| Author | Message | ||
     Jhuppdog |
Hello everyone. My first street bike was a 2001 X1 that I purchased new in February of 2002. Unfortunately I had to sell the bike in 2004 and have been missing it ever since. I purchased a Yamaha FZ1 in 2007 and had that about a year and traded it in on a Honda VTX 1800N. I love my VTX but I have always missed my X1. I have been watching craigslist and cycle trader for years hoping to find my bike up for sale, but no such luck. I ended up finding a 2001 X1 with 6300 miles for sale in South Carolina and decided I just had to have it. The bike is all stock and in very good condition. I never worked on my first X1 because it was always under warranty. I also didn't do much research on the bike back then I just relied on my dealership and road it. It seems like alot has changed since back then. From what I remember there was no ECM Spy if you wanted a race ecm you had to buy one. I have been trying to catch up as much as possible on all the information out there that I can but I have a couple of questions for all of you educated people. There is a clear silicone looking gasket type of material coming out from between the two halves of the crankcase on the bottom of the bike, Is this normal? The owner of the bike said that if the bike sat for awhile a little bit of oil would leak out of the top of the jug at the base of the three plates. Once your run the bike for a little while it seals up and does not leak any more, Does this mean that it still has the paper gaskets in place and they need replaced? My old Buell had a race ecm, K&N filter and a Vance & Hines exhaust. I loved the power and the sound and would like to do the same thing or something similar to this new bike. It looks like the best bet is to buy the ECM spy cable and program from ebay instead of buying a race ecm. How do the D&D and Supertrapp exhausts compare to the V&H's? Sorry for all the questions but I am as excited as a kid on christmas. I have been waiting to own another Buell for years and can't wait to start making the improvements. Thanks in advance for all your help and I look forward to learning as much as I can from you guys. Jeremy | ||
| Pkforbes87 |
"There is a clear silicone looking gasket type of material coming out from between the two halves of the crankcase on the bottom of the bike, Is this normal?" Yep, perfectly normal. There's not a lot of risk of leaks from the seam between the case halves. I don't know what was used to seal them from the factory, but after splitting the cases on an X1 rebuild I did they went back together with a product called Yamabond I believe. Haven't specifically looked at other bikes, but I know there was some of the old sealant sticking out before I tore the motor apart, were never any leaks though. "a little bit of oil would leak out of the top of the jug at the base of the three plates. Once your run the bike for a little while it seals up and does not leak any more, Does this mean that it still has the paper gaskets in place and they need replaced?" I assume the three plates you're talking about are the rocker covers. I've never heard of the specific leak situation you're talking about - most of the time when the paper gaskets fail (and they fail commonly) they will leak all the time. It's not a difficult job to replace those with new metal gaskets. I'd recommend doing it as soon as you get the bike if the old ones are leaking at all. Consider upgrading to rocker covers from an XB model when you replace the gaskets. They aren't too pricey, and the updated design will not only give you a breather design that is less prone to puking, it will remove one of the "three plates" from the design altogether so you have one less potential leak. "How do the D&D and Supertrapp exhausts compare to the V&H's?" I don't have any experience with the Supertrapp, but have run both a V&H and D&D on a couple different X1s. The V&H sounds great when the packing is fresh. Unfortunately, the packing didn't seem to last long for me. By 5000 miles it was in need of replacement and with some of it blown out, a lot of higher pitched annoying noises came through. I upgraded to a D&D and never looked back. The D&D is a lot heavier (steel construction instead of aluminum like the V&H) but it's bulletproof, and packed with steel wool instead of fiberglass like the V&H. The D&D is borderline too loud IMO, but bearable. I love the sound, very deep and raspy.. the V&H is more civilized but again - will start to sound trashy and need regular repacking. Just a note if you decide to go with a D&D. The mufflers from D&D come with the outlet pointing to the left. You can loosen the rear bracket and rotate the muffler inside of it so that the outlet points down toward the ground. I did this on mine and it made a noticeable difference in the sound level experienced by the rider. Probably didn't do much to piss off the neighbors any less though. | ||
| Jhuppdog |
Pkforbes87, Thanks for all the information. I have already ordered the Service Manual and that should be here any day now. Once I receive that I will remove the rocker covers and replace the gaskets. I did not know that you could replace the X1 rocker covers with the ones from the XB. Do you have to use rocker covers from the XB9 or XB 12? Which gaskets do you use? The ones from an X1 or XB? Is there a particular gasket manufacturer that is better than another? Are there any other maintenance items that I need to look at or any necessary upgrades that need to be done on the 2001 model of X1? Sorry for all the questions I just want to take care of everything that I can now so I can ride as much as possible when it gets warm. Thank You, Jeremy | ||
