| Author | Message | ||
     Electraglider_1997 |
Rode two different 08' ULY's in Rapid City, SD at the Buell demo. Who's interested in hearing about it? | ||
| Panhead_dan |
I am. Did you get much of a ride? Does the '08 feel any different? | ||
| Crusty |
Tease. | ||
| Speedcrazy |
I am.. Let us know.. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Please, please, please tell us.  | ||
| Bertotti |
Your terrible, must be in the middle of beers or girls. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Here it is. The Sturgis Harley/Buell demos were at the Rapid City Civic Center and not at Sturgis exit 30 this year. It was pretty much a no wait demo which was just great. I rode ULY #13 on a group ride for a very spirited 25 minute ride up to Dinosaur Park. First thing I noticed was that the leg heat is still present and no better at all. At first I thought they had a race muffler on the bike but it turned out to be intake honk. The intake noise is very loud. I opened up my air box cover by drilling holes in it to resemble the 07' air box cover and the only way it sounds anywhere near the 08' intake honk is to ride my 06' without the fake tank cover. Another thing was that it didn't seem to take off in first gear near as strong as my 06'. It kind of felt as if I was taking off in 2nd gear where you have to rev it to get moving. Once under way it seemed OK except for that darned intake honk which throughout the first demo I thought was a newer louder muffler. Try as I might I could not get the front end to loft in first gear by twisting the throttle real hard and fast like my 06' does quite easily. Couple of things that I did like were that it rides quite jerk-free at 15 mph in first gear and the greater steering swing lock to lock is very noticeable and welcome. About the heat: I didn't look under the seat at the wiring loom layout to see if it was different but I thought left leg heat was increased during my demo rides. And it has always been just a right leg heat issue with my 06' and never left leg. I complained to the Buell demo folks that my 06' had more balls (my words exactly) than the 08' I had just ridden. They proceeded to tell me that the ECM needed remapping and because the 1125R bikes were getting all the Buell mechanics' attention (for some reason or other) they couldn't get the reflash done. They also said the 08' has a new progressive throttle cam that starts out slow and then progressively hits harder. They also offered the excuse that the altitude might have something to do with it. I pointed towards where my bike was parked and said my bike wasn't suffering from altitude sickness at all and pulled from a dead stop off idle like a torquey stump puller. They fell back on the need for remapping excuse which I believed because there was definitely something wrong. I came back the next day to see if another of the 08' ULY demo bikes might be different. They gave me another blue with the number 14. The intake noise was still the same and very loud inside the full face helmet I was wearing but at least I knew it wasn't a new muffler. It was back up the switch backs to Dinosaur Park which was probably a thousand feet higher than most of Rapid City. I kept pace with the demo leader and it was way fun. After this second demo I spoke more with the Buell folks and they assured me that they getting someone over to reflash but if that happened I don't know since that was enough for me for the day. One of them told me that there are new foul resistant plugs that Champion developed for the ULY and we should be able to get our hands on those. I think he said it had the same number with a different suffix. Long story short, they should of had the ECM reflashed before letting them be demo'd. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
They had a few 1125R bikes to ogle but they were not letting anyone ride them. The demo folks even were peeved because they couldn't even ride them. They said they were able to check out all the other bikes after each demo day was over and ride to their hearts content in the Black Hills. 1125R bikes were neat looking and I sat on one but the sport bike position is not my cup of tea. I also went to Sturgis exit 30 to where the other brands were demoing from. I road that new Polaris Vision. Great interstate pounding bike but very heavy and the low speed handling was just terrible. Great radio though. Some folks thought it was the greatest. To each his own I say and I've been spoiled by Buell handling. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
MY EYES!!!!!!!!! Indent, you bastard! | ||
| Iugradmark |
I hate to admit this but I am relieved that the '08 changes are not that noticeable. Eliminating TPS reset was never that big an issue for me since it is so inexpensive and so infrequent. I was wondering if they had fixed the heat / fan issues and so far the reviews coming back say no. My decision to buy an '07 is feeling better tonight. | ||
| Bertotti |
I would still like the extra steering lock. | ||
| Thespive |
I think I need reading glasses now. --Sean | ||
| Cyclonedon |
Craig, when I went to demo the 2007 Buells this year, I felt the same about the air intake noise. It actually gave me a head-ace because it was so loud. I've heard others say that they replaced the 2006 air box with the new airbox because it allowed the motor to breathe better but I don't know if I can stand that noise. As far as the power and the wheelies go, my bike runs much stronger now than before it did when it was new. I think that is because it's now broke in! I had the race kit installed at 10,000 miles and to be honest with you, I can't hardly tell any difference in performance. Very little power gain, but it sounds better! | ||
| Jlnance |
Eliminating TPS reset was never that big an issue for me since it is so inexpensive and so infrequent. I think it is a big deal for Buell though. A lot of the pinging issues folks had with the Uly were due to incorrectly set timing. The new ECM will eliminate that. Also, some people say the Uly isn't jerky at low RPMs if the TPS is set correctly. Well mine is jerky and I get the TPS reset at prescribed intervals. I don't know if I just have a different definition of jerky or if the dealer isn't doing it correctly. It would be nice to KNOW it was set right. | ||
| Bienhoabob |
