| Author | Message | ||
     Chadhargis |
Most bikes I've owned have had ABS, or brakes weak enough that I didn't have to worry too much about lockup. I was concerned that by selling my FJR1300 with ABS and buying the Uly that I might be bitten by my poor braking habits developed from years of riding BMWs and my Yamaha. Yesterday, while on the annual "Polar Bear" ride, a rider two bikes in front of me lowsided in a wet right hand off camber turn. I was already leaned over and I applied a slight bit of brake and felt the front end slide what felt like 2 feet (but was probably 2 inches...LOL!). I immediately let off the brake, straightened the bike, and re-applied the brake. Much to my surprise the bike did exactly what I wanted it to do. I managed to avoid running over the downed rider (his bike was already in the ditch on the other side of the road). The brake has a wonderful linear feel. Not at all like most modern brakes that have a hard initial bite then settle down a bit. The Buell brake is very progressive, and there is no doubt that it kept me from winding up in the ditch as well. Feel was excellent. The rear brake is also very forgiving. I've never locked it up, even when practicing hard braking. Gotta train myself to stop properly after years of letting a computer do it. Riding my Ducati on the track in October helped a LOT, but I don't want to get rusty. The downed rider was okay except for a broken right collar bone. Bike was rideable, but it had to be trailered away since it's rider went to the ER for x-rays. Upon close examination of the road, it was VERY slick. Almost like it had a film of black ice on it. My guess is that due to the camber of the road, it didn't drain well and it had a film of moss or algae on it. When I was coming into the turn, I felt the bike slide a bit, but I wasn't really worried about it as we'd been riding in the wet all morning and I knew the best plan was to do nothing when the bike slid. The Ulysses suspension is wonderfully communicative. You feel connected to the road, but it doesn't beat you up in the process. When the rider in front of me went down, that was truly and "exciting" situation to say the least. The guy leading the ride was on a GS, and he took us down some roads which could only be loosely defined as being paved. The Uly performed flawlessly. Never felt unstable even on a brief stint of some loose gravel. I've only had the bike since November 25th, and this was the first all day ride I'd been on with it. No doubt that I made the right choice in bikes. It handles the roads I ride with ease. Kudos to Erik and his team for producing such a wonderful bike. First time since I started riding that I didn't require two Advils ever 4 hours to stop the pain in my knees. I have a 36" inseam, and I've always been uncomfortable on any bike. I rode the Ulysses from 8:30am until 4:00pm with a couple of breaks in between with no pain. Managed 48 mpg in the process. Filled the tank up with 3.8 gallons of premium after 184 miles. I think I had gone about 15 miles on the "low fuel" light, so I could have gone farther if I'd have wanted to. Worst mileage I've seen on the Uly was 41mpg, and that was with me sport riding keeping the RPMs up around 5k to stay in the meat of the power band. I think if I were to do some highway droaning (which I HATE doing, so it most likely won't happen) that I could easily get 50+mpg out of the bike. That's amazing! Most of the folks I was riding with were on BMWs of some flavor. They all took a look at the Uly and asked a number of questions. Some scoffed at it's small fuel tank asking when a fuel cell was going to be available. Some didn't like the fan noise and some thought it was a really nice bike. Of of the GS riders sat on the bike and put his wife on the back. He really liked the riding position and said he'd like to take a ride on it to see how it felt. I can't wait to get this bike up in the Smokey Mountians. It's going to absolutely rule at Deal's Gap, US421, and the Cherohala Skyway. N. Georgia will be lots of fun too. It's not the greatest bike for doing endless miles of slab thanks to the windblast, but get it on a backroad and it's probably one of the best all around bikes I've ever ridden. Comfortable, handles great, and gets great fuel mileage no matter how hard I beat it. Can't ask for much more than that. | ||
| Retired_cop |
Chad, The comment about putting the wife on the back was what sold me on the ULY. I test rode them at the open house in York in September and then brought my wife back the next day to do the same as a passenger. SOLD!!!!!!!! She liked it better that our dresser, which we were talking about trading on a new Road Glide in the spring. The ULY is in the garage and the dresser is awaiting a new owner. Comments from the passenger so far include "slow down", "slow down",and "did you try to hit that pot hole cause if you did I didn't feel it" ( I did hit the pot hole, the suspension is just that good). It looks as if there are going to be a lot of ULY'S in the Smokies this coming riding season as I am in the planning stages now of a week long vacation down there. Is it just me or does a 675 mile ride one way just to go around 318 curves in 11 miles sound perfectly normal? | ||
| Pbransonii |
