Oh, past/future customer Good Will. Which Erik Has, And HD does not. a niche to be filled here no doubt. I just wish I could afford to pick up a few ulys to mothball awhile. read the Whole Thread On Badweb, not "dumb" at all, if ya pull in your prejudging. Ask Erik what a Name means, Cannot Help but care, his babies. Best Too Him. b.
Etennuly, I'm awfully glad that you could partake and actually add to the dumbest thread ever.
I had to take out the trash and your thread seemed a good place for it.
Electro, What is your point? You seem to be baiting this thread for whom might actually care about their bikes and E-B-R. You are in a field of koolade drinkers.....duh. Until this expirement.....er thread, I always had respect for what you posted.
Your question about E-B-R supplying parts for bikes his company did not produce has been answered in many forms.
To berate Erik Buell Racing for not wanting to make parts for HD's bikes is a fools errand. Bruce seems to really like what you are smokin' though!
This thread needs to hit the Backfire board as it is making muck on the BBD where people want and get real help and advice and enjoyment on and about their Ulys.`
As much as I enjoy my Buell, I've never been a kool-aid drinker by anyone's standard. I've owned many bikes and have ridden many miles and my ULY has been one of my most enjoyable rides. Does that mean I have to never utter a disparaging word about Buell, where would the fun in that be. I've noticed (who hasn't?)that Erik Buell Racing sells some ULY parts and not others. God forbid that I pointed that out.
To berate Erik Buell Racing for not wanting to make parts for HD's bikes is a fools errand -Etenully
Almost all Buell bikes were sold to us owners while Erik was at the helm of Buell Motorcycles. Sure,I've pointed out many times that HD owned Buell(lock stock and barrel) but Erik always got all the credit for the good things about Buell bikes but at the same time tried to make all us believe that Harley Corp was always holding him back. Harley was the true culprit behind all recalls, rust prone mufflers, and everything else that wasn't perfect. I always believed something a bit different, that Harley also propelled Erik forward. Sure they didn't always let him have his way but he must of known that was the way it was always going to be when he sold Buell to Harley, first 49% and then later the other 51%. Erik knew Harley ways well since he had worked many years for them as an up and coming engineer. Remember, Harley is the big, bad, bogey man that also paid for the East Troy Buell manufacturing plant that put Buell Ulys in our garages. Do I think that the latest Harley CEO was and is a first class tool for closing Buell down, sure, especially since I bought that 2007 ULY just days before that historic saddening announcement. And I always looked forward to what Buell Motorcycles was coming up with every year.
Do I have a point? Not so much. Just don't get so upset when someone points out something that maybe goes against the Buell kool-aid lovers grain. Erik's a big boy and most certainly can take it. And if there is money in it, (ECM's must be high margin) Erik Buell Racing will probably make parts for old Buells when Harley stops supporting them. Somebody is going to fill the need.
While the H-D(spit) organization is not all that it should be for servicing and supplying parts for Buell Motorcycles, when it becomes feasible, there is no reason for an aftermarket supplier not to build/sell the breakables and wear parts for our bikes.
Erik Buell Racing has no responsibility to anybody for producing/selling our breakables and wear parts. I want to believe that Erik would love to do this for us, but at this point I am sure he is an extremely busy person with doing what he is doing.
ECMs are clearly marketed, fully disclaimer'd as "Race Use Only" and not intended, programmed, nor produced for street Uly use. What we do with them after receiving them is a different matter. What that means is that Erik Buell Racing is NOT directly supporting street Ulys either in intent or practice. Pretty simple really.
No panties in a bunch, but this whole argument, soapbox rant is just plain silly....... If you own a BMC product you are either on HD's or your own hook from here on out for regular, street use support and parts. Nothing stopping third party vendors/manufacturers from producing replacement or upgrade parts......excepting the limited market. That's my take anyways.........feel free to see it your own way.
If you own a BMC product you are either on HD's or your own hook from here on out
Sort of like that in life.....
But as long as parts are still available, coupled with the brain trust in this community we should all be able to keep our Buell products running long into the future. Personally I like doing it myself, and find it annoying when I have to lean on other people to do things correctly...
Do I wish Erik an company would have redesigned a few parts and put them into production just to keep us rolling, hell yeah!
But honestly, if the sad sacks in charge wouldn't listen to us then, ya know they ain't gonna listen to us now.
To have "done right" back then would have reduced profit margins or increased loss, depending who you listen to.
We both know for a fact that your ride is as good as you make it now, for the goal of modern American production is for it to last as long as it takes for you to barley afford a new one.
I drink from no man's cup, other than my own.
Now I ask you EG, what is your next new ride gonna be?
Just curious on your guys thoughts on how long most common Uly parts will be available? I've had my '08 Uly for just over a year now and it has been one of the most enjoyable bikes I've owned. No problems thus far, & I'm hoping to continue that for a long, long time. I worry sometimes about the possibility of not being able to get parts or descent service down the road. My dream would be for Buell to resurrect in some fashion and have a brand new Uly with new engine (that doesn't nearly burn my right leg off). Still can't believe they released the Uly without dealing with the heat issue on the right side better.
Chassis is the thing, the basic "sporty" mill... is kinda the ford flathead V-8 of M/C engines... Points&Carb possible if need be. Good Machine shop keep it going forever. hurt the Chassis though... b.
(Message edited by brucespoint on August 18, 2011)
Terry, Good to hear from you for it's been awhile. My next ride? Haven't even given it a thought. The economy sucks and I've already got 5 bikes in the garage. I like riding the ULY and I've still got the 97 E-glide. How well does that fan forced air oil cooler setup of yours work?
