| Author | Message | ||
     Milar |
I bought a new X in 2006 and sold it several years later. I remember it fondly. I'm looking at returning to the fold and purchasing an XT. Did Buell address the excessive heat coming off the engine in later models? Thanks! Mike | ||
| Hughlysses |
An XT's not necessarily any better than your 2006 X was in heat management, but there are 2 improvements available that may or may not have been done to the bike. In 2009, Buell introduced the "rider comfort kit" which consists of a rear header pipe heat shield, a right side air scoop, and a under seat duct which diverts the hot air from the fan down around the shock, instead of back under the seat. This setup is standard on the 2010 models, but there aren't too many of those. I still see these kits for sale on ebay so there are still some out there, and they can be installed on any model Uly. The other update, which was intended to go along with the comfort kit, is a change to the fan control logic. A dealer can update any 2008-up ECM for this. What this does is turn on the fan when the bike reaches 15 MPH. The fan doesn't come on when you shut the bike down or below 15 MPH unless the engine is really hot. Apparently the idea is that by keeping the fan on while you're riding the noise is less objectionable and the engine stays cooler so that it's not usually necessary to run the fan when the engine is shut off. | ||
| Mark_weiss |
With the fan running while you are riding, at least at lower speed, less air spills up the sides of the bike because it is being pulled out the back. The Comfort Kit most definitely does help, especially for heat that used to radiate straight up through the seat. The DDFI III bikes (08 & later?) use a little more fuel, which does help them run a little bit cooler. Still, the frame gets pretty darned hot when in high-temperature (100F+) environments. | ||
| Tempest766 |
I wish it was a trivial task to add a cylinder head temperature display to my 08XT. | ||
| Unibear12r |
If you cannot find the comfort kit the under the seat air diversion part can be handled by some tin foil painted black so it can't be seen. Works well and last a long time. There were plenty of threads with pictures on different ways to do this on Badweb back in 07 & 08. I still have the same two pieces of foil under my seat from like early 07 I think. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Tempest766, go here: http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/384 2/768394.html?1439900882 | ||
| Milar |
This is some great stuff guys, thanks! When I had my '06 I lived in Minn. But now I live in Phoenix and heat can be an issue part of the year. Mike | ||
| Mark_weiss |
Here in Phoenix (Chandler), the comfort kit definitely helps, but hot is still hot. I've also used ECM Spy to lower the fan-on temperature as well. Still, I opted to drive to work all of last week. |
