| Author | Message | ||
     Electraglider_1997 |
1) cost 2) the more you understand your bike the better you can keep it running. 3) you won't have to write messages here about how the dealer overfilled the oil. 4) gives you a feeling of accomplishment. 5) you don't have to make all that money just so you can turn it over to someone for something you could have done yourself. 6)less likelihood of getting stranded because of mechanical failure. Bikes rarely conk out within site of the dealer and rarely still within site of the dealer during open hours. 7)impresses folks that you can do that. 8) add up the time (and sometimes costs)it takes to get your bike to a dealer, the time you wait to get it whatever it is done, and then you have to get back to the dealer to pick it up. Chances are that you could of done it yourself in a fraction of the time and cost letting someone else do it. 9) When you ask what your $300 or more dollars gets you when you take it in for that 5,000 mile checkup the dealer might show you a check list. This doesn't actually mean they will end up actually working on every list item. For instance the "Check steering head bearings" only means that they check that they are tight and that takes all of about 1 minute on the high-side. If they have to actually adjust them then you get your moneys worth. Fact is, you don't know what they do other than change out your fluids and collect hundreds of dollars from you. 10) Buy the software from Daves or whoever and do your own TPS (I haven't yet but I only have about 3000 miles on my bike and it runs great, and I will be calling Daves soon to buy) reset and astound yourself with your ability to do it. For about 200 bucks you can save yourself hundreds more in future TPS resets and everything else that software is good for. 11) Let the unknown dealer mechanic work on your bike, learn nothing in the process except that bike ownership is more expensive than you thought possible. Write to BadWeb board about how your bike ran great until you got it back from the dealer (I know, not always, but I do read this stuff once in awhile here). 12) Take it to the dealer once you've exhausted yourself and still can't seem to get it fixed. At least you tried. Chances are (from experience) it will be something trivial and you'll wonder "What the heck??". 13) Add your own or tell me to shut the ____ up. (Message edited by electraglider_1997 on September 09, 2006) | ||
| Dave |
#1. I personally know the idiot working on my bike(s) and car.  DAve | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Good one. | ||
| Debueller |
#8 is a biggie to me. I can do alot of maint in one evening after work. Trucking the bike through traffic 40 miles, waiting days for them to finish it, and trucking it home is just too long to be without my bike. I'm also a tight-wad, so #1 has alot of merit Then consider the other 10 items and it's a no-brainer | ||
| Xbimmer |
14) You're likely to care more that the job is done right on your own machine than a paid wrench does. | ||
| Debueller |
Another one.... The dealer closest to my home is usually booked solid for service for at least a week. I'm not going to just let the bike sit untill THEY are ready to do business with me. I have a hard enough time waiting for the parts they don't stock. Usually I call Daves, but I still have to wait for shipping. Waiting is very difficult when my Uly is down. | ||
| Dragon_slayer |
#1 Reason to work on your own stuff. You know who to blame and why!  (Saves a lot of time and stress.) | ||
| Debueller |
I actually enjoy doing some maint. The perfect dark, cold Friday evening: 1. Build a fire in the stove out in the shop. 2. Have a couple of your buddys ride their bikes over for some bench racing. 3. Crack open some home brews and pour them in a frozen mug. 4. Turn on the TV to watch motor racing of your choice. 5. Attack those new bolognas in the corner with some tire irons then spoon them on your rims. It don't get much better than that. Unless your acually out riding. | ||
| Teeps |
Because I used to be a M/C mechanic. Because the Buellysses doesn't require much to start with. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Brotherhood of the wrench. | ||
| Windrider |
EGlider, One of the great things about owning a Buell is that they really are quite simple to do your own wrenching on. They are actually fun to work on as well and you can see that some thought to the serviceability of the bike was put into the design. Compared to the BMW GS or KTM Adventure 950 a Uly is much less intimidating and you don't have to have a lot of special tooling. The service manual is also excellent. