| Author | Message | ||
     Snackbar64 |
Most of the posts that I read here glorify the reliability of the new XB line of Buells over the tubed framed models. In fact, many badwebers think that their build quality is as good as the competition. But then I look at the personal page profiles and everyone has seemingly had at least several quality issues between 5 and 10 thousand miles, such as oil leaks, broken clutch cables, broken belts etc. Then I read articles that say Buell reliability issues are a thing of the past, but I would bet that those articles would read differently if those of who repaired their own bikes went into the HD shop for repairs. That said, why are we so happy with our bikes to the point that we are satisfied with them being unreliable at times while still being fairly new? The handling ain't that good. If this was a Honda automobile, or Chevy we would be contacting an attorney about lemon law statutes. I know that I would be unhappy if my new Honda Accord had an oil leak. What gives? How reliable are they? | ||
| Percyco |
7500 miles on a 2003 XB9s, zero issues to this point (knock on wood). How many Honda Accords or Chevys do you think are subject to wheelies, burnouts, stoppies, hitting red-line on a regular basis and getting the general crap run out of them ? I would guess at least 50% of Buell motorcycles do, after all this isn't the bike you buy to tour or putt-putt around town on (is it) ? I wonder how the Jap sportbikes hold up compared to the Buells that are beaten. I don't think you can get a warranty for a motocross bike because it's primary purpose is racing. Anybody here race thier XB on track days etc. ?  | ||
| Ginzero |
I don't think random looks at personal profiles would give a good picture of Buell reliability. I'm not sure if there is some JD Powers type survey you can find to get a better picture of reliability. I'm over 7K miles on mine and had no major issues. I'm a relatively novice rider (XB is my 2nd bike) so I have yet to really push performance. I have been able to keep pace on the twisties with my more experienced friends who ride R1s, R6s , etc.... | ||
| Slaughter |
GINZERO!!! I see by your profile that you live in town here (Lancaster) We are going to do a ride up Angeles Crest tomorrow morning. Wanna go? We're a really conservative group, NOBODY gets speeding tickets on my watch! PM me if you wanna. Contact email on my profile here. (sorry about the thread hijack) (Message edited by slaughter on July 29, 2006) | ||
| Xb12rdude |
I've had many "rice burners" with problems also. All in all, I would say the Jap bikes are better quality in the long run. They have so much more money for research and quality. But the XB line of Buells seem pretty darned solid. Most the problems I've seen are minor fix it yourself stuff, which I actually like doing myself. The belts, unfortunatly don't help because they do break on some folks. I'm putting on a chain conversion myself pretty soon because of it. Again, these bikes are very reliable for as hard as they get rode. | ||
| Spatten1 |
Snackbar: The long term Uly in Motorcyclist broke a belt and clutch cable. Both very familiar. One leaves you stranded, the other is a major PIA if you are not near home. I think the belt is a serious weak link. The clutch lever/cable mounting angle has obviously been at a bad angle since the beginning with the XBs, or the pull is too hard for the cable. Either way, I'm surprised it is the same on the Uly. Buell did a good job with changing many weaknesses on the early XBs. However, in my opinion, the belt breakage is ridiculous. Just offer a chain as an option, please. Getting stranded because of final drive weakness should not happen in 2006. We are now on the third iteration of belts, trying to make them work on a sporting machine. Apparantly it is still not getting it done. Chain, chain, chain. | ||
| Jaimec |
Belt, belt, belt. Keep the damned chain. Never broke the belt in 36,000 miles on my Cyclone, and the belt on the XB12Ss is going strong at 7,000 miles. No messy lubrication, no constant adjusting. Almost as good as the shaft on my Beemer. I just want to ride, the rest of you can fiddle if you want. | ||
| Skyguy |
Slaughter, You hit the Crest on Sundays? You are a braver man than I....................... | ||
| Fireflyer |
Reliability is relative to the person saying it. My bike was purchased new,(got bike new in 04, was a left over 03, warranty was good for 12 mos.) I've got an oil leak and it's left me stranded far from home 3 times for an intermittent electrical problem. Misfires alot then dies, sometimes it starts right back up and goes away, sometimes it doesn't start for an while. My dealer had the bike for 2 weeks and charged me $100.00 to tell me they couldn't repeat the problem. Read some posts here and asked them to change my plug wires and plugs while they had it (others have described similar problems, and this fix worked for them) cost $90.00 for that.. 30 miles later, dead on the side of the road again. Dealer would be more than happy to throw parts on it. Maybe it's the Coil or ECU ... they're not sure what it is. With mortgage, wife, kid... blah blah blah , it's hard to dump $ and time into a bike that has 2k miles on it. I've had many new and used bikes over the years, roadraced @ loudon + done lots of drag racing all around New England and never had any problems. Maybe I've just been lucky until now. But my bike is living up to some bad Harley stereotypes. | ||
| Slaughter |
