| Author | Message | ||
     Robert_c |
As my daughter is looking at Grad school, one of the things she is looking at is a small motorcycle. One of her concerns is low maintenance; in fact, this is her number one concern. She has seen me, in her eyes, “Taking my motorcycle apart,” for routine, and frequent, maintenance. She wants no part of that. She wants a little more pep than the scooter (capable of keeping her eight stone of self at freeway legal speeds). She also wants a bit more stability, at speed, than the scooter can provide. We are talking 70-75mph here, not 100+. Of course, low initial cost and low TCO are very important. She has seen the Buell Blast (a friend of hers has one). She likes the look. I have done a little looking and it appears to be a very low maintenance bike (in choosing things like hydraulic valves, they seem to have traded maintenance for performance, which I see as a good thing, in her case). She and he friend describe the performance as, “adequate,” (there is a damming word for you). Are there any reasons to steer her away form this direction; or, is the Blast a good choice for someone looking for low maintenance, low TCO, and, “adequate,” performance? | ||
| Froggy |
Short answer, Yes. I recently picked up a 03 Blast for $1500 with 1902 miles. Maintenance - This thing is literally a 1 cylinder XB9. No digging for the rear spark plug, uses the same oils, filters and gaskets as the XB, so I only need to stock up on one set of materials. I see from your profile you got a V-star, so you probably aren't familiar with the Buell's low maintenance in general. No valves to adjust, no chains to lube, no water to flush. You can see the full breakdown of the service interval here: https://www.buell.com/om/99476-09Y_en/file-13.asp Most of it is just inspections and adjustments. For speed, it will do 80 comfortably. That is about its limit, I haven't tried to push it much faster yet. | ||
| Crusty |
My daughter rides a Blast. Last year, she rode it out to Homecoming and the bike was totally trouble free. The bike was purchased new for my wife, and has been completely reliable. The only weak area is that you have to keep a eye on the oil level. It does tend to use oil. Not a lot, but enough to keep an eye on the dipstick, and check it frequently. Also, changing the transmission oil is a pain in the butt; fortunately, it doesn't need to be done very often. The Blast is one of the best beginner bikes out there. It's fast enough to cruise at 70 - 75 MPH all day long, and it delivers well over 60 MPG while doing it. I'd recommend one. | ||
| Slojon |
I demo rode a BLAST! 4-5yrs. ago and loved it. My only complaints were no tach and always hitting the rev limiter going thru gears... came across one at local Dealer last fall. Since I had $$ burning hole in pocket- MINE! 2006 with 2k and already crash scuffed. Been torturing ever since. Have 6k now and besides burning off a rear tyre, I replaced exhaust as broke at header. Stock exhaust needs looking at if procuring used unit as may be bottomed out beaten, causing weakness. It IS a low machine. No other problems. Maintenance is very easy and You could carry all necessary Items in a tank bag for routine stuff. Possibly teach her how to change oil & filter, then really nothing else to do but gas & GO....and tyres. Light weight, low centre of gravity, beautiful handling, nice torque, reasonable vibrations...PERFECT! | ||
| Zane |
Before I totaled mine, I had a 2004 Blast I bought with about 1800 miles. Put almost 7,000 miles on it in just under a year. I changed the oil and had to put new tires on it. That's it. It was completely, 100% reliable. I used it both as a daily commuter and as a weekend toy. I drove it mildly most the time and got great mileage. Riding two up taking my son to school on the way to work I still got 64 mpg. When it was only me on the bike, I'd get 68 to 70 mpg. I'm currently without a motorcycle due to a nasty divorce that left me poverty stricken. It should be about a 8 months to a year before I'll be able to afford another one. The Blast is already on my short list. You will never regret buying a Blast. (Message edited by Zane on July 09, 2009) | ||
| Court |
