| Author | Message | ||
     Steveford |
It sure didn't want to but the old pile hit 100.     | ||
| Njloco |
That's impressive, as I don't hear of them getting that high in milage often enough. How about a little write up on the bikes history, I would definitely read it. Congratulations! | ||
| Court |
That is so cool . . . I know a number of folks who'd passed the 1000,000 mark on various Buells and it's always exciting to see. Great news ! | ||
| Tootal |
I'd like to see the ass of the guy who put 1000,000 miles on his Buell!  Good job Steve! | ||
| Mnrider |
That's great life from a motorcycle.  Here's to the next 100k. | ||
| 1313 |
 | ||
| Hugie03flhr |
Very impressive! I agree with NJloco, a little write up on problem areas and what's still original would be awesome! | ||
| Steveford |
I bought the bike new when I was working at Schoch's H-D/Buell on 1/28/06 and ordered up a race kit and stuck on the bars, fender, front brake line and clutch cable from an XB-S along with the bags and tail pak as I wanted an S3 replacement. It was really a toss up between the Useless and the Lightning Long but I liked the remote preload adjustment and hard bags and fold down back rest for my (eventual) bride so Useless it was. I broke it in when it was in the 20s and one fine night I was doing around 90 and a State Trooper went past me like I was standing still, ha, ha. At 850 miles I switched over to Mobil 1 everywhere and right around that time one of the cheap saddlebag latches snapped off in my hand! I also added a r/h cooling scoop from the defunct American Sport Bike. At around 5,000 miles I tried Harlee's very own Citgo Syn 3 and it made the cooling fan come on all the time so I dumped that crap out and went back to regular old 15/50 Mobil 1. At 7,000 miles I had the front brake rotor replaced under Warranty. At the time none of us realized that the pulsing was caused by the stock brake pads (Ferodos are what I prefer to use). At 10,000 a new front isolator as vibration had increased a bit and it was still under warranty so why not. At 21,000 a headlight bulb went out and at 23,000 the dreaded 06 throttle butterfly shaft bug bit, leaving me stranded but close to a bike shop so I borrowed some tools and eventually went Holy Shit, how weird is that? At 28,000 it was new wheel bearing time (front and rear) as the rear shot out the balls, 32,000 saw the clutch cable pop as somebody (me) wasn't greasing the barrel up at the lever and at 33,000 the original fan died. This led to much cursing on my part as they left the electrical leads stupidly short so I lengthened the wiring harness a bit. At 42,000 I replaced the oil cooler as I thought it had failed when it was actually the oil lines were seeping. They updated them on later models but I just blobbed some Hylomar on the outside and said heck with it. At just about 50,000 it was yet another fan, an ET sensor, ECM as the piece uh crap low seat smashed the connectors and just to keep me cursing 250 miles later the right hand fork seal went. I said the mofo word and was about ready to get rid of the old pile but then decided that it was my fault for not putting on neoprene fork gaiters so replaced both seals and added the gaiters. That same 1,000 miles another saddlebag latch just snapped in two so I devised my patented Cheap Prick Safety Wire fix. Basically, two loops of safety wire go around the pin and keep the two halves together. Hey, it works better than the original design! In 2012 it had 53,000 miles and it got a new battery from Auto Zone, another headlight bulb and at 58,000 miles it was O2 sensor time. By 60,000 it had developed a lot of bucking and surging which turned out to be slop in the TPS (the internet is a great help in keeping these things running)! Before I knew what the problem actually was it had stressed the belt enough that one fine day I let out the clutch and it popped in two. I said the mofo word again. Actually, this bike has made me say that word a lot along with you miserable piece uh sh*t... New belt, new throttle cables, a used coil (I still hadn't tumbled upon the TPS being the problem), new front spark plug lead and FINALLY, at 74,000 miles I removed the TPS, stuck a little dielectric grease in it and preloaded the plastic thing. NO more bucking and surging! I'd probably still be on the original belt if it wasn't for that TPS wearing. At 80,000 it was new ignition relay but that wasn't the culprit, it was another crushed ECM. I sent the broken ECM to someone on this site who said he could fix it and I never heard back from him. Hello??? July of 2014, 83,000 miles and new Yuasa battery, 89,500 and it's new seat as the pan was cracked and beat to snot and it's burning oil like crazy. Every day I had to ride through 10 miles of road construction and it sucked in a bunch of grit which did the old girl in. Dump in lots of cheap oil, 92,000 new front wheel bearings and complete headlight assembly, 94,000 new starter switch and