| Author | Message | ||
     Velocette1 |
I have been having multiple issues with my 1190RX. Wiring connectors,fuel pump, clutch nut came loose, loud noises from gearbox, eats batteries, and the chain guards fell off. Bike has 471 miles on from new and has left me stranded a dozen times. Got a flat and had to replace the rear tire at 410 miles from stalling on the 91 freeway and pulling to the median. Is any of this normal? Or am I lucky? | ||
| Ggggary |
Started with 2 miles on my 14 SX in March of this year, coming up on 1500 nothing but some minor issues from 4 years of sitting so far. (Message edited by ggggary on July 17, 2019) | ||
| Shoggin |
471 miles divided by "stranded a dozen times" = you have trouble every 39 miles!? Besides the flat tire.. Duh, no. Thats NOT normal for any bike. "Batteries"?? Who needs more than change the old 2014 battery in 471 miles?? Got to be more to this story.... Either you are vastly exaggerating minor problems or need to have that poor bike looked at by a professional. Bikes need to be ridden. Bikes need maintenance. | ||
| 1_mike |
I've had problems with my 1190RX that I've never had with any offshore bike I've owned. That's not to say that it's been TOO big a deal. The regulator died, then fed full voltage to the battery. The battery shorted and killed everything, during rush "hour" on the way home from work. Had to coast all the way across the freeway..!? THAT was pretty annoying as now I not only have to fork out big bucks for a new voltage regulator, but also for a new battery..! Thanks AAA..! I added a computer fan to blow cooler air onto the regulator... It ran like crap until I sprung for the adjustable ECM. That made a big difference in the way the engine runs. Then the dash / gauge module fell apart..! The four pins that help bolt it together fell out of their molded in locations...more money out of my pocket. Now it's been sitting because of a short somewhere in the fuel pump harnessing. With the fuse in place, the pump runs...key on or not..! Haven't dug into it yet. It goes thru back tires like crazy...but that mostly my right hands fault. As I recall, the bikes got a little over 38,000 miles on it. Rain or shine driving, about 80 miles a day. But...now that I'm retired, it'll sit till I get the desire to dig into the fuel pump harness..! Luckilly...I have my XB1200s to drive. Oh yea, when the front sprocket dies, it does so...in a catastrophic manner. It looked just fine during the last rear sprocket and chain change. Two days later, the front sprocket was trash. Never had that happen in a little over 600,000 miles of driving offshore bikes. Funny...I've bought a hand full of spare parts...just in case..! Haven't needed any of them. Overall...it's been fun. Mike | ||
| Shoggin |
1 mike: I have been following your commuter use of the EBR that Erik says "...has a legitimate race engine in it..." and happy its been good to you! For a few hundred bucks here and there, you probably have the most miles on an EBR so far  They should pay you for the testing, LOL. The amount of $$$ my riding buddies put into their Ducati and BMW "off-shore" bikes for repair and maintenance is frankly staggering. BTW the ECM that controls the {icooling fan only}, on a 2019 Panigale FE costs $1400 (+$650 labor) and takes 6 weeks to get here from Italy. The second time it fails and leaves you stranded again they replace it for free though, so thats good. After you pay the tow bill again of course. It leaks oil too. The EBR uses a relay ($6.99)  and I can get one from Napa. The 6000 mile valve adjust (and throttle body service) in a BMW R9T is the same interval as the EBR, but just cost $1200 at the dealer. Thats twice a year at my pace... I'm doing it myself now on the SX and without 'specialty tools', it took 1.5 hours (3 beers) to strip the bike and get the VC off the very first time. I bet I'm finished in another 4 beers. and feeling great too! ??? Did you know the BMW boxer engines use a 'special' 3 sided tool to open the oil fill cap just to add oil... that is NOT included in the tool kit!? UGH. Its a personality thing. Either you're the person to handle small cheap set-backs. OR You're the person to spend THOUSANDS to try and avoid the inevitable. OR You should sell all your bikes  | ||
| Dave |
Wow! A dozen times in less than 500? Buy new or used? Wiring connectors - what does this mean? Fuel pump - what does this mean? Clutch nut came loose - that's a concern Loud noises from gearbox - diagnosed? Eats batteries - Plural so it's a charging issue (bike or owner) Chain guards fell off - was this after you replaced the tire? Flat tire isn't unique to EBR :-) & typically doesn't require replacing a tire. I've had typical issues of a '14. Starter & My low fuel sender is acting wonky. If you follow EBR on Facebook, you might be convinced that your engine will grenade any minute too! Just by me mentioning it here means it's happened on a dozen more EBRs. LOL. DAve | ||
