| Author | Message | ||
     Rotorhead |
I've nearly completed all the mods to run a Uly really off road and not scare the crap out of myself or destroy the bike. Chain drive, 9 Primary, real bar end guards, TKC 8o's front and rear, aux fuel cell and allot of ECMSPY tuning.  I need some..., OK alot, of input on how to set up the suspension to run off road. I'm attempting to do a IBA Dusty Butt (1000 miles of dirt roads in 24 hour's) and need to get the suspension right to do that much off road in one day. I can't afford to shake myself or the bike to pieces. I'm not a suspension guy follow and the manual for my set up. Wash board roads is where the suspension is really sucking. It's not pogoing under cruise power but I'm not able to get the rear end to bite under acceleration. I'm hoping CITY could throw me some ideas for how he has his 9 setup. Any help would be great!! I know there are some prior MX'ers here and some MX knowledge with the street oriented parts can make this bike awsome off road. Yeah,yeah yeah....... I know the ULY is a street bike but the mods were cheaper than a BMW GS 800. Today it felt like my old RM80  | ||
| Ourdee |
Where is the fuel cell? | ||
| Rotorhead |
Mounts up in about 10 mins to the over flow vent valve  | ||
| Mnrider |
First set all the settings to factory for your weight so you have a baseline,then increase the preload front and rear.then increase the rebound settings,but not to much cause you don't wont the susp. to pack up on stutter bumps.Then go for a ride on the kind of terrain you might see on your ride.Then increase the comp.settings and ride the same terrain and compare the feel.You have to change the settings enough so that you can tell how much each setting changes the feel. Good luck and the bike looks really cool and tough. | ||
| Cityxslicker |
First off, damn thing looks like a tank, nice job; freakin sinister black beast Second: IBA Dusty Butt (1000 miles of dirt roads in 24 hour's) Link, website? Third: My bike is set for my weight and the front forks are actually mid bound, 2.5 turns up from bottom nut out. Played with the suspension two years ago, found that for my riding half way between the two extremes gave me the best front end performance. I would recommend the LRB brakes though, they seem to work better in the dirt than the stockers. Rear suspension is all out. I found making the bike comfortable for off road best by cutting the seat and bringing the bars up to me. 1000 miles of dirt in a day, damn impressive, I am way jealous | ||
| Growl |
my opinion based on my experience: adjust the suspension for street. then lighten up the compression and rebound damping front and rear for dirt. | ||
| Rotorhead |
City, Here's the skinny on the Dusty butt ride. Only 35 people 25 or so all from South Africa have completed the ride since 2003 and mostly on the usual KLR's, KTM's and BMW's. I'd like to be the first on the Uly. I hope the bike and the body are willing to do what my demented mind want's it to do. I kind of want to do it to to prove the nay sayers that the Uly is only a street bike!! http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/dirtss1k/ All right, here's the deal. Sorry, but I need to post this, for my own legal protection. This is NOT an organized ride. I am simply planning to do this ride on May 23rd, by myself, if I have to. And since I'll be there anyway, I will also be available to sign your IBA witness form, should you happen to be in the gas station parking lot on the southwest corner of the Goodland, KS, exit of I-70, at 3:30 am in the morning, on Saturday, the 23rd of May, 2009.  Should you choose to seek this quest, I will also be willing to share a pretty good GPS gpx file prior to the ride, to be used for route planning. A VERY SIMPLE questionnaire will also be available, with questions about various landmarks that you may pass during the day, to help prove that you did not take any shortcuts during your 1000 mile dirt quest. It is a very difficult ride, potentially dangerous, and has a very low historical success rate. There, now everyone knows of an available date, and knows that no one other than yourself is responsible for your safety, while riding on public, dirt roads. If this date does not work for you, please feel free to post when you will be making your dirt quest and maybe others will join along on your ride. Cheers! Have a great New Year! And Happy Trails! :-) Will (Message edited by rotorhead on February 14, 2009) | ||
| Desmo900 |
CityX, what do you mean by "cutting the seat" ? | ||
| Bienhoabob |
