| Author | Message | ||
     Xbimmer |
Mine took a dump over the last few days apparently. It's within 1/16" of total collapse and I have questions of BadWebbers who've been here. Truthfully the vibration doesn't bother me at this point but when it falls down all the way will vibes damage anything, specifically the bolt or threads? Is it safe to ride? The handling yesterday and today was kind of twitchy and imprecise, I thought I had a flat tire but they were fine and spec. Would wrapping some sort of resilient material into the gap help until I get a new one ordered? I gotta ride this thing daily, like I said vibes aren't a concern but my safety and the bike's integrity are. Thanks for any input. Oh yeah anybody know the part# for the improved kit? My parts guide only lists individual items. | ||
| Rays |
Xbimmer, this was the kit that I got last year from Appleton. Hopefully you won't have the mounting bolt as corroded as I did - it was a bear to remove as the bolt shown here was corroded to the frame insert and the centre of the isolator. You can see where initial assembly with anti-seize would have been useful   | ||
| Florida_lime |
The 3rd time my rear rocker leak was fixed, the shop had to wait a while for a new bolt; I guess they buggered the original one up quite a bit in their attempt to remove it. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Weird- I changed my front isolator (unnecessarily it turned out) about a year ago and the bolt was pristine, despite lots of riding in the rain, etc. (but no salt roads). I'd be leery of riding very long with a failed isolator. While the increased vibes may not bother you, they are adding additional stress to the metal portion of the mount and its attachment to the front head. On tube-frame Buells this tends to cause the mount and/or bolts to break. The XB seems immune to this so far, but I wouldn't want to push the envelope on it. American Sport Bike stocks the mounts; your local dealer may even have one in stock. | ||
| Xbimmer |
Thanks for the tips guys. Ordered one up from American Sport Bike today. True, one of my local dealers had one in stock, and I like to support them since they're actually Buell-friendly, not like the dealer 10 minutes away from me that doesn't stock squat for Buells. But I'd rather wait a day or two and pay for shipping to support American Sport Bike. Al and Joanne are the greatest, and Al has always been generous with his time and knowledge when I've called up to ask his advice. | ||
| Al_lighton |
Thanks, Dean! Your timing was impeccable. We had been out of stock on them and were in the process of receiving the OEM parts order in when you ordered it. Slather that thing in anti-sieze before installing the bolt. When they rust into place, it can get really ugly removing it. Al (Message edited by al_lighton on July 23, 2009) | ||
| Xbimmer |
Will do, Al. Thanks again! | ||
| Pso |
+1 on Xbimmer comments. I also ordered one from Al for the same reason. | ||
| Lastcyclone |
Maybe you could use one of these. Front Mount Saver .  Front Mount failure is an extremely common problem, with riders (including myself) reporting issues in as little as 1000 miles or less. The design of the Front Engine Mount is far from ideal because the rubber isolator material is working under sheer loadings and not compression like it should. This means that the rubber will tend to crack/tear across the rubber webs (can be seen on close-up inspection) and this will eventually severely degrade the mounts performance. A healthy mount should have approximately 8-10mm clearance between the centre bolt flange and the outer body of the rubber. A common symptom is that the bike feels like it's riding over corrugated iron under braking - the main body of the Mount makes contact with the central mounting bolt attached to the frame, causing all the engine load and vibration to be directly transmitted to the chassis. Made from a special durable Polyurethane flexible compound, this simple, doughnut-shaped device limits the mounts overall movement preventing the higher shear loads from occurring and can also prolong the life of a worn mount. The Mount Saver does not affect the mounts isolating performance. Fitted in seconds without tools. (Message edited by lastcyclone on July 23, 2009) | ||
| Chas1969 |
I was on a long trip to TN about 800 miles each way and mine started to fail. The top side of the rubber puck had shallow rips developing but on long trips I am vibration sensative ... I could tell something was wrong. My replacement was easy without any rust in the old unit. The new isolator needed rear of the motorcycle to be jacked-up to line-up the mounting pin to the frame, but went in fine after expiermenting jack points on the muffler. And yes some antisieze helps  Chas | ||
| Jpgrego |
Lastcyclone, is that measurement of 8-10mm with the bike on the side stand or upright on a rear stand, or with a person on it? All three cause it to deflect a little differently. -Patrick | ||
| Xbimmer |
Well it's fixed, didn't take even an hour including getting out all the tools and cleanup. The OSM again was faulty, another call to American Sport Bike so Al could clarify to me where the Red Loctite was supposed to go and not to go. Thanks again Al! Shoulda taken a good clear pic of the failed one while still on the bike, it still has enough elasticity to retract the bushing when unloaded:  You can see where the rubber has separated from the bonded surface.  I don't know whether the new one is improved with more rubber below, but it looks like it in that pic. The original has over three years and almost 60K on it so maybe it's just deteriorated. In any case thanks for the help guys. My only regret is how much HD charges for these things... wish they could be rebuilt. Hmmmm... | ||
| Hughlysses |
The OSM again was faulty, another call to American Sport Bike so Al could clarify to me where the Red Loctite was supposed to go and not to go. IIRC, there was no trace of Locktite on any of the three original bolts (2 in the head plus the one BA bolt) on my Uly and the shop manual did not say to use any when installing the new one (and they're usually very explicit about Locktite usage). Do I need to go check my bolts? | ||
| Xbimmer |
I will quote from my 2006 Official Factory Manual 99494-06Y, Page 2-64 "Front and Rear Isolators", under Installation, Step 8: "See Figure 2-89. Use LOCTITE 272 (red) on front isolator bracket(4) and loosely install to front isolator bracket." Huh?  Hence my call to American Sport Bike. Al suggested and I agreed that they probably meant to Loctite Red the bolts to the head, and he emphasized that the isolator bolt should get no Loctite at all just antiseize. The OSM is very good but I've learned to really really read through and understand any procedure I'm unfamiliar with and make sure the directions are accurate. | ||
| Lastcyclone |
That is the part from http://palmerproducts.auto.officelive.com/default. aspx |
