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Glitch
| | Posted on Friday, November 04, 2005 - 07:39 pm: | 
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I find some amount of pride in that my left hand is now as strong as my right...
I always thought of it as physical therapy myself, (don't ask) but as I get older it gets worse.
There is an aftermarket kit, thank goodness for the aftermarket! |
Buellgrrrl
| | Posted on Saturday, November 05, 2005 - 02:00 am: |
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1) Put manuals and parts books back on the web for free viewing & download- the sales volumes are so small there's no profit in selling them anyway.
2) Set minimum standards for dealers, then if no HD dealer in the area keeps the Buell franchise give the dealership to a business that will meet those minimum standards- even if they carry a competing brand or are a new start up.
3) As long as we're getting electronic engine controls lets make the most of them- open source software, adjustable idle speed, cruise control, traction control, diagnostics and reprogramming from PC/Palm/Mac/etc..
4) Online parts ordering- After your Buell dies in Podunk, U.S.A. at sundown, from your motel room you diagnosis it with the built in diagnostics, tear it down with the help of the online service manual, and order the parts from the online parts book. You finish off the pizza and beer and get some sleep while your parts are dispatched from a Buell mini-warehouse at a big UPS or FedEx hub and take flight. You come back from breakfast to find your parts delivered, install them, and you're riding again by noon.
5) Fill out the Buell line- why can't we have build to order Buells like a dual sport blast, lowered Uly with street tires, and even a Sportster with Buell engine, handlebars and controls, etc. for the rider who needs Buell performance with a conventional frame to mount a sidecar too.
'nuff for tonight... |
Court
| | Posted on Saturday, November 05, 2005 - 06:52 am: |
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>>>Make a RETRO Buell for the modern era
>>>why can't we have build to order Buells like a dual sport blast
Actually, that's much more difficult than it appears. Forecasting becomes very difficult (take your stab and what % of Ulysses owners will opt for the baggs. . . w2 side. . tail . . all three. . . will to bet a fortunre on your forecast)and was tried in 1999.
The difficulty is heightened with the "Global Supply" parts the combine to make a Buell. Think about (and I know they come from China now) when wheels came from Australia and took like 15 weeks to arrive at Buell. You ordered an S3 with gray wheels and a week before the bike is built, 9 weeks after yoiu ordered it, you decide you want white wheels.
It sounds simple and the apparent "just take that set sitting over there" falls short becuase those white ones, for the last 14 weeks have been on a slow and winding course toward the S3-T that John Doe in Anytown has been waiting for. . . you can play the rest of it out.
Now for the good news.
The precision that is represented in the "new Buells" is amazing. Imagine having hundreds of suppliers with the ability to wreck your day by "stacking" tolerance creep. The work that has gone into preventing that by DESIGN, as opposed to traditional sampling and QA/QC means, is nothing short of amazing and what has differentiated Buell in the business.....also to HD.
Your points are good and some are already executory. The greater fleixibility in ordering {u{may} start to become apparent as more "customer spec'd" stuff becomes available.
It's much easier to build bikes with "less" and have a myriad of iuniversal bolt up, like heated hand grips, GPS, et al, where the "built to order" is effectiely carried out AFTER production.
Just some thoughts.
By the way. . your ideas show keen insight into the direction Buell is headed. Hehehehehe....so did the "retro Buell" but boy did that one result in a rumble!
Ride safe, lean much and smile more,
Court |
Bcordb3
| | Posted on Saturday, November 05, 2005 - 08:27 am: |
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At last I can agree with Aldaytona on one point! I liked the stock Dunlaps also (although I am running Michlins now.) |
Reepicheep
| | Posted on Saturday, November 05, 2005 - 09:12 am: |
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My suggestions? Play to your strengths. Build in a small but adaptable computer with lots of inputs from various points on the bike. Note this would NOT be connected to the ECM. Give it some outputs also, and plumb to an external connector, but don't hook them up to anything. Give it a simple USB interface.
Include a small weatherproof LCD somewhere on the dash, something that is a dot matrix, not just numbers and letters. Include maybe 4 buttons on the bottom of it.
Ship it from the factory as a pretty basic "trip computer. It would be a clock, calander, basic trip computer, simple minimal stuff. Maybe even give it TPS reset capability.