finally I couldn't take it any more at 94,445 miles on 8/12/16: http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/142838/791231.html?1470251264 1,000 miles later back to Mobil 1, 99,025 new rear shock as the original finally pissed out all the oil and at 100K I changed the fluids, adjusted the clutch and lubed the cable. Those are just the main things - lots of tires, brake pads, oil changes every 5,000 miles, brake fluid once a year, TPS reset every 10,000 miles. Anything not listed is original and a lot of it is really surprising: charging system, clutch, turn signal bulbs(?), fuel pump, you get the idea. It needs steering stem bearings and the replacement used race canister is rusting away internally so that's coming up. All in all, it's been a good bike. There were quite a few times when it was not my favorite so I let it sit for months and rode something else until I stopped being mad at it. The big question is would I buy another one? Maybe. I bought a bunch of Triumph triples and swapped an S1 for a 1985 BMW K100 here on this site but it's too soon to say how they'll stack up compared to the old Useless. The Triumphs seem to be money pits but I really like them. With any luck, I'll be posting a 200,000 mile write up sooner or later. The old pile! The Mrs. helped me with the photos for the 100,000 mile shots and her take on it was "I'm used to it and it runs good". What more could you ask for?  I'd also like to say thank you to everyone on this site, it's a great place to hang out and it's been a lot of help. Oh, and FUHD! (Message edited by SteveFord on March 26, 2017) (Message edited by SteveFord on March 26, 2017) | ||
| Etennuly |
That is cool. I had plans to cross that milestone a few years ago. Since I am self employed and use the Uly as transport for moving trucks when I can, it was cranking some miles in a relatively short time. The economy tanked, the trucks dried up, the vacation time off dried up and it quit moving, hell I quit moving! I did 60,000 or so in five years, and 3,400 more in the past six years. What a drop off. Have been following you on this quest and would have been right there with you had things not tanked. Oh well shit happens and I still have a fairly pristine '06 with 63,400 miles on it. | ||
| Falloutnl |
63,400 is still a lot of miles by my standards, Etennully. As for Steveford, congrats man, hell of an achievement. (Message edited by falloutnl on March 26, 2017) | ||
| Njloco |
Good funny story on the history of the bike, at least it was for us,lol. You'll get another because, you will get bored with a bike that runs good all the time, you, like most of us here can't do without the challenge for long, it's worse than being addicted to drugs and this is one of the only places to check in for help with the addiction. Triumph, I just was forced to get rid of a 2012 Speed triple that was all worked, great bike I owned for three days before it was totaled by a bad cager, still recovering. Troumph 2013 explorer, 19000+ miles now brought it in for the 3rd to neutral downshift problem, while they were trying to duplicate the problem, the engine blew up, wonderful right. Now while they did cover the new engine and tranny, they've also had the bike for 5 months, So the grass is not always greener. At least with the buell you can fix it yourself for most problems. Whatever you do, you sound like you have a plan so good luck. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Here, here! Congratulations, and hopefully it'll make another 100. | ||
| Steveford |
Thanks, everyone. I just took a look at the photos and it's rather fitting as it began the break in during Winter and now it hits 100 next to receding piles of snow. Hurry, Summer! | ||
| Motorfish |
Congrats! Thanks for the write up, and here`s to another safe 100! | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
LOL at the repairing the ECU line. I had similar experience where I paid $12 to ship someone a part for free+shipping. Not even a "Thanks". I could have thrown it in the woods for FREE! | ||
| Jasonmcelroy |
Nice work! It's really useful to me to read your repair/issue history. I'm in love with my Uly and intend to keep it going just as you have. Thanks, Jason | ||
| Steveford |
Yeah, that ECM "repair" needed a crickets chirping sound clip, ha, ha. Hopefully, this will give people an idea of what to expect with the bike. My problems seem to be pretty common ones and a lot of the things that plague other people have never been an issue for me so who knows. I forgot to mention the CEL is flickering every so often and the bike will give a hiccup at idle but still stays running. The code is 02 sensor but it checks out fine on the computer so it's giving me a heads up to replace it soon. The funniest episode with the bike was when I was proudly showing off my brand new Buell Ulysses to Lynda and it's finally broken in so she can go on her maiden ride and I'm happily going on about how wonderful it is and I'm showing her all of the features and the saddlebag latch snaps off in my hand right in front of her. Hmmmm... That still makes me laugh. (Message edited by SteveFord on March 27, 2017) (Message edited by SteveFord on March 27, 2017) | ||
