| Author | Message | ||
     Unique_id |
This is an enthusiast board and I am enthused! I like reading other people's stories so I thought I'd share, nothing really new, just my take. I'll understand if you reply with TLDR. Preface: Last night, I don't know if it was the cold sea level air, or maybe the bike knew I had just picked up two copies of the Cycle World mag, but I could power wheelie in third all over the place. I have never had that experience before and once I knew what to expect it was fun! I am not a light weight either 215+gear so I was really surprised and impressed to experience it myself and not have to read about it! (my 9s doesn't do that!). The story: My R was delivered last November and has been sitting in storage for 5 months 150 miles away from me. It felt like Christmas Eve everyday for those months. To distract myself, I took a page out of Erik Buell's book and lost 20 pounds and got back in shape. Finally, last weekend, I insured and registered the bike (MA, $1100 Liberty Mutual, full coverage; $300 deductible) and went to CT to break it out of hibernation. Over the winter I had done some tasteful mods: Upgrades all headlight bulbs -- HID 6k LB, PIAAs HB Jardine fender eliminator Tech Spec grips selenoid removed Cycle Pirate foot pegs Side fairings LED license plate light The bike started with 20 miles on Sat. April 3rd, 3 oil changes, 3 bike washes later by Tuesday April 6th it had 800! wooHoo! First impressions: What a perfect bike for ME. Unique looking and sounding and just has so much character, I couldn't ask for a better bike. Having owned the 9s for a couple seasons I am no stranger to the crowd one can draw and some of the rubber necking that is causes. I could tell that my bike had an old ECM flash since during the first tank of burning through the stabilizer my legs were red raw from the heat and the bike could not be ridden under 4k. I had read about the fuel drip issue, but my bike was pissing out gas even on a near empty tank. When I hit mile 301 I was entering a corner and I thought, "Oh I can hit 7500 rpm now", so when I exited the corner I accidentally power wheelied, well that was a first for me but wasn't too shocking since the bike handles so well. I learned though that I put too much weight on the handle bars and started to re-learn to support myself with my core and legs. With the pegs backed and lowered this bike is really comfortable, I was expecting way worse for my first pure sport oriented bike. BTW - I didn't see one other Buell in my riding over 5 states and 800 miles! Where was everyone?! The stock exhaust, to me, has been growing on me and sounds pretty good. I have an FMF on order and interested to hear the difference. The bikes looks have really grown on me, as well, even without the lower fairings, definitely stands out of the crowd. Brought it to Precision HD (great people) this past weekend and had the ECM updated and harness installed, completed in 1.5hr. Bike runs much cooler especially around the city and in heavy traffic. I can also ride in the 3-4k rpm range without too much surging. Electrical harness has effected my battery where my battery light comes on and voltage reads as low as 11.7 in heavy traffic, but no starting issues yet. Also I had brought it to a Ducati/Kwak dealership and immediately a couple technicians came out and started commenting how they liked the bike and knew of Buell's success in AMA. I thought that was cool, even though they said my next bike will be a Ducati. I also noticed with the new ECM update that my engine light and fuel light will come on for a few minutes, guess I need the 7.1 IC! I am also going to look into the emissions can. Well here's some pictures! And thanks BadWeb!     | ||
| Thefleshrocket |
Glad you're enjoying the bike! I think a lot of riders felt like you did, having purchased bikes late in the fall or during the winter and not being able to ride them due to the unseasonably cold/snowy weather. I know I was really jonesing and didn't hesitate to start riding once the morning temp was at least 32F when I was leaving for work. | ||
| Kidder |
Nice first impressions and nice bike. Are those the snakeskin gripsters? I'm thinking about picking a set up. | ||
| Xnoahx |
ohHh!!! kEYCHAIN!! | ||
| Unique_id |
@Kidder I would highly recommend the snakeskin grips as other have in another thread. They weight more than I had expected; probably 1.5lb all four pads? They help grip the tank and are really helpful when I have a pillion. I also bought the thinner material for a "tank pad" (think vinyl sticker) I couldn't get it to seat well so I took it off for the moment. I wouldn't recommend that material for the tank and side airbox. | ||
| Unique_id |
I must give a shout out to Liberty Buell who threw in a couple of the key chains in a package. It was the icing on the cake and the "final piece". |
