| Author | Message | ||
     50dro |
We just added the new Twin Motorcycles Buell & Sportster intake flanges to our site.  You can order them HERE! Extra O-ring sets can be purchased via the drop-down. Thanks! www.5-0dro.com | ||
| Skully |
Are these a drop in replacement for the OEM flanges? Any changes to the intake manifold? Thanks, Keith | ||
| 50dro |
Yes they're drop-in, according to the description below from TM: "Please note your cylinder heads must have a flat surface , and any big nicks of corroded surface will not seal good, the intake manifold needs to be cleaned properly, removed from any burrs and nicks , and rounding the front edge is advisable not to damage the seals during mounting." Mainly clean-up and "de-burring" as to not damage the o-rings. Drop-in otherwise. Let us know if we can answer any other questions for you. Thanks! | ||
| 50dro |
Here's some installation instructions from the guys at TM: http://www.twinmotorcycles.nl/artikelen.asp?cid=20 &aid=452 | ||
| 50dro |
We stocked a few sets for those of you in the US. They're ready to ship. See link in previous post to order. Thanks! | ||
| Dpwc5 |
Those look quite nice. Replacing my stock ones will be my next project in the next couple of weeks, and I will probably be ordering these. Replacing intake seals looks pretty straightforward, but... it's tough access. Will I need to remove the motor to do it right? XB12 | ||
| 50dro |
We still have a few sets in stock. They can be on your doorstep in 1-3 days from ordering. Check here for instructions on mounting them: http://www.twinmotorcycles.nl/artikelen.asp?cid=20 &aid=452 Go here to order: http://www.5-0dro.com/index.php/specials/twin-moto rcycles-intake-flanges-detail I don't believe the motor must be removed but rotating it helps a lot from what we've heard from those that have done this service. Let us know if we can help otherwise! | ||
| Doncasto |
Are these a drop in replacement for the OEM flanges? Any changes to the intake manifold? This was not the case with my 2007 XB12X. None of the 4 flanges I bought would fit without removing material from the intake runners. My runners measured out at 45.88 MM . . . You may want to measure your intake runners before ordering. | ||
| Easyrider |
When people reed this before starting to mount them it will help: http://www.twinmotorcycles.nl/artikelen.asp?cid=20 &aid=452 people would read that because of the inconsistency in the manifolds from the factory, it is possible they are not round, or bigger. Then just work on them. When bigger the nice thing is you can precise fit them to our flange. We (just like Buell did) made 1 size to fit them. Only in production of the intake manifolds we noticed a big inconsistency in sizes of the manifold, due to moulding differences or dirty moulds when produced. We just try to make a product to keep 98% of the Buellers more happy then they where with the OEM seals. | ||
| Hulagun |
Mine went on with no fit issues. However it was a fight because without rotating the motor it is nearly impossible to get enough leverage to start the o-rings onto the manifold. I ended up lubing them with Triflo instead of the gooey silicone grease provided, and prying with a lever. However I am now redoing the job as the new seals did not seal properly. The bike ran OK but the hunting idle and the spray test showed it leaked worse than before. Until I can complete the autopsy I blame myself not the product. This time I am rotating the motor (which is a huge PITA) hoping that this will give much better access to ensure I get everything in without nicking or damaging an o-ring. I have already purchased replacement o-rings from 50dro which were fairly priced. I'll try to post a follow up here after the bike is running again. (Message edited by hulagun on July 06, 2014) | ||
| Easyrider |
its impossible to do without rotating the engine (: let this be a lesson for the readers. thanks for posting (: | ||
| Hulagun |
Yeah NOW you tell me. :-) | ||
| 50dro |
We're getting more in stock very soon. We typically stock equal amounts of spare o-rings as flanges so luckily in this case, we had them to ship. It's best to order a spare set with your flanges just in case. Thanks! | ||
| Hulagun |
Dro, for what it's worth, if you are going to keep saying "it's best to buy spares..." you should consider preemptively including spares in the kit. They aren't expensive. However, until I can get the o-rings out and look at them, I can't even be sure what happened. They did fit a little loose so tended to want to squish out when trying to position the flanges. It's very possible that one got partly squeezed out by me, the ham fisted mechanic. Easyrider, did you ever consider using a quad-type or x-type ring instead? I realize that they aren't quite as forgiving in a sliding fit situation as a round o-ring, but in all other cases I've found them to be easier to install, and to seal as well as standard o-rings. | ||
