimms and springs adjusted to your weight (dont use progressive springs) and internally polished (cost is arround 400 USD). In case you get the opportunity get it coated with titanium nitride to reduce the friction (optimised the "breaking loose moment") (another 400 USD). The feedback of the fork improves dramatically and your confidence in the front will grow big time. The modification gets rid of the "wooden feebback sensation" of the stock parts.........in my humble opinion.....
I had a big confidence problem with left hand corners.....did the modification......now my knee sliders have symetrical wear
No matter what other people tell you............the tire that overall works best of the XB is the Michelin Pilot power.
Chris
I had mine taken apart and refined by Zupin Racing. I would look for a fork specialist in the US that puts in some decend valves, shimms and springs adjusted to your weight (dont use progressive springs) and internally polished (cost is arround 400 USD). In case you get the opportunity get it coated with titanium nitride to reduce the friction (optimised the "breaking loose moment") (another 400 USD). The feedback of the fork improves dramatically and your confidence in the front will grow big time. The modification gets rid of the "wooden feebback sensation" of the stock parts.........in my humble opinion.....
I had a big confidence problem with left hand corners.....did the modification......now my knee sliders have symetrical wear
No matter what other people tell you............the tire that overall works best of the XB is the Michelin Pilot power.
Chris
oops..............I found another issue that I wanted to comment.
Please do not touch the breathers. The catch can is a US fascination. The XB does not need this at all. It makes mo difference in perfomance what so ever. I have 3 modified bikes and loads of friends with some of the finest Buells that roam German and Swiss roads. None of us uses a catch can!
Another myth is the FAST Air intake system, modificatins like this are totall nonsense and mess up the tidy top end of the Buell.
I had one and I have learned from my own dyno tests and 8 years experience with Buell bikes that is acutually much more usefull to put an XB 9 Airbox cover on the XB 12 with some holes in it...............the reason is that the occilating airwave over the air intake is not abruptly stopped by the flat cover of the XB12 airbox cover (had to be made that way by Buell because of the exhaust valve motor)..............this modification give you measurable 1 BHP at the rear wheel.........K&N Filter and the holes dont really increase power of the engine but it feel a little bit more responsive. Small airfilters are also counter productive.......stock airbox with holes and the higher dome over the intake stack that makes a difference
In case you want to improve the mapping than you can use ECMspy with a PC to adjust the maps............and an Android phone with the ECM droid software to do datalogging via a blue tooth link (the blue tooth adpater for the Buell can be bought via ebay of I send you a contact link)..........whilst doing calibration runs on normal roads.............no need for a dyno............do some reading on this issue and you can improve the perfomance of the bike by yourself at very little cost..........Fine tuning is also much helped by 2 additional lambda ports..............when combined with data logging your efforts to have a smooth running Buell are very much helped but it also works as suggested above.
Please excuse..............some of the stuff i write here sounds pretty opinionated and wise cracking...............but I have been there, done and bough the T-shirt...........
Chris
Please do not touch the breathers. The catch can is a US fascination. The XB does not need this at all. It makes mo difference in perfomance what so ever. I have 3 modified bikes and loads of friends with some of the finest Buells that roam German and Swiss roads. None of us uses a catch can!
Another myth is the FAST Air intake system, modificatins like this are totall nonsense and mess up the tidy top end of the Buell.
I had one and I have learned from my own dyno tests and 8 years experience with Buell bikes that is acutually much more usefull to put an XB 9 Airbox cover on the XB 12 with some holes in it...............the reason is that the occilating airwave over the air intake is not abruptly stopped by the flat cover of the XB12 airbox cover (had to be made that way by Buell because of the exhaust valve motor)..............this modification give you measurable 1 BHP at the rear wheel.........K&N Filter and the holes dont really increase power of the engine but it feel a little bit more responsive. Small airfilters are also counter productive.......stock airbox with holes and the higher dome over the intake stack that makes a difference
In case you want to improve the mapping than you can use ECMspy with a PC to adjust the maps............and an Android phone with the ECM droid software to do datalogging via a blue tooth link (the blue tooth adpater for the Buell can be bought via ebay of I send you a contact link)..........whilst doing calibration runs on normal roads.............no need for a dyno............do some reading on this issue and you can improve the perfomance of the bike by yourself at very little cost..........Fine tuning is also much helped by 2 additional lambda ports..............when combined with data logging your efforts to have a smooth running Buell are very much helped but it also works as suggested above.
Please excuse..............some of the stuff i write here sounds pretty opinionated and wise cracking...............but I have been there, done and bough the T-shirt...........
Chris
buellbradski
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- Joined
- Mar 29, 2011
- Messages
- 1,138
The point of the breather reroute is to clean up the air box. I did it and I agree I noticed no performance gain. On humid days I was finding oil pooling in the airbox and couldn't keep the filter clean. Now this may depend on where you live , I found it to be much worse in humid weather.
As far as ECM tuning I don't think your ECM can be reflashed without sending it to ebr . The race ECM is plug n play. I doubt it needs to be tuned at all. If you want to be able to do custom maps you need a stock ECM and a spy cable .
As far as ECM tuning I don't think your ECM can be reflashed without sending it to ebr . The race ECM is plug n play. I doubt it needs to be tuned at all. If you want to be able to do custom maps you need a stock ECM and a spy cable .