Robert: You likely could not get a better bike for grad school. I, just two months ago, completed a Masters Degree at Columbia University. Although I did it on a Ulysses, I would highly recommend a BLAST. There are a host of reasons, many of which are detailed through actual experience above. I would add that the BLAST is the #1 bike in terms of reliability in the entire Harley-Davidson company and is likely (I've no specifics) among the best of all motorcycles. It's essentially a "ride it and forget it" motorcycle. I've looked as a scooter for my wife. They're cute. But the exercise always evolves to "what if sometime she REALLY needs REAL brakes?” Then I think about potholes and 10" wheels and common sense always sees the BLAST emerge as the best of all worlds. At 5'0" it's easy to flat foot even without the low seat. You daughter will have plenty of school demanding her attention. You don't want her worrying about a motorcycle. If . . . she ever does need to worry you'll have the comfort of knowing that NO MOTORCYCLE COMPANY IN THE WORLD stands behind their product like Buell. Keep us posted. I'd be excited to hear how she likes it. Court | ||
| Ratbuell |
I'm 6'4", and I LOVE wearin....er...riding the Blast. Nearly 90 degrees of lock to lock steering, light weight, virtually maintenance free (5k mile fluid changes, tires/brakes when you need 'em...spark plug at 10k, fork oil at 20)...and the thing's a TANK. And like Court says, GOOD brakes. Don't EVER underestimate the value of good brakes. I wouldn't hesitate for a second. | ||
| Rex |
would love to run into a used one for 1500 like you did...then put the motor in an XB frame, and maybe make it 600 cc...REX | ||
| Froggy |
Rex there is a Xblast thats 95% done that was for sale recently, not sure what it still needs, but its basically done deal. I got mine cheap because it was running like crap, the guy left the gas knob turned to ON for 2 years as it sat. I just beat the hell out of it for a few miles and now it runs mostly great, with a slight intake leak (probably the carb boot). | ||
| Jlnance |
Robert_c - I've got a Blast and I like it. It is not a perfect bike, but it is a good one. In regards to maintenance, I have seen people absolutely neglect these bikes and they magically keep running. They will run much better with maintenance of course, and it pains me to see the condition some of these bikes end up in. The Blast uses oil, it just does. She will need to add oil periodically. It's not a big deal unless she won't do it, and then it's a huge deal.  My impression, and I'd love some comments on this, is that the bike is reliable for about 10-15k miles and then things start to wear out. That really isn't very far, but these bikes tend to be ridden by people who aren't putting that much mileage on them, so it works out. I don't mean to say they are useless after 15k by any means, but I wouldn't expect to put 30k on it with out a few things breaking along the way. I will point you to the website http://www.whereismaggiemae.com/ where you can read about the real world wanderings of someone who rides a blast. I believe she has 40k+ miles on the bike, so she would be an excellent person to ask about the long term reliability of the bike. She occasionaly posts on badweb too. | ||
| Gearheaderiko |
Robert: Buy two. That way she wont have to wait for you to bring hers home! It is a Blast to ride There are plenty of used, cheap, low mileage Blasts around. Because you live in California, the Blast will come with an EPA Charcoal canister (like all/most? bikes). This little demon does have the capability to shut the Blast down. The fix/bypass is very, very, very easy to do and I strongly urge you to do it. Its a meaningless part as far as performance is concerned and it usually fails because a) the gas tank is 'overfilled' or b) the tank is filled up shortly before the bike is set out in the sun. But its not a matter of if, but when. The twin cylinder bikes can also suffer from a likewise malady, but having that extra cylinder keeps the bike from shutting down (but it will run like crap until the canister is purged). | ||
| Ezblast |
After all these years, I'll still recommend the Blast as Buell's real work horse, and Buell's other bikes are of course for riding;0) - not parking in grocery store parking lots - the Blast is made to take a good shot and keep going, those bits are a tad pricey on an XB to be replacing every other week, Blast replacement parts are fairly inexpensive for factory oem parts. My first couple of years riding - my bikes thought they where yoyos - lol - and still you can take them out on weekends and have fun! The Blast is a Blast! EZ |
