| Author | Message | ||
     Fulgur |
Greeting all. I thought I would let you know I was now here. I am new to Buells and new to this site and I cant get on the internet as often as I would like but I'll try to be here as much as I can. I havent found anyone else with a Buell in my aria so I have only my own experiance with them to go from. I wrote a bit of a story for a mates club over in Holland that they requested and by way of an introduction I have added it below too}. Any comments that anyone has about anything that dosnt ring true would be great as I havent had the opertunity to experiance other bikes the same. Sorry if it is a bit long and it is how I felt at the time (last week - 6000 km) Cheerz.....Fulgur. Real world Buell XB12R Firebolt road report. I had read many road and track tests on the Firebolt before owning one and found it difficult to relate to many of them for different reasons. Whether the test was from a shoot round a track or a quick day trip, this didn’t tell me what to expect on a day to day basis living with a Bolt. So it was pretty much left to my own experience and feelings to make up my own mind. A test ride obviously helped as well. So lets go back into a bit of history first to give you a background on myself and what I was trying to achieve. So as to give you an idea if you can relate to this review I have written. I have been involved with motorbikes for sixteen years now. I started off in England riding choppers and tinkering with customizing, learning from the ones who had done it before or just plane old trial and error. I have been through a lot of bikes in this time both standard and in various stages of customization. Sports, naked, choppers, cruisers, tourers or off roaders. You name it, I’ve ridden it (not always well) or something similar. For the past few years I have had only customs and cruisers with a few rides on mates’ bikes of many flavors. My big love recently has been my Suzuki 1400 Intruder. It started of standard but after two strip downs and rebuilds it became a fat low-rider. I still love it but recently moved to a country that has slightly less than smooth roads, even by the rest of European standards. This meant that short rides became slightly painful but worth it, long rides better have a good reason and commuting a nightmare to even think about (must be getting old). So a new ride was required. I had never owned a street-fighter and some consideration was put into building one. Over here these haven’t really took off and the ones I have seen proved that these mainland Europeans need to be shown how to do it properly. Unfortunately two things stood in my way, first of all, time (I don’t have much of it to put into a project) and secondly the grey suit bureaucrats here are quite intent on telling me what I can and can’t ride. A trick framed, nitrous burning banshee would be far too much for them to get their heads around. I didn’t want a full on sports bike, too many the same around and boring unless you are breaking the sound barrier. A ride on a mates tricked up Honda Fireblade reminded me of that. It went like this. Back end off the floor up to the roundabout, flick one way, flick the other, wheelie, 140 mph, yawn, take it back, nice bike mate but too good, if you know what I mean. Another cruiser? Been there. Tourer? done that. You get the picture. I needed something usable day to day, a new experience, something different, something that I didn’t have to invest too much time in, something that would do most of everything good and most of all something I would enjoy. This would not be easy. Anyway, after much searching and thinking I was down to a few bikes that I thought would be acceptable. The New Kawazaki Z1000 (Don’t know why I like it but I do). The KTM RC8 (love the looks, I would have had to paint it black though). One of the new XB Buells (not sure at this time between the R or S). Or get something like an old GS750 or XS1000 (Z1000, CB1000, CB750, GS 850, etc) and adapt it to my needs (lets face it these old beasts are bags of fun. Hell I might still get one and play with it anyway). I went off the new Z1000 when I took a good look at the bike shop. I liked the bike but two other guys were in there buying one each and getting the same would have felt like just being a sheep. I spoke to the KTM people and they just didn’t want to sell me one. I kid you not. They just showed no interest in giving me information, telling me where to get one, who the dealers was, nothing. Didn’t even brag about how great it was. No interest, no passion. Not just one person either. This didn’t give me confidence about the brand and made me think about how much of a bitch it would be to get anything else out of them if you needed something in the future. No thanks. After a shopping trip with my wife, bro and kids we passed a Harley dealer and saw the Buells in the window. Sod it, I’m gona take one of those out for a test ride. The dealer practically pushed me on a Lightning XB12S. I shoved a lid on and away I went. This is a story in its self with the dealer running back out as I shot up the road looking worried and someone else coming back on one