| Shoggin |
Dave:  | ||
| 1_mike |
Mileage correction - From a guess, to an actual check... 36702.7 miles mostly on the SoCal freeways going to and coming home from work. Some miles on the Angeles Crest Hwy., and some on Azusa Cyn Rd. Mike | ||
| Shoggin |
Theres now 2 of us that ride ACH. Both on white SX's haha | ||
| Ron_luning |
You must be mentally ill, or the definition of a troll. You posted that you had a 2015 SX with these problems for sale in December 2016, and subsequently sold the bike that same month. Here you are damn near 3 years later rehashing this same story with a 2014 SX in the thread title, and in the body writing that you have an RX. Different model year, same story, 3 years later.... You must be a feces eating nutjob or something. | ||
| Tpehak |
It means he had 2 motorcycles different years. He sold one of them, now he has one motorcycle. Same problems means both motorcycles had same problems. | ||
| Ron_luning |
No, really, he hasn't purchased a 2nd EBR. See here: http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/21/ 833748.html?1533260447#POST2637267 And here: http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/21/ 825494.html?1524847596#POST2627641 And here: http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/21/ 798831.html?1483746521 Maybe he has dementia and forgot he sold it in 2017. | ||
| Xbpete |
Bill traded or sold it to a dealer, the bike is for sale now, before I bought my Sx I tried contacting him to buy it but it was already gone. Bill and a friend bought two of them at the same time. He is a hell of a motorcyclist, owns over 74 bikes and is in the business, sometimes I guess life gives ya lemons,,, https://classicavenue.com/2014-ebr-1190rx/ | ||
| Tpehak |
What a crap. It has less than 1000 miles and the muffler is already rusted  (Message edited by TPEHAK on January 03, 2020) | ||
| Twirlin |
@Tpehak, I have a muffler available for sale if you're interested. Only has a couple hundred miles on it. Primary and secondary muffler as well. | ||
| Shoggin |
It's not his. He just likes to nit-pick pointless minutia while hacking major problems with ghetto fixes. IMO  | ||
| Xbpete |
Just purchased a Dean Adams pipe and IDS tune from the man I bought her from... let it rust, will be sitting on a shelf, little wire brush and paint,,, not a big deal, sure would not prevent me from buying, just something to do, payin the dues to have what you want,,, Roger that Shoggin! | ||
| Shoggin |
XBPete, you will LOVE the difference in sound and POWER when you put them on! Don't forget the 44t sprocket and quick shifter...   | ||
| Xbpete |
Shoggin, she has the 44t sprocket and new DID chain. Guy offered me a quick shifter but had not considered it ..yet! Any insights appreciated, will not be tracking it since dirt is younger than my old arse, just country mountain roads and tons of farms for miles,,, | ||
| Tpehak |
Please post here more reliability issues you found during owning EBR. I see the front sprocket is pretty small, like on Japanese motorcycles. I would prefer big front and big rear sprockets to increase durability and reliability and to reduce chance of snapping the chain even it will be slightly heavier. How long does it last? (Message edited by TPEHAK on January 04, 2020) | ||
| Tpehak |
It looks like EBR 1190 also has cylinder cracking issues http://www.badweatherbikers.com/cgibin/discus/show .cgi?tpc=713493&post=2625141#POST2625141 Bad water pump https://ebrforum.com/showthread.php?1796-Bad-head-gasket&p=14566&viewfull=1#post14566 (Message edited by TPEHAK on January 08, 2020) | ||
| Ggggary |
That cylinder replacement deal has been a real saga! At least one set has (just) now made it a buyer. | ||
| Shoggin |
XBPete, I would recommend the quickshifter for street riding as well. It's an absolute pleasure to ride with it Also the Oberon Clutch slave is a $140 very well spent to get literally HALF the clutch pull effort on the lever. It was a game changer for my wrist comfort in the city. | ||
| Shoggin |
