| Author |
Message |
    
Steveford
| | Posted on Sunday, December 02, 2018 - 12:05 pm: | 
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Looks like this one is going back on the road under my butt again.
New rear sprocket and belt ordered this morning.
I think I'll have the Useless and X1W until the end. Worse things could happen! |
Court
| | Posted on Sunday, December 02, 2018 - 01:04 pm: |
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Don't feel bad . . . . you are not alone and . . .as you suggest . . work things could happen.
I have a low mileage 2008 Ulysses and angled it in the market. There is simply no market for used Buells. Between multiple company failures and a litany of recall rumors in the motorcycle community you either give it away or keep it.
I hedged my bet by buying about $5,000 worth of spares ranging from brackets, footpads, clutches, a dozen oil filters, tank covers, bodywork, several isolators (the one part that can turn the XB12X to a paperweight) and about 200 other items.
Even if I ride it only once a year . . . it's still better here than cut up. |
Steveford
| | Posted on Sunday, December 02, 2018 - 01:23 pm: |
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That is true.
There's no way I'm parting out a perfectly good motorcycle. Wrecked I can see but not one that just needs a good clout with the Magic Hammer.
The Useless will be pressed back into service, if the X1W doesn't sell I'll pick up a gasket kit and some adjustable pushrod tubes and back on the road it goes as well.
There's nothing quite like the Buells but I'm preaching to the choir. |
Tootal
| | Posted on Sunday, December 02, 2018 - 02:35 pm: |
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The best description I've heard of the Triumph triples and Ducatis is that they are "wrenchy".
Not bad bikes by any means but just like you said, nothing was simple.
That's one thing I hated on my Cagiva Gran Canyon. To do a lot of the maintenance you had to remove all the body work. What a PITA! They used well nuts and the brass insert would corrode and you couldn't get them loose. I removed all of them and anti-seized them, but had to replace several that tore up during removal.
I don't particularly like the way you have to replace the starter on an EBR either! |
Steveford
| | Posted on Saturday, December 08, 2018 - 07:16 pm: |
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New belt and rear sprocket on the mighty Useless, 125,450 miles so it's off of the Triumph Tiger and back on the Buell.
The engine heat will be very welcome this time of year. |
Falloutnl
| | Posted on Sunday, December 09, 2018 - 11:23 am: |
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There's nothing quite like the Buells but I'm preaching to the choir.
Amen brother! |
Steveford
| | Posted on Sunday, December 09, 2018 - 11:43 am: |
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It took a few attempts to get it started as the belt broke during a torrential 12 hour downpour and then it sat for a few weeks.
It is FREEZING out there so it was a very short ride on the old thing.
After a few thousand miles on that giant Tiger it feels like being on a little mini bike! |
Zane
| | Posted on Sunday, December 09, 2018 - 02:37 pm: |
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When I bought the Goldwing, they wanted to give me something like $2500 for my 2009 XT as a trade in. Sorry, it's just worth much, much more than that to me. So it sits in the garage next to the wing and gets ridden about once every 10 days or so. It still puts a smile on my face every time I leave the driveway and roll the throttle a bit.
I may be buried with this bike. |
Steveford
| | Posted on Sunday, December 09, 2018 - 05:57 pm: |
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$2500 for an 09? Gee, thanks.
This reminds me an awful lot of right after the British industry collapsed. You couldn't give that stuff away as it was seen as old junk and now prices are through the roof.
I won't be around to see Buells command high prices but it would not surprise me if someday they did due to their rarity if nothing else.
People have/are still going so crazy parting them out that how many will be around in another 20 or 40 years?
Probably not too many.
I don't know if my Useless will survive that far into the future due to the mileage I'm putting on it but I sure hope my X1W is around in 2058. It'll be just the thing to terrify a future generation when it starts up!
While I think of it, the last brand new belt I bought fought me like crazy as it was just stupidly tight. This one popped right on with no issues. Who knows.
(Message edited by SteveFord on December 09, 2018) |
Tootal
| | Posted on Monday, December 10, 2018 - 11:26 am: |
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Sometimes I think belts sizes are like waist sizes on my blue jeans! Some button up easy, others, not so much!! |
Sagehawk
| | Posted on Monday, December 10, 2018 - 10:43 pm: |
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Tootal: you got to stay away from the sampling hours that go way into the morning hours!
You know what I am talking about! |
Tootal
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 11, 2018 - 11:06 am: |
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Ha! I wasn't referring to the actual size but the fact that several different pairs are said to be the same size yet they fit differently like the Uly belts!
The actual size was not a subject I wanted to cover!! |
Steveford
| | Posted on Monday, December 17, 2018 - 05:38 pm: |
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The miserable old pile is back in service and after a month of riding an 06 Triumph Tiger I really appreciate just how good the suspension and front brakes are on the Useless.
There's quite the contrast between the two machines even though both were designed for the adventure rider market.
Which one is better depends upon what you're trying to do with it, I suppose.
I did get a laugh on the way home: I pull off of the highway and the motor is idling at 3500 RPM. You hunka shit, he says, as he shuts it off and it restarts and idles normally.
In the driveway I pull the master cylinder to get at the throttle cable adjusters and thought of two comments people here have made: I can't get rid of my Buells as I'll lose my mechanical ability and Buells require more maintenance, then, well, anything! |
Tootal
| | Posted on Monday, December 17, 2018 - 06:46 pm: |
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Glad to hear she's back on the road! I know it's really a change going back and forth on a few different bikes. Now I get off the Road Glide and hop on the Uly and after the first turn I know I forgot to check the tire pressures!! After turning around and topping them off it's back out to a razor sharp cornering machine instead of coaxing a beast around the corners! Even when I had both the Uly and the Cagiva Gran Canyon, both dual sports, there was a huge difference between the two. All are fun though!! |
Steveford
| | Posted on Monday, December 17, 2018 - 08:14 pm: |
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That is true, they're all fun.
The Buell steering geometry always takes me by surprise after being off it for a spell. I always put too much muscle into the first sharp corner and start to throw myself on my head!
Don't do that... |
Ourdee
| | Posted on Monday, December 17, 2018 - 10:31 pm: |
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I remember the first time I hit the front brakes. I had been riding a 1980 Honda XL500S with the 23" front wheel on drum brakes. |
Tootal
| | Posted on Monday, December 17, 2018 - 11:15 pm: |
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The Buell steering geometry always takes me by surprise after being off it for a spell. I always put too much muscle into the first sharp corner and start to throw myself on my head!
Don't do that...
No kidding!! The Cagiva felt like a chopper compared to the Uly. I could see the front wheel out in front of me and it handled very well but the Uly felt like your front end was going to wash out and cause you to face plant the asphalt!! It took some time to trust the Uly but then is when it won me over and I sold the Cagiva. |