looking very frightened and white. But I digress. The character of the engine jumping about in the frame was great and the torquie cruiser like response was similar to my hopped up Intruder but more revie. I took it for a nice long ride while my family weighted back at the shop and wondered if I had trashed it. Upon returning I decided that I wanted to take out the XB9R Firebolt he had in. Even with the smaller engine I preferred it both in looks and ride. I was sold there and then on a Firebolt but with the bigger lump. With the decision made I had to weight a bit until I had the funds and made a move to a new house. This time was well used to do some more research on the Buell bikes. After the move I went down to the local Harley dealer and ordered a new Firebolt XB12R. Two days and it was in for me. The dealer was friendly and just knowledgeable enough to put my mind a bit at ease. Unfortunately the bureaucrats stepped in again and I had to weight a bit longer for all the legal •••• to be done before I could begin to ride. Picked it up. OK, now we can learn about it in the real world and so I can tell you about it now. Lets try to go through this in as close to a logical manner as I can. You get a swish key in the shape of the Pegasus, stick it in the ignition on the top yolk. I tend to keep the key separate and clip it to my key ring when not in the bike as opposed to permanently attaching it to my keys and have them scratch up the yolk. Turn the key to on and the lights come on, both on the dash and running lights. The needles do a sweep of the clocks to show a self test. Set the kill switch to run and you get a surprise from the screech of the fuel pump coming up the mark. Some times this is load and some times not, I haven’t quite figured out the reason why yet. Check engine light in the distinctive V-twin shape comes on and goes off again. Press the start button, no throttle, no choke, no clutch and it starts 95% of the time after a quick spin of the starter, Other wise a 2mm twist of the throttle will sort you out. The oil light goes off and you are just left with the neutral. Now lets stand back a moment and have a look at her. Petite isn’t she. You wont see anything else with those lines. The much known fuel tank frame and the rest of the trick bits come together to set this aside from other bikes. It is like Marmite, you will love it or hate it. The engine jumps around a fare bit more than the frame. Some might not like this or find it disconcerting, I like it for some reason, it seems to remind you that its character is linked to its heritage of a load of monsters vibrating the towns as they ride through. Give it a few little revs and the engine now rocks back and forward like a drag car engine rocks side to side. I like that too in a strange and unusual way. Don’t try this unless you are on a level or slightly uphill surface as she will fall over. I am lead to believe that Eric and his teem have designed the side stand to flick up instead of flick you off in the event that you are having a bad day and start to ride off with the stand down. Which could result in death or serious injury, or just make your bad day much worse. Always make every effort to park on a flat patch, if not possible point it strait up the hill, you’ll be glad you took the time although you didn’t look cool screwing about. Throw your leg over and I personally find it a bit tall being a mere five foot four with short legs. Although I can get all my toes on the floor unlike many other bikes I have owned, where I end up sliding over on the seat to just put one foot down. Let’s go. The clutch is not the lightest but is way light enough. Gears are a bit clunky compared to any modern bike I can think of and it don’t get any better going up through them. On colder or damper mornings it can hiccup on occasion in the first minute of being started. Taking it easy at this point (the engine aint warm yet) you will realize that cruising between two and three grand is easy and pleasant. The riding position really depends on the riders style and size. The short legs that made the seat feel tall, now feels fine on the high pegs. Where as the slightly taller person may start to feel that the pegs are in a proper sports position. I am pretty sure that the actually tall out there will feel like their feet have been shoved up there ••••••• and onlookers will think the same. The clipons are low and forward but not to the extent of forcing the rider to be leaning over too far in most cases. The numbers on the speedo are clear but could do with being a little bigger. The Revs are however shown very clearly making it seem like that is the important bit and knowing the speed you are traveling is mealy an afterthought about the legal stuff again. Sports or track riders may like this concept but this is the real world remember and there are plenty of cameras out there that will be just too pleased to inform you of your actual velocity if you weren’t too sure, for a price. Staying with the dash for a moment. The low fuel trip meter is useful and without a reserve tap, necessary. I still haven’t found a use for two normal trip meters. The clock is