Ss to Firebolt Tail swap has begun!

[Jornum1]

I have seen a few of these tail swaps around the Buell sites, and really love the look. I thought it would look really nice on my Ss. I havent found any posts yet where someone has done this, so I thought I would post my progress. I know someone has done a S tail on a Ss, but not a R tail on a Ss.
I did know that there would need to be some modification to the subframe before I started this. I was just hoping that the R's bodywork would fit flush to the Ss frame.

That was my main concern.

Today my new tail section arrived.

I apologize in advance, these are cell phone pics. I will get some good real camera pics.

I had my stock tail section already disassembled and ready for mock up today. The bottom mounts are perfect, its the top which are too narrow. Approx 1/4" on each side. This made me very happy because that means the bodywork will fit up very nicely because the bottom mounts are exactly the same.
You can see in this pic how far off it is. Its about a 1/2" divided by two makes approx 1/4" on each side. I will get a exact measurement tomorrow.

My plan is to chop off the ends right after the welds, and weld some new bungs(I think thats the right word?) on there. I have some machining experience, so that shouldnt be a problem. I am not sure if it is double walled or solid inside the subframe where the weld is. I will have to wait to see, as I have not cut it yet.

But basically instead of the piece of the left. I am going to make the one on the right.
The stock end has a recessed hole which the head of the allen bolt can go in. I am going to eliminate that and make a notch. So there will be just as much material. I am just going to do away with the recess.
(sorry for the crappy Paint pic!)

I did notch the original piece 1/4" on each side just so I can get a idea of how it would fit. Considering I am going to cut them off anyway, I just just a hack saw real quick.
It was dark, and I didnt have all my lights on, but I took a quick pic. More to come soon I promise!

So what do you guys think? More to come tomorrow. Hopefully I can get the parts machined out at work.

 

[Sayjackb]

That is gonna be sick!!! and Cell phone pics? are you kidding me, That's a heck of a cellphone camera.

 

[Trill]

looks pretty good. Have you run into any wire length problems for the fuse box and such?

 

[Jornum1]

Thanks,
Yeah I guess they look better once I downloaded them then on the phone's screen. It is a 3mp camera on it. It did a decent job considering the lighting.

 

[Jornum1]

trill,

Doesnt seem to be a problem. There is plenty of length. The tail is probably about the same length as the Ss tail. From what I have seen in posts from other people who did a S to R swap they put the fuse box behind the battery, and the ECM in the trunk.
I didnt get to play with it too much tonight. I will have more time tomorrow. I want to keep the trunk as clear as possible, so I can make it somewhat useful.

 

[xtremelow]

I have an XB9R and was going to go with the lightning front but once I mocked it up there was to much hanging in the rear from the tail and not enough in the front so I modded the stock fairing instead.

The Ss gives more length in the rear which allows for the look to be complete, good job, looks good.

Brandon

 

[sinpieces]

Not my cup of tea.

IMO, the rear of the S model looks better.
That's why i dislike the new Buell designer and the CR so much. They didn't bother to design a new rear.
I will give you an answer to what looks best though! The swingarm of SS long at the S model, that looks phuKKing great. When the seat and rear section is sticking out over the wheel - hate that! When the wheel and swingarm is visually striking looking - love that!
When KTM Venom is being released, Buell will get a punch at the balls. They lost the design war and that's what kept them at the road for awhile.

 

[Jornum1]

I used to feel the same way. Thats why I bought the Ss. That and I wanted the longer wheel base.
The more I looked at firebolts, the more I liked the rear. I like the look of a single seat. I dont ride with a passenger ever. The long "banana" seat of the Ss just didnt suit me.
My eventual goal is to fab a new body for the R subframe out of fiberglass. Maybe next winter. Something with a higher cowl, more supportive seat, and more aggressive rear end.
But thats down the road, one project at a time!

