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     Barker |
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/main.jhtml?xml =/motoring/2007/09/08/nosplit/mfbike08.xml The Buell Ulysses and Buell Lightning take us on an Odyssey Updated: 12:01am BST 08/09/2007 Erin Baker, Andrew English and Kevin Ash report on our two long-term Buell test bikes Having had an unrestricted motorcycle licence for only nine months, and having ridden only two bikes during that time, I'm not exactly an expert on two-wheeled machinery. I passed my test, rode for two months, had a crash and rode for another three months on a Harley Sportster 883R. Then, in July, Harley lent me a Buell XB12Scg (see my blog and the full story at motoring.telegraph.co.uk). Sassy: Erin Baker loves the mean urban looks of the Buell Lightning Boy, did I like the Buell more. Lighter, faster and seemingly more stable at low speeds, it gave me so much more confidence that, attempting an extra-tight U-turn the day after it was delivered, I dropped the machine on its side and it required a new foot peg and front right indicator. Oops. Having ridden it in town and at motorway speeds, my novice observations were that the clutch lever felt a bit stiff, there was a lot of vibration through my weedy arms and the wing mirrors at idle and at speed, and I seemed to be wobbling quite a bit on it round tight bends such as mini-roundabouts. On the plus side, I found myself coming to a stop at junctions and able to sit on it for a second or so before putting my feet down (I'm 5ft 6in and the balls of my feet touched the ground comfortably). The front brake and throttle were easy to get used to after the Harley, because neither is too sensitive. The result has been that I haven't felt in danger of locking up the front wheel or wheelying off down the high street because none of the bike's responses has so far caught me by surprise (perhaps because, as a tentative novice, I still feed in some back brake and slip the clutch when setting off). It also has a greater fuel range with a pillion on board than the Sportster's 70 miles. Thank goodness. But I still can't get used to being on a bike with a fan whirring all the time to cool the V-twin engine: it sounds like a car. On the other hand, I love the fat back tyre and those mean urban looks. EB 'I'm so looking forward to you riding the Buell," said Erin on the phone. "I just need to know it's all right." I looked at the billowing black nylon cover; it looked as though it was covering a small pachyderm. "I won't like it," I thought, feeding my Harley Hate Worm. "It'll be massive and beastly to ride." Then I took the cover off, and wondered where the bike had gone. "All the exceptional handling characteristics of the original Lightning packaged in a streetfighter that boasts an even lower centre of gravity," gushes the blurb. Make that very small indeed and you are nearer the truth. I can stand astride the machine and lean it against my knee. With a seat height of 28.5in, it's like a monkey bike with a long-stroke, 1,203cc V-twin. I started it and far below me, the front indicators twirled like a stripper's tassels from the vibration. I could get to like this, I thought. The throttle felt a bit sticky, but presuming this to be a choked engine's sluggishness, I clanked it into first and headed off to do battle with the bad guys (that's work - ed). Riding this is strange indeed: your body is pressed forward in almost a backwards curve, like a sprinter taking the tape. You are sitting almost over the dummy tank with your legs folded up on the tiny pegs and your hands down by your hips on the flat-track bars. At low revs the vibration is almost unbearable, shuddering through the frame, your helmet and your head - it's hard to think, even see. Out on the road it's pretty quick; 81lb ft of torque sprints you up the road so fast you can short shift every gear without much loss in performance. Stable, too, although the steep steering rake means you do tend to fall into roundabouts unless you keep the power on. And the comfort? Better than you might think, but this is not a tourer by any stretch of the imagination. The weird riding position sees to that. By the time I got to London, I'd figured out what was wrong. The engine wasn't losing revs when I rolled off the throttle. It took a full 10 seconds to fall from 2,000rpm to idling speed. Didn't feel like a sticking cable and it's unlikely to be both throttle-body return springs, so maybe just one spring has gone, or perhaps the fuelling's out. Either way, it's more than enough to fire little Erin up the road with alacrity. No wonder she found it a handful, she's a bloomin' heroine, she is. We'll get it sorted and report back. AE About two years ago I had a phone call from the UK's Buell importer. In various Motoring bike test reports, not just of Buells but often of other machines where a Buell might be considered an alternative, I'd refer to the company's poor reliability record. It was justified: Buell regularly came bottom in the reliability tables compiled by Ride magazine, which asked 10,000 readers a range of questions about their bikes, and in my experience and that of colleagues in the monthly motorcycle press, Buells went wrong more often than other machines. Take two: Kevin Ash's second Buell Ulysses has so far made excellent amends for the bike it replaced Buell UK was not trying to stifle this comment by putting pressure on me, but by convincing me that things had changed. New assembly techniques and a major focus on reliability in the design and production processes meant, the caller told me, this was now in the past. And to prove the point, would I like to run a Ulysses for a year? It would not go wrong, he said, tempting fate. Fate duly succumbed: my Ulysses was the most unreliable long-term test bike we'd ever run at the Telegraph. It took the dubious honour of being the first press bike to let me down at the side of the road - the Oxford services on the M40, only a few miles from Buell's UK headquarters as it happened - since a Triumph Daytona 1000 died on me in 1992. The problem was the voltage regulator, which failed and prevented the alternator from charging the battery, which, thanks to the heavy electrical demands of modern fuel-injection systems, survived on its own for only another 15 minutes. It was when the bike was on the back of the recovery truck that I noticed just how dreadfully corroded the under-engine silencer had become - the bike was only two months old and it looked like the flaky back box of an ancient VW Beetle. Further problems included a dodgy connection - the lights only worked on full left- or right-hand lock (so to ride at night you had to go round in circles), a collapsed wheel bearing at 6,000 miles and failed indicators (twice). The fuelling was never right either, spluttering and coughing at low revs, especially in the cold. Again, Buell UK (part of Harley-Davidson UK) responded impressively: "That wasn't very good, was it?" said Paul Stroud, the managing director. "Have another." So in January this year a fresher Ulysses replaced my old one, and this time not a single thing has gone wrong; not even a bulb has blown. It's also a much sweeter bike, with perfect fuelling, less vibration and a lower seat. Another important change has been to replace the early model's Dunlop tyres with Pirellis, which transform the handling and especially the high-speed stability. The optional luggage is the best I've used and the bike is one of the most comfortable long-distance machines in my experience, if windblown at speed; it's a shame the low-fuel warning light comes on after only 120-130 miles or so. The pertinent question is, do I trust it? After 5,000 miles I'm beginning to, but the legacy of the previous Buell lingers: it hasn't gone wrong, but I won't be surprised if it does. We'll let you know how the rest of the year goes. KA |
