| Author | Message | ||
     Branebanger |
if anyone knows, I'd really appreciate it if you could list all the potential water entry points (other than the muffler) 1 foot from the ground, on a stock Ulysses. for instance, with a steady throttle, can you submerge the Ulysses in up to 1 foot of water for a few minutes without taking in water to the transmission or the engine case? What about riding through torrential rain for a few hours? what type of testing has Buell done with regard to water? tx for any info | ||
| Midknyte |
Well, we've identified the clutch cable sheeth on our existing XB's as an entry point. But who know's if that will be the same on the Uly... | ||
| Reepicheep |
I would be most worried about the front big bearing around the 5th gear drive assembly. Thats a big seal and a big spinning part. Next would be the shifter seal, followed by the clutch cable entry point, and the timing cover. If you went much deeper then that, you would need to worry about the starter, and the clutch cable adjustment assembly. Thats getting pretty darn deep though. It would be cool to see how deep you could actually go. In theory, the thing could be in 4 feet of water and still pulling. I would not do it with my bike, but it would be great fun on a factory mule on a warm day! As for 1 foot, I think you would be fine. And I rode my old Cyclone through two feet of water at speed followed by riding through an absolute frog choker, and no problem, did not even get moisture in the gearbox. (Message edited by reepicheep on August 09, 2005) | ||
| Midknyte |
Don't forget the air filter intake  | ||
| Branebanger |
where are the air intakes on the ulysses? I read in a report that the grate on top of the airbox does not lead directly into the intakes - that there must be other points of entry? | ||
| 99buellx1 |
Nope, thats the intake. You shouldn't get any water unless you go above the top of the frame. | ||
| Lucas70374 |
Erik made a comment at the dealer show that you can submerge it up to the intake, shut the bike off and restart it. He said cause the way the exhaust is you can do so. (Message edited by lucas70374 on August 10, 2005) | ||
| Branebanger |
lol for some reason lucas' post seems like hes joking, but i dont get the punch line. he cant be serious. can anyone verify this? | ||
| M1combat |
I can't verify that... I don't have a Ulysses to try it with either though  . I would say you could get to the frame while moving, maybe a little more. I wouldn't ride it five miles down a river that way exactly... The entry points that were mentioned seem about right and nothing a little ingenious re-assembly wouldn't fix. You can pull the rear main seal for the trans output shaft w/o too much work. I would imagine there's an accepted method for making those water proof (I'd check adv/touring boards for methods on how to "seal" a sealed bearing). The trans breather tube on an "R" runs up to the top of the shock (just under the seat) and then makes a 180 degree turn and points down. I can't imagine water getting in there. The intake manifold is sealed to the velocity stack and that sticks up about half way into the airbox. The lower clutch cable fitting could be sealed I'm sure. The middle one is "mostly" sealed already, but I'm sure a couple zip ties and a little bit of silicone or something would do wonders. I would imagine some high temp silicone in the timing cover would do the trick as well... If you REALLY needed to, I would imagine you could probably install an old style ('04-05) upper airbox, seal it with O2 sensor safe silicone and run a tube out of that, through the airbox cover and tie it to your arm so the intake is up around your neck... Of course, at this point you'll probably want to make sure all of the electrical connectors are properly sheathed and all of that  . I know the engine itself has no trouble having the muffler submerged in water up to my ankles (when they're on the pegs) and running just fine. I didn't let it idle like that but it didn't miss a beat... I would guess that was about 1' deep but only for about 15' of distance. I changed the oil about 1K miles later and there wasn't any obvious sign of water in anything... | ||
| M1combat |
"He said cause the way the exhaust is you can do so. " The Ulysses does indeed have a different exhaust opening than the Lightning/Firebolt... If it's aimed down and the water would need to go up first to enter the muffler than it may very well be able to keep DEEP standing water out of the muffler when not running... I'll have to look at it closer. If one of the cylinders had both the intake and exhaust valve open though... It would come right in.... That's probably not too likely though, as it would put the other piston somewhere near the top of it's compression stroke... | ||
| Branebanger |
thanks for the detailed response M1. Until the pros get their feet wet I'll be sure to keep the water to the muffler or lower. | ||
| M1combat |
I'd imagine a quick dip up to the pegs should be fine... I know my "R" was fine with that. With that response I was coming at it more from the "white water rafting on a Ulysses" standpoint . | ||
| Lucas70374 |
I overheard the conversation with Erik and someone else. He mention to that person that you can submerge the bike then he said cause the way the exhaust was the you can stop the bike then restart it and it would fire back up. I will email a buell tech service guy and ask see what he says. | ||
| Lucas70374 |
I wasnt talking with Erik myself so I dont have much detail | ||
| Reepicheep |
Sounds to me like there were some Elves having *way* too much fun testing these things I can see the bike being rolled back into the super secret test facility bay... and a line from "risky business" comes to mind... "Awwright! Who's the U-Boat commander?" (Message edited by reepicheep on August 10, 2005) |
