| Author | Message | ||
     Swanthog |
My '06 XB12's engine needs rebuilt and I am considering upgrading to a 2008+ engine. Has anyone done this? Given the list of things that would be required it may make more sense to buy a low miles bike rather than the engine alone. I see them going for around $2.5K online. Thanks, Lawrence | ||
| Froggy |
Hughlysses did a 09 motor swap due to a crank failure on his 07. I agree about buying another bike at this point, after what it will cost for the motor, other bits and then the time involved with the swap, if you can hop on something else for $2500 that would be what id do. Part out or sell the old bike cheap to recoup the cost. (Message edited by Froggy on February 23, 2018) | ||
| Etennuly |
Totally agree with the Frog. There have been some lower mileage Ulys popping up now and then. I recall seeing one last fall with less than 10k miles go,for $2800. I think Hugh might tell you that is what it cost to up grade. If your bike were otherwise a cherry I would buy a donor bike swap it over and sell off the rest. | ||
| Tootal |
Were you thinking of rebuilding it yourself? If so then it might be worth the effort. If you rotate the motor and pull the heads and jugs and find your crank bearings are worn then at that point a different bike might be in order. However, if the bottom end is in good shape then get some ten over pistons, as close to the weight of your old pistons as you can get, and take the cylinders, pistons and heads to a good shop to have honed to the piston and a valve job done and reassemble. I think doing a top end job is better since then you know what you have instead of just buying a "mystery machine". I actually plan on doing this next Winter since mine has had piston slap out of the front cylinder along with oil consumption since new! Now if you were going to have it done then the cost would warrant another used bike. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Yea, I’d also recommend getting a newer bike. You could probably do a top end overhaul on your existing engine cheaper, but the 08-up engine swap can be fairly expensive unless you could find a complete, cheap, wrecked 08-up Uly, and even then it’s a lot of work. | ||
| Swanthog |
Thanks, everyone, for your input. I am planning on doing any and all work myself. A few things are going on with the bike. 1) there is a bad rattle around the front of the engine during warm up -- and after warm-up at times 2) If the engine is lugged from a stop there is a loud knocking 3) At some point, oil has seeped from the head to cylinder mating surface on the forward cylinder. There isn't any fresh oil there, so maybe the previous owner replaced the gasket but didn't clean this area on the the cooling fins? For item 1, I have a thread on the XB12 Forum here (if interested): https://www.buellxb.com/forum/showthread.php?53964 -Metal-clanging-sound I will do as Tootal suggested first before replacing the bike. Thanks, again. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Yea, on the knock, the absolute first thing to check is the horn. If it's never been tweaked by a previous owner, it can hit the inside of the flyscreen when Idling or especially when pulling away from a stop, and you'll think the rods are coming out of the engine. Easy fix is to just bend the bracket to move the horn back a small amount so it no longer hits the flyscreen when it vibrates. On your evidence of an oil leak, clean it up well (I'd recommend a degreaser like Simple Green, scrub with a brush, and then rinse) and see if it shows up again. | ||
| Tootal |
I watched your video and it looks like your voltage regulator is loose. It looked like it was bouncing around while everything around it was not. | ||
| Swanthog |
Hi, Tootal. I checked the VR during warm up and it is securely attached with no movement at all. I used the opportunity to listen to the noise again and I'm fairly certain it emanates from one or both heads. | ||
| Etennuly |
Sounds to me like an exhaust rattle. Like a baffle plate or pipe in the muffler is loose. | ||
| Swanthog |
Thanks, Etennuly. That's what the previous owner suggested. I'm going to pull the Drummer and see if the sound persists -- will need to muffle the exhaust somehow otherwise it may be too loud to hear anything! | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
My 2008 came with that too as I recall. I chalked it up to "2008 engines sound different" and kept riding since it was under warranty. Just before the warranty expired, I took it in for some other thing related to the muffler like the servo cable and they replaced the muffler under warranty. "Didn't you hear that muffler rattle? Wasn't it driving you crazy?" Well yeah.... I guess. | ||
| Swanthog |
Etennuly and Natexlh1000 guessed correctly (and so did the former owner). This is really great news! I pulled the Drummer off over the weekend and cold started her. The noise was completely gone. Is this common with Drummer exhaust? The thing doesn't rattle when shaking it off the bike. Looking inside, there are no obstructions. I can see straight through. This is likely another thread, but now that the exhaust if off, I love the look and extra clearance! Does anyone know of a n exhaust reroute that achieves this? I'd like to reroute it and add a skidplate. | ||
| Hughlysses |
^ Glad you figured it out and that it is not a catastrophic engine failure. Contact Kevin Drum; I imagine he'd be glad to help you sort it out. http://www.kdfab.com | ||
| Supersaiyan454 |
The Drummers use a perforated steel sheet or screen to contain the packing material. That screen is not fastened at all. It is held in only by the endcaps. Over time, it can become deformed to the point where it rattles inside of the muffler in certain conditions. | ||
| Portero72 |
My .02$ is that the updated fan logic and factory RSS makes a HUGE difference in comfort. Zero heat searing the inside of the right thigh. IDS Race ECM is the ticket. | ||
| Swanthog |
Portero72, are you sure you posted this to the correct thread? It seems way off topic. | ||
| Etennuly |
Good to hear about it being a fairly simple fix! It probably needs exhaust pressure and or heat along with the pulses of the exhaust to make it happen. Hard to replicate on a bench. | ||
| Falloutnl |
"This is likely another thread, but now that the exhaust if off, I love the look and extra clearance! Does anyone know of a n exhaust reroute that achieves this? I'd like to reroute it and add a skidplate." Don't let Erik hear about it :P | ||
| Froggy |
 There was a company if I remember right in Japan that made this exhaust many years ago. You would need to do a custom job to achieve something similar. I don't think it adds much clearance in this case, but if you did it custom and ran the pipes more outwards from the motor you could keep them higher, at the increased risk of catching your clothing on it. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
You would have to engineer a flexible coupling since the engine is moving around like a paint mixer relative to the frame. | ||
| Swanthog |
Excellent point. Seems like I have seen things like this. Exhaust flex coupler: https://www.ecstuning.com/b-ansa-parts/universal-f lex-section-225-x-4-priced-each/8843~ans/?gclid=Cj 0KCQjwy9LVBRDOARIsAGqoVnvYz6cm3gfIO0o1j4yHVMWVx7t4 h5STdS1T-25cU7hsWfcn68NkhhcaAkI9EALw_wcB | ||
| Portero72 |
Wow. Ignore the man behind the curtain. Crack kills! |
