| Author | Message | ||
     Photog |
To all... I'm not here to instigate, but I have a few very legitimate questions before I drop my $4500.00, so please be both civil and serious. First, I LOVE the Blast.... have since I saw it in 2001. That said, I've read ALL the horror stories and if even HALF of them are true, I've got real concerns. I have a 1978 Yamaha SR500 that, quite honestly, was flawless from day one. Can someone tell me {politely} why taking a good motor {the 883} and lopping off one cylinder would result in so many "ailments" ?? Once again, I am NOT here to cause trouble.... I really WANT a new Blast and NEED to know that after six years, they're finally perfect. It's a fair expectation that, the past notwithstanding, American motorcycles are now equal to what we've all come to expect from Japan. And since this will be my 33rd motorcycle {one Harley, five Triumphs and the rest Jap}, I don't wish to have a lecture... I just need real facts from Buell owners. Many thanks for your help, Bill | ||
| Ezblast |
2003 and above are bullit proof - period - Scotts' has 22,000plus miles - has survived over 5 hard crashes - not counting drops, and just keeps humming along - I can think of no bike as durable after that much abuse. Even with the advent of new Buells - they are still HD's most trouble free bike and still hold HD's standard as most reliable. PS Those two sites are authored by 1 person and are dirt old. GT - JBOTDS! EZ  | ||
| Photog |
Ezblast, While I have seen some bad things on Eopinions.com as well as the sites you reference, I do appreciate your honest reply. This is exactly the type of info I need. Best, Bill | ||
| Gearheaderiko |
Welcome! Relax, you've come to the Buell 'friendly' site! Concur with EZ. They are more trouble free than any other Harley even the twin cylindered 883. Minimal maintenance required. The general feeling I get from anybody who has owned more than 1 motorcycle is that the Blast is just that, a blast to ride. Buying brand new you should have many trouble free miles without the worry of whomever last worked on it or how they abused it. My Blast saw daily duty as a commuter bike for 2+ years (one crash) and is now a dedicated race bike. Still keeps on going. I missed riding the race bike so much I bought another Blast for the street. Feel free to ask specific questions on any problems (real or imagined) you have concerns about. Unfortunately researching on the web yields a lot of horror stories about everything. I'd probably never buy anything or even leave the house if I believed everything I read!  | ||
| Naustin |
I met a guy with 44,000 miles on his blast and he had nothing but good to say about it. (he didn't even know about this website). I have only 7,500 miles on my `03. I have never had a single problem with it. It has never stalled, leaked, bucked, backfired - nothing. Its been perfect. I bought it brand new and this is season 3. Honestly the only problem you might have is the intake coupler "boot". If you keep the stock air-box, which provides support to the carb, you will not have a problem. If you go to an aftermarket intake - the carb doesn't have enough support, and the coupler boot will sometimes tear. Not everyone has the problem, some guys deal with it a lot. So - do like me and keep your stock airbox and save the headache.  Also, there are limited tire options. 3,500 miles is about average for a rear tire on this bike. The different brands each have slightly diffrent wear and performance attributes - and real world mileage is 2,000 - 5,000 depending on brand and riding style. I got 3,000 out of my stock tire, and 3,500 out of the 1st replacement, and I have about 1,000 on my 3rd rear tire. Keep in mind that I replaced the tires when they reached the wear indicator. I could probably have nursed quite a bit more mileage out of them if I pushed them until bald. The fronts last about double the rear. The bike does use oil. Its the nature of the beast. As it breaks in, it will use less. At high speed, there is some evidence that the bike will siphon oil through the PCV valve, and it will thus use significantly more oil. Personally, I don't have a problem adding a few ounces of oil a couple of times between oil changes. And I figure a little oil in the fuel mix when I'm running 80+ probably isn't a bad thing. But, if you treat it like a jap bike and never check the oil, you're going to regret it. If I keep my bike under 60-65 mph, it uses basically zero oil. If I'm running it really hard (75-80 mph)it needs a few ounces fairly regularly. I