| Author | Message | ||
     Lastcyclone |
Hey Court, Can is rusting on my 07 Uly (early production), seems to be a common problem from my quick research. Called CS at 4:28p, but they were gone. Friday I guess is not the time to reach them at closing time. I'll try again on Monday, I don't expect any issues with replacement but the bike in in for service (5,000 routine) so I was hoping to get it replaced at the same time. Can you help expidite if needed? Thanks much, Paul | ||
| Court |
Giv'em a call next week, I doubt you'll have any problem. Be prepared with your VIN, dealer info and so forth. Should be quick and easy. | ||
| Ducxl |
Uhh,the mufflers WILL rust.I've repainted my X1 muffler a few times over the years/w flat black engine paint.My '05 12r is beginning to rust as well,and will get a coat over this next winter.If you can get a "good will" replacement for your '07 muffler great.But rusting isn't unusual or out of the ordinary.........to me. | ||
| Reepicheep |
I keep a can of black BBQ paint and hit the exhaust about once every other season. It looks great and holds up pretty well. You are supposed to replace that front exhaust strap when you do it though... thats an expensive clamp. Gotta get another can of that black paint... now that I have the KLR-250, I am going through it a lot faster  | ||
| Froggy |
Why do the mufflers rust so fast? I switched the muffler on my Ulysses from stock to the race pipe back in April at about 1200 miles, and it was fine back then, but i went and looked at my stock muffler the other day and its starting to rust, yet its been sitting in a closet since the switch. | ||
| Court |
I guess I should have been cleared in that the "you'll have no problem" meant getting in touch with them. That was the question I was asked and the question I answered (couldn't reach them, 4:38, must've left . . . and so forth) I have no idea if they'd replace it or not. For me, I'd just shoot the damn thing and keep riding. Without seeing it I can't make any guesses. All I know, with the info I have, is that you CAN reach them on Monday and they will treat you fairly. Hope that helps. . . Court from Krylon | ||
| Reepicheep |
Its good steel and it cleans up nicely with an angle grinder and wire brush. And now that I think about it, I hit mine at about 6000 miles when it was looking pretty bad, and it is now at 20k miles and still looks pretty good, so the second coat (black high temp bbq paint from home depot) seems to last a lot longer then the front. It's half exhaust, half skid plate, so I dont think its unreasonable that it is a "wear surface". | ||
| Jaimec |
And for the umpteenth time I ask: Why can't Buell make their mufflers from stainless steel??? The muffler on my K1200LT is the original. It is eight years old with 113,000 miles on it, and it is as shiny as it was when I took the bike home back in 1999! | ||
| Jaimec |
http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/327 77/296137.html | ||
| Court |
>>>>it cleans up nicely with an angle grinder and wire brush I did the same thing to both my kids . . . hit'em with a angle grinder and shot them with flat black bbq paint and haven't heard from them in years . . . seems to be an effective solution. | ||
| Bigdaddy |
My research has shown that the cheaper versions of BBQ paint hold up the best -- $.99 stuff from Big/Odd Lots works the very best. Don't waste the additional $1.00 on the expensive stuff | ||
| Ratbuell |
In my experience when painting hi-temp parts with hi-temp paint (like turbo manifolds on my cars, and wrinkle black valve covers on same), paint a hot part versus a cold part, it seems to stick and "cure" better. If you don't want to paint it on the bike (understandable), I've been known to use the BBQ grille on low. And if anyone tells my wife, I'll deny it | ||
| Sath |
Do you'all take off the muffler and paint? | ||
| Jaimec |
Sath, Check the link I posted earlier in this thread. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Generally thats the easiest... though you then are supposed to replace that front support strap. That makes surface prep a lot easier as well. I have touched up a few parts on the KLR by just masking stuff off with tape, and towels, and shooting a quick spray. But that was more to achieve a "rust resistant coating", not to get a good looking paint job. That bike has more of a "patina" then a paint job | ||
| Sath |
Thanks Jaimec, I'll take it off. That was my intent, just wondered. I've got the performance pipe, not polished and it has a lot of rust on it. Thanks again Sath | ||
| Jaimec |
Just found out (on the 1125r discussion board) that the new water cooled Buell will also come standard equipped with a painted, mild steel muffler. I don't understand what this phobia Buell seems to have with stainless steel. Maybe he's NOT in the motorcycle business, he's in the muffler business and makes most of his money selling replacement mufflers? I can't think of any other reason. Working with stainless steel isn't rocket science, damned near every OTHER motorcycle manufacturer out there uses it in their mufflers today.  Court, can YOU explain??? Everything else Erik does makes sense but this, and it REALLY cheapens what is an otherwise excellent product. (Message edited by jaimec on October 26, 2007) | ||
| Ratbuell |
Like every other part of a Buell, I suspect it has to do with the fact that a Buell muffler is not merely an "exhaust can". Helmholz (sp?) chambers can be costly to fabricate out of stainless - especially if you take the "ship in a bottle" factor into account. I can look in my V&H SS2R, or my Supertrapp...all I see is a tubular perforated core "baffle", an outer can, and an inlet opening and exit opening. I suspect there's quite a bit more to an 1125r muffler. Hey....THAT would be a cool cutaway, but I bet it has some proprietary stuff in there they don't want to "show off". Yes, I like the aftermarket cans on my tubers. However, having ridden the 1125, I seriously doubt I'd change a thing if I buy one. To me, it's *that* good. And if I recall correctly...Buell stopped selling accessory mufflers a couple years ago, so that ("Buell makes money selling mufflers") can't be it either. Perhaps Buell could start a new "Pro-Series" exhaust: same specs noise-and-flow wise as stock, but made from stainless steel. No EPA boogering to mess it up, no worries about being a "kinder, gentler" biking community...just the better material everyone is clamoring for. I wonder who'd spring for one given the exact same sound and performance as stock, when you consider it'd probably be an $800 or more piece? | ||