What are they thinking? Demo rides offer the curious, potential new buyers, an opportunity to try out different rides. Then you find out that the factory demo bikes need to be remapped. ????? And they give a lame excuse that the new 1125R is taking all the techs time. I hate to say it, but the major complaint about Buells has been poor dealer interest. It seems to me that this "oh well" attitude is starting at the factory. I just don't get it. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Sorry about the rambling nature of the above. One of the things that I should mention is that the Buell demo leaders (at least the two that led my demos) didn't know how to keep their hands off the throttle at stop signs. They constantly blipped the throttle as if they were on some terribly tuned carbureted bike. One of them actually would throw both of his feet rearward when taking off as if launching a drag bike. These ""Leaders"" actually may have been causing the ECM problems with their throttle shenanigans since they rode all these bikes at one time or the other. I imagine Erik Buell would of sent his boot up their asses had he been witness to all this. Another thing I failed to mention in the above was the Buell personnel's mention of government emissions and the 08's ecm mapping. Hopefully the weak response off idle can be cured with better mapping and still stay within EPA limits if that was the problem. My 06' with bags and rear seat heavily loaded with gear pulled like a freight train without any effort in the Black Hills. My Uly's got 9,000 miles now. It has never been tuned up since new with even a TPS reset and it never runs rough or misses on idle. At one time last summer I complained about the idle being slow to come down but that may have been caused by a cable tie securing my homemade wind shield. After redoing the cable ties restricting the throttle cables the idle has not been a problem that I've noticed. I've owned many bikes over the years and the ULY is the only one that never conks out during idle at one time or the other. I don't even worry about it because it just never misses no matter the weather, hot or cold, rain or shine. It's a fine reliable bike. | ||
| Oddsc |
Any difference in fan noise? | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Fan noise is still same far as I could tell. Wish I would have asked someone about it. I haven't had a fan failure or change in fan noise yet so it hasn't been a big deal to me, yet. | ||
| Ejc |
Steering lock aside, how was handling with the new triple clamp/fork set up? | ||
| Chrisgrant |
Did the fan seem to come on as often as the '06-07 or does the larger oil cooler help? | ||
| Johnny_uly |
Okay, I am kind of worried now. I am planning on getting an 08 asap but this less power thing is disconcerting. Can you or anyone else verify this on other 08s? | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Ejc, The handling was superb and didn't seem any better or worse than my 06'. I wasn't able to do any close quarter u-turns during the demo but turning it lock to lock seemed like a more normal bike to me. Chrisgrant, As for the fan coming on more often or not I couldn't give a honest assessment on that because of the short time I rode it, about 25 minutes per demo. It did come on because it was in the 90's easily and we were riding the bikes hard on the demos. Johnny_uly, I wouldn't worry about the power. I personally believe they screwed up and needed to remap the demo bikes they had at Rapid City like at least 4 Buell folks claimed. The last person I talked to said a guy was on his way to do it. The Buell guys claim that all their dyno runs show it to out perform 06 and 07. If I were you I would demo one and see for yourself and hopefully the short comings I found will have been fixed. I wasn't used to the intake honk and others have already pointed out that the 07' is the same way. I've got the 06' and apparently my airbox cover mod still needs a few holes more to make it louder. Actually I didn't care for all that noise since it sounded like a louder muffler to me. Certainly a magazine must be putting the 08' ULY through the grinder and will be able to tell a lot more about it then my two short demo rides. | ||
| L_je |
I am now proudly offering my '06 intake box to the highest bidder. If you ask me, the '07 and up configuration doesn't provide enough honk! Now if they were to replace the rubber down draft tube with something made of brass...now we might be talking about something that just might sing! | ||
| Ejc |
Thanks for the report. | ||
| Bertotti |
L_je that is an interesting idea. Hmmm. | ||
| Chrisgrant |
I've got a question about XB's in general. Do all of the XB's have the same problems that the Uly has, such as heat on your leg, fan issues, bearings, etc.? Sorry for off topic question, just wondering. | ||
| Johnny_uly |
Thanks for the info and advice Electra. Unfortunately, I may have to make the decision of purchasing an 08 without ever riding one, or any Uly for that matter! I know it sounds nuts but I have been basing my decision to buy a Uly off of the info I find online, especially places like BadWeb! I have no choice... My brother did test drive one for me, lucky punk! He loved it and is going to get one now too.  In addition, I trust people's opinions on here more than the magazines! | ||
| Bertotti |
Don't feel bad Johnny, I didn't test ride one either. I went to the bmw place and sat on a gs adventure and couldn't ride because of a busted knuckle and tendons on the right hand. The splint was in the way. I went in and sat on a Uly the bmw guy gave me a low ball trade in so I went to HD and told them what I had to have and the deal was done after a few typical sales maneuvers to get me to budge. I am so glad the BMW guy low balled my old bike. Thanks BMW! | ||
| Florida_lime |
As far as the power and the wheelies go, my bike runs much stronger now than before it did when it was new. I think that is because it's now broke in! The original '06 I demo'd seemed to have more snap than my '07 when I got it. After some miles, AND a TPS reset by Aeholton (thanks again  ), it seems to match my first demo ride impressions. More punch off idle, and better gas mileage on top of it. | ||
| Kvdog |
"I may have to make the decision of purchasing an 08 without ever riding one, or any Uly for that matter!" Johnny_uly: I bought a barely-used '06 from a dealer last Jan. over the phone, sight-unseen (well, he did email me some pics). I based my decision on a lot of internet research and forums like this one. It is hands down the best bike I've ever owned. |
