New Buell owner and ecstatic!

[St1tch]

What's up guys and gals! I been lurking a while and got a feel of the community before registering and I say it looks like a great membership. I must say it's a great feeling to own a Buell. I came from Japanese sport bikes, and my old Suzuki TL made me fall helplessly in love with the v-twin configuration. Anywho, I own an 03 xb9s with a lot of great mods. Pics to follow in a couple hours. I look forward to being a member here, and mods show me where to donate!

Cheers,
St1tch

 

[thrstrmech]

welcome to the forum...let know if you need part numbers for the S or SL, have both part catalogs

 

[St1tch]

Ok thanks. I do believe it's a SL due to the yellow rear spring?

 

[St1tch]

Finally got a chance for a pic. She has the following:

Carbon:
Air box cover
Lower
L and R scoop
Flyscreen

Crossroads bars
Buell race kit
Braided lines

I absolutely like it except I plan to make it like a city cross. I would like to get rid of the handlebars and possibly the airbox cover. I like a touch of color... Would anyone swap some bits? I will buy the components if I have to, but swapping is easier...

 

[St1tch]

 

[06XB12SS_LOVER]

[up] very nice looking bike!

 

[djs2k2]

[up]

 

[axlakow]

I would gladly take the crossroads bars off your hands, and trade you my setup(protaper carmichael bars), something tells me you are not local to New Hampshire though

 

[go cytocis]

my old Suzuki TL

That was a great motor in those bikes. Contrary to legends, I don't actually think the handling was as bad as folks like to claim either, at least at street-legal speeds.

Welcome; glad to see that this isn't your first rodeo!

 

[08herobolt]

I was in the same boat my friend. V-Twins are a different breed. Great fun. The bike looks great. [up]

 

[St1tch]

Thanks guys, and I agree- the TL was not that bad of a handler. If you took the time to sort the suspension, (which many didn't) it was a pretty capable unit. For what it lacked in handling, the motor made you forget the minor details. It's rake was quite aggressive, like Buell territory tight, and made it fall in quick to corners. Needless to say, if you had commitment issues the TL wasn't the bike for you haha. If you were gonna run the corner it was all or none.

 

[St1tch]

This is my old 02. She was very well modded with some good parts. The thing put the power to the ground like no other.

M4 FULL exhaust (made to order- only company beside d&d that makes full system for them.)
Modded airbox
K&N
TRE
Plenty of aesthetic bits
Black Busa wheels

 

[go cytocis]

It's rake was quite aggressive, like Buell territory tight

I believe the TL, even with its aggressive rake, was still a degree or two shy of the XB which, at 21 deg, is still about as steep as production motorcycles ever got. Even the new EBRs have backed-off the rake.

Ever seen BMW's experiments with zero deg rake!?

 

[St1tch]

Oh yeah for sure. It was close but still not as tight. The big thing I learned on the TL was timing your throttle delivery. When the power hit it's hardest it made it run super wide and skittish when exiting, as much as I wanted to blame the wonky rotary damper, it was just a different type of learning curve. The TL was just an over engineered bike IMHO, the damper was a great idea if you knew how to set it up and if it's valving was better. It had a ton of fine tuning available but sadly it just needed more r&d. That bike was in top 10 finishes in it's first year and beat the living tar out of the Italian counterparts. Sadly suzuki didn't wanna replace the GSXR top spot of their flagship. So then they gave us the SV >_<

Those BMW bikes were wild. IIRC excelsior made one with an almost 0 rake. Unreal. That was when you had to be half insane to ride a bike.

 

[08herobolt]

That was far and away my favorite TL. I love the colors and the sheer size of that beast.

 

[go cytocis]

the damper was a great idea if you knew how to set it up and if it's valving was better. It had a ton of fine tuning available

The ironic thing about the repli-racer market is that buyers will consider their purchasing decision on whichever bike offers the most suspension adjustment, & then never bother touching any of it!

 

[konarider94]

Ok thanks. I do believe it's a SL due to the yellow rear spring?

You are correct on the rear spring. You can also tell looking at the forks. The bottom of your upper fork tube is even with the top fender bolt. On the s and r models it sits an inch or so higher than the top fender bolt.

Also braided lines are stock on these bikes.

 

[Alien]

Yo st1tch, were you a member on TLplanet? I had a TL a few years ago & your screen name sounds familiar. I did love my Tlr but I love my Buell more! Whether that's you or not, welcome to the club!

 

[Alien]

 

[St1tch]

Yep! I sure was! I miss the unit for sure, but I dont miss the valve adjustments and replacement of chains and sprockets lol. I love the simplicity of the buell, and the riding posture is great! It goes fast enough for my taste, and I love the endless possibilities to make it unique. The warm welcome is appreciated here gents. I am currently browsing through all these delicious pics of bikes. I'm tryin to talk my sugar pie into posing on it for the sexy wives thread. ^_^