Sky, We keep it slow on weekends since all the medevac copters are fully loaded with squids. Mid-week we'll often do a dinner run up to Newcomb's ranch and there's ZERO traffic for 20 miles on the downhill run after dark. We'll all turn the mirrors down so our lights don't burn the guy's eyes in front of us and we'll all run with our high beams on. AMAZING how much more dramatically bright the ride is when you have 3-5 riders with their high beams on. Much nicer. The Crest in daytime is crazy on weeeknds, you're right. My brother is only available tomorrow morning so we're just gonna do it. | ||
| Indy_bueller |
12k miles, only a couple very small issues. Be careful with the use of the term "everyone". | ||
| Diablobrian |
As has been said before, the problems are magnified on a BBS. You do not get daily reports of "no problems again today" from all the riders without failures. I personally have had serious issues with Hondas as well as Kawasaki and Suzuki's, so I don't hold the japanese bikes as a golden standard. It's just, image not reality. I'm not happy with the current dealer network as far as their bias against Buell, or their level of training. There is obviously room for improvement. Buell has been making huge strides in their reliability and build quality. If you step back and look at it that is obvious. I understand there are big changes on the way. I feel the tremors of the upheaval coming through various friends. They have been saying things like "just wait, big things are coming", or "you won't believe what's in the works" I don't want to know the details. I can wait, if I knew too much I might let the wrong thing slip and betray a trust. Not Cool. So for those that are upset right now, I'll say again, just wait. I hear there are big things coming. It can be hard to be patient when you are as passionate as most Buellers obviously are, but I have been assured it will be worth the wait. PS I love my chain, it hasn't been messy (chain wax rocks) or fiddly, nor has it failed without warning, or gotten a rock puncture. | ||
| Paint_shaker |
Replaced rear isolators at 20,000 miles (and the belt while it was apart)... Front isolator recall done... Upgraded the front brake rotor... Replaced ignition switch... Replaced healight bulb... 30,000 miles so far, so good.... Oh yeah, bike is a 98 S1W... I would call the bike reliable! | ||
| New12r |
Chains Suck for daily riding. AGAIN 33K miles with only minor failures that would have failed on ANY BIKE! | ||
| Diablobrian |
If chains suck for daily riding someone need to tell the majority of motorcycle riders that they are doing it wrong. While I agree belts are lighter and cleaner, they are too fragile (especially the 03) for a lot of sport riders. The fact that they commonly fail without warning even if inspected before the ride is something I cannot accept. I can't just push the bike or even walk for help. It seems the areas you break down in never has cell coverage. A shaft is too heavy and you can't change final gearing ratios. A chain is the answer for a lot of daily riders, and because of durability the ONLY answer for me, and others. | ||
| Jcbikes |
2004 xb12s - 11,200 miles - Zero problems. I do all my only maintenance. I think that is important, and the nice thing about the Buell's is that almost anyone can do their own. I change both oils every 1,500 miles. Bike runs better than ever. Belt looks almost like new! You only hear on this site, about the problem bikes. How about all the bikes with NO PROBLEMS. I will bet they way out number the problem bikes! | ||
| Buellshyter |
I live close to a multi-Jap bike dealer and their service department is full of bikes and I'm betting they ALL aren't there getting an oil change | ||
| M2nc |
M2 has 44,000 miles and the Uly has over 10,000 miles. They have never left me stranded. I've stated this before but okay here we go again. My CB750 - one of the most reliable motorcycles in history had more problems than my Uly. The clutch was gone after 15,000 miles. The valve cover started to leak oil. The start button would stick and the head light would go out. The chain stretched and had to be replaced with the sprockets. It would eat batteries. All this in the first 24,000 miles. Honda had problems with breaking frames on the Goldwing. Owners of Suzuki GSX-R are reporting the same thing but Suzuki has not acknowledge the problem yet. The new BMW GS1200 trunk breaks in half and dumps all its contents all over the road behind it. KTM has big problems with water pumps that will cause premature engine failure because it will allow coolant into the oil. So many want to bash Buells with their subjective point of view but few have compared bike for bike, service repair to service repair. There is an industry standard for warranty claims. The standard is warranty costs is not to exceed 2% of sales dollars. Can anyone tell me if the XBs have met this standard? Can you tell me how other manufacturers overall and then those the size of Buell are doing? Until we have those figures we do not know. What I can say is from my personal knowledge, the XBs are a generation ahead of the tubers in both design and quality. Considering that the present BMC has only been in existence since 1999, they have already come a long way. They just need to continue to improve. | ||
| Brucelee |
11500. Clutch cable at 5500 miles. It would have helped if I lubed it. Other than that, perfect. | ||
| Kdan |
I bought my Buell for what it was, a well engineered Street Fighter/Hooligan bike. I don't baby it. For all that it's got 21k hard miles and has had less problems per mile than my 2003 Honda Element which has 62k miles on it and so far has needed a steering rack and complete A/C system. I like that car too. Maybe like it less if Honda didn't pick up the bill. I think people generally over dramatize the problems with Buells and maybe are less than honest about how they care and feed their machines. It is a machine and from the second you drive it off the lot, most anything that happens to it is partially the owners fault. Do a good pre-flight check and understand how things work and you will minimize your risk for being stranded. | ||
