| Author | Message | ||
     Buellthatcould |
Hey all, Just discovered this website, and I can imagine I will be checking back here often! After a few months of drooling over the sexy xb12r, I decided against better financial judgment to buy one. So here in my garage I have a beautiful new white and blue xb12! I have a few questions along with my introduction. I've been riding kawasakis ever since I started riding, so I'm not familiar with the dynamics of the HD engines. - Why is the gearbox so ... yucky?! My ZX7 shifts 100% smoother and more consistent. I feel like I'm going to break the shifter getting back into first sometimes. - After the break in maintenance will the bike run better? When I bought it, they had to change the spark plugs due to fouling (with 4 miles on it). I'm hoping this is not a sign that I got a lemon. Anyway, nice to see a buell dedicated forum that has activity on it. Looking forward to getting to know all of you!   | ||
| Thespive |
First of all congrats on a BEAUTIFUL new bike. #1 - The gearbox is incredibly improved over previous XBs, and should feel better after break-in. They are a bit tight from the factory, but you have to learn to shift a little differently now. #2 - Yes, it will run better after break-in. Funny they changed a plug because the 2008 bikes have an anti-fouling procedure that allows the bike to clean off the plugs without replacing. XBs are notorious for fouling plugs on the dealer showroom floor. Mostly it comes to them starting it up and revving it cold to show off the bike. As long as you let the bike warm up and don't rev it cold, you'll never have an issue. --Sean | ||
| Hexangler |
Congrats!!! Your going to love your bike, and this site. It's been pretty slow on BadWeB, wait until the weather starts to warm up! +2 Thespive advice. You can tune your clutch and primary chain tension a bit to help with shifting. Get a factory manual for the major how to's, and ask us lots of questions about the finer points. Learn your Buell, it's part of the fun. Good wrenches on this site. Hex | ||
| Coolice |
Welcome! Good advice above, yep Buells are different than UJM's. But once you spend some time riding, you'll really like em. Read often and ask questions, lots of knowledge here. Enjoy your new Buell  | ||
| Buellthatcould |
Good to hear my bike is fine. I'm taking it in this week for the initial stealership maintenance. I don't want to, but I want the warranty to last as long as possible Hey, whats a good product to put on my pipes to keep me from burning more shoe rubber on them (i think thats what's on it)? | ||
| Tx05xb12s |
Congrats and welcome. Get yourself a shop manual and a parts manual and do your own wrenching. You don't have to pay inept HD mechanics to do your maintenance to comply with the warranty. I don't know what kind of service you were used to on your jap bike, but we've all figured out you'll actually get much better service if you do it yourself. Besides, that's part of the ownership experience. There's a wealth of knowledge here and thousands of members that modify, upgrade, fabricate, and maintain their own bikes. We encourage you to ask questions and visit the knowledge vault. Again, welcome to the Buell family. You won't find another brand experience out there like this one. | ||
| Buellthatcould |
Well in that case, ill be doing my own maintenance! I have to wait 2 more months for my owners manual to come in with the details of the warranty... Love the bike so far, can't wait til i get her lubed up and WOT on fresh service. | ||
| Jlnance |
- Why is the gearbox so ... yucky?! My ZX7 shifts 100% smoother and more consistent. I feel like I'm going to break the shifter getting back into first sometimes. Thats just the way it is. One thing to note is that you can not speed shift these transmissions. You must use the clutch for upshifts and downshifts. | ||
| Jlnance |
whats a good product to put on my pipes to keep me from burning more shoe rubber on them You can have them ceramic coated. This requires removing them from the bike, which intimidated me into not doing it. But lots of people do. | ||
| Brumbear |
wait till ya hear that sexy fan yeah baby yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!! good luck with the new machine  | ||
| Nautique4life |
Wait till that sexy fan blows that hot air through the seat/bike gap on your inner leg! Yeah Baby! now we're talking! J/k it's not that bad. Only really gets to me a couple days a year. Primarily when I'm sitting in traffic on the main drag in Daytona(Bike Week) huffing other peoples hot exhaust. When I first got my Buell, I was sketch to perform any complicated wrench work. But there really is a ton of gearheads, tweakers and wrench-turners on here can help, and they ALL love their Buells. Since I popped my BWB cherry, I have since (successfully) drilled out and tapped, replaced 2 exhaust studs. Not light work by my standards. But it was all made possible by badweb. Most of the information I needed was already previously posted. Congrats. | ||
| Lazyj |
BOTTOM LINE............you bought the right bike! on top of it all, you are going to have more help,advice, and opinions than you are going to know what to do with now that you have discovered the BADWEB ! | ||
| Buellthatcould |
Woohoo! This community seems a lot nicer and more family-like than any i've ever been a part of. Thanks for the warm welcome! | ||
| Freezerburn |
The Badweb is an excellent community. I visit the site multiple times each day. You will soon too! Congrats on the new bike. The drive train is often described as a bit agricultural - a la tractor, but there in lies one of the many charms. Enjoy. Should you consider any mods to your bike, just ask here. There is an incredible wealth of information from some very insightful enthusiasts. | ||
| Sub65chris |
hi, make yourself at home. | ||
| Azxb9r |
My xb9 had some shifting issues when it was new. They went away after it broke in a little. The motor is cold blooded, let it warm up before you ask it to do anything. Enjoy your new toy. | ||
| Ratbuell |
