| Author | Message | ||
     Code3medic |
Greetings from a new Buell convert! I love my XB12S, that being said, is there a 6 speed conversion out there that keeps the original 5 speed gear ratios and just adds an overdrive 6th? | ||
| M1combat |
Nope. | ||
| Mikej |
Actually it depends. With some machine work you can get a Baker 6-speed in there, or so I've been led to believe. But it will void your warranty most likely. Ask at a competent speed shop about adding a trapdoor to your bike and see what they say. | ||
| Jlnance |
The 6 speed transmission question gets asked a lot. There is an article on the Buell website where Erik is talking about comming up with the specs for a new bike. It's at: http://www.buell.com/en_us/brag/fuell/art_cu04.asp One quote from it is: It doesn't tell you how much horsepower, it doesn't tell you how much weight, or how to accomplish it. But it might, for instance, say we want you to have to shift as seldom as possible. Given that he used shifting less as an example of a desirable goal, I doubt we are going to see a transmission with an extra gear anytime soon.  | ||
| Captainkirk |
Actually, once you get used the the five speed, it's a lot more desirable. I get tired of the constant monkey-motion on my japIL4 when going thru towns and such. The Buell has the grunt to turn on even at low R's just by cracking the throttle...much easier than constant shifting! | ||
| M1combat |
Most of you are missing the point... The only "real" benefit to having a six speed gearbox with our engines on the street is to have an overdrive. Something that will allow you to run 90-100MPH at something like 3500RPM's instead of 5000... I wouldn't even mind having a replacement fifth gear cog available that would turn fifth into an overdrive. I would still have all the performance the bike has now up to 120, but I'd have an overdrive for highway use. Anyone know what the fifth gear cog is like in a sporty? Is it less than 1:1? If so, will it fit? | ||
| Ingemar |
I don't think so. My sporty (2003 1200S) had a topspeed of about 225km/h at the rev limit. I don't know about primary and secondary drive, but I would expect its pretty much the same thing. | ||
| Brucelee |
I would like a 6th overdrive gear. Leave the other ratios alone. At 75-80 MPH, this would be a nice noise and gas saver. | ||
| Fullpower |
fifth is direct. | ||
| M1combat |
Dean... I assume that means it's not changeable? | ||
| Dr_greg |
Regarding shifting less - I was at a CLASS track school in mid-90s and took a two-up ride with Reggie Pridmore on his Honda VFR. Other than being an awesome experience, one thing that was very noticeable was how much LESS Reggie was changing gears than I was. | ||
| Thepup |
M1,by adding a sixth gear it would also allow lower gear ratios for better acceleration,if thats what someone wanted | ||
| Code3medic |
That's kinda what I'm looking for, keep the original gear ratios in 1-5 and have an overdrive 6 for highway riding just to drop the RPM's a bit. (Message edited by Code3Medic on April 28, 2005) | ||
| Tpoppa |
I like the stock gearing. When carving up backroads, I can stay in 4th most of the time. On the hwy, roll-on power is very good without a downshift. | ||
| Cataract2 |
Stock gearing is nice for twisty areas, but when you get on the interstate you need a freaking 6th gear overdrive. Interstate gas millage is kinda bad on these. | ||
| Cataract2 |
BTW, what's up Code3? Bout time you found your way over from EOS to here. Welcome to Buell Land. | ||
| Spike |
I'd agree on wanting a 6th gear for interstate travel while leaving the existing ratios alone. The first to tanks of our C^3 trip to Daytona we were running 80-85mph and my XB12 was getting ~45mpg. On the third tank we dropped down to ~75mph and my XB12's mileage shot up to ~52mpg. With a 6th gear I think the highway mileage would be way over 50mpg and that would make it easy to pull 150+ miles from a tank. | ||
| Kaese |
I would like the 6th gear as an overdrive gear. Should we start up the tranny recall rumor? | ||
| Diablobrian |
shouldn't someone like Jim's or baker be able to supply a new pair of gears (in a higher ratio)to replace the current 5th? I know the disassembly/reassembly would be time consuming, however the only time you really end up in 5th is on the freeway anyway. I haven't done the homework on this yet, so it may not be viable. | ||
| M1combat |
Well, it would only be worth while if you were to do it while rebuilding the engine... | ||
| M1combat |
I wonder if Emachineshops.com would make it worth while for us if we could get 10-20 people to buy one all at the same time. We would need a competent engineer and maybe a draft of the existing fifth gear assembly to start from. | ||
| Diablobrian |
hobbing gears is a tricky business and is actually a specialized segment of the machining industry. I really recommend going with a shop that specializes in gear cutting. Any machine shop (pretty much) can cut gears, and broach or EDM the internal splines, however making them run quietly, smoothly, and hardening them properly is more art than science. But that is just an old school (manual) machinist talking. Don't forget any machine shop is also going to want that first batch to pay for any specialized tooling costs as well. | ||
| M1combat |
Understood... Take a look at E-machinshops.com some time. The hardening process may be the trickiest part as you say. If so, I personally would want to be CERTAIN it was done right for something like a fifth gear assembly swap seems how it requires case disassembly. | ||
| Diablobrian |
I've looked at e-machineshop. They could certainly have uses if you have a production run of parts with fairly liberal tolerances. |