| 50dro |
We did consider that but decided to let the customer choose instead of inflating the price. | ||
| Hulagun |
Update on the re-install: dropping the motor down gave easy access to the injector body and intake bolts. The Twin Motorcycles kit flanges appeared to be installed correctly. Careful inspection of the manifold and o-rings found nothing to indicate why they leaked. The o-rings looked absolutely undamaged. So why was there a leak? (Some background - my XB9S does not get abused, it has only 10k or so on the odo, and it lives indoors when not being ridden.) I cleaned everything off and test fitted the flanges again without o-rings. I could now see that the outermost edge of the new flanges fits very snugly against a raised part of the head. It didnt look like it hit, but to be safe I filed a small amount of metal off each flange, to give a 45º bevel at the spot where clearance looked tightest. IIRC, this was mentioned in one of the installation tutorials. Also, using red Scotchbrite, polished off all sharp lip edges on the heads and intake manifold both. Using the new o-rings and dielectric grease provided, everything went back together smooth as silk. Hopefully this time there will be NO leaks. Now, just waiting on a new set of spark plugs (although the original plugs look perfect) to install before raising the motor back up. I'll update here again after the bike is running. | ||
| Bud |
Easyrider, did you ever consider using a quad-type or x-type ring instead? I realize that they aren't quite as forgiving in a sliding fit situation as a round o-ring, but in all other cases I've found them to be easier to install, and to seal as well as standard o-rings. we did consider, but asked the O-ring manufactor, for the best option, as we also consulted theme for the clearance to with stand vacuum/ pressure pulses going on in the manifold, and x-ring an quad rings are not available in all sizes gr, bud | ||
| 50dro |
Glad to see you got it back together Hulagun. Please keep us posted. All: Just to clarify...We will have BOTH the flanges and extra o-rings in stock today. If you're interested, please place your order on our site here: http://www.5-0dro.com/index.php/specials/twin-moto rcycles-intake-flanges-detail and use the drop-down menu to add the extra o-ring set to your order. Please feel free to contact us should you have any questions. Thanks! | ||
| Hulagun |
So while I have the motor rotated down is there any consensus from Twin Motorcycles on which plugs should be used? I have the factory HD 10R12X ready to go but now wondering if an equivalent iridium or platinum plug would last longer before needing replacement. The original plugsjust removed from the motor look perfect. | ||
| Easyrider |
Hulagun yes there is. I have tested many plugs and a lot in my dyno when developing products, and we have seen that the NGK9 DCPR9E with a gap size of 90mm 0,035 inch: http://www.twinmotorcycles.nl/webshop/artikel.asp? guid=YXHFSC&aid=531&cid=0&s=ngk&a=&aname=NGK_spark _plug_DCPR9E_Buell_XBXR1200Sportster is the most consitant plug without detonation under heavy loads. we change them every 5000 Miles at every maintenance cycles and the bieks run consistant. | ||
| Hulagun |
OK, finally got into the shop and was able to complete the reassembly of my XB9S. This included cleaning the K&N air filter, new HD 10R12X plugs, careful throttle cable adjustment, reset of the TPS, and setting idle speed all per the manual. A half hour test ride went flawlessly, no sign of leaking, and smooth idle. The bike ran better than I remember... the old seals may have been leaking since I bought it. I'm VERY happy with the intake seal kit, and would advise anyone installing the kit to view the installation video provided on Twin Motorcycles website. I believe if I had originally rotated the motor as they recommend, I would not have needed to order new o-rings or do the job twice. Lets hope the leaks are gone for good or at least another 10,000 miles... One last reminder, when reassembling the bike always check throttle assembly and cables to ensure the throttle snaps shut smoothly and quickly. | ||
| 50dro |
Great to hear Hulagun! Thanks for the report!  | ||
| Hulagun |
