| Author | Message | ||
     Hippo888 |
I just picked up a new 2003 XB9S. I noticed that the production date on the bike was Sept. 2002 (this thing sat in a showroom for nearly 1 year!). I guess that it was one of the first ones produced. Does Buell do a lot of in-production changes on their bikes? Were the earlier production bikes more problem-prone than the later ones? What was interesting was that my bike with a production date of 9/02 was much, much smoother than the demo bike with a later production date of 4/03. I generally like to buy 2nd year production, hoping that all the "teething problems" will be ironed out, but they offered $7995.00 (which included all shipping and set-up) and I couldn't resist... TIA, Paul in MI | ||
| Darthane |
The two things to check are the wheel bearings (they should have orange seals) and the kickstand. Got me on how to tell the difference on that unless the different ones are side by side. Anyone know what the P/N of the revised kickstand is? You can find out what number 9S your bike is by looking at the last 4 numbers of your VIN. Where in MI? There's quite a groupd of us in the SE area. Bryan | ||
| 99buellx1 |
The revised kickstand should have an "R" stamped either on the foot or on the end of the spring mount on the stand. Hope that came through clearer than what it looks like. Craig Buell Cycle Center  | ||
| Apex1 |
There is a different bracket that holds the idler pulley between earlier & later built XB's. One is flat, the other has a slight bend to offset it. Also there's a superseded clutch inspection cover gasket in some early builds. I'm sure there's more, but in addition to the kickstand & wheel bearings, that's all I know. | ||
| Hippo888 |
Gentlemen, With the info you guys gave me I was able to search and locate the .pdf's containing the recall inforation. It seems that I have the black wheel bearings which need to be changed. Luckily for me, the sidestand recall seemed to only affect some of the 'R' models and not the 'S' models (please correct me if I'm wrong). Interestingly enough, I called my dealer and asked about the wheel bearing recall. They said that they'd never heard of it and haven't replaced a wheel bearing under recall since the 1998 wheel bearing recall. I finally tracked down the Buell enthusiast at the dealership and he said that there was indeed a recall, but it was more of a performance issue and not a safety issue. He suggested I ride the bike until winter sets in and then have the dealership pick up the bike for free and repair it then. Thanks for all the information! -Paul in MI | ||
| Darthane |
You're/he's correct, the bearings are not listed as a recall, they're a performance enhancement or some such fiddle-faddle. If you're not going to put too many hard miles on before winter sets in I'd be inclined to agree with him, just wait (especially with the weather we're having...this IS still Michigan, right?). If you're going to abuse it and slap 6K+ miles on it, I suggest you put the new bearings in. The superceded parts...eh. Change them if you want to or whenever you do some bit of routine maintenance. Bryan | ||
| Spiderman |
Paul I thought that was you!! So how's the new bike treatin ya? | ||
| Hippo888 |
Bryan -- I'm in Clawson. Do you guys meet in Royal Oak? Spiderman -- Is that you T? The bike is great. The girlfriend wants a Blast now, because I didn't get the FXD... Paul in MI | ||
| Darthane |
Well, I don't, a couple of the other guys have been known to. If we 'meet' anywhere it's usually at my place, in Dearborn Heights. Bryan | ||
| Chainsaw |
Hippo888: Get the bearings changed! Accounts on this board say the rear bearing will fail (as in lock up) by 8,000 miles, and the front 12,000 miles. Sidestand shouldn't be an issue on the S. | ||
| Spiderman |
Sidestand wont be an issue the 9S's were post recall on the side stand. | ||
| Glitch |
Sidestand shouldn't be an issue on the S. It's an issue. The boyfriend of my wife's workmate walked out to get on his bike one day and he thought the bike had been stolen. Called the police and everything. When the police got there, they wanted to see where he kept the bike he open the garage (this time from the outside), and there was his bike laying on the garage floor, beside the car. From the kitchen you couldn't see the bike for the car was blocking his view. | ||
| Spiderman |
LOL well I have not put the side stand down fully a few times and almost droped a 9S at work. It all depends where and how you park it. Darth still has the "recall" stand on his 9R and not one problem that I have seen with it so far. | ||
| Darthane |
Heh...yeah. HarleyBritt's little story of his 'recalled' sidestand snapping off on him kept me away from it. I have almost pushed the bike off the sidestand a couple times when I was either drying it a little too vigorously or yanking on a stuck nut, but it's never rolled off of it and I'm not worried about it happening. I do make a point to park 'nose-up' a tad if possible though. No sense tempting fate! Bryan | ||
| Prof_stack |
The '04 XB's have a different kickstand that has a bit of spring action in it. When I test rode the beast I wasn't sure I liked the new stand. Also, I make it a point to always park in 1st gear before putting down the kickstand. Prof |
