| Author | Message | ||
     Buelldog205 |
Hello everybody! I'm new here! here's the deal.. I'm on my first bike right now, a Honda Shadow 750 ACE Deluxe. I've been riding since february of 2015 and lately I've been getting a real bad itch for speed. My Honda just isn't doing it for me anymore. I found an 2004 XB12R Firebolt in beautiful condition for $3,000 and I fell in love immediately. I put a down payment on her but she isn't mine until I sell my stock to pay for her. my biggest question is what to expect from the switch, and as this being my first sport bike and an albeit large one, I would like some advice or warnings, anything to help keep the sticky side down. | ||
| Greg_e |
Keep your wrist in check or put a very good traffic attorney on retainer. First gear should go above 50mph and do so very quickly, easy to get into trouble with the law. The center of gravity will be a bit higher, but overall weight should be lower. Take your time shifting, first to second can false neutral if you go to fast and don't press hard enough, flip the lever over at the shift shaft and run 1 up, 4 down to help prevent this. And always use the clutch, these do not work well with speed shifting. | ||
| Teeps |
MSF advanced rider class is a must. Also a track day riding class would be good too. | ||
| Phelan |
03-05 don't do well with speed shifting because they have straight cut gears. 06-10 have a different cut on the gears (can't remember the term at the moment) that makes them not bad for speed shifting as long as you let off the gas. The straight cut gears are stronger though. | ||
| Vicenzajay |
The front brakes can surprise you. Do *not* grab a fistful of front brake unless you want to learn how to fly. Try one/two finger braking and you'll be fine. Do not torque the oil drain plug to factory specs. They're wrong. Use 10 ft. lbs and that's enough. | ||
| Zhen13 |
Almost too much bike for your experience level IMHO, might want to look into picking up a blast cheap, and getting a little more experience under your belt. XB12r is by no means a "beginners bike". Just my 2 cents. Ride safe | ||
| Brother_in_buells |
Well i see no problem if you take the time to learn to know the 12r (go for some rides alone so you can focus on yourself and the bike) I rode a 125 ktm enduro before i had my 12s and a couple times my dad's 1975 moto-guzzi 850 V7 Idk but a buell is not for high speed ,more for the corners and hooligan fun rides! | ||
| Greg_e |
Define high speed? It's plenty powerful enough to get you arrested in any state in this country, is that not fast enough? It also gets to those speeds without effort, and is happy to sit there all day long. If you think you must have a 200mph bike to keep up with your A hole friends, then you are just irresponsible and in my opinion need to be crushed on the side of the road. Take that crap to the track and leave it there, I don't need people like that endangering my life on the public roads! A 20mph closing speed on the highway is bad enough, 140mph is just stupid (Assuming a 65mph limit). Point of fact: My 9R with 1050cc kit goes from first gear to second gear so fast that I have trouble getting my foot on the peg fast enough to make the shift. That would be about zero to 50 in around one second. Stomp it down into second (reversed shift) and the front wheel comes up and I'm past 60mph. Might not be good enough against some things on the track, but it would seem plenty fast on the street. No idea where top speed is, it was always limited by the gears anyway, a 12 primary might be fun in mine. | ||
| Blakeaspencer |
I went from a honda shadow 600 to a xb12x this past year. I mainly got this bike to go 75+ for hours on end, but I found out its much better than that. It's a huge bike, but it's definitely controllable. Just dont be stupid until you know how it handles. I'm 19 btw | ||
| Biffdotorg |
I remember only spending my first few years owning a bike, and it was a Yamaha 650 Maxim in College. When I got back into biking, I went right to an XB12s. Yup, there is a big difference in power, but a responsible rider wears the gear and takes their time learning to walk before running. It surprised me a couple times, revving the engine and letting the clutch out too quickly. Eat that tank a couple times and you will respect the torque that engine puts to the tar. The first thing I remember on my first ride (once I trailered it in the rain home for over 6 hours). The wind protection was minimal. You will be better on the 12R, but be ready to hang on. A good full face helmet was required. It's not a good squid bike (the flip flop, no helmet guys. Good wind protection of a decent helmet allowed me to focus on driving. I think that seems obvious to anyone that has only rode sport bikes. But when coming from a cruiser, you are used to half helmets or no helmet and a nice sized fairing. Be smart, give yourself plenty of time to familiarize yourself with it and know your limits. Have fun, it truly is a sickness. And keep in mind, you can get respect from any rice rocket 0-100 with this bike. Anything that happens past 100 doesn't matter anyway. | ||
| Malott442 |
Did you buy it from a guy in Land O Lakes? | ||
| Skipbarberman |
You see the theme here......take your time, progress slow or this bike will slap you hard. Life is tough, but it's tougher if your stupid. Be smart, be safe, have fun. | ||
| Fotoguzzi |
get full protection, FF helmet, armor in your riding suit.. I recommend an Aerostich Roadcrafter, saved my skin in 50mph get off.. still busted 2 ribs, maybe should have gotten the optional back protector. always wear gloves. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YytH5xNOID0 | ||
| Zhen13 |
@Skip "Life is tough, but it's tougher if your stupid" Great quote, they should put that in the entrance to every high school in the US. | ||
| Phelan |
One of my favorites is, "Everything happens for a reason. Sometimes that reason is that you're stupid and make bad decisions." | ||
| Ducbsa |
"Life is tough, but it's tougher if you're stupid" FIFY (Better example for the high schoolers.) | ||
| Phlipper |
I've been riding motorcycles since I was old enough to walk (literally), and I've been on HDs for 34 years this Summer. Bought my first 'crotch rocket' - an XB9SX - last month, so I am making the transition, too. The advice given already is golden. I've had two riding courses over the years and have a beginners' track day/class on an old Honda Hawk under my belt. And I still had to crawl before I walked. These are very different animals and will bite. I'm having a blast on it so far. I haven't been on my Road King or Super Glide since I got it. LOL. (Message edited by Phlipper on April 15, 2016) | ||
| Mtnmason |
Congrats to both of you guys on making the transition. Most folks don't find the appeal in buying a bike from a company that has been defunct for almost seven years (I got my 07 12r a year and half after the shut-down). I think that you'll both find you've made a great decision. I've been lucky to have ridden a fair amount of street bikes and not many at all can compare to the fun one can have on an XB. While comparatively slow in a straight line, they do so many other things SO well. I hope that you're both fairly mechanically inclined. Parts are still relatively easy to come by. The difficulty lies in finding someone to help you fix an issue that may be over your head (if that's possible). Many of us here are all too happy to help should that ever come to be. They are reliable machines when well maintained. Make sure all the ignition components are always 100% correct. Blue loc-tite is your friend. Utilize it liberally. Most of your chassis is aluminum so careful not to over-tighten things like drain plugs and fasteners. Half way up the checkered part of the stick is the happy spot for oil. Careful not to overfill. Only check when hot. Most everyone here uses a full-synth. Amsoil and Mobil 1 are popular. An extra belt is not a bad part to have on hand. Being new, I doubt either of you will be thrashing on it anytime soon but it's good insurance for when the mileage starts to climb (which happens quickly as you will want to go everywhere on it). Same with with clutch cable. Bearings are a good thing to replace around the 20-30K mark on the older model XBs if not already done. If it does not have a right side air scoop, get one now - your fan will likely ran less than half the time depending on the climate. Enjoy learning to love your new pride and joy and hopefully you'll keep us up to date on this thread. (Message edited by mtnmason on April 17, 2016) (Message edited by mtnmason on April 19, 2016) |