| Fx1200 |
2006 XB12Scg: 10500 miles since January. No issues until last week when the cooling fan expired; I could still ride but I had to avoid stop and go for obvious reasons. To be sure this should have been covered under warranty but my dealer is swamped with work and the fans are back ordered until late August. My XB is basic transportation and I ride nearly 100 miles per day in SoCal traffic. I located a fan in San Diego and purchased it: $67.00 with the BRAG discount! I find it ironic that the very item used to remove heat from the engine is itself vulnerable to heat related problems. I love my XB's design, however, and I look at the failed fan as a vendor supplied item not really up to the quality of the parts which make the XB's so unique. | ||
| Pmpski_1 |
This is a good thread. I fell in love with Buells a while back, but since I didn't know how to ride I couldn't justify spending the money on it. I bought a 32 year old Honda CB550, brought it back from the dead, and learned how to ride. I've done all the work on the bike myself, but since it hasn't been completely rebuilt there's something going wrong all the time. Maybe if I keep it long enough it will be completely rebuilt. Anyway, I've been thinking about a CityX lately, and on the flip side I'm considering an SV650. My perception, and this is only my perception from reading posts here and other places is that the SV is dead reliable and the Buell will have me in the same boat as my current 32 year old bike. I'm drawn to the Buell for so many reasons, but the SV seems like a better route right now. Diablobrian, you're right, you don't see "No problems today" posts on a forum. | ||
| Buellgrrrl |
Buell reliabilty? My Buell is at 42,000 miles less reliable than any of my airhead BMWs. The newest of those BMWs is a '92, and the other two are '83 and '84 models. Service turnarond is faster on the old beemers too- I can get 90% of the parts I need in stock from my dealer while everything for my Buell has to be ordered. The fastest dealer repair turnaround I've seen on my Buell has been 2 weeks and HD seems to feel that up to a month's wait for repairs is "normal". So if you want a fashionable (among a certain demographic) bike that excels at wheelies and burnouts buy a Buell. If you need an affordable bike to reliably get you around, almost anything but an HD product would be a better choice. | ||
| Brucelee |
If you need an affordable bike to reliably get you around, almost anything but an HD product would be a better choice." Based on my experience, this is not an accurate statement. Moreover, while I have had to wait for certain parts, I can't complain about the cost of service or parts, reasonable in my experience. | ||
| Buellshyter |
Buellgrrrl, you're not even riding an XB, according to your profile. | ||
| Court |
>>>>Based on my experience, this is not an accurate statement. Furthermore, based on warranty $$ / per unit manufactured the Buell is one of the most reliable motorcycles made. I have a BMW that is a ROYAL PAIN IN THE ASS and I am sitting here next to one of the top BMW dealers in the United States. BMW is still denying surging issues that have plauged the F650 since day one. Buell parts delivery is nothing short of fabulous. I know. While many, including the folks at Buell distribution (who pretty much had their heads in the sand) were running around bragging about how good it was, when it sucked. I did (as some of you recall) my own annual Buell Parts Avialabilty surveys. I had good ol' Arvel Willaims prepare the form and I paid 10 Buell owners around the world to each order a clutch lever and a left front turn signal on the same day and then we tracked the deliveries. Back in 1997 it was not unusual for Buell parts delivery to totally suck. I was not very popular, but I was dead on accurate, with my information. I was cussed, but I got some folks attention. Today Buell parts delivery is INCREDIBLE and on par with any vehicle manufactuer in the world. There may be DEALER problems, but the good folks at Buell pretty much put the stuff out the same day they get the order. The Buell is an incredibly reliable motorcycle. | ||
| Court |
The internet is a funny place. To wit: >>>The handling ain't that good. Please explain to me how Buell handling "ain't that good". I think, even amongst the mags that are anti-Buell and have tested the XB, the handling is legendary. Badweb is a very POOR indicator of Buell statistics. Trying to derive actionable information from an internet chat site would be like forming an opinion of women by standing in front of a health club. | ||
| Kybueller |
My friend has an SV 650 and has dumped untold amounts of money into it because of problems. They range from fuel problems to electrical. However, that does not mean all SV's, and I think it was mistreated prior to him owning it. My Buell has been reliable. The only trouble I have had is when I mod it and then I work that out over time. I love my Buell, and my wife looks good posing on it. Life is good. Greg | ||
| Wademan |
}I love my Buell, and my wife looks good posing on it. Life is good.  That is a great quote Kybueller. Ah the glory of the hot chicks on buells thread... | ||
| Curtyd |
All the talk about the belts and unreliability I believe is because they have been abused, wheelies, etc. I never replaced my belt on my M2 with over 30K miles and my XB9, although a lot lower mileage, no problems so far. I also NEVER remove the stock belt guard. From my 2003, it's hard to see how anything could even get in there. I love belt drive, no more chain lube on all my gear, YIPPPEEE... |