My early EBR has been incredibly dependable, like the vast majority of all EBR's have proven to be. I ride it very hard, and maintain it very well. Hasn't needed anything beyond a scheduled valve adjust, a plastic chain guide, and replace the rattly clutch basket springs (not bad, just loud). Thanks Erik. I love my EBR. I'll love it if I have to buy a $200 dash someday, I'll love it If I have to replace a 30¢ o-ring. I'll love it EVEN MORE If I have to buy a replacement engine, because that costs less than ONE scheduled Ducati Valve adjustment. *Even more impressive for a small American company, making low production, hand-built machines.} | ||
| Tpehak |
So basically you do not adjust valves on EBR, you just buy new engine. | ||
| Xbpete |
Tpehak, you must adjust the valves, most competent home mechanics can do the procedure, not a big deal, just a little time consuming. As for the front cylinder detonation, the 1190 simply needs a rerouting of the overfill venting. The failure of the front cylinder seems to be a result of the combination overfilling the tank and then the excess fuel was dumping into the front jug. Owners have developed a fix that solves the problem by rerouting a couple hoses. Jacob Stark has made the fix procedure available to all of us. Not too many water pumps were replaced and there were some issues with the starter taking on water, again, an easy fix or replacement. Even with no dealer support, the 1190 can be and in most cases will be a reliable bike. | ||
| Ggggary |
Jacob Stark has changed that "reroute" into a kit. Https://www.facebook.com/groups/289943317829883/pe rmalink/1479302568893946/ I put my name on the list for a kit. I did the original reroute then undid it. Literally it didn't pass the smell test. I do NOT overfill that small gas tank now. What I have done is extend the back of the front fender and installed a coarse piece of uni filter foam in front of the air intake. After less than 1,000 miles of paved road riding from new the amount of debris found on the air filter was alarming. I'm not brave enough to depend solely on a K&N to block a constant stream of dirt from the front tire. | ||
| Xbpete |
Thanks for the link post Gary, saw it posted on the EBR Owners Group on FB when I got back from a training class... I'm in. Good advice on the uni filter,,, will do that also, thanks for the tip! | ||
| Ggggary |
Thanks! My install of both so far are just lash up, proof of concept. Need to do a decent build and show some pics, dimensions. | ||
| Shoggin |
True about the air filter, it seems much smaller than it should be and takes frequent cleaning. Its real easy, so I do it about every 10 fill-ups. I did the evap/PCV re-route myself with a rubber plug and short piece of hose I had at the shop. I don't know what you get for $95? | ||
| Tpehak |
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| Ggggary |
Yupper good vid watched last night. Scary for me and my 2014 SX with 1600 miles.... Then again to be honest I have chicken strips and prolly always will. It's just an occasional back road bomber, will have to do the nut torques when the first valve check gets done. | ||
| Xbpete |
Jens and Julias vid was way cool, lot of information, the chassis/head dynamic and closed deck mod along with getting Starked should do the trick to make these things stay together. Jens insight into the chassis flex was interesting, also the fact that engines were running loaded in track or high RPM use conditions ( Chicken strip central ) lead me to believe that the Stark kit and the fact that I am 68 and not going to run the high RPM ranges or do track days will work alone in my case | ||
| Shoggin |
Theres so much info in that vid! It's refreshing to hear actual testing and logical diagnosis instead of the conjecture and guesses that are being touted as fact here state-side. NCCR has so much more experience with the 1125 and 1190 platforms, even their opinions carry a lot of weight IMO, front cylinder failure is still such a rare occurrence I'm still not sold on spending a ton of cash to alleviate my worries, when $2K buys a complete engine and $6K-10k buys a whole new EBR delivered to my door and thats still IF something happens. I'll continue to maintain mine as well as I can, and thrash her mercilessly on the track as often as my wallet allows IF I get a front cylinder failure I believe its worth the postage to send it to NCCR for them to continue their research. (Knocks on wood) The Rotax story is pretty telling though.... | ||
| Court |
Jens has always been amazing ........I love seeing this stuff | ||
| Velocette1 |
Started this thread a few years ago. Bike has made 1400 miles now and has made the last 210 without stalling. gearbox still sounds like a cement mixer full of rocks but works. Bought a new 1200 Speed twin to ride. EBR is parked for now. And yes, it never ran more than 30-40 miles at a time. | ||
| Shoggin |