Rotorhead, I believe there was a group ride last year. Something like 10 or so people attempted the ride. Only one completed it. They wanted to keep it low keyed and didn't advertise it. Flat tires along with fatigue were the main factors with the DNF's. Good luck on your ride. Hopefully no rain storms during the 24 hours. Bob | ||
| Mnrider |
CityX is right by increasing the front preload and reducing the rear preload you change the frame-fork angle back that will give you better tracking on gravel and more traction.Some multi-purpose mtn. bikes have a rear shock adj. that tilts the fork angle for better fast downhill tracking. | ||
| Rotorhead |
I asked about shareing info on the badweb. Not alot of intrest from Buellers for this type of ride so I got a green light. this is not a group ride Same route for all, but all on you for start and stop times and logistics. just safer for a bunch of "individuals" to attempt at the same time. | ||
| Ulynut |
That is the TOUGHEST looking motorcycle I have ever seen!  Downright sinister. I love it. | ||
| Panhead_dan |
"my opinion based on my experience: adjust the suspension for street. then lighten up the compression and rebound damping front and rear for dirt." I would add that you turn up some preload at the rear. Not too much. You are gonna have to haul ass to get 1000 in 24 off road on any 74 inch motorcycle. I bow to you sir. | ||
| Rotorhead |
The advice has worked great. I still will have to adjust some when I get my final travel weight established. I realized my rear was still adjusted to the last ride I did 2 up with the wife. Nothing was working so I went to start from scratch and thats when the "idiot" moment happened. No need to haul ass. You only have to average 45 MPH to make it. Body will give up first I think. | ||
| Cityxslicker |
Last nite I had the fun experience of bottle feeding a bike 3 gallons o gas... I was absolutely surprised at how slow you have to go not to splash or spill. And add doing it off on off camber hills, rough dirt, maybe in the dark with sleep depo... yeah the tank on the back is definitely the way to go. | ||
| Skyclad |
OK, Rotorhead, I just have to get more information about your tire set-up. I am guessing that you are running the 130 front and 150 rear. I read one other person's attempt, and he was having rubbing issues on the front. Has this been a problem for you? The biggest question that I have though is how the bike handles with those tires. I love the look, and would love to fit a pair on my beast from time to time. | ||
| Road_kill |
Awesome set up!!! I wish you all the best on your Dusty ride. Please pass along a trip report. I am really interested in your impression of the tires - and all the other mods. I'm taking notes! | ||
| Xlxrxt |
I've been snooping around here because I am considering getting a Uly. I couldn't resist adding my 2 cents because I spent a lot of time in the desert on Honda XR 600 and 650 4 stroke dirt bikes. First, do everything possible to prevent flat tires. If you have tubes, use heavy duty ones. Cut the valve stem out of a regular tube, split it along the inner circumference and use it as a liner. Over inflate the tires, the bike will be more slippery on gravel, but that is easier to deal with than flats. See if there are Mouse foam tubes or I have heard about small balloons in place of tubes. Use tube sealant, avoid Slime because the fibers get in the schrader valve and leak. Figure out a way to carry the largest tire irons you can. Some guys can change tires in minutes, well at least on dirt bikes. Next make the seat as comfortable as possible, it will never be comfortable enough. Make it as tall as possible to save leg strength if you have to stand up a lot. Position handle bars as needed, if needed, to avoid using your arms as much as possible. You want to be fairly neutral in your seating position to conserve energy. Make sure the bike can be dropped over without breaking anything like clutch or break levers, or carry extras. Will the handle bars survive a crash? Wire the lights on two separate circuits so you can't loose them all at the same time. Tape a small flashlight to your helmet or gear somewhere. It gets mighty dark at night when you get thrown off the bike and the lights go out. Suspension is always a compromise. You want the initial travel soft and the final travel stiff. Adding fork oil can effectively minimize fork bottoming. But you have to do trial and error testing with a plastic tie on the forks to indicate travel used to find the correct amount of oil. I generally like the forks soft, but the shock stiff enough to absorb the worst bumps you expect to hit. One unexpected wash or rock can throw you off the bike. Depending on how much weight you end up carrying, you may want to consider sending