Then nearly *immediately* leak everything necessary to let us start hacking, and sit back and watch us do all sorts of cool stuff. Feature the best of the hacks on the Buell site.
Go look at camerahacking.org, these folks are not doing all that work on those platforms because they are hostile to CVS, they are doing it because, it's what they do, and its a very cool little platform. You have that level of skill (or more) in your community already, throw them some bait and watch them do 2 years R&D in a month for free |
Jprovo
| | Posted on Saturday, November 05, 2005 - 12:46 pm: |
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A new Pro-Series Exhaust for the Blast finished in that cool polished ceramic. |
Jprovo
| | Posted on Saturday, November 05, 2005 - 12:47 pm: |
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Fork Oil Drain Screws |
Jprovo
| | Posted on Saturday, November 05, 2005 - 12:47 pm: |
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Factory Blast Rearsets for 200-250. |
Jprovo
| | Posted on Saturday, November 05, 2005 - 12:48 pm: |
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Some decent looking fork top caps for the Blast that aren't rubber. |
Jprovo
| | Posted on Saturday, November 05, 2005 - 12:50 pm: |
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A Buell High end firm confterable seat for the blast in the $200 range. |
Jprovo
| | Posted on Saturday, November 05, 2005 - 12:51 pm: |
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Tach kit for the Blast (similar to the M2 kit) |
Jprovo
| | Posted on Saturday, November 05, 2005 - 12:52 pm: |
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A high Performance P3R Blast (keep it a 500) that has provisions for gearing changes, has M2 Forks, a Fireboltish fairing, rearsets, XB Cams... |
Jprovo
| | Posted on Saturday, November 05, 2005 - 12:53 pm: |
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put the new transmission in the Blast |
Reepicheep
| | Posted on Saturday, November 05, 2005 - 01:15 pm: |
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Give us the trap door tranny back, especially on the Uly. |
Bikertrash05
| | Posted on Saturday, November 05, 2005 - 02:10 pm: |
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A blacked out CityX (or just use the 12 frame).
A XB6? |
Sparky
| | Posted on Saturday, November 05, 2005 - 07:00 pm: |
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A knock sensor that would allow for 2 ignition/performance cal curves: normal for high performance w/91 octane gas and economy for commuting w/regular, like my Corvette. When the knock sensor detects pinging, it switches automatically to the gentler curve. Because America's sports car has this capability, America's sports bike should have it too! |
Glitch
| | Posted on Saturday, November 05, 2005 - 09:55 pm: |
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Then nearly *immediately* leak everything necessary to let us start hacking, and sit back and watch us do all sorts of cool stuff. Feature the best of the hacks on the Buell site.
 |
Gentleman_jon
| | Posted on Sunday, November 06, 2005 - 07:06 am: |
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I would like to see a Build to Order option, with the S and R front and rear ends being interchangeable without major rewiring, so one could easily order up a bike like this:
Of course, a six gear speed box is an essential that everyone wants.
I want a short stroke, single overhead cam, air cooler with 1000cc and 100 hp at 8500rpm.
And I wouldn't say absolutely no" to a motor with both exhaust pipe facing forward. Harley has already tried this. And, almost forgot, two throttle bodies.
Maybe real simple watercooling for the heads, with a very small radiator like the oil cooler. Most of the cooling would be provided by ambient air as now.
Finally, I would reduce the weight of every part by 10%, to bring the wet weight under 400lb.s
OK, last thing, stainless D+D or Drummer muffler as a factory option.
Oh well, one can dream, can't one? |
Blake
| | Posted on Sunday, November 06, 2005 - 10:22 am: |
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Do you really care about the number of camshafts or their location? Seems like 100RWHP would be the main goal. Leave all the rest up to the engine experts? |
Gentleman_jon
| | Posted on Sunday, November 06, 2005 - 11:08 am: |
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I guess I've always had a soft spot in my heart for single overhead cams since I had so much fun on my 1959 Ducati 200 cc. Bevel drive single:-)
But aside from that, no, I really don't care what stable the ponies come from:-) |
Court
| | Posted on Monday, November 07, 2005 - 04:11 am: |
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interesting. |
Gentleman_jon
| | Posted on Monday, November 07, 2005 - 06:52 am: |
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Here is another possible Built to Order, the as yet unannounced,
(except by me:-), 2007 XB 12RL, the long wheelbase Firebolt that "everyone" is clamoring for!
 |
Ryker77
| | Posted on Monday, November 07, 2005 - 08:59 am: |
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thing thing that mustang, camaro, and the Honda crowd has is. Most all parts can be swapped around with ease.
