Thinking about getting an XB12s...

[DSA]

Hi,

I live in the Bay area and am considering picking up an XB12s. The two options I'm looking at have 16k and 20k miles, and are priced right around the 5k mark.
I've always wanted a Buell. I love the idea of an innovative chassis paired with an old-school, characterful motor. But before I go and pull the trigger, I had a few questions that I figured current/former owners would be best-placed to answer:

1. The biggest one is obviously reliability. I currently own an '89 Kawasaki, and am used to wrenching on it myself. But parts and cheap and plentiful, it's an easy bike to work on, and most of the work is just preventative maintenance. How does the XB12s do in this area? Does it have any major red-flag issues that will break the bank if they go wrong? Does it have a tendency to chew through seals or leak? The 10-year period since bankruptcy has elapsed - is it still easy to find parts, or are they getting very expensive?

2. For stuff that I can't sort out on my own, if anyone here is from the Bay Area, are you aware of any good mechanics willing to work on an XB12s?

3. How much of a one-trick pony is this bike? I'm under no illusions here - this primarily seems to be a fun, fast bike, ideal for tearing up canyons while also having an upright position that makes dashing through the city easy. I'm not expecting a Gold Wing, but are longish distances (upto 3 hours in the saddle) at all doable? 5k buys a lot of very good all-round bikes, and it might be too much for me to drop on a bike that's somewhat limited in what I can do with it.

Any other thoughts, concerns or praise for the bike? Grateful for any and all feedback.

Thanks!

 

[TPEHAK]

It is not reliable.

 

[user_deleted]

new member....first posting....precisely 2 hours later he's dumped on by the BOARD TROLL.
disgusting!
do us all a favor TEABAG and GTFO this board.

 

[TPEHAK]

DSA, I'm sorry for lunaticfringe behavior, don't take him seriously, you can stay on the board.

And don't take my words for it, just go to the troubleshooting section of the forum and see all kinds of troubles you'd better be prepared for.

This forum had nice FAQ section before could answer most of your questions and maybe turn you out of considering to buy a Buell, but it has been eliminated for some reason.

 

[Silverrider]

https://spokane.craigslist.org/mcy/d/2009-buell-xb12-lightning/6599064901.html

 

[airbozo]

Hi DSA,

I live and ride in the Bay Area and have been enjoying my 2009 XB12R for a couple of years now (adding 10K miles to the bike) and have had only one issue so far and that was the quick connect oil lines vibrating and self destructing. Not an expensive issue to fix and parts were easy to find. In fact I have found that most parts are readily available. Oakland HD and San Francisco HD still service Buells (at least the XB line) and I have found an independent shop in Fremont that works on all Buells (plus the guy owns several different models). PM me if you want his contact info. I do most of the work on my bikes if I have time, but I haven't had much lately (all my motorcycle wrenching time has been going to a ground up rebuild of my sportster). What I have worked on has been pretty easy, but I haven't had to rotate the engine for anything yet.

From what I have learned and been told by folks on this board and Bad Web, get one of the newer models, at least a 2008 if you can. Most of the issues have been worked out on those years.

I commute on my XB or S3T just about every day it is not wet and the comfort range on the XB is limited by the stock seat. I would be good for a tank of gas before a needed stretch. There are aftermarket seats that provide more padding.

Hope this helps and good luck in your search.

 

[Outlaw]

T bag yer an idiot. DSA I have 2 Buells. And both have been great. Only routine maintenance.

 

[Silverrider]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I agreee ^^^^^^^^ with both statements !!!!!

 

[optomist]

You all notice how Tbrag warps reality? That cut on Lunatic is way out of line, IMO.

Pretty decent luck with my Uly. New Starter and battery at 15,000. Actually of all the bikes I have tooled around on, the Uly yields the highest per day mileage of all of them. I can burn off 500 miles easily in a day. Have higher windscreen, that helps, but the bike just eats up the miles.

Does anyone know what happened to the guy that was towing his boat behind his XB on the way to AK?

 

[TPEHAK]

You can do 500 miles per day easily on a bunch of another motorcycles. You need something more significant to trade off for questionable reliability of Buell.

DSA, All I'm saying is do your homework, read the forums, make your own decisions based on what you found, there is enough information already, don't ask members. Even if you ask BMW forum members about their motorcycles reliability you will hear from them same as you can hear here, they will say you that BMW motorcycles are reliable enough, even BMW are the most unreliable motorcycles.

 

[Cooter]

Oh Lord what a terrible introduction to a new member. Sorry man.

He's asking honest legitimate questions for someone who doesn't know Buells. I would hope the nice, helpful, people on this forum would at least give him straight answers to the questions he's asking.

1) The Buell XB is super reliable. Like TPEHAK says, check the forum. Of course you'll see people come here to solve issues, see how fast they get back to riding and how cheap it is.
Theres no chain to adjust or replace (ever), no valve adjust (ever), Engine architecture from 1954 (take that as you will lol), they are reliable because they are so simple.

1a) What gets them is people who let them sit for a long time (bad gas, bad batteries). People who are cheap (buying the weak batteries), People who mess with the ECM without knowing how (because it's free), and people who complain about silly stuff like 'it vibrates' or 'I only got 11K out of a clutch because I'm too cheap to replace a $10 spring'. Note the common denominator.

1b) Parts are very cheap, check e-bay for what used stuff costs or SPHDonline.com for new stuff. Theres plenty of good new parts left and even better is they are interchangeable between models to a great degree.