there as it should be. Toggling between them while riding can be difficult as the mode button hides behind the clutch cable. I would like to see it self scroll between the clock, trip one and odometer during normal riding like many aftermarket digital Speedos do for the custom bikes. Until you hit low fuel and then stick on the low fuel trip until you fill up. The warning lights are obvious and easy to read. Complaints about the sun shining through the orange screen and looking like the low fuel warning light is on are hugely exaggerated. Personally the only other instruments I would like to see there are an oil temperature gauge and an outside temperature gauge. I have added the latter already and the former is in the pipeline. The nose cone and screen give adequate protection from the elements for the size. Some more wouldn’t go amiss though and you can get aftermarket screens for this reason if preferred. Standard is enough wind protection to make commuting achievable in the not so good weather as long as you are not a wimp about these things. Not enough to save a strained neck if you are planning a long motorway ride at anything above the speed limit and you are over five foot two. Duck a bit and all becomes easier. The seat is comfy enough for a good hour or two riding without any worries. I tend to sit way forward on the seat in the narrow part as I am short and find this gives me the best feeling of control and comfort. Taller folks will probably be better off as the seat widens out further back. I find that both the bike and I feel most combatable on the motorway cruising at 140 KMH. This is on the naughty side and a concerted effort has to be made to keep it at 120. If you can achieve the speed limit (120kmh) which equates to the engine humming just below four grand then you might be surprised at how economical it turns out. I commute 160 km (100miles) a day on 85% motorway. This costs me around eight to ten liters of the amber nectar usually, depending on how much I play and how late I am. If I manage to keep a constant 120kmh and not thrash it around the country roads it is closer to six to seven liters. To save you the math that’s 16 to 20 kmpl usually or 23 to 26 kmpl best. Have a play around the country twisters and this figure drops like a concrete parachute but is still way acceptable. Actual numbers depend on road conditions and how hard you are riding. I have to comment on the mirrors. I like how close in they are to the bike for those times that shimmying through a traffic jam is required. This has an unfortunate side effect, they are useless to see behind you with. I get a great view of my elbows and some of the road behind to the left and right but nothing actually behind me or to the sides. I am fabricating an upgraded mirror to resolve this as I really can’t live with it any longer. Let’s get onto some proper roads now. First off if you don’t know what static sag and rebound damping is and what it actually means, learn quick or don’t get a Firebolt. To find that marriage of man (or woman) and machine you will have to adjust the squidgie things to suit your weight and riding. At least get it close. Setting the suspension up as per the recommendations in the owners’ manual can get you close enough to find out that the XB12R can be both confidence encouraging and more to the point enjoyable. The power delivery from the lump and through the belt is wide and smooth which results in less gear changing. A nice note from the exhaust greets the cows and goats along the hedgerows. Most bumps get soaked up more than adequately even in the bends. An all round pleasant experience. Something you will have to try and get used to is the constant variety or buzzes, wines and whirls that emanate from underneath you in any situation and at any speed. The fuel pump and fan are the worst offenders. The fan can scream for ages some times even when you are parked up. It dose not bother me and although many people will say that they think it is horrible, most will ignore it after a bit. It can be a bit horrible to ride in town traffic if you get stuck in it due to the issue of low revs highlighted below. I find the best way in town is to use the power and quick handling to zip your way through when possible and safe of cause. Let the revs drop below two grand and you are in the wrong gear, change down. There is no reason I can find to be here as at this range there is next to no power and what there is there is uneven and unusable. The two grand mark is like a wall, one side is full of useable, smooth power and torque rite from the go. The other side is plain nasty. This can be a bit of a problem on some roundabouts where first seems a bit aggressive but second is jerky and uncomfortable. I never noticed this on my test rides though. Luckily a small pull on the throttle can get you out of this twilight zone in no time. I still haven’t had the huge hero pegs scraping yet, even on the roundabouts. Is it a lack of bottle on my part or because this babe will go so far over? Now, open it up a bit and you can really abuse her. Now she isn’t one of your Japanese bondage hoers, who will take day after day of