Thanks for the comments,

 

[erkblack]

can we get a better profile pic? i would like to see how the frfont and back work together.

 

[Roccodart440]

I would love to put an R tail on my XB9sx. Has anyone tried that?

 

[Jornum1]

Erkblack, sure I will get one up once I get the body back on. Right now everything is being mocked up. That was just placed together loose.

Roccodart440, I know a few people have done it. If you want I can email you a link to a good writeup from another forum. not sure if its against the rules to post links to other forums here. You would be able to mount it up without modification. Though you would need to find a hope for the fuse block, ecu, and shock reservoir.

Ok so for my progress....
Had a busy weekend, but made some progress. I have the bungs machined and ready for welding.
Not many pics to offer today. Here are a few from Sat before my phone crapped out on me. These are a few of the machining of the new brackets.

Cut subframe

I had to machine down the 1" rod I had down to 3/4", then I took .100" off each side and .5" in. I then rounded the edges and it gave me a nice snug fit.

Sorry thats it for now. I will get some new ones of the finished product tomorrow.

 

[Jornum1]

Ok sorry for the delays, life happens so the bike has to wait sometimes!
Solved my reservoir problem. I ended up mounting it outside of the of the undertail right next to the shock. That way I dont have to disconnect the line.
I also finished up the new upper mounts and am all ready for welding. I am going by the welding shop tomorrow morning to get it done. So hopefully tomorrow I will have everything ready for a test ride.

Here are a few really bad pics. Sorry the lighting in my shop stinks. I really need to get some better lighting! I will pull it out of the garage later once it warms up.

new mounts fitted to the frame

realized that I put the one backwards! Hope I dont do that when it gets welded!

 

[Jornum1]

Got some more pics to show. Once again it was getting dark, but they are as good as I could get.

Other good news is, I plugged everything in, and I have power she started just fine. Just need to extend the wires for the tail light and turn signal and I am set.

The pics with the body, nothing is bolted on. Its just placed on to see what it would look like.
Enjoy! Hopefully tomorrow is D day! Welding will be done, and everything I should be riding!

Like my welding job, gotta love zip ties!

 

[Stevenc150]

Wow, that's a different look for an XB12S....very cool. Nice work. [up] Looking forward to finished pics and "after the ride" comments.

 

[Jornum1]

Thanks I will be sure to update later today. I am off to get my welding done shortly!

 

[The Tin Man]

Looks great and excellent write up.[up]

 

[Jornum1]

The hard part of the swap is complete.
Got everything professionally welded up, and it fits great.
There are a few issues I am dealing with regarding how the top of the bodywork lines up with the frame. It seems to be in more on the top which creates a gap. If you pull it out flush with the bottom it looks good. So I am going to have to mod the top front body mounting points to pull it out a 1/4" or so on each side. No big deal.
The other issue is the huge gap between the seat and the airbox. I am going to remedy this by modifying the seat pan and having the seat re upholstered.
I also plan to eliminate the trunk, and and mold the the cowl(or I might just buy a race body with it in one piece already).
At the same time I want to modify the locking mechanism to work on the rider seat, so it can be popped off with the key.

One more thing I want to change is that where I mounted the fuse box, it is inaccessible unless you take the body work off. So I have a couple ideas on relocating it under the seat.

Lots of work to do, but it will look super clean in the end!
I am hoping to do some neat things with this by the spring time.

Here are some pics how she stands right now. Needs paint and a little TLC, but that will wait the rest of my mods are done.

Enjoy!

 

[Somthngfrce]

Wow, Good looking bike.... Awesome work. What was the total time for the whole job?

 

[Jornum1]

Hmm its hard to say. I didnt work on it for any extended period of time.
Maybe 6 hours total work time. The new mounts were easy, and probably took the most time.
It probably took longer just figuring out how to mount everything then the actual work.

 

[climberfreak]

did it not match up becuase yours is an Ss? im thinking about doing this with my S will i run into the same problem?