shock and forks to a suspension shop for a custom set up. The more progressive the spring rates and dampening curves, the better. Money well spent. But it may take a few tries to get it right. The only way to set up suspension, is to learn the basics and then test ride under the actual conditions you will be riding. You probably want to get front and rear rider sag, chassis pitch, to be as stable as possible. That may save you from loosing control and crashing. How will your bike handle with all the weight in the bags and fuel tank? The Uly I rode was very light on the front end. Bags full of gear can only make it worse. Practice, can you do a 12 hour ride during daylight? Do you know how those square tires will handle in the dirt? Can you clean or change the air filter if it gets clogged up? Have you used thread locker on all the nuts and bolts you possibly can? Get there early and be totally prepared to get as much sleep as possible the night before. Staying up all night preparing the night before is a good way to quadruple the misery the next night. I mention all this because asking how to set up suspension and planning for a 24 hour ride indicates opposite ends of experience spectrum. I forgot to answer your orginal question about getting the rear to hook up. Lower rear tire pressure, be easy on the throttle, detune the engine, soften shock dampening settings, run in a higher gear when things get slippery. Hooking up the rear is always difficult when you have twice the power you need. (Message edited by Xlxrxt on February 17, 2009) (Message edited by Xlxrxt on February 17, 2009) (Message edited by Xlxrxt on February 17, 2009) | ||
| Rotorhead |
First your questions are scaring me and questioning myself and the ULY’s abilities. This is a GOOD thing. Thanks for the reality checks. Will the handle bars survive a crash? Yes and no. They do fine on low speed tips but have not got to test a full crash yet. I have real bar guards installed and Rox risers so there is give in the handle bars if it takes a hard lick. The risers were a must for the standing position. Wire the lights on two separate circuits so you can't lose them all at the same time. Piaas and head light are separate. No lights would be bad on the good bad scale. I have practiced night rides with a head lamp as a necklace this past weekend. It’s kind of spooky riding the AZ Mexico border area at night. The bandito’s are busy right now in the Nogales area. How will your bike handle with all the weight in the bags and fuel tank? Luggage will be off and the tank bag will have some tools and water and snacks. The riding jacket will be full of goodies trying to get more weight forward. I did 500 miles of dirt this weekend with the package I want to run with setting suspension and tire pressure. Can you do a 12 hour ride during daylight? I’ve done two 6 hour days here in SE AZ running harder terrain than the flats of NE , CO and KS. Not to say that there is not the challenges across the flats! Sneaky culverts and washouts will keep you on your toes all day long. I’ve done 3 Saddle sore 1000’s but the off road element is a completely different beast. Do you know how those square tires will handle in the dirt? So far I have about 1000 miles on them. They boost the confidence in the corners and across terrain that I would not attempt with normal tires. They handle like crap on the road!!! The tire does rub on the fork tubes at low speed hard turns on the road. The flex of the tire and the grip on the street make the tire rub. Off road the tire has not shown any signs of rubbing. It is a close call on the continued use of the massive front tire. Definitely a mount for the use only tire. Can you clean or change the air filter if it gets clogged up? Starting fresh and hope whacking it on the pant leg will work for 24 hrs. Have you used thread locker on all the nuts and bolts you possibly can? In some places but nothing has rattled off yet in nearly 50,000 miles. I mention all this because asking how to set up suspension and planning for a 24 hour ride indicates opposite ends of experience spectrum. You aren’t kidding. This is a whole new ball game for me and that’s why it seems like a challenge that I will continue to say “ATTEMPT” a Dusty Butt. be easy on the throttle, detune the engine, soften shock dampening settings, run in a higher gear when things get slippery. Hooking up the rear is always difficult when you have twice the power you need. Third gear has been the best for me with the 9 primary. It takes me from the crawl out of a washboard corner to 35 MPH. With the high power of the ULY steering with the throttle is a technique that needs to be practiced some. |