hard abuse and just see it as part of the job. Think of her more like an American rock chick, Abuse her often and she will love you for it but to get away with this behavior you will have to treat her nice too, with the timely oil changes, services and regular general good care procedures. There is more than enough power for sports enthusiasts to have fun with and handling to boot. Super-sport riders will acknowledge the available torque but may find that there is a lack of power and they will be quickly running out of revs just when they are reaching their sweet spot. On the other hand once again in the real world, that sort of power use should probably be for the track. I am sure a lot of sport and super-sport riders may like the Buells for actual use and have a carbon race faired gusset zinger for a spank around the track at weekends with the mates. Unless I hold on very tight with my legs, accelerating fast sends me sliding to the back of the seat and not feeling like I can enjoy it so much, pity as I prefer that to top end. Those who can nuzzle there ••• into the rear seat bubble will be fine, even when the front lifts. Others like me will either have to find a way around it or start training those inner thighs. Oh, and remember that not having huge HP means less wallet bashing from the insurance companies. Use of the front break can be quite entertaining. It will lift the back end if you like but due to the smallness of the bike it can feel like you can fall over the front without doing this. Apart from the inside out disk looking cool as a shaved polar bear it scrubs off speed extremely well and doesn’t pull to the side like older single disk setups. In an emergency you will be glad it dose a good job. Panic and grab at it and it will be a bit more forgiving before locking up the wheel than other strong systems. She will stand up if you break in a bend. I had to actually try this as an experiment as I ride by breaking before the bend not in it, old fashioned I guess. It dose make a bit of a strange noise in use but just about everything dose on one of these things. The standard rubber donuts stick fine on the road and do exactly what is expected of them but I wore mine out in 5000 km. I thought that was far too soon. Not so good in the wet. Chose another brand for extra sticky and you will up your un-sprung weight. Chose another boot to get better commuting miles and the same again. As with any bike, tire selection tends to be a personal thing but the standard ones on it do a good all round job minus their life expectancy. Assuming reasonable riding ability of all concerned, the Firebolt will play happily with the modern 600cc sports bikes, have fun with the higher cc naked bikes, out maneuver the choppers, cruisers and older sports bikes etc and have little hope keeping up with the modern super-sports. Mostly due to the power, handling is about the same or better. But how many of you come across riders with reasonable skills on the street? I haven’t taken a pillion on the back at this time. I have even removed the passenger pegs for now as I prefer the look. So I can’t give any feed back on the rear seat comfort issue etc. When new I have found that locating neutral can vary between difficult and next to impossible, at a stand still. This gets easier with more use and a change of oil. I try to slip it into neutral when I am still rolling just before I stop. It is easy then. I have had one instance where after a good thrash I quickly slowed to make a turn onto another road, didn’t stop but used second gear at two and a half grand to make the turn. Whacked the throttle wide open and the engine stumbled until it hit three and a half grand and then took off as usual. If it was carbureted I would have thought it was a float height problem. It hasn’t done this again even though I have tried to recreate the fault. So it is still a mystery to me. I have however read a report from a track day that suggested that a long heavy breaking can starve the fuel pump for a bit. This would be consistent with what I felt and the reason I have not had the problem again is that I have had a nearly full frame of gas when I have tried it since. No handling, engine, electrical or any faults so far. Suggesting that the reputation for being the most unreliable bikes possibly isn’t true. Of cause I could be speaking too soon, I hope not. A bit of a recommendation to those of you that do buy one. Load the rings properly when running in (I don’t mean thrash the tits of it and I don’t mean using no more that 1/8th throttle and keep it below tick-over for the first million miles either, plenty of articles about this on the net. I was surprised that the Buell owners manual hints at this, much braver that the rest of the manufactures). Change the oil and filter (swinging arm) on or before 100 km. I use 100 km as it is a nice round number and seems to work well for me. Replace it with mineral oil, none of that synthetic stuff yet, even though the Harley dealers will try to convince you that that is what you need. You don’t want to glaze up your engine right from the start it will be nothing but problems to you. Those problems will be amplified due to the type of engine this ride is running. When I changed the oil the first time you could see the oil itself was still top notch but the amount of crap in it from the build and initial running in wear was amazing. Get it out. | ||