If the Buell was designed to allow for EASY front end swaps, headlight swaps, upgrades etc etc. The ability to "improve" the bike to your style would increase the value and demand. Imagine if there were no mods that could be done to the Buell. NONE. Not even a muffler change was simple. Then I'd have no use for a Buell.
Just like how the airbox and body parts are swappable. For just a few bucks you can have a different colored bike! Buell should also offer more aftermarket bodywork colors.
Keep as many of the same parts as possible with the same part number.
-- |
Vr1203
| | Posted on Monday, November 07, 2005 - 09:48 am: |
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Court can you elaborate on the Retro Buell rumble?I'm dyin' to know !{By the way. . your ideas show keen insight into the direction Buell is headed. Hehehehehe....so did the "retro Buell" but boy did that one result in a rumble! |
Bomber
| | Posted on Monday, November 07, 2005 - 02:45 pm: |
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with todya's platform, build to order may not be easy -- you've got to design the entire supply chain with build-to-order in mind -- clearly, 15 weeks for wheels makes it tough --
owever, if a major Semi-tractor manufacturer can do it, so can the elves in East Troy -- if the target is picked, it can be hit, I believe |
Ryker77
| | Posted on Monday, November 07, 2005 - 04:18 pm: |
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Build to order should not be that hard. IF the parts are interchangable.
Start with a black or silver frame that is in stock at any Buell dealer. Then the body, rims and headlights could be overnighted from a warehouse. The key is having the parts on hand to ship. Also the parts from a firebolt, Uly, Ss, Lighting should all be bolt on's. |
Bikertrash05
| | Posted on Monday, November 07, 2005 - 05:10 pm: |
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Put the S tail on the Uly. Trojan's version is BADASS!
 |
Mmmi_grad
| | Posted on Monday, November 07, 2005 - 05:38 pm: |
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I am missing some of the good looks of the x1 when I look at the xb long . Dont get me wrong the xb long is in my sights for some good day to come but, i guess I like the plastic alot. owell |
Buellgrrrl
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 08, 2005 - 05:48 am: |
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Bomber is right- take a look at what Mack and Volvo offer as "Build To Order" options. Just looking at the highway models at www.macktrucks.com and www.volvotrucksna.com you get a choice of single or dual rear axles in several weight ratings and three different brands, choice of several wheelbase lengths, Mack or Volvo cab with several configurations of sleepers of various sizes or no sleeper at all, 4 different engines with dozens of ratings, and 3 brands of manual and two automatic transmissions, Most all of these trucks are built in one plant in New River, Virginia and they can build just about anything they offer in their catalogs as soon as all the trucks ordered ahead of yours get built.
So if the truck manufacturers can do that, why can't Buell give us a choice of more than too tall and way too tall with hard luggage? It should be possible for Buell to Build To Order any combination of compatibable parts. |
Henrik
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 08, 2005 - 08:32 am: |
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I think Buell should stick to what they do well: Build unique, cool bikes that work well on the street. Sure, I wouldn't mind a bit more power, but it'd be more for bragging rights and 2-up with luggage riding than anything else.
The ideas of making more parts fit more of the bikes in the line-up is a great one though. I've seen both the BSA Goldstar as well as the HD Sportster be praised as great "do it all" bikes: add low bars and rear-sets, and you have a corner carver. Add higher bars and luggage and you have a decent weekend tourer etc. You get the picture.
Now if Buell tweaked the parts design enough that major parts were interchangeable between models, that would open up all kinds of "personalizing" opportunities. It would also make for a broader market for the aftermarket manufacturers.
Build to order; could be pretty neat, but I get the feeling customers wouldn't want to pay any more than they would for an "off the rack" model?? If that's the case, I would rather have Buell spend their efforts, time & $$ on further improvements to the existing line-up.
I'll second the notion, that on some of the earlier models, the gauge font and color is just too "cute." Keep it simple and easily readable.