The funny thing about this badweb is if you even slightly allude(and I'm not sure that I even did) to any negative about Erik Buell you can be assured that a few attack dogs will get real personal and go for the jugular. You know, if this bike were as perfect as some here think it is, there would be no need for badweb or the hundreds of mods we've needed to do to make our ULY's as good as it has become, because of our owner derived engineering that is. There, I've done it again and I'm sure some here will feel free and probably compelled to electronically beat the hell out of me. So easy and pain free to do from the keypad.
Anyways brother, are you looking to get a new bike? You've got your 06' so darned personalized and sweet looking I can't imagine you ever parting with it. Anyways, I really am a fan of Buells. Mine has treated me very well and I am not afraid to work on it, seems to be made to work on. Maybe the Buell 1190AX will really become a reality so I'll just be content for the meantime and wait. Heck the ULY seems to have many miles of life left and I just don't get so excited these days about other bikes like I did when the ULY came out in late 05'. Usually when a bike becomes more problems than I can take then I get antsy and that hasn't happened yet with the Buell. Again, its good to hear from you.
I'm still diggin the Uly brother. All of the improvements..eer..I mean HD Character Eliminating Modifications, I/we performed back then are still working flawlessly. Been through many tires man, and my Uly doesn't miss a beat. I have had to replace one 130 watt bulb on my highbeam for the DeathRay setup.
I did buy a brand new Ducati Hyper 1100s to keep the Uly company. Now Ducati knows how to build a bike for performance. The Hyper has soo much in common with the Uly, yet they are at the same time worlds apart. You should ride one! What a hoot. Not alot of mods needed to make it better-world of difference from the mother ships business model.
Boy did I just stumble into the hornet's nest!! Sounds like some are speaking from the heart and some from the head. The real shock was Ourdee's comment on the Throttle shaft. Ourdee, my intent was just to show Erik what I had done to try and fix a semi-common problem on some early Uly's. Engineers like to see other design's just as I do. I work with engineers daily and talk about design and design flaws. I handed the shaft to Court who handed it to Erik, or to you to pass on, I don't remember, and Court said,"Here's what you screwed up but he fixed it!" He was joking with his friend but Erik was not having a good night with all the computer problems at the shop. I don't think he was amused by Court's comment but my good friends will give me a hard time too, it's what good friends do to each other. I felt really bad for Erik and I didn't mean for that to be the message, I just thought he might appreciate it or make a comment on design. I don't blame Court either, he was just having fun with his buddy. As much as we talked during that weekend I never knew you had such a disappointing opinion of me. I pray your throttle shaft never breaks.
As I remember, Erik, after handing the shaft back, started talking about all the problems he has with vendors, especially the American ones. Now that sort of points to the issue on this thread. When you give someone design parameters and they build it for you so you order thousands of them, how can you be responsible for a few bad ones? It was the vendors fault and my guess is the vendor won't sell just a shaft. To Erik or the motor company.
By the way, good to hear from you Treadmarks! Glad to hear all is running and going well.
"Kool Aid drinkers"? Incredibly rude personal insult often employed by those who like to pretend themselves superior; it avoids entirely the issue in favor of personal attack. Pure arrogant miserableness. Wise up.
If you can't tolerate opposing views, then avoid stating opinion and especially that which is intended to "stir the pot." "
H-D is the party that ought to offer an improved throttle shaft fix. Maybe an aftermarket shop will, but none are duty bound to do so in any way, shape, or form.
Why might some be irritated by the OP's attitude expressed here? Because it appears to presume much and tries to hang a burden of guilt upon a man who in no way deserves it. In short, it's incredibly presumptuous and rude, insolent really.
One could askErik Buell Racing, American Sport Bike, TrojanHorse, GSD, and/or others to consider the issue, a new "race" throttle shaft for instance, rather than lecture Erik publicly, and the discussion would probably have proceeded MUCH more positively.
Impertinent displays of disrespect warrant strong rebuttal.
Less arrogance, more humility?
Reminds me of my performance review where my boss, VP of Marketing, criticized that "some coworkers say that you are arrogant."
"Yeah, so!?" I replied arrogantly.
We laughed out loud.
Winning over $10M worth of lucrative new business instills confidence.
So too does the internet. It's just not often warranted.
Almost lost that one. Internet is dicey here today.
As to the issue of throttle shaft, a larger shaft may indeed bugger the EFI. Maybe not, but you never know until it is tried.
And figure this, if anything in the intake tract is modified, the EPA is probably going to demand that it be retested and certified to meet the applicable emissions standards.
Some folks, engineers even, might not think of such issues. I'm sure there are more.
One solution to the shaft breaking might be as simple as removing it from the throttle plate and polishing and peening the area prone to fatigue failure and/or cryo-treating it.
If I owned an '07, I'd probably do both. I might also have some duplicate spares made and just swap them out every 20K miles or so.
Funny how multiple solutions pop up so easily when one puts their mind to it.
I like positive interesting discussions like that, looking for solutions.
I hate the ones that are about blaming and condemning and complaining.
The discouraging thing about that throttle shaft is not only is it such a weird thing to have fail but then they (as in H-D) won't just sell you an updated shaft. They want you to buy a complete throttle body assembly which is $400 or something like that which is ridiculous. That's why the aftermarket exists and HD can go out of business as far as I'm concerned. I would much rather spend my money elsewhere whenever possible.
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