| Fulgur |
The XB12R in my opinion makes a great all rounder for actual road use. If you want a bike for a specific job only, then there are better ones for that job than the Buells. But consider this. The Firebolt has adequate power to do about anything on the road. Excellent handling for those country road play times. Enough wind protection for a commute or tour. Has character for those who want to get away from the sterile feel of most other bikes available. Can cruise happily anywhere. Is different enough for that special feel you get with a custom. I could go on. One could get used to admiring stares and sick of answering questions about anything from all the trick parts on it to why did you buy one. Without a doubt I think Erik should give himself a pat on the back and bonus to his teem for producing the best stock bike on the market, period. For all round enjoyment on real roads it’s the best. Maybe I should add that I think it is the sort of bike for a motorbike enthusiast, the sort that is into everything from riding to maintenance and all the rest not just for two Sundays in a year types. The whole package comes together so well to become more that the sum of its parts. I am not sure what else I can write so I will just finish off with a list of points as a sort of summary. It may seem like I am being picky but that is all that is left on such a great bike. Tires – predictable grip. Not cheep. Not great in the wet and will squire off quick with lots of motorway use but if you want to improve on any of these point you will be sacrificing others. Mine were trashed in 5000 km and I didn’t do any stunts etc. Wheels – look great. Easier to clean that spokes by a long way. Front break – Trick as ••••• Stops excellent. What more do you want? Rear break – Dose the job. Unobtrusive. Forks – good quality and very adjustable. Do we really need those reflectors though? Swinging arm – works well. Difficult to fill with oil without a funnel, not exactly easy with one. The dipstick is just usable but looks cheep. The bendy plastic doesn’t fill me with confidence that it is showing the correct level. Doing an oil change means either dropping the old oil on the exhaust or devising a way around it, I use a Tupperware tray with a hole in it that flows into the oil pan. I get a good look at it that way too. Frame – pure artwork. Looks great. Easy to fill without spilling any juice. Stiff. Oh, and other stuff bolts to it. DDFI 2 – Dose everything for you. This is the big brother, it is hooked into everything, it has more sensors than the USS Enterprise and probably more computing power too. Seems to do the job well so far. Best to learn about it so that if it dose go wrong you can trouble shoot it yourself first as I can bet that getting a Harley dealer to do it will cause some frustration and lots of cash. Engine – looks good. A warty pig below 2 grand. A souring dragon above 2 grand. There has to be a better way to fill and level check the oil instead of through the casing. Stop it with the kill switch and then turn key to off and not just turn the key. Checking or changing sparkplugs takes some time. Is a talking point when you meet other riders out and about. Is easy to keep maintained but do it. Rear cylinder can get the genitals nice and warm through the seat on occasion, not hot though. Fan seems to spin almost constantly from 2 minutes down the road to two minutes after stopping. I have not done a power wheelie yet but the front will lift easy in the first two gears with a flick of the clutch. Gearbox – Clunky as hell. Don’t try to shift quick like a slick sports bike and don’t bother short shifting. Do it properly and slowly at first and the speed will come. If Eric and his team want to concentrate their genius somewhere, this is the place to improve first. Just smooth it out. Clunky even for a custom. Chin fairing – remove it to change the oil filter. The gray color at the front just don’t look right on the black model but you can live with it. Rear seat bubble – you can get this off the bike without removing the pillion seat, not good. Apart from that it looks good and dose the job. Rear light – really should be L.E.D. Welcome the 21st century, come one. Indicators – look about the best for standard. Once again should be LED for this day and age. Front lights – look great, work well. I’ve had no problems. Higher wattage on the main beam is an improvement for country roads at night but make sure you turn it off for oncoming traffic. Exhaust – Is so in the right place. Sounds fine. Dose not dump fuel fumes over your foot at a stop. The down pipes are stainless which is good thing if you plan on any wet trips or if you are like me not planning but hit the rain anyway. Pillion seat – looks good. Looks usable. Not tested so I don’t know. The strap thing is for shoving your gloves under right? Unclips if you use to key in the lock on the side of the bike. This