| Author | Message | ||
     Putmanadm |
Has anybody ever completely converted their lightning into a firebolt? What kinds of problems can I expect? How much did the whole project cost you? and what was the most difficult part of it? | ||
| Gearhead998 |
I did mine last spring. I swapped everything, subframes, bodywork, wiring harness, brake lines. The job really wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. Me and 2 friends completed teardown and rebuild in 8 hours. The hardest part of the job I would have to say would be the removing the wiring harness. It was just a pain to remove the fan and pull the harness out. The job only cost me shipping, I hooked up with a fellow badwebber and we just swapped parts. I have been working on cars and bikes for a long time, so the job wasn't that bad for me. Others may differ. Make sure you have a service manual. It will help. Good luck | ||
| Jaimec |
Why not just buy the Firebolt to begin with? Of course, I would love to see someone build the "Firebolt Long" that Buell didn't... | ||
| Ronlv |
i have done this conversion in my garage it wasnt bad, and we are not mechanics just swap with someone else | ||
| Xbob |
pictures ron? | ||
| Jaimec |
I'm not sure, but I THINK Ron said he SWAPPED his Lightning for someone else's Firebolt. Not EXACTLY the same as "converting" but probably less expensive and labor intensive...  (Message edited by jaimec on October 03, 2006) | ||
| Midknyte |
I've always wondered too why people don't just come/go looking to swap an R for an S or visa versa. Ok, I do know why. How hard a bike has been ridden or messed up is always an unknown and drives me to purchase a bike new. But still... | ||
| Gearhead998 |
I converted mine because the dealership i was stuck working with "couldn't find a dealer in the area that had a Firebolt", I lived in Milwaukee. Anyway, i was working at HD as a contractor at the time and one of my co-workers used his company discount for me. So I got the Lightning. Sometimes you do what you have to. | ||
| Winchcable |
In my neck of the woods insurance is cheaper on the S so converting an S to an R would be worthwhile but converting an R to an S would be like throwing money away in my opinion. Maybe that's why people convert? If you like the S I would think just buying the S would be cheaper overall. I would like to try and convert my Ss to an Rs to see if I like it but I'm not too sure it would work with the different frame. (Message edited by winchcable on October 03, 2006) | ||
| Drwood |
I am planning to convert the front of my Lightning Long to a Firebolt, the frame should be no issue because all of the mounting points are the same for all XB models. I will post pictures of the transformation when it occurs. | ||
| Ronlv |
me and marco(Coyote_xb12s) did the conversion, we did not swap bikes look at our profiles to see the pics, mine was a r model before the conversion marco drove up from az to my house in vegas and we did the swap and he went home the same day later, ron | ||
| Glitch |
the frame should be no issue because all of the mounting points are the same for all XB models. Nope, the XBR and XBS frame mounts are not the same as the XB12Ss or the XB12X, because the frames are different. | ||
| Kowpow225 |
Really? Insurance differences between R and S? I guess anything's possible nowadays. I found that the 3 years between an 03 and an 06 XB9S yields substantially different premiums. Now I'm down to $250 a year. An 06 would run me $1100. | ||
| Drwood |
Nope, the XBR and XBS frame mounts are not the same as the XB12Ss or the XB12X, because the frames are different. The front mounts for the XBR fairing are on the XBSs frame so the fairing bracket should mount up with no problems. I am keeping the tail from the XBSs intact, I hope it looks as good as the standard Lightning with a Firebolt fairing. | ||
| Glitch |
Gottcha  I hope it looks as good as the standard Lightning with a Firebolt fairing. I'm sure it will. Better hurry though Silverbullet is thinking about doing the same thing. | ||
| Metalstorm |
There's a definite difference in insurance rates between an R and an S here in Nor Cal. If it wasn't a few hundred dollars cheaper to insure a 12S than a 9R (yes 9 I didn't bother to ask how much for a 12R) I'd probably be riding a 9R right now rather than my beautiful 12Scg. So I guess it worked out for me. I really like my 12S. |