| M2marc |
Almost everything that you will want to know about the bike can be found here. http://www.saintjohn.nbcc.nb.ca/Marriott/x1/#Engin e This is another great resource. A lot of the information holds true for many of the Buells. But you will need to double check and do your own research. http://www.doncasto.net/DonCastosS2ConventionalWis dom.html#Rocker Box Gaskets | ||
| Pkforbes87 |
"Do you have to use rocker covers from the XB9 or XB 12?" Doesn't matter. Any year or model XB will work. "Which gaskets do you use? The ones from an X1 or XB?" Either will work as long as you're only ordering rocker box gaskets, but you'll have an extra gasket in any kit designed for a tuber. Be aware that if you ever need to order a gasket kit including anything below the rocker boxes, you need to order one specific to your year and model. It will come with an extra rocker box gasket you don't need, but XB gaskets aren't correct for most of the other gasket surfaces on a tuber engine. The gasket surface on the XB covers are the same as the gasket surface on the lower portion of the factory tuber rocker boxes. All the XB covers do is eliminate an unnecessary part and gasket. Well, they also move the breather system to the top of the rocker boxes instead of the side of the heads, but that doesn't affect gasket choice. Speaking of the breather, you'll need to order 2 turret valves as well if you're getting new XB covers. Some here would recommend buying 2 front XB covers. The only difference between front and rear is where the hole in the top is located for the turret valve. Some tuber models have been known to exhibit clearance issues with the bottom of the fuel tank when installing a rear rocker box cover on the rear head. Using a front rocker cover instead will relocate that turret valve further away from the fuel tank. I used the normal XB front and rear rocker boxes on my X1 - the rear turret valve rubbed the bottom of the tank some, but nothing serious enough to cause problems. " Is there a particular gasket manufacturer that is better than another?" I'm a big fan of Cometic, but any metal gasket with rubberized coating should work well. "Are there any other maintenance items that I need to look at or any necessary upgrades that need to be done on the 2001 model of X1?" Remove the spring plate from the clutch pack, replace it with 2 steel plates and 1 friction plate. There's a good reason the spring plate is referred to by tuber owners as a "grenade plate". Rivets holding it together have been known to fail and wreak havoc inside the primary/transmission. Its only function is to make clutch engagements smoother. (sort of a cush drive for your clutch) Check to be sure the oil pump drive gear has been replaced with the newer bronze gear. The factory gears were prone to rapid wear. When they finally fail and all the teeth shear off, you get a lot of foreign chunks of metal wandering around next to your cam gears. A real recipe for disaster. | ||
| Jhuppdog |
M2marc, Thanks for the links, they should be real helpful. Pkforbes87, Do all years of the X1 have the grenade plate in them or were they upgraded after a certain year? Thanks, Jeremy | ||
| Pkforbes87 |
All years? Not 100% sure. I know yours has one. I've been inside the tranny on both my 2000 X1 and a 2002 I used to own. Both had the grenade plate. The design may have been updated along the way to prevent the rivets from failing. Not 100% sure about that either. | ||
| Littlebuggles |
Yeah, all the tubers used the same clutch parts, at least the 99-2002 series tubers. I have run White Brothers, V&H and now Supertrapp. The Supertrapp is much heavier than the V&H but is far more robust. I dig it's tune-ability and love the sound, volume is not out of control, but deeper than the V&H. Of the mufflers I've run the Supertrapp is my favorite. Looks great polished too! XB rocker covers were a very nice upgrade to my bike, much lower maintenance needs for me now that that's been done. It's been documented in the KV a few times. | ||
| Jhuppdog |
Well I order the XB rocker covers and all necessary parts. I ordered a set of gaskets from cometic. Hopefully all the parts will be in by the weekend so I can work on the bike. Thanks for all the help. | ||
| Jhuppdog |
I am going to be replacing the rocker covers on my X1 with XB rocker covers this weekend and wanted to know if any of you have the directions with pictures for this? The link on the X-1 Files to the DCBrag website does not work and the link on Don Casto's site referring to Jose Quinones link does not work either. I have a service manual that I can use but a project specific write up is usually much better. Thanks, Jeremy | ||
| Akbuell |
Remove the top rocker cover and the spacer ( Easily done if re-assembling after replacing the rocker box gaskets ) and set them aside. Put on the rocker cover gasket and XB rocker cover. Torque to specs. Done. Install the PCV valves; run breather hoses. I let mine drain over the sidestand pivot. Not PC, though. And you need to put bolts in the old breather holes in the head that fed into the airbox. Finally, you MAY have to use a round file to shave a notch (very small one) on the front edge of the front cyl rocker cover to provide clearance at the front motor mount for installation. Easy job. Hope this helps, Dave | ||
| Dannybuell |