2) A solid question, answered by a typical board member (airbozo is awesome). He already offered to help a total stranger. That usually the way it goes around here. Any V-twin shop can work on this bike, no need for a specific 'Buell guy'. It's not like Yamaha vs. Kawi. Most V-twin stuff is very similar and if they guy can work on a Sportster, he can do a Buell.

3) That depends more on you than the bike. The bike will go all day without complaint. The worst thing you can do is sit in traffic on a 100+* day and who the Hell wants that? I am comfortable for 600 miles+ a day on my XB and that a LONG day.

3a) The trick is to get the right XB for you. How tall are you? Big guy? You can get a regular XB(S), a lower XB(Scg), a longer XB(SS), even a longer, taller XB(STT), or an adventure XB(Uly). Of course you can get higher or lower bars and pegs like most bikes, but you can also choose several seats that interchange, from really low, low, single, flat, wide, tall, super soft, and that only the stock options, the aftermarket has plenty too.

You can tell us Buellers are a passionate bunch:angel::sorrow: and of course I'm hooked so theres your grain of salt. I have had many, many Buells. Currently a XB9SX, XBSTT, and an EBR 1190SX sit in the garage waiting to please me. I am under no illusion that they are perfect. You need to be ready for an occasional minor hiccup without panicking, posting, and freaking out. It's just a hiccup, maybe it never happens again? Get used to it #Buellizm Its called 'character' and thats exactly why you name an old car, but never name a hermetically sealed, soulless new one.

IMO, Buell XB's ride better than any other performance bike and they do everything 90-95%. There are bikes that do a specific thing better, but I haven't found one that does everything as good. Although 90% of the parts interchange ('03-'10)...'03-'04 were very early and have some specific parts, '05-'07 are pretty good but, '08-'10 got better front brakes and the Thunderstorm engine. Same power but addressed a few (but not terribly common) issues. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3BcMKN-2Nk&t=238s

TLDR; Sorry for the novel. I'm just south of LAX, come down anytime and I'll let you take one of the girls for a ride. It will cost you exactly one good beer:cheerful:

PS; (I just can't shut up! I also think getting one with 10k-20k miles is perfect. Check the sticky for specific things to look at but the general rules apply. IMHO getting one with less than 1000/year is asking for trouble.

 

[optomist]

Listen to Cooter, Listen to Lunatic, ignore TShag

Notice his little jibes--as in my inputs are insignificant -- yet he posts the most insignificant nonsense of anyone on this forum

 

[KoomZog]

My 2008 XB12S has been great so far. The only minor thing is that the neutral light won't light up sometimes. Nothing major at all.
I found a well kept bike with low mileage (7180 km) and I plan on taking good care of it. Go for it, it's a great bike!

For me, about 1h riding sessions is optimal. Then I usually stop and stretch my legs for 5-10 minutes. I bought the bike in southern Europe and rode it to Sweden. About 1200km in one day, just taking short breaks like that every now and then.

 

[rchuff]

Teabag if you don't like buells then sell yours and just shut the heck up. THE BIGGEST IDIOT I HAVE EVER SEEN. And that is being nice. Lunatic is the man and knows these bikes inside and out. The only guy i talk to if i can't figure it out.

 

[TPEHAK]

Like I said before I can't sell it, I have no choice, there is nothing on the market like Buell XB12Scg. If Buell would not exist I would probably buy a Ducati, even it has worst reliability than Buell.

 

[Silverrider]

You cant be logical to the TBag

 

[rchuff]

Like I said before I can't sell it, I have no choice, there is nothing on the market like Buell XB12Scg. If Buell would not exist I would probably buy a Ducati, even it has worst reliability than Buell.

Why can't you sell it . You riding a hot bike or something. :applause:

 

[Silverrider]

Why can't you sell it . You riding a hot bike or something. :applause:

Deep down he loves Buells, He just cant admit it ! His bike does look nice!

 

[mosquito]

The Buell XB is a motorcycle for motorcyclists! It's light, compact and powerful and sounds awesome and the belt drive and hydraulic lifters make life easy. They sip gas (I've seen 65 miles to the Imperial gallon) and they are easy on tires. Mine's been reliable as a hammer so far but I only have about 4500 km on it. Consumables at least are available at the local Harley dealer and there are lots of online supplies. They're like any other bike to work on-fun-and there's lots of help on this forum for the things that stump you. And beauty is in the eye of the beholder but you won't see one parked on every corner.
Did I mention it vibrates? It VIBRATES!! Which is the limiting factor for me...but hey, I'm old!
So I say go for it, you won't be sorry!

 

[njloco]

What a disgusting thing to say to someone looking for advice, you are without a doubt a moron ! If it were up to me, you'd be gone !
Look up Teabag's posts, though some are very thorough, many are major BS ! Most problems that he has had were brought on by himself, not to mention he cannot grasp good use of the written English language. Never and I mean never take advice from him!!!!!!

Both of my Buells, an 08 Ully and a 07 SS are smoother than my Triumph Explorer XC .

There are several people on here that are, what I consider Buell experts and they give great advice to people trying to wrench there own bikes when necessary, Teabag is not now nor will he ever be one of them.

Many parts can be purchased from your local auto parts store, example, electrical contacts, some fasteners, lift block, fuel pump, most everything can be fashioned from something else that is similar.

Good luck with you search.