| Author | Message | ||
     Jim_sb |
Hi guys, I finally decided to 'baptise' my Uly. I was going to wait until I got a low seat, but I decided the bike really needed to get dirty. So I took the Uly up to Pendola in the mountains above Santa Barbara yesterday. It was a misty, cloudy day with some drizzle. The paved portions (that's being generous, mostly an old pothole strewn road that vaguely resembles pavement) were damp, the gravel road portions of my ride were damp, bumpy in spots and a little muddy in others. My Uly had only the trunk and myself to deal with weight wise, and the trunk was empty so the load was modest. What did I learn? 1. The Dunlop 616's do a nice job on a wet gravel road. A downhill off-camber corner in some wet clay was dicey, but I got through it fine. On the drier sections of the gravel they were peachy. 2. The 616's are very nice on pavement, even if it's damp. Of course I had to see how good they were and found out <g> when they both let loose during a corner. It gets your attention. 3. Re the concrete creek crossings (water goes over a concrete stretch) - the 616's will hydroplane if you take these crossings in 2nd gear. In 1st gear no problems, in 2nd gear you will be having some fun. Since these tend to get slimey anyway 1st gear is a better choice. 4. The Uly muffler works when fully submerged - but the bike sounds different. Next time I submerge the pegs I will need to remember to lift my boots up into the air... 5. The Uly suspension seems quite happy on gravel roads - even when I let it run around 50mph or so for awhile. The only thing it didn't like was the washboard stretches. I may have too much rear pre-load on for those. 6. I didn't notice any problems per se from the smallish wheels vs. a typical dirt bike. 7. The Uly will get after it in a hurry if you twist the wick. 8. As on any dirt bike standing on the pegs really helps when the going gets a little rough. The handlebar is too low for extending riding in this position though. That will need to change. 9. The rear fender looks cool but needs to be larger. I had dirt and mud everywhere, even up on my trunk! All in all I'm very pleased with how the bike did. It performs how I had hoped it would. It won't keep up with my DRZ in the dirt but I never expected it to. I will be taking this bike on many gravel roads and fire roads in the future. (Message edited by jim_sb on December 19, 2005) | ||
| Chadhargis |
I don't think I'll be doing any gnarly off road treks like that, but I did take the Uly down a bumpy, potholed, chip sealed toad of a road on Friday. It's a pretty place to ride, but I haven't been able to ride it since I sold my KLR since my Ducati and FJR would have given me a ruptured spleen. The Uly handled great. Smoothed the bumps out quite well. Can't wait to take my sport bike riding buddies down that road. <evil grin> | ||
| Jim_sb |
Yeah, I think Buell nailed it with the Ulysses. Time of course will tell in terms of how the bike holds up in the field, but after that first little episode I've got no qualms about taking my Uly on any reasonable gravel or fire road. The bike was really very solid. I played around with busting it loose a little here and there just to test it's composure and it was all good fun. I think it would do fine on some of the easier OHV trails too (especially if they're big enough for a quad). | ||
| Frankf |
Yeaaaaaaa, someone else getting one dirty too. It's no dirt bike, but I think I will feel more confident on the Uly on a gravel road than any other road bike I've had. | ||
| Jim_sb |
Hello Frank, Yep. I bought it for the adventure capability. The fact that it's a great street bike wasn't lost on me either. But mine isn't going to be a show queen. It's going to get ridden, get dirty, muddy, wet, etc. All in good fun of course. :-) Jim in Santa Barbara | ||
| Medic |
I baptized mine today, too. Took her down a few gravel roads at speeds up to 50mph. I also couldn't wait for my low seat (still not here...aaarrrgghh!) so I didn't get too crazy. (I'm 5'9" and I can barely touch the ground when it is level.) It tracked well enough on some loose gravel sections where they had filled major ruts, but on the hard packed stuff this baby feels great! I think the Dunlops do a great job. Anyway, now my baby is black and dust colored. P.S. If any Buell P&A folks are reading this, please ship the low seats to Stone Mountain HD/Buell as mine is already paid for. | ||
| Opto |
 I agree with all that's been said, it's a great all-rounder, no worries about that. | ||
| Snub13 |
Opto, Is that a pic from your trip to the races? Lets see more! Tim | ||
| Windaddiction |
sorry had to trow my pics in again lol  | ||
| Dragon_slayer |
Wow, mud looks good on black! Sort of covers the color. | ||
| Blake |
Thanks for sharing that Jim! Great stuff. Excellent photo Dave (Windaddict)! | ||
| Snub13 |
Nice try Slayer, the mud brings out the black! | ||
| Brotherbuell |
Did you notice how little mud sticks to it? That's because black is so much faster than orange? | ||
| Jim_sb |
Black is faster? I dunno. From the looks of that pic he was following somebody... An orange Uly perhaps? <ggg> Jim in Santa Barbara |