Please, please, please keep the accessory offerings focused. $75 grips - who're you kidding  . More suspension offerings. Tweak the top triple and frame to accommodate rotary steering dampers. Accessory lighting options, Make sure to bring all the Uly extras to market in a timely fashion so owners can get to fully enjoy the bikes potential. Focus less on branded do-dads that only add weight and bling. More on items that will actually enhance the ride; comfort, power, handling etc.
Henrik |
Spike
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 08, 2005 - 09:53 am: |
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The common stuff has been covered, TPS reset, fork drain, more conservative instrumentation, 6-spd.
I've got one- how about online technical support for customers? I've still got some nagging issues like the random failure to idle and the starvation under braking. Why is it that there is no place to go for answers to these issues? Having no place to go for answers leaves the customer feeling like the factory won't stand behind their product. It would be nice if there was at least some place where I could send an email and get a reply on the issue. I'm not even asking for the problem to be fixed, I'm simply asking for some acknowledgment of the issue and possibly some sort of indication that someone is looking into the problem. |
Blake
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 08, 2005 - 10:40 am: |
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Spike,
If you cannot find an answer here, your dealer is the first place you should look when seeking answers about problems with your bike. |
Blake
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 08, 2005 - 10:41 am: |
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Then of course you have the next course of action which is to contact Buell Customer Service. Their number is posted in the "For the Factory" topic. |
Spike
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 08, 2005 - 11:31 am: |
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Blake,
I worked at a dealer for over 3 years. No one there could provide an answer for either issue. Now that I've had to live with the issues for two years I've mostly given up. I may try customer service next time I feel motivated. |
Gentleman_jon
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 08, 2005 - 12:18 pm: |
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The heart of the problem here is that unlike most companies, the Motor Company views technical service as a product to be sold to the dealers, not a service to be provided to owners.
This is an unfortunate approach at the very best, but in practice it is very often a nightmare for the owner, especially one who likes to service his bike himself.
Bad Webbers are extraordinarily fortunate that they have the support of their Bad Web Brothers, and Blake and Court in particular. |
Henrik
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 08, 2005 - 12:53 pm: |
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oh, forgot; adjustable ergos have been mentioned, but I'll elaborate: bars adjustable for height, droop, and front-back angle. Multiple footpeg locations (Sato being one nice example). Height adjustable seat.
All adjustments should be possible with basic tool in 5 - 10 (ok, so maybe 20) minutes.
That way, you set the bike up with higher bars and lower pegs for a comfortable ride to the twisties. Once there, you change over to the corner carving set-up with lower bars and higher pegs.
Henrik |
Bomber
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 08, 2005 - 05:45 pm: |
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adjustable ergos were present on many high-end scoots in the 20s, 30s, and 40s (as in 19 and . . . ) could be replicated fairly easily, I would imagine (though I'm no engineer) -- |
Benm2
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 08, 2005 - 09:22 pm: |
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Skewed perspective warning: roadracing oriented engineer
1. Less vibration. As Blake will undoubtedly point out, you can make things strong enough to endure the shaking, but at what cost? F=ma is pretty straightforward. 60 degrees maybe?
2. All aluminum cylinders. There's got to be a few pounds there.
3. XB9 stroke with larger bore. Almost a standard racing mod for FX, why not from the motherland?
4. Weight reduction. The ZTL setup needs some ironing. Put to end these debates about its merit, make the wheel it deserves. Do something about the racing issues.
5. Titanium intake valves, offset for larger bore, 2.0" minimum. Combine these with...
6. Dual throttle bodies. Please. please, please, please.
7. Buy a catalyst. Grit your damn teeth, accept the meager weight penalty, and put in some cams with some overlap! Every racer will just throw the damn thing away anyhow.
8. Solo option. Passenger pegs are for tourists.
9. Reprogrammable ECU, capable of supporting full open loop (no o2 sensor) operation.
10. Better race kit. The tuber race kit was better than the current "race kit". I know the factory offers some real goodies to a select few, but the tuber kit could be had by anyone with cash.
11. Full fairing option.
12. 10,000 rpm. Don't care how. |
Blake
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 08, 2005 - 11:08 pm: |
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Yes, all aluminum nicasil cylinders! 
Solo option, yes!
Combined, #'s 3 and 10 would make sense. Me, I just want more power. If they can do that and keep the 6,800 RPM rev limit, that is all the better. Pretty sure a rev limit of 10K would kill the low end. Not sure I'd like that. Maybe 8.5K would be a good compromise. |
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