| Author | Message | ||
     Pmlsfo |
I apologize in advance as I am not very Board savvy so I hope this is the appropriate spot to give a public thank you to Jim Higgins, Firemanjim of JT&S Performance at Infineon raceway in Sonoma CA. I always wanted a Buell Ulysses from the first time I read an article about the bike on Motorcycle consumer news back in Im guessing around 2006. At this time I was riding a Suzuki DRZ400 which I still own. The price tag at the time was too high for my budget, so I just filed the bike as my someday dream bike. Fast forward to 2011. I had sold my house so I had some cash available to pursue my ULY dream. I found a mint 2009 XB12XP with 2000 miles on it for sale from a Ducati Dealership in Austin TX. So I bought sight unseen for 7800.00 delivered. My bike currently has 47250 miles on it.This machine has exceeded any expectations I could ever hope for and quite frankly any problems in life melt away at the throttle and an mp3 rocking some pink floyd ccr & eagles to name a few. On may 25th 2016 I was completing a 500 mile segment of a two day trip from Idaho to the SF bay area. I was on this trip at the request of an old childhood best friend 35 years of friendship who had had a series of life events that can be very difficult in our time of life. He asked that I come down so on my Uly I went. The first night I camped in Bend OR. The bike was running great . cool air 65 degrees fresh oil and tranny fluid plus the guys at M6 cycles had just performed my 45k service. On the morning of the 25th I got on the road at 630am the temp was in the low 40s the bike just performed like a rocketship enjoyed the passing landscape immensly. 215pm I stop at a chevron gas station to fill up and heard a very troubling sound coming from my motor. Apparently the bolt holding the exhaust pipe at the bottom of the bike had rattled loose and the stress had cause the upper post on the rear head to snap off so the bike was running rough and loud. My first call was to Vacaville HD who quickly informed me that they didnt work on Buells. I remembered that one of my other best friends little brother used to race Buells so I called him. He put me in touch with Jim and even though it was nearly 5pm Jim told me to come on in to JT&S performance shop at infineon. I was so grateful that I had someone on such short notice who was willing and able to help me out. Jim was super friendly and I silently thanked the almighty at the sight of him especially when I noticed that he had the BUELL Pegasus logo tatooed on his forarm. I took this as a great opportunity to learn from a Buell expert about my bike. Jim allowed me to help him with the less technical parts of stripping the bike down. It was a surreal experience to be so far from home and to see my bike with the engine dropped but I figured that this is party of the adventure. When we drilled out the stem I knew that this was going to be at least a 2 day repair. Jim offered me a Lagunitas IPA which went down really well at the end of a long satisfying ride. The next morning Jim had procured a helicoil kit and we reinstalled my new post and slapped my ULY back to living condition. He taght me so many tricks on ULY maintinence that from now on I will be doing my own 5k services. Ive always maintained my DRZ 400 but quite frankly the only maintinence I dared do on mu Uly up to this point was to change the oil and primary fluid. I really appreciate how patient and kind he was with me. Once the bike was complete after easily 5 plus hrs of shop time I gratefully asked Jim for a final bill.(prior to leaving on this trip I had some unforseen automobile expenses arise 2800$$ so I was bracing for some financial strain to my already depleated funds) His amount was a pittance compared to what I expected to pay in reality what he charged me was nothing compared to the expertise and value he provided. Lets just say Jim gave me a great gift those 2 days and taught me a renewd lesson about the kindness and benevolence of strangers. When he quoted the price I said why so little? and I offered to pay more but he said that he was part of an unofficial Buell network of Buellers helping Buellers who break down away from home. He smiled and said he was stocking up on Karma points.This incident has shifted my motorcycle world view. for years I have felt like a loner being the only Bueller that I know of in my area. Jim taught me that there is more to this community of Buellers than I never imagined possible. Thank you Firemanjim you will always be welcome in my home in Hayden Idaho | ||
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| Court |
He's been that way for years ....... The "Gold Standard" of Buellers. You could not have been in more capable hands. Court | ||
| Sharkguy |
Great story, thanks for sharing! | ||
| Prior |
Jim is one of the great ones. Many of us have learned quite a bit from him. Happy to have shared a few roads and cold beers too! Prior | ||
| Firemanjim |
Got to keep the spirit alive. And he was a serviceman so I thanked HIM! And it was fun | ||
| Pmlsfo |
I learned a lot from Jim made the trip a legit adventure | ||
| Arry |
Kudos to F.J... Glad you got Pmlsfo back on the road. At one time, I thought there was a place on the BadWeb to register to aid/assist travelers, who have mech. problems. I've looked on the "topics" and haven't been able to find it. I'm not the best mechanic, but I do have a trailer and might be able to help someone who was stranded, in the Portland OR/SW WA areas. | ||
| Firemanjim |
Arry,it is there but you must log in to see it.Look at top of page and there is a log in/log out button. | ||
| Jon |
10-4 on Jim Higgins. Jim and Terry They turned my X1 into the beast it was meant to be. Jim is good people indeed. (Message edited by jon on June 29, 2016) |