Do you expect it to run better by just typing your complaints on the internet? | ||
| Tpehak |
That's smart, I would avoid to ride EBR further than 15 miles from home. | ||
| Court |
That’s MOST unusual for an EBR. Others . . . . Froggy comes to mind. . . . Jump on their EBR products and ride cross county without concern or incident. My personal experience. . . . When, in 1995, a journalist called the Buell products “sweepings off the Harley factory floor” ..... I jumped on the Buell, still parked in the garage, and circled the entire USA .....making a loop of 37 states. . . . A couple oil changes and a set of tires .... but nothing but miles of smiles. I f your bike is as you represent it. . . . I’m also perplexed as to why the hell you’d keep it. I bought a new Mercedes-Benz CLK once and had problems from day one. . . That baby was gone in 2 months. I have way too many cars and the idea of one, even a vintage MG with Lucas Electrics, that is unreliable ....well, life’s too short. | ||
| Court |
By the way . . . .just bought a new Trek bicycle about 2 months ago and have had 5 flats in the last 48 hours. . . . arrrgh | ||
| Terrys1980 |
Just let me know when anyone is wanting to sell their unreliable SX for cheap! | ||
| Tpehak |
That's another thing, nobody is going to sell it for cheap regardless the reliability issues. (Message edited by TPEHAK on April 01, 2020) | ||
| Terrys1980 |
They do/will. The Buell market is always the same not matter if it's EBR or not. | ||
| Shoggin |
"They do/will. The Buell market is always the same not matter if it's EBR or not" Sad, but true. If you love this hobby, you're not in it for the money thats for sure! I am also very perplexed at why the OP would keep such a unreliable, terrible bike, while complaining incessantly? Poor thing sits for long extended times then barely ridden? I'd run bad too if I was treated like that. I vote he sells it to Terrys1980. For CHEAP!  I also have logged tens of thousands of miles on all sorts of Buellsfrom tubers to 1125's (55k on the STT alone) as well as smashing the EBR at the track for 8500 miles. I'll let you know if anything major EVER happens, because it sure hasn't yet. It is Buells RELIABILITY that keeps me coming back.  | ||
| Tpehak |
There is always a few persons even in Chinese motorcycles community who say that their bikes have about 5000-50000 trouble free miles. (Message edited by TPEHAK on April 01, 2020) | ||
| Court |
Those Chinese are so cool. . . Zooming, swooping and zipping to and fro. Wheeeeeeeeeeee Go Chinese rider go !, | ||
| Tpehak |
Hell, there are even some Ducati owners tell stories that their bikes have 3000 miles with no issues. | ||
| Court |
No ? ? ? . . . . Think Ducati should go back to making capacitors and electrical parts and call the whole Cucciolo thing off ? | ||
| Shoggin |
Don't engage with the Troll, Court.  | ||
| Tpehak |
They should review their approach to motorcycles design. Until then just don't buy their motorcycles. | ||
| Court |
Where were you in the mid 90’s . . . When their vendors were cutting them off and the lights nearly went out. Ducati has . . . Like many . . .had their missteps . . And nothing they currently offer interest me . . .but, I’ve found no basis for your ramblings. | ||
| Tpehak |
Another common issue is accelerated chain wear. Chain, sprockets and swingarm can be completely ruined withing just 2000 miles. (Message edited by TPEHAK on May 28, 2020) | ||
| Shoggin |
AGAIN.... Just because ONE bike has an issue, does NOT mean ALL bikes have an issue. Do you bother reading what you post? Even the guy selling that band-aid thing says several times that it is operator error. High gear/low RPM/ hard acceleration. I have over 9000 miles of aggressive riding and track days on my original chain and front sprocket. The aluminum 43 tooth rear has about 7000 and looks perfect as well. Not bad for a 175HP bike of ANY brand. Oh and a minor point. That grey EBR they are doing all this work too... had been wrecked. So theres that. | ||
| Tpehak |
This is design error. They had to use 530 chain instead of 520 and increase front and rear sprockets diameter. (Message edited by TPEHAK on May 29, 2020) | ||
| Henshao |