Thanks for the report, You seem like to really like the bike. Had a bit of a shake of confidense after reading TWO's test of the Uly next to a 12GS, Tiger and V-Strom. But, I think they didn't really ride it enough. One person road one bike for the entire test and then reported on it. Most of the commentary was about the crappy weather, crappy accomodations and crappy roads in Europe. When I got done I felt kind of crappy. Anyway, after rereading it, I think the biggest problem they had was the windshield since they apparently did a bunch of hiway cruising. Hopefully Cee Bailey's will take care of that. Paul | ||
| Jlnance |
When I was coming into the turn  "Own The Corners" is more than a catchy marketing slogan. I'm glad things worked out well for you, and that the guy who fell didn't end up any worse off. I love 421. I've haven't yet done Deals Gap. But I will. | ||
| Clayman |
Chad, i had a chance to really test the brakes after i first got the bike. i was coming down a hill and watching a truck witch was looking like he was not going to stop at the intersection when out of no where a girl on a bicycle went right in front of me. I hit the brakes my back end came off the ground a bit but i pulled off the shortest high speed stop that i have ever done. i was so close to the girl that i could see her eyes bugging out of her head. Needless to say that if i was on any of the other bikes i have the day would not been so good. I am quite impressed with the uly's braking abilities | ||
| Soloyosh |
I did a round trip to L.A. from Phoenix on the superslab over the holidays. I had all the bags mounted and my dirtbike gear bag on the pillion. Going from Phoenix to Quartzite I got 48mpg doing between 70-80mph. From Quartzite to L.A. I got 44mpg doing almost 90mph the whole way. On the way back I babied it (wasn't in a hurry). From Quartzite to Phoenix at about 70mph the whole way I got 50.5 mpg. I am guessing without the bags this would have improved a little. Cheers Brett | ||
| Two_buells |
Tim, Chad, I can confirm that Tim’s wife likes the Uly’s rear seat. I was riding the lower part of York County, just came from another friends house (he owns a Buell also) He was telling me that Tim bought Lancaster’s Second Uly. So I was riding north on Rt 24, about 4 miles south of my house, I passed a Black Uly heading south. I did a quick U turn and caught up to Tim. We stopped and talked about the bikes for about 45 min. Tim wife sat on the rear seat the whole time………. We have so many Buells in York County I think we need our own BRAG chapter…….  | ||
| Retired_cop |
Mike, If my wife see's this......................... Chad, The picture was taken after an all day Toy Run to Penn State Hershey medical center. Some highway, some back roads, 500 motorcycles, more fun than you can imagine. The hard bags were not on the bike yet, but are on now and there is still plenty of leg room for the passenger. Tim | ||
| Retired_cop |
Mike, If my wife sees this................... Chad, The picture was taken after a long day in the saddle doing a Toy Run to the Penn State Hershey Medical Center. We had some highway, backroad, & secondary roads along the way. Total mileage was only about 150 but we were on the bike for about 4 hours. Several times my wife asked if I had tried to hit the bumps and missed since she could not feel the impact. I didn't try and also didn't miss which gives a good indication of how well the suspension works. I have the hard bags on now and there is plenty of room for the passenger with no interference from the bags on the feet or legs. Tim | ||
| Retired_cop |
Chad, The picture was taken after about 150 miles over a 4 hour time span. We were coming home from a Toy Run that included highway, back country and secondary roads. Got to love the suspension...... The hard bags are on the bike now and there is no clearance or interference issue with the passengers legs or feet. If this is looks like a duplicate post just ignore one or the other as this wonderful computer is doing stupid stuff again. | ||
| Snub13 |
Tim & Mike; I have to chime in on the passenger acomadations. My wife says the seat is so comfy that she could fall asleep (hopefully she can avoid that!). In any event, she loves it! Good to hear that there is no interference problem with passenger foot room. She hasn't been on since the bags were installed but it looks tight. I'll let her know. Chad; Glad to hear all turned out well for you. I had an "episode" shortly after I got the bike. I was going around an uphill right turn (on a road I was unfamiliar with.) and into the sun. A stop sign and T intersection came up fast! I grabbed both brakes and the rear locked up momentarily (I think it came off the ground), of course a car was coming to the intersection at the same time, as it turned out I stopped in way more than enough time (if I was in (or on) anything else I don't think it would have been the same). Through out the incident the bike was very stable, very predictable, and gave good input as to traction. | ||
| Two_buells |
Tim, I got a new bike last month, a Yamaha Grizzly 660 4x4. I've been up to Michaux State Forrest atv trails twice over the holiday. Too much fun! picture here http://home.att.net/~mikey394/IMG_2085a.jpg | ||
| Retired_cop |
Mike, What else can be said but BOYS AND THEIR TOYS!!! The guy across the street from me has a 400 version and we have fun on that in the woods around here also. He is always looking for someone to go riding with in Michaux. If I had the means, I'd have a 4 wheeler for just that purpose. Maybe when the dresser is sold???????? | ||
| Two_buells |
Tim, I rode the Uly to work today. I'm also going to Michaux on Sat. You NEED to get a four wheeler. |