reveals a small compartment big enough for an alarm and a few tea bags, an extra tool or two, just. You also get a small tool kit in there. This contains a C-spanner for the shock, useful. A two ended screw driver, Many uses for one of these. A conversion tool for getting the axels out, useful. A tool for removing body bolts and lots of others, very useful, surprisingly you can do 80% of most jobs with this little chap. A peace of dental floss that is supposed to be a helmet lock, Erik dose have a sense of humor. Fasteners – Are the best I have seen on any standard bike. There is always room for improvement but Buell have gone one better than most. Adding Titanium disk bolts would be a nice touch if you can find them, I might machine some up myself. Bodywork – Looks great. Scratches and swirls easy but will polish up. Fits very well. Here is a tip, if you take the under-tray off make sure there are no small stones in there because it fits so well that even a five mm round stone will have you cursing that non of the screws line up with the holes for half an hour. Don’t ask me how I know this. Shock – plenty of adjustment and easy to mess with. Just as well because you will have to. Tip two, set the suspension as per the manual for a starting point then you wont have to do so much turning to set your sag when you do it and will be closer to your other settings too. Seat – Comfy enough. Has a bit that juts out to the front on each side that sits along the bike to give you more grip with the top of your legs, this is good. Material is very good. Snorkel – Pity it covers so much of that lovely engine. Must be there for a reason and is something else a bit different from other bikes out there. Nose cone – I don’t like the way I can see all the wires and guts from underneath, gona have to see what I can do about that. I have say it again though, looks absolutely great. Adequate wind protection in conjunction with the sexy bright orange screen. The bracket that holds it and the clocks is top dolla but like the chin pan, gray just aint its color. Fuses and relays are easy to get to, too easy for any passing jealous tow-rags to try and play with when you aint looking. Not happened yet but you see my point. Mirrors – Look OK. Hate the “objects are closer…..” bullshit that won’t peel off writing on them. Have to be modified to be really useable. You can get away with pulling them in and then you can see behind you but most of the mirror is taken up by your arm. Nice and close in to the bike. Stickers – Here is a thing. Upon purchasing one of these you will have to spend some time unpeeling the horrible warning stickers all over the bike. It would seem that this is the most dangerous bike on the planet as everything on it can cause “death or serious injury” but usually if you do the most stupid things to it like trying to weld something to a fuel filled frame. I am sure Erik doesn’t want to treat his customers like idiots and this has got to be grey suit •••• that winds him up as well. So we will have to put up with it. Side stand – Be careful not to knock it in gear when you put it down. Flicks up easy. Looks like a simple bit of kit but a lot of thought has gone into this on further inspection. As has just about anything you look at in more detail. No engine kill switch if you put it into gear like most new bikes have. This doesn’t bother me as I was riding for years before they came out and I took the one off my Intruder when I customized it, so I am used to not having one. Park on a level spot or uphill or you will be swearing and polishing. Frame pucks from Buell – I liked the look of these. Offer some protection to that arty frame without taking the lines away. Also give the knees a little more wind protection. I wasn’t convinced about the sticking power of the pads on the back especially once warmed by a ride out so glass fibered mine on. Clocks – Revs are shown clearly. Numbers on speedo are a bit small. Rest of the warning lights are clear. Mode button hard to get to once riding. I think most would prefer a fuel gauge rather than just a light, I would. Switch gear – Good quality. Switches in the same places as most other bikes. No lights on and off on the right side as the lights come on with the ignition. Clutch lever – Could do with being adjustable like the break lever. Break lever – Dose what you need it to. Adjustable. Grips – normal 7/8 bar size. Don’t slip. Fuel Filler – Easy to open and use. What can I say, looks good too. Oil cooler – Can’t help feeling that a thrash on a hot day followed by getting stuck through town would require more cooling but I suppose people in the states run these bikes around in Arizona and I have heard of no problems. Air-box cover – Again it fits in with the styling of the bike. Underneath there is another cover on the actual air-box that you have to peel away some wires and tubes to get off to change out the air filter, an easy operation. Take care when replacing the interactive exhaust actuator on the top of the air-box in its foam casing that nothing is restricting its movement. Front fender – keeps most of the road crud off the fork legs and most of the splashes