| Author | Message | ||
     Jlnance |
I'm riding up to Minnesota next week, and I spent the weekend preping the bike. With 44 thousand miles, it's not really anywhere close to a "new" bike anymore, despite it being less than 3 years old. I fixed a couple of age and mileage related issues this weekend. I was glad I did too. The bike wouldn't have made it to MN. I decided to start this thread, as place where people with high mileage bikes can post maintenance issues. No need for everyone to pay the experience teacher for the same lessons.  | ||
| Jlnance |
A few things I discovered this weekend. The first was that the bottom of my swingarm was covered with oil. I noticed it when I was changing the tire. The drain plugs for the engine and primary have O rings. They wear out and need to be changed periodically. The next was my battery. I had thought the battery was going bad last winter because the bike would hesitate before turning over. I had the dealer test it and it tested good. I finally just replaced it because I lost confidence it in. The difference is amazing. It turns right over now. The final thing was the primary inspection cover (the one in front of the clutch pack.) It had oil on the front of it, and I assumed the gasket was weeping. When I took the cover off, on of the screws seemed loose, which would explain the weep. Then I looked at the screw and it had the threads from the primary cover attached to it. Well that's bad. Also means the oil was doing more than weeping out. Which would explain the new noise the tranny started making this week. Helicoiled some new threads into the primary cover. That one would have left me on the roadside. I should point out that the engine remains flawless. It runs at least as well as it did brand new. Puts an interesting twist on how much attention oil selection gets, versus how much attention is paid to things which actually do fail.  | ||
| Xbimmer |
Nice thread to start! Let me gather my thoughts and records, had my share of issues after 26 months and 49k myself. That clutch cover is pretty fragile, I lost the threads in the 4 o'clock screw 20k ago. I've since used the drain plug sealant on it (Permatex, just like Loctite, which can't be found even at my dealer...) and just snugged the screw with no problems. The drain plugs for the engine and primary have O rings. They wear out and need to be changed periodically. They're ridiculously cheap even at the HD store. I buy them by the dozen. Change them every oil change and carry a spare o-ringed plug. Use the Permatex or Loctite sealant and don't torque to BMC's overwrought spec. Pity the new '06-'07 owner who hsan't discovered BadWeB and relies on their new $65 OSM for complete guidance. I have many more things to add to watch out for. Actually I'm happy my Uly is now off warranty. If/when something happens I'll fix it correctly without the shenanigans and hoops I had to jump through at dealers just to get crappy service for the last two years. | ||
| Fastmag |
My 06 hit 20,000 and fell out of warranty last month. Have not had too many issues with it. The one thing that I have found was that the wire harnesses are extremely soft. Things wear through them if they are touched. I had a 22mm wrench for adjusting suspension and tire under the seat and it wore through the wire harness. My seat wore through my positive cable off the battery. The coverings seem kinda soft. Other than that, it has been the best bike I have ever owned, and i have gone through a few. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Keep and eye on the bolts that attach the "W" frame to the engine as well as the front isolator. I lost the bolt that attaches the dog bone to the front of the engine. Occasionally pull the rear pulley cover and inspect the front belt pulley output shaft for leaks. Occasionally inspect the front exhaust clamp for cracks in the heads and muffler coupling. Also inspect for exhaust leaks and seal. Occasionally inspect the rear shock mount on the swing arm. Failures here are very rare, but not impossible. A catastrophic failure of that mound would suck. | ||
| Hootis29 |
Check you clutch cable wire form, they are all broke, and have a much better replacement. Also when I had my motor out this spring I found a few wires that had chaffed. Check the wires for you TPS, and eng temp. jlance... Where in MN ?? | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
July 3rd during the Buell Factory tour we got to watch them build 1125R bikes. I really enjoyed that. Anyway, so that the bike builders don't get burned out on any given task, they switch jobs within their building group. I would imagine that some of these folks do things differently than others even though we as customers would hope that all bikes are built exactly the correct way. That might explain why some people have chafed wires or TPS adjuster cables and others don't. Hell of a thing but probably true. | ||
| Froggy |
DAMHIK. I put it to horrible luck more than anything, but still at least I know I am not the only one its happened too. EG, makes sense, but I think there is more to the issues than that. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Hootis, My Uly's clutch wire-form has never broke....yet. 06' with 14,000 miles. | ||
| Froggy |
Again with the clutch cable things, I had 17k on my 06 Uly, never broke, 23k now on my SS and still hasn't broke. I will be switching it anyway just in case. | ||
| Slowride |
Electra, How many times have you unscrewed that wire form? I replaced my clutch cable only once, but have loosen and removed that wire form various times. After a ride one day I came home to find the new clutch cable mm away from the header. I went to Lowe's and got a metal/rubber wire clamp and tweekded the clamp up and forward to hold the clutch cable. It was $1.64 for the clamp and it does the job just fine. | ||
| Jlnance |
Don't worry Electraglider, I'm sure you won't be left out of the fun. Mine made it 30,000 files before it broke. | ||