| Jaimec |
You don't think Buell makes money selling their legal mufflers then? They certainly aren't GIVING them away in my neighborhood (and they don't appear to be considered a warranty item either). | ||
| Spike |
Just out of curiosity, how many do you reckon he has sold? | ||
| Sath |
Kinda makes you wonder, when you see 07 with new pro mufflers on them. Either the shop has put them back or Eric has a bunch somewhere. I called a couple of dealers to see if they could find any out there at other dealers. (get this) the shops have different computer setups and all can't communicate with each other. No wonder we have problems with Buell dealers. | ||
| Lastcyclone |
I don't know where this thread went, but like most others I got the can in less than a week, covered by a generous warranty most other bike makers still don't offer. No charge, no questions asked, installed. By the way, the preformace and sound (the most quiet) on the stock seems to be just fine. If this one rusts, I'll just get another. | ||
| Jlnance |
Lastcyclone - I suspect you've already installed it, but if you haven't I'd recommend sending it off to get it ceramic coated. It costs about $60, looks great, and will never rust again. | ||
| Jaimec |
If that's all it costs an individual, one has to wonder why it isn't done at the factory where it can be done in bulk for far less... | ||
| Court |
There's a technical term related to being "pumped full of bullshit". Whomever told you that was either not as bright as they should be or just genuinely out of touch. If you would like to post their name and address I will have the dealer service folks call them tomorrow and bring them up to speed on the system that each and every dealer has. But . . .hey, it's the internet, right? | ||
| Sath |
I don't know the name of the dude that I talked to in parts, but it was at Tillies in Statesville. Then I called Crossroads at Wilksboro, and got the put off about being to busy to do the imput. Then there's the Smith bros at Johnson City. They once had the Buell dealership but gave it up cause Harley-Buell didn't give the Buell's enough help in advertising. So they can work on my bike (not warranty work) and can't order parts from Buell. You'd think they'd set it up like Ford/Lincoln, Chevy/Buick/GM, etc. I mean money is money. Then I still wonder where the new performance pipes come from occasionally? | ||
| Court |
Okay . . . . so a person without a name told you that Don Tilley (not Tillie), one of the dealers who can claim to have been involved with Buell 25 years ago, can't communicate with Buell? I think they are "funnin'" ya. . . . . if you do get a name and they tell you they are incapable of communicating with other dealers, have them call Bill Evers at Harley-Davidson Dealer Development. I'm sure that in his capacity dealing with dealers in one of America's most successful businesses. . . he'd be able and eager to resolve any issues. Harley-Davidson became the only company in the history of publicly traded corporations to realize INCREASED earnings for something like 67 consecutive quarters by keeping dealers (those dear folks who actually get the check written to them) out of the loop? True or false? Take a stab at it . . . .you get my point. It' preposterous. | ||
| Ratbuell |
My guess on the new race mufflers you keep seeing out there is, dealers had an advance heads-up when these and the "checkered flag" Screamin' Eagle exhaust products were being discontinued a couple years ago (MY '05, I think). I know many of them bought up shelf-loads of the S/E mufflers; probably quite a few bought some Buell race kits as well. I know about ten months ago when we did inventory we had a couple XB kits in stock that were purchased as "extras" (they've since sold). AFAIK the Motor Company frowns upon retailing these kits at this point...so they may be "hard to find" unless you know someone behind the parts counter. But I'm too far down the food chain to be totally up to speed on the political end of the Great Exhaust Debate, sorry. As far as "warranty mufflers", well...HD and Buell have very specific cosmetic guidelines I won't get into here, mainly because I don't know them well enough to accurately quote them. Typically though, if a muffler is still, well, 'muffling' and only has what is considered by the guidelines as "minor" cosmetic blemishes (surface rust, not perforations) as opposed to a functional defect, it won't qualify for warranty. Goodwill replacement thru the dealer, maybe (that's the dealer's choice)...but not factory warranty. | ||
| Spike |
A couple thoughts on Sath's interaction with Tilley's . . . All dealers should have the ability to check the new parts inventory of other dealers through hdnet.com. However, the inventory listed on hdnet isn't real time (I'm not sure how often it is updated) and like with any other inventory, it is not always correct. It also has no way of tracking parts that are not in the dealer's current inventory, such as used take off parts that the service department may have. I'm not sure how it works at Tilley's, but at the dealer where I worked all parts removed from a bike in the service department were considered used, even if they came off of a new bike. The sales department may decide to reuse those parts on another new bike in certain circumstances (swapping wheels between two new bikes, for example), but this has no effect on the inventory of the parts department. It was extremely rare (read: almost never) for parts from the service or sales department to be "sold" back to the parts department and placed into new inventory where they could potentially be tracked on hdnet.com. If a dealer was installing race mufflers on new Buells the OEM mufflers would likely stored somewhere to be delivered to the purchaser of the new bike. Other options would be selling the OEM mufflers as used parts or possibly even throwing them in the dumpster. One more thing- if you were to call your local Honda motorcycle dealer looking for an OEM muffler for an '05 CBR600RR I'm willing to bet that they not only would be unable to tell you what other Honda dealers have in stock, but they would also be unable to tell you what they have in stock without either talking to someone from the service department or walking back to check for themselves. | ||
| Sath |
I don't have a problem at or with Tilley's, its the apathy you get almost with all people in a lot of business. People now a days are lazy, just doing a job to get by. At least the one I called said he was to busy to do it. But thanks for the imput. Sath |