off your face so in all an adequate piece of kit. Rear fender – I am pretty sure that it is just there for the looks as it seems too small to stop the water from flicking up and the state of my under-tray confirms that it is the one responsible for stopping my sandwiches from getting soggy. Pegs – big enough to use and your feet don’t slip around. I have had my toe down on roundabouts and it felt lower than a snake’s tuppence, but still haven’t scraped the hero pegs. Belt drive – Excellent. No maintenance, just replace it once every million miles. No jerking or snap due to the tensioner. The tensioner looks the dogs too when you are going slow or just setting off as it spins backwards. Number plate bracket – I cut it down as it stuck out the side of the number plate. Tail section side reflectors – I took them off to give a higher back end look. That’s about it. I hope this has been of help to someone and at least killed some time for others. | ||
| Cataract2 |
Hmm, I'll have to read through this on an off day. | ||
| Eurotwins |
I'm afraid to ask what time it is....John | ||
| Whodom |
I think this may THE most comprehensive Buell XB review written yet. VERY thorough and well-written. Fulgur- welcome aboard, and glad to see that you like your Buell. (Message edited by whodom on July 05, 2005) | ||
| Ted |
"Stickers – Here is a thing. Upon purchasing one of these you will have to spend some time unpeeling the horrible warning stickers all over the bike. It would seem that this is the most dangerous bike on the planet as everything on it can cause “death or serious injury”"  same deal with the owners manual ! | ||
| Hattori_hanzo |
Hey Court, you need to ship this review to Erik. Sign this guy up for Buell PR in Europe! Fulgur, that was one heck of a write up. I'm just glad you liked your bike. I could imagine what you would've wrote if you didn't! | ||
| Emscityx |
what is a "snake’s tuppence" ? Do North American snakes have tuppences ? Nice write up, Fulgur, welcome to the gang. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Nice description! For shifting, replace the transmission oil with some Mobil 1 Gear oil, follow the factory manual to the letter to set primary chain tension, then to adjust clutch. Do every last detail they describe, *just* like they describe it. It won't be perfect, but it can make a day and night difference. The Pirelli Scorpion Syncs (like on the 9sx) will give you a little more life at the cost of just a *little* dry grip, and will probably gain grip on the odd stuff (like cobblestones, gravel, and grass). A net gain, IMHO, and probably more then enough tire for a street bike. Again, thanks for the writeup, it was great! | ||
| Knotrider |
holy smokes dude, i'll have to read that when i get more time. | ||
| Metalstorm |
Excellent review.  It was worth reading through all that. Thanks for taking the time to do that. Welcome to BadWeb  | ||
| Dcentric |
ummm ... if you're not a writer (homophones aside) you should consider that profession. you've definitely got a flair for telling a good story. nice write up bro! | ||
| Court |
>>>Toggling between them while riding can be difficult as the mode button hides behind the clutch cable. Precisely one of the two suggestions I made upon returning my CityX to East Troy. In fact, there is an unused blank button spot in the right handlebar. Time will tell. The only thing I'd take exception to in the (very nice) write up is the fasteners. The exposed fasteners on the Buell were showing signs of obvious corrosion within days of being parked. It's something that could easily be changed out by an owner based on the level to which the aversion rose. The reflectors (my left on well....left) are required by regulation as are the myriad of warnings. Welcome to America. Each one of those warnings represents not so much a warning as a memoir to a past lawsuit where someone didn't connect the mental dots and realize that high speed operation without having reconnected the brake lines could lead to trouble. In America we see stupid as compensible. Great review, Court | ||
| Doughnut |
}In America we see stupid All the time.  | ||
| Fulgur |
Thanks all for your comments and welcoms. Yep, I love my Firbolt. I am glad you like the review but as I am happy with the Firebolt I dont think I will have to write another one. I will have to oppertunity to get some Avon Azarios for cost soon and so I will try them out first and let you know. Reepicheep - My next service is at 8 grand and not far away, I will of cause be doing it myself and will use your suggestions with the Trans'. My biggest consern was with the bellow 2 grand revs problem, is this normal? TPS reset or any other mod any of you boys n girls know to sort it out? I now understand the sickers/manual thing. Cort - what was your other suggestion? Thanks to all again......Fulgur. | ||
| Plsdks |
Hey Fulger Here's how to find neutral whether rolling or stopped. Pull in the clutch, give her a rev, and shift to neutral just after the apex of the rpm curve - it works like a charm. | ||
| Fulgur |
Cheers Plsdks but apart from now and then it slips in ok now. Still gona put mobil in it though. |