| Jlnance |
Hootis - St. Paul http://lightningrun.com/ | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
I've never touched that wireform...yet. | ||
| Slowride |
That's kind of where I was going with the question. It seems they like to break when tinkered with. Reminds me of the side stand bolt issue. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Mine wasn't broken when I took it off and replaced with the new one. I viewed it as preventive maint. | ||
| Xbimmer |
The only person to tinker with my first wireform was the factory tech who installed it. It broke in about a month. The way I found out about the new style bracket was when I met a couple guys at a local gas station with brand new Uly's. The guy with the new bracket told me his wireform broke on the way home from dealer on Day 1! I'm on my fourth now and I want it to break so I can get the new one, but I sandwiched it between two stainless 1" fender washers with 1" rubber washers as cushions. Loctite-Redded it with low torque and looks like it did the trick, been OK for a long time. | ||
| Jlnance |
Noticed that my fan was making the "box of rocks" sound and replaced it last night. The bike has 44k on it, but the original fan was replaced under warranty way back when the bike was new. I don't remember the mileage when that occurred. It went better than I thought. I had to remove the rear shock, which was a first, but there actually wasn't much too it. And I was even able to the shock back, which of course was a nice bonus. | ||
| Bienhoabob |
Jim, What fan did you buy as a replacement? Another OEM? Mine fan has the "box of Rocks" syndrome, too. Bob | ||
| Jlnance |
Yes, I got an OEM fan (my dealer had it in stock! ) I noticed after taking the fan out that it has as wire guard attached to it. It occurred to me that it is possible the noises were caused by the guard vibrating rather than the bearings. I don't know. I'll fire up the one I removed and see how it sounds out of the bike when I get a chance. I didn't put the guard on the new fan. I can't see what purpose it would serve other than to make whistling noises as the air blows through it. Any debris would more likely come from the engine side. | ||
| Chadhargis |
As my Ulysses approaches 20,000 miles and will be three years old in November, I have considered doing a good inspection of the bike. Dissassembling it, cleaning it real good. Checking wires for chafing, looking for missing screws, etc. When I put a new motor in my Gixxer, I took the bike all the way down to the frame. Nothing left on it but the swingarm. I cleaned and re-assembled everything and it looked like a new bike. Might do the same with the Ulysses when winter comes around. Just completely dissassemble the thing, clean it, and put it back together. Figure I'll have to buy some odd sized tools for the steering head and such, but it would be a fun project. | ||
| Dr_greg |
At the risk of double-posting, I'll jump in here. I recently hit 50,000 miles on the '06 Uly, here's my list in reverse chronological order: • 48,763 miles: Finally broke the drive belt, snapped in a parking-lot tipover; I carry a spare and installed it easily on-site myself. • 45,627 miles: Installed fork seals after right side began leaking during my "Spring Break Tour de Texas". Easy job. • 42,648 miles: Replaced clutch needle bearing; probably happened due to condensation and my short winter commute not burning it off. Change tranny fluid more frequently from now on. • 36,439 miles: Had front disk replaced under warranty; it began to pulse AFTER I installed the highly-touted "Brand X" pads. Back to stock pads and disk is still perfect. • 31,671 miles: Installed new rear wheel bearings; heard a "squeak" after riding in heavy rain during ADVrider WestFest07. Maybe they were OK, but... • 29,772 miles: Replaced clutch cable; it was within one strand of breaking. • 25,292 miles: Tightened crankcase fitting on oil cooler return line; it was weeping oil slightly. No more weep. • 18,299 miles: Replaced low-beam headlamp. Not bad for a first model-year, I'd say. Now heading for 100,000 miles; figure three more years. | ||
| Jlnance |
I'm coming for you Dr G  I have a 45,000 picture from the day before. The bike is running well. I'm not as mechanically inclined as you or Chad. I think the idea of tearing the bike down and cleaning it would be great, but I don't think I could put it back together. I need to do the fork oil at 50k, I'm thinking about redoing the seals as well. I've never done any fork work myself. Do you have any writeup of the seal work? Do you own a spring compressor? | ||
| Pso |
Voltage Regulator went out 2 days befoe end of warrenty. Stranded on roadside, worst part bike stalled during rush hour on four lane hghway it was trickey pushing bike to die of road. I now carry a spare VR. | ||
| Jlnance |
The service manual calls for removing the idler pulley when changing the rear tire or belt. I usually don't, as it doesn't seem necessary. Well I finally decided to do it the right way, and it was a job. The aluminum pulley is fastened with two iron studs, which I'm sure contributes to corrosion. It took me about 30 minutes to get it off. I had to start by wedging razor blades behind it and wiggling.  Was pretty apparent by the time I got it off that it had never been removed before. I cleaned the threads with steel wool and antisiezed them before putting the idler back on. Hopefully it will be easier to get off next time. It definitely makes replacing the wheel easier. | ||
| Jlnance |
Stator at 53,000 miles. Died in my driveway, returning from a 1000 mile trip. 77 connector was fine. Stator was grounded. Don't know about the VR yet. | ||
| Jlnance |
Well that was short lived. I replaced the stator, took it for a ride, 30 miles later.  Reliability has definitely gone down hill this year. First 40 something thousand miles were virtually problem free. |
