Race Buell Improvement Thread

[34nineteen]

Hah, that carcass again. It keeps popping up on eBay, for over a year now, but they never lower their price. The value proposition as it sits is pretty low, a Penske shock and modified swingarm are about it for interesting bits, and only useful if basing around a standard frame rather than a 'long' setup like I have. The rest of the chain drive conversion goodies are gone, no engine save for cases, I don't know if that race tail will convert to long chassis frames either? Stock wheels and first gen ZTL brake setup though it's got a Brembo radial master, problem with that master is it's likely due for a rebuild from age and Brembo won't sell you the parts to do so which means it gets tossed.

At that price you're buying it for the story and history. Now that I have a machine up and running, other than a nearly ready to roll racebike for a dirt low price I'm mainly keeping my eyes out for bits and pieces that will direct fit what I've got.

Edit: If an XBRR turns up, I will crowdfund and sell the **** out of myself to try and make that happen.

A short subframe does not just bolt up to a long bike. I made an R subframe fit my long frame, though.

 

[Outlaw]

Same here^^

 

[34nineteen]

Same here^^

How did you clear the shock? I had to bend all 4 mounts down and then dremeled the rest.

 

[motoguy]

A short subframe does not just bolt up to a long bike. I made an R subframe fit my long frame, though.

I've got a salvage 09 XB12R and a theft recovery (but functional) XB12LL. I've been kicking around the idea of moving the R aesthetics (tail, front fairing, etc) to the LL. I think that would be neat. What kind of headaches am I in for when trying to put that R tail on the long frame?

 

[34nineteen]

1. Nothing fits. On a Firebolt, the ecm, bas and fuse box fit up front.

2. The upper mountings of the Firebolt tail are too narrow.

3. The shock will hit the bottom of the subframe/pan

I made one fit but it’s going to be a track/race bike so a lot of the must haves of a street bike have gone by the wayside

 

[Outlaw]

I don't remember having a shock clearance issue. I had to weld up the old mounting points and drill and tap new ones. I then relocated the electronics to the rear. I don't have a passenger seat. I made a fixture so the cowl goes on and off like a storage trunk. Room for hat and ect .

 

[Outlaw]

It was a pretty simple install. Was my buddies bike. He broke the SS tail and bought the R tail. He lost interest and it just sat there. I'm trying to save them all so I bought it and put it back together.

 

[Kurlon]

I need to find a non-uly right hand switch, no need for all that heated grip wiring on the race setup. Key switch eliminator done.

 

[Cooter]

I can help you with that. But I thought you were doing motion pro throttle?

 

[Kurlon]

I wasn't, I wouldn't mind a shorter throw setup, I've got a G2 aluminum throttle tube that's supposed to be throw but isn't, and doesn't fit well... Motion Pro setups are NOT cheap, and at the moment I don't feel like doing a full throttle cable swap so I'm just optimizing what I've got for now.

 

[Cooter]

If your switch looks nice, I'll just trade you for the one you want. Can't beat free!:angel:

 

[Kurlon]

Mine looks ok, but hanging onto it for the inevitable conversion back to street duty. Assuming I also ever find another set of Buell heated grips?

Part 1 of 'not a fairing' finished, machinists look away:

 

[Kurlon]

Well that was nice, took my XBRR rear wheel to the track to get a Dunlop slick mounted and the guy doing the work commented that it was 'way lighter than the other Buell wheels' he deals with. I need to get a decent scale so I can compare it fully dressed to my two bearing stocker.

 

[Cooter]

I wonder how stock Buell wheels compare to other bikes of that era?

 

[Kurlon]

I wonder how stock Buell wheels compare to other bikes of that era?

Lighter than my FZR and R6 kit for sure. I kinda wish I still had them to direct compare against. What I do have in the garage still are higher end supermoto wheels, Alpina tubeless units, a couple sets from no longer a going concern Rad MFG, and a Warp 9 forged rear wheel, though that one is bare at the moment so not a great comparison.

 

[34nineteen]

That's how I mounted the cluster on my bike too. Since I am running the 1125R fairing mount, the XB cluster will not fit.

 

[34nineteen]

I wasn't, I wouldn't mind a shorter throw setup, I've got a G2 aluminum throttle tube that's supposed to be throw but isn't, and doesn't fit well... Motion Pro setups are NOT cheap, and at the moment I don't feel like doing a full throttle cable swap so I'm just optimizing what I've got for now.

2016 Kawasaki Versys RH control switch with a R6 throttle tube is what I am using. The thing to remember about the throttle on the later bikes is that the cam at the TB is an oblong shape, rather than the round ones of the earlier bikes.

It was CoOters idea. The methbuell has the same setup.

 

[Kurlon]

XBRR wheel installed, with a new Dunlop R7 180/65 on it, XBRR style cut down rotor, french billet pulley and Ti hardware it came in at approx 4lbs lighter than my XB two bearing rear wheel with all OEM hardware and a lightly used R7. Waiting on a pulley tool to swap the front pulley out, and looking at the flywheel/front primary sprocket it's a splined shaft rather than tapered so no puller required for it?

Going to run at Loudon next weekend, will be interesting to see how I fare on a track I actually know. Back in 2018 I got down to 1:21s on an 03 R6 I never really figured out. That bike had a Penske rear and worked forks setup for my weight and Loudon specifically, I'm confident it was a little lighter, had a bit more motor compared to my Uly. On my fully worked 489cc 92 FZR400RR SP I got down to 19s back then, I'm much more comfortable on lightweights. More recently on a 500 XC W I got down to 21s as well in 2022 after a couple years off, didn't run a full season so I would hope to improve on that had I continued. So, I'm thinking 1:23s on the Uly would be a solid start?

 

[Kurlon]

And... 771 Racing is ceasing operations.

Trying to get the primary pulley off so I could put the aluminum replacement on, nut stripped, spinning on the shaft and will not come off. ****.

I swear that nut is two pieces, the nut and then a separate thread bit that the nut is spinning on? I can see two three distinct bits of metal looking at the nut and shaft, the inner two aren't moving.

 

[Cooter]

"Primary pulley"?
Do you mean the pulley nut for the final drive (transmission output)? The clutch basket nut? Or the crankshaft nut?
They all have Red Loctite and will REQUIRE heat to remove, and the manual will save you from the Left Hand Thread curse depending on which one you mean. And the Torque spec on the crank nut was increased to 240-260Ft/lbs for all of the XB's way back in '08(IIRC?)