from the factory there are certainly things that could have been done better but they also got 98% of things right which is impressive too hindsight is 20/20 personally I think a 17t-45t combo would have been better in terms of sprockets; a 530 chain is the obvious choice on this application; the extra gallon from the 1125 is sorely missed; the 1190rs had far easier chain tensioner adjusters; crank nut tension should not have been an issue; dashboards, fuel floats and apparently evap solenoids are a common failure; i'm not sure the engine design lends itself to EVER making as much power as an S1000 or RSV4. probably missing some things but however it's so easy to overlook all the stuff that does work in lieu of a few things that were shortsighted. This is a very complex machine mechanically and electronically. perhaps it "only" has 180hp; it's still the quickest American thing any of us will likely ever own and in terms of handling and turning there is very little room for improvement. Even at the highest stages Buell's bikes would give corners away to no one | ||
| Snacktoast |
but they also got 98% of things right which is impressive too hindsight is 20/20 Agree with these points 100%. personally I think a 17t-45t combo would have been better in terms of sprockets; And probably would not have passed drive by noise emissions limits in that configuration. a 530 chain is the obvious choice on this application And would have been heavier and likely harder on the front sprocket, given that design and lack of cush drive on the rear wheel. the extra gallon from the 1125 is sorely missed; Can't argue that, but the proverbial 100 lbs of stuff in 5 lb. box is a tall order. the 1190rs had far easier chain tensioner adjusters; And were astronomically more expensive. crank nut tension should not have been an issue; Agreed dashboards Which wasn't even discovered until really early club racers started modifying bikes, despite supposed rigorous vibration testing by the supplier. i'm not sure the engine design lends itself to EVER making as much power as an S1000 or RSV4. Agree, never gonna happen at that displacement or that exact architecture. however it's so easy to overlook all the stuff that does work... What was accomplished in such a short time on a relative shoe string budget was remarkable. This is a very complex machine mechanically and electronically. perhaps it "only" has 180hp; it's still the quickest American thing any of us will likely ever own and in terms of handling and turning there is very little room for improvement. Even at the highest stages Buell's bikes would give corners away to no one Agreed, and very appreciative of those that were involved with the endeavor. } | ||
| Stevel |
I cannot argue with many of the comments, but I can argue with that video. The video talks about velocity modulation as the cause of rapid chain failure. It is a contributor, but not the real cause. Velocity modulation is the changing of rotation speed within a single revolution. This has been and still is a source of mechanical wear and failures forever with many machines. It is unavoidable and has to be compensated for in the design. The real cause of chain failure is a combination of two factors. The first being the camshaft timing causing terrible low speed performance and smoothness and the second being riders trying to ride with engine speeds below 3500 rpm at low throttle settings. These bikes are barely street legal racers, but are a compromise between the two. They are not competitive racers nor are they good road bikes. They are a damn good compromise. Could they be better? Sure! Without a couple of design reiterations, they never had a chance. | ||
| Shoggin |
Snacktoast and Henshao have it exactly right. Reality, and a damn fine job. Financial constraints only highlight the truly amazing ingenuity and heart in these EBR's | ||
| Zacks |
Hater or fan boy. Good compromise or inherently flawed in design. Don't care. My Sunday morning ride today still put a smile on my face. | ||
| Tpehak |
3D Printed parts for airbox modification to fix the issues with the airbox | ||
| Shoggin |
CARB legal charcoal canister for a road bike vs. race bike "track only" modification? You're Troll arms are pretty long to reach that far for "issues" | ||
| Henshao |
deleting a federally mandated charcoal canister to make an already enormous airbox downright cavernous is hardly "fixing an issue" | ||
| Tpehak |
They are still trying to fix the airbox issues | ||
| Shoggin |
Its the same "Modification for Race Bikes" you posted before. Are you going to parrot every single NCCR shop video here? | ||
| 99cyclone |
My 1190SX is quirky, but no more than an S1 or any other Buell for that matter. I put 200 fun filled miles on last weekend. It's not perfect, but that's part of its charm. | ||
| Shoggin |
What I don't get is that I haver had multitudes of 'issues' with bike from every part of the world and it has typically taken more time, and more money to fix them than my really very dependable Buells have. Oh well, maybe this stigma will keep the prices low for me |