Welcome to the family! For the shifting, as noted above, it will get more accomodating as your bike breaks in. I run Syn3 in my bikes and I swear it helps the shifting. And...I can speed shift no problem, using the preload technique (toe under the shifter, slight pressure, twitch off the throttle just a touch when you want to shift and *snick*, up she goes). And, if you register in the owner's area of www.buell.com, you can download the owners manual right from the website. Although one ships with every Buell...where did yours get to? | ||
| Lazyj |
+1 COLD BLOODED +1 SYN 3 | ||
| Ustorque |
first off congrats on your new ride ....you will love it  .also welcome to the badweb. the buell is a quirky machine but once you get used to it you will notice what you've been missing! always ask questions here no question is a stupid question(unless it's about  teflon tape..maybe we'll give you one free)we all ask em. and poke around here there are many different personalities here and you'll see it in what they do to their bikes...the buell was made for do it yourself mods and people around here have some great ideas. good luck with your new bike and ride safe. | ||
| Towjam |
Just discovered this website, and I can imagine I will be checking back here often! After a few months of drooling over the sexy xb12r, I decided against better financial judgment to buy one. So here in my garage I have a beautiful new white and blue xb12 Welcome to the family and congrats on what I personally think is the sexiest color combo of any XB Buell has ever made. That white/blue combination gives me an eyegasm every time I see it. With regards to riding a Buell, forget everything you've come to expect from the UJM bikes. Buells are torque monsters, shake like epileptic crack whores at idle and provide a much more satisfying ride on real world (read "public") roads. At the same time, they're arguably one of the lowest maintenance bikes on the market. And not to  , but given the relative weak dealer support, you'll find the BadWeb is the best resource for all things Buell - including maintenance, farkle recommendations, ride experiences, and of course, the usual pissing contests. (We have one scheduled for later tonight to discuss the pros/cons of right side scoops and the potential impact said scoops may have on the upcoming Texas presidential primaries. Bring your popcorn.) | ||
| Skully |
One thing to note is that you can not speed shift these transmissions. You must use the clutch for upshifts and downshifts. The two that we own speed shift just fine. Welcome to BadWeB and Buell! Keith | ||
| Budc |
Buellthatcould, Welcome to the family! I think you've got the best looking bike that Buell has made in a while. I just love the blue and white paint set. If you need anything for that "bad boy" just give me a shout at Hal's H-D/Buell (please see our sponsor thread). Are you coming up to Milwaukee for the 25th Celebration in July? It's going to be a great time. Again, welcome. BudC | ||
| Johnnylunchbox |
1. Start bike 2. Go put on your gear. 3. Ride away. They really like nice long warmups. | ||
| Spdkls |
welcome, i'm new to the forum too been on for about a month and a half. mine is about to hit 400 miles. so its getting there. i already have a to do list for my bike. 1. cheesegrater go bye bye 2. new bars 2.5 new seat 3. intake 4. wrap pipes 5. exhaust not in any order. i have already learned alot from the guys on here. this family is here to help. enjoy. | ||
| Dhalen32 |
BTC: Welcome! The shifting will improve with time. A primary adjustment should be performed with the first service and may improve the feel. As others have pointed out it can be too loose or too tight and effect how it feels to you. It really is easy to "tune" it to your liking. You cannot do this with the geared primaries on Japanese machines. They changed the gearbox a few years ago to a "dog" design identical to your Kawi so speedshifting should be no different. The good news is that you no longer have to shift as often as you do on your ZX7. You will also like the low maintenance nature of the Buell: No valve adjustments, no chain clean/lube/adjust, no coolant to drain, etc. Just put good premium fuel in it and ride it! Dave | ||
| Borrowedbike |
BTC, Check out Houston Buellers in storm fronts too. I cant speak for all of them but Hootowl is about the best kind of guy a guy can be, and there are a lot of serious old time Buellers there... If you like home brew, he's not too shabby ther either. | ||
| Blake |
All the Buells that I've ridden speed shift like butter. | ||
| No_rice |
shake like epileptic crack whores thats funny as hell! | ||
| Jlnance |
OK, apparently I'm wrong about speed shifting. BWB is a great place to learn stuff. | ||
| M1combat |
You can speed shift down too but I don't really recommend it in any case. It can be done though. WRT the shifting... Make sure that the primary chain is adjusted correctly. Too loose is WAY better than too tight... ALWAYS err on the side of loose with the primary chain. Also... make sure that the oil in the primary is at the right level. If you level the bike while draining to get every last bit out that you can then one full quart is the right amount (on an '04 12 anyhow...). Making sure those two things are right will provide you with as good of a shift as you'll get. Aside from that... learn to shift like you mean it . I find that the GP shift pattern is good. I didn't switch due to any perceived problem shifting though. I just switched to try it out and found I liked it. Jlnance ... In case you didn't know... You have to roll off the throttle when you speed shift up or blip it just right to speed shift down. I don't recommend the down direction (or speed shifting from first to second) but it is possible . ALWAYS let it sit for one FULL minute before moving it. ALWAYS. NEVER start it and go. EVER. NOT EVEN ONCE. Not even when you're in a hurry. That's how HD engines end up with leaks. I take note of what the minute digit on the clock says when I start it and let it sit until it ticks over the second time. This ensures that I ALWAYS let it sit between one and two minutes. Welcome to the Badweb . |
