Yet another noob with questions

[Baal]

Greets. I appreciate the info I've gotten in the last little bit as I did my pre-purchase homework. Thanks in part to the kind residents here, an "orphaned" '07 XB12Ss is resting peacefully in the garage. (Woot! Woot!) Dealer took a little long to get it delivered, so I only got about 70 miles in before the sun was headed down (along with the temps).

So. The vibes at idle were no surprise. Smooths out like buttah at about 3100 RPM. Question: Should it vibrate pretty heavily at 26-2800? I mean shake the bars type stuff? The other thing I noticed was that at about the same rev range, and pulling away from a stop, the FI seemed to make the bike buck and surge pretty noticeably. I'm thinking/hoping that this will smooth out with more miles, but wanted to poll the collective to be certain. It's also possible that the gas is a little stale from the bike sitting. I'll top it off with fresh fuel next time out.

Handling is different; I know that will become "normal" as well. The mirrors are useless; I figure the aftermarket will help that. It would probably be cheaper for me if I'd bought it during riding season; cool weather tends to lead to hypermodification disease. Anyway, please chime in with your opinions and advice.

 

[Baal]

Oh, nuts. I also need to ask this: I was warned in advance that the cooling fan makes some folks bats**t crazy (by a well-respected Buell fan on another board). It was only 66-67 degrees today, and even though I was running at speeds from 45-65 MPH, the fan was on continuously. Is this normal? I tried to search, BTW, but got no results searching for "fan." I'll keep trying. TIA!

 

[Macbuell]

Hi Baal,
New fluids in Primary, Case, and tank should help you out and should be something you do ASAP

 

[dave_xb12r]

Yeah synthetic oil and a right side scoop will definitely help your fan issue.

 

[Sidewinder]

Before you do the oil change, Is the bike broken in yet? May just want to wait for it to be broken in before the oil change.

 

[Stevenc150]

Breather Re-route should help some with the lower RPM stumbling. Some bikes it makes a world of improvement - others not so much.

(Undoubtedly, someone will say it didn't do a thing for them, but all the mod can do is help since it keeps from recycling oily crap through your air intake.)

 

[MotoRico]

What is considered broken in? I have 581 miles on my XB9SX and want to change oil before the 1000 mile service. Should I even bother? Is the 1000 mile service the time to switch to syn or should I let the engine grind away for a few more thousand miles?

 

[Kole_DeWoody]

Usually 1k miles is considered Broken in. And yes that would be a good time to change to syn. Also if it was me i would change the oil now with conventional for another 500 miles then go to syn.

Also to the OP how many miles are on your bike my bikes fan never comes on while i am riding in those temps only after i stop and thats only if i have been riding it pretty hard or for a long time.
As for the vibs you will eventually get used to it and wont even notice it. but i still dont remember the vibs being bad at those rpms will ride later to confirm.

 

[fishgutz]

500 miles is the break in period. I did conventional at 1K and synth at 5K. But I was doing 1K miles a month.

Re: oil breather, I should do that to my Jeep too. Sucker spits oil into my intake and throttle body.

 

[Baal]

Before you do the oil change, Is the bike broken in yet? May just want to wait for it to be broken in before the oil change.

Nope, 72 miles. I'd planned to dump the OE oil at 150 miles (as part of break in, and because it's from 2007... and again at 500 miles, and then both the engine and primary oil at 1K.

500 miles is the break in period. I did conventional at 1K and synth at 5K. But I was doing 1K miles a month.

I was leaning toward synthetic at 1K, but was going to see about experiences here.

As far as the stumblilng, I was kinda surprised by that, as the reviews and road tests I'd read indicated that the bike's fueling was very smooth. I was way surprised to have the fan run so much. Suppose that's a problem?