| Hugie03flhr |
Great write up and I'm very impressed you haven't had the engine opened up. Sensors are a PITA but good luck with 100k more! | ||
| Hootowl |
Someone didn't follow the link  | ||
| Hugie03flhr |
Oops, just clicked on it but that was still 97,000 before opening it up. | ||
| Etennuly |
Engine would never had failed if Steve had just simply taken care of the damn thing!  | ||
| Ftd |
More Uly stories of one owner bikes with decent miles would be interesting. I am the original owner of an '06 getting ready to turn 40K measly miles but I do have extensive notes on the bikes history if anyone is interested . | ||
| Steveford |
Yes, I would like to hear at 40K, I wouldn't think there'd be too many problems. Maybe we can make up a spreadsheet of sorts listing miles and failures? The 07s would skew the results. Knowing what I know now, I would have oiled the K&N every 6 months instead of annually with all of that road construction going on. Riding through that cement dust did it in. | ||
| Sagehawk |
Steveford, what do you mean did it in? I have read several reports on k&n air filters not being up to the task in larger trucks or equipment that is used in industrial settings. After hearing some of that, I chose a uni filter to see how they do long term. Ditto for the Scott's lifetime oil filter that I've run for about two years now. Time well tell. And yes, my 07 is in middle of crank failure vin # sequence. | ||
| Steveford |
Grit got into the engine and it started burning oil is what I meant. | ||
| Ftd |
Here goes. I am a now retired chemist and keep logbooks on all my vehicles so I have detailed info on my Uly's life. I sold my 02 X1 to buy it late '05 from DaveS from the Appleton WI dealer. It was part of a fly-n-ride deal where 10or so of us bought Uly's and would meet and pick them up in May. We got to tour the Buell factory, eat lunch with Erik and his crew, etc. Then we rode home...me to Orlando. I had side bags, Drummer pipe, Drummer catch can, race ECM, Direct Link tuner, Vista Cruise throttle lock, tank bag, S fender and a KN filter installed prior to me picking it up. I have run Mobil 20-50 synthetic and Formula + since new. Has 40,000 miles. 3750 Stator, kickstand recall 5750. Installed DL map from the exhaust comparison tests performed late '06, bike has run great ever since Dyno'd @ 92hp/74tq 8000. Bank angle sensor relocation recall 12000 added ft bastard's LED dash voltage monitor & Electraglide's dipstick thermometer 20000 Magnacor wires and new fan 24000. Three bearing rear wheel & new belt 280000. free Spirit belt tensioner 31000. Eliminated 77 connector after blowing a handful of headlight bulbs Changed oil every 5000 miles New batteries ~4 yrs Run EBC front pads. Lyndall rear pads. I tried to eliminate the weak points/problem by the belt tensioner, plug wires, 77 connector, rear wheel, brake pads, improving the grounds, etc. I bought Tootal's improved throttle shaft but haven't installed it yet. Uly has been a great/fun bike. No regrets. I plan on keeping it though I have been lusting after a Motus. | ||
| Ftd |
Nuts, I for got two important items. Early on I installed a right side scoop that I bought from Rcrins from Europe if I remember correctly. A lot of discussions back in the day about those right side scoops! (As well as the FS belt tensioners). Do they help?? In both cases I believe they do. Lastly, a couple of years ago I bought a Rick Mayer seat off a Badwebber. One of the best additions to the bike. VERY comfortable, big improvement over the stock seat. | ||
| Dr_greg |
My first '06 Uly made it to around 55K miles before it hit a deer @ 72 mph and totaled itself. In that time, the most memorable "unexpected" maintenance was the rear cylinder blew its spark plug out. I did an entire top-end teardown (well documented on this site) and installed Time-Sert thread replacements on both heads. It was my intent to go for 100K miles until the aforementioned forest rat. --Doc | ||
| Smorris |
just congratulated you on triumphnet. funny how there are so many similar interest among this group. i agree motus would be next if had the means. great read. | ||
| Steveford |
My 04 Triumph Sprint has been giving me much agita, looks like three new fuel injectors are in my future. 100,125 miles and new Bosch O2 sensor which makes it run great and I learned something new: if you stupidly reverse the fan leads figuring it won't make a difference the fan WILL run backwards! | ||
| Sergio |
Wow, congrats! Was it mostly traveling or commuting? | ||
| Steveford |
Commuting and using it like most people use a car. Only one big trip and that was down the Blue Ridge Parkway which was a lot of fun - these bikes love the corners! |
