| Author | Message | ||
     Krait |
Hello again, all. I'm curious about the durability of Firebolts. Let's say you drop it in the garage or something equally low-speed... how badly damaged might the bike get? Will the fairing crack? Will the frame dent or crack? Will the mirrors fold or break? I'm drawn to naked bikes and the Buells in particular because it seems like they might be a bit tougher than a repli-racer. A small dent or scratch can add character, but broken plastic gets very expensive. This whole issue has been made painfully obvious recently. My Hayabusa and I were backed into by a car recently. I wasn't hurt a bit but the bike has more than $4000 of cosmetic damage. It seems to me that a naked bike in the same situation might have gotten off with far fewer repairs. | ||
| Chainsaw |
Dropped mine roadside in front of a Wyoming State Trooper. Fell over while parked on a highway embankment. (I'm now blaming the incident on the original side stand)  Landed in grass and gravel. I bailed off the bike and landed on two feet farther down the embankment. Scratched mirror and bar end slider, cracked turn signal lens. Everything is pretty "bendy" on the bike. I haven't replaced any of the scratched stuff. Every time I see it I'm reminded I'm not a good a rider as I think I am sometimes! All in all, the bike faired well. | ||
| Darthane |
Krait, I dumped mine in a decreasing radius downhill in NC going about 25mph. Scratches in the frame, no dent. Scratched up the right side a good bit and put a small dent in the header. The only really expensive thing I had to replace was the front fairing mount, which was about $110 (I snapped off the right side lower extension). Everything else I needed (turn signal, brake lever, foot peg, handlebar, new grip) ended up being less than $75, IIRC. You would be hard pressed to crack any of the plastic on a Buell, that Surlyn is tough shit. You'd have to hit it with something sharp or flex it WAY beyond whatever it's mounted to could handle and at that point the plastic isn't what you're worried about. If you can live with 'character' scuffs and scratches these bikes crash fairly well. I would, however, invest in the frame protectors from Trojan Horse - I will. they aren't that expensive and can save you a frame dent that would otherwise ruin your day. Your Hayabusa story is exactly why I will never, NEVER own a fully faired bike. Bryan | ||
| Cro13 |
I commute to work year round with my XB9R. Last January I got into trouble in a light snow fall going between 15-20mph. Went down on the left side and needed to replace the: left handle bar tube shifter mirror turn signal. Total replacement came to just under $100 The tail section was lightly scratched, my brother-in-law works in auto body used some kind of compound and about an hour later you wouldn’t even know it was there (unless you look real close) As a contrast When I started riding in 89 first bike was an EX500. I dumped it three times and spent more on fiberglass replacements parts than I paid originally for the bike Carter Smith 03 XB9R | ||
| Moboy516 |
I have dropped mine twice....damnit. But, fortunately, it only cost 6 bucks to fix. The turn signal lenses seem to be pretty fragile, but they made it cheap enough to replace rather than glue back together. |