OK, two months later and I'm pretty unhappy right now. For the last 2 weeks or so, after the XB9S gets warm (after about 15 minutes of use) the revs drop back to idle slowly and the exhaust is popping and crackling loudly on deceleration. It still idles smoothly once it drops down to 1080 RPM. I have not done the intake seal spray with carb cleaner test yet, but I will. Let's hope it's not the intake seals again. | ||
| Fxdrydr |
Update? | ||
| Greg_e |
If you have to use grease anyway, why not just use the OEM mounts with a bunch of Hylomar like the rest of us use? No offense meant, and I'm glad people are making new parts available, but this just doesn't seem like a part that is needed. In short a solution looking for a problem. If you are still getting leaks, get some new o rings, get a tube of Hylomar, and clean all the grease off everything. Apply light coating of Hylomar to o rings and maybe the flange surface if it contacts the head uniformly, then carefully bolt it all back together and see if it works. The Hylomar should remain flexible under the heat of the heads, and as far as I know, is O2 sensor safe. | ||
| Teeps |
Greg_e Posted on Sunday, October 05, 2014 - If you have to use grease anyway, why not just use the OEM mounts with a bunch of Hylomar like the rest of us use? What is this "Hylomar" you speak of? This is the first I've heard of it, is there only one Hylomar product? If not which product are you recommending? Where can it be purchased? | ||
| Greg_e |
There are a bunch of different formulas, but the universal blue is most widely used. I think I ordered a tube from Summit racing, but might have been somewhere else. | ||
| Teeps |
Greg_e Posted on Sunday, October 05, 2014 - There are a bunch of different formulas, but the universal blue is most widely used. Agree, many formulas. Blue, is that what you used? | ||
| Hammer1050 |
Hylomar was developed by and for Rolls-Royce gas turbine aircraft engines as a gasket compound that is resistant to synthetic turbine oils. It stays flexible and allows for some relative movement between parts over a wide temperature range. | ||
| Greg_e |
Used in heavily ported RX7 engines because you need to remove part of an o ring that seals the water jacket out. They put this stuff on the flat metal surfaces and it work. Some carve a new groove and fill with hylomar. Seems like really good stuff and supposed to be easy to remove after many heat cycles or years. Yes I used the blue everywhere I thought I needed some extra sealing, including my new stock style intake gaskets. I remember ordering it from the only place that had 20/50 break in oil, and the paste version of the assembly lube that was recommended by the big bore kit supplier. (Message edited by greg_e on October 06, 2014) | ||
| Hulagun |
OK, I'll do the intake seal spray test tomorrow. BTW I have a great excuse... been distracted from wrenching by a suddenly cheating (very clumsily) wife. After much grief, we are heading to divorce. She's met her soul mate. Look at it this way, I'll have a lot more time to ride. Anyway, another possibly intake seal related issue has arisen. On acceleration, the motor stumbles or stutters just as the tach needle swings thru 4500 RPM. It's very brief, just a half stutter like one cylinder stops firing, but it is repeatable and consistent. I'm scratching my head on both these problems, but at least the Buell can be fixed.  | ||
| Easyrider |
The Tach needle swinging, looks like a electrical problem. That can cause also the stutters when there is a power cut. check the electrical system for failures. | ||
| Hulagun |
OK, finally had time between job hunting and divorce sh*t shoveling to work on the XB9S again. I knew the periodic misfire / cutout at 4800-5000 RPM could not be directly caused by an intake seal leak. But since the throttle body and all the related wires had been disturbed during the seal replacement, likely a wire was chafing somewhere. So before I even did the leak test, I bought a new TPS sensor (Autozone Duralast TPS123 $33). Inspecting the injector body and wires near it, I found a spot on one TPS harness wire just upstream of the TPS connector plug where something had rubbed through the insulation. There was visible copper wire showing in a spot the size of the head of a pin. I resealed it and then replaced the original TPS with the new one. I tossed out the old TPS so I wouldn't be tempted to ever use it again. I redid a TPS reset and took the XB out for several long rides. Misfire problem solved. The bike runs really well again. There does not seem to be as bad a deceleration crackling and the idle settled down pretty nicely. So I am thinking that the new intake seals are not leaking. I still need to do a proper spray test when I have time to really focus on it. Will report back once I do that. |