added maybe 1/2 a quart total between my last oil changes (across 2,500 miles). Again, I think it starts to siphon froth through the PCV valve at high rpm. Well. As Gear said, feel free to ask more specific questions. You've owned a lot of bikes and you know what you're looking for. If you've ridden a Blast and you like it, then buy it. Remember though, not every Harley Dealership is a Buell dealer, and some of them simply don't want anything to do with it. So, make sure if you buy a new one, you buy from a dealer that has more than 1 or 2 buells on the floor and poke around the service department a little. Ask for the Buell Tech and chat him up. You'll be able to tell if they're going to treat you right later on. My dealer has been excellent, for the record. nick (Message edited by naustin on July 10, 2006) | ||
| Swampy |
Welcome, Photog, My Big Kid has beat the living crap out of his, a 2001, with I figure minimal problems for 16,000 miles. The only thing I would think would give you trouble would be the 3000-3500 mile rear tire mileage and possibly the front engine mount(Isolator)(there has been lots of discussion of a "Bad Batch"), and on the older ones the ignition module going bad, he also had an oil pump drive gear go bad. These bikes are really easy to work on and it gives you the added benefit of learning alot about it while you do. Otherwise they are a real joy to ride and own. | ||
| Photog |
Impressed.... !! Many thanks, guys, for your honest input ! I've seen many sites where, if you write in and are not fawning all over the subject at hand, everyone is quick to tell you " if you don't love such and such, leave.." blah blah blah. One other question for the future... I heard a Blast last year that sounded awesome, though I couldn't find out what brand of pipe was on it {the SR500 has a white bros / supertrapp from eons ago and sounds great}. Anyway, any single w/stock exhaust sounds like a lawnmower and I'll be needing to get an aftermarket.... what's deep, throaty and not too offensive ?? Best to All and thanks again, Bill | ||
| Ezblast |
Jardine | ||
| Naustin |
The Jardine is the new kid on the block. The V&H is by far the best selling and most common aftermarket exhaust for the blast, and has been around since day one. I'd bet this was the pipe you heard. It is proven reliable, but does require repacking or it will overheat and shatter the baffles. The Jardine is virtually identical to the V&H. There were some initial complaints about mount reliability, but that may have been fixed, and I have not heard anything negative about them for a long time. An added bonus is that there is a "Quiet Core" insert you can buy and install in the Jardine can. There were 3 or 4 others (Bub - which I have, Kerker, White Bros, etc.) that were discontinued, including the Buell Pro-Series. Each was dropped either for lack of sales, or failing welds. The White Bros was the best pipe for sound, tunability and power, but it wasn't reliable and the warranty replacements forced White Bros to stop selling it. The only other option is the D&D, which EZ recently acquired. Its 50% more expensive and is basically a straight pipe. | ||
| Cobalt60 |
The blast does have it's little issues (oil consumption, speedo sensor, wheel bearings, rocker box leak etc). Every motorcycle does. Buell has fixed many of them on the later models the others are easy once you know what to do. Mine has been exceptionally reliable the last 7k miles. The first 10k were occasionally a little rough. I put more miles on the blast than any other motorcycle I own. Very comfortable, economical, fun and now reliable. I wouldn't buy a new one as they depreciate very quickly. An excellent used machine can be had for around $2k. I've got the pro series exhaust which sounds excellent. I may fabricate my next exhaust. I'd like at least an aluminum silencer and if I can get someone to fab a Ti header I'd be ecstatic. | ||
| Jprovo |
Photog - I've got 42,500ish miles on my Blast, and it's been fairly reliable. A few leaky gaskets, some motor mount issues, ignition module replacements, and a failed valve guide that was fixed under extended warranty. See my profile for more details on the troubles that I've had. For the most part it's been a great motorcycle with most of the problems caused by me rat racing it around and tossing it down the road!! On a side note, the roadracing Blasts that we have been running have proven very reliable while th Ascots that we have been racing against seem to have a lifespan of less than three months of racing!! |