I made a doc of Jose Quionnes article back in 2003. PM me and I will email to you. The article is based on the rocker boxes from 2003? The newer XB's have different, larger gaskets. You may be able to do same with newer XB rockers and gaskets, IDK.... | ||
| Jhuppdog |
Dannybuell, PM sent Akbuell, Thanks the info helps. I bought a cometic rocker box kit to install. Where do the 4 o-rings go? Thanks, Jeremy | ||
| Ratbuell |
How big are the O-rings? Pushrod tube sized? | ||
| Jhuppdog |
1/2" - 3/4" | ||
| Jhuppdog |
Ratbuell, You were right. The O-rings are for the push rod tubes. I called Cometic and asked them just to make sure. Thanks for the help. Jeremy | ||
| Jhuppdog |
I have begun taking the bike apart in order to fix some oil leaks and make some upgrades. I knew that there was a oil leak from the top of the front head and assumed it was due to the old paper gaskets. I bought new XB covers to replace the stock rocker covers and a cometic gasket kit. I started with the rear head first and found that the gaskets looked good and the bottom gasket had already been replaced with a metal one piece gasket. Once I saw that the gaskets had been replaced I became worried that I had a bigger problem. Last night I started working on the front head and found out the the one of the PO's had replaced all the gaskets on the rear head and the top of the front one but did not replace the paper gasket between the lower rocker cover and the head. I have no idea why someone would do this. If you are taking the time and effort why not do it right.  Oil is also leaking from 1 or more of the following locations. The seal between the primary cover and the crankcase half, the bolt attaching the shifter arm to the primary and the bolt in front of that one that holds the lower fairing on. I am assuming that the gasket needs to be replaced on the primary cover so I removed the drain plug last night and drained the primary. I have not removed the cover yet but plan on doing that this evening. I am a little concerned with the amount of metal that is stuck to the end of the drain plug. Is this something that I should be worried about?   | ||
| Kilroy |
I wouldn't be too concerned about the metal shavings. That very well may be 6300 miles worth | ||
| Jim2 |
When you do get the primary cover off, you will most likely see where the primary chain has contacted the top of the cover inside. That is probably what created the metal filings. There is not much clearance between the primary chain and the top of the cover when the primary chain is adjusted properly (NOT by the Service manual, but looser). It's better to have the chain occasionally slap the top of the cover than to have it too tight constantly pulling on your bearings and shaft. | ||
| Akbuell |
First guess re the primary cover leaks is that you have the old style primary gasket. I ended up with the same leak(s) after removing the shift lever bolt once for some reason. The new gasket is a metal/rubber 'sandwich' , and with care, can be re-used a time or two, based on the experience of some folks here. | ||
| Essmjay |
Primary cover shavings are aluminum, won't stick to the magnetic plug. If it has been a long time since that plug was cleaned it isn't an unusual amount of gunk in my opinion. (Message edited by essmjay on March 29, 2012) | ||
| Jhuppdog |
Thanks for all the help guys. Tonight I re-installed the front rocker covers. It did require some filing on the left front corner in order to get it to fit but after a little work it went right on. I was able to polish a few more small bits and pieces as well. I also removed the primary cover and found the old paper primary gasket that fell apart at the hole where the shifter bolt would go through. I didn't notice any unusual wear or anything out of the ordinary but I've never done this before so I could be overlooking something. I plan on buying a new oil seal and a new shoe. Can I buy just the plastic shoe or do I have to buy the hole assembly? The parts manual does not show a part number for only the shoe? I am contemplating researching how to build a spring compressor tool in order to remove the clutch plates and remove the grenade plate. It seems quite a few have done the mod and really seem to like it and the piece of mind of the grenade plate not being there. I think I'll check with Harley as well and see how much the actual tool is to do this as well. I think I am doing most of the suggested improvements while I have the primary off. If there is something I am forgetting please let me know. Thanks | ||
| Fasted |
whole shoe file:///C:/mym2/Buell%20Forum%20PVS%20Clutch%20Too l.htm file:///C:/mym2/Buell%20Forum%20$5%20Spring%20Comp ressor.htm | ||
| Jhuppdog |
Fasted, I tried the links you posted but they don't seem to work. | ||
| Jayvee |
Those 'links' seem to be pointing to (presumably) Ed's local pc C: drive, not an internet URL. Is the Primary Adjuster Shoe worn out? I thought 2001 would have the 'new/improved' one and would be expected to last more than 6300 miles. Mine is the new style, but it comes with some grooves built-in, as I recall. Fantasizing a bit, but while the primary cover is off, may as well put in a billet aluminum clutch hub, an STM slipper clutch, a billet aluminum engine sprocket...oh yeah, the Baker shifter drum, billet trap door...maybe get the gears back-cut? Just a thought. | ||
| Fasted |
http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/476 23/589522.html | ||
| Fasted |
http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/476 23/627777.html?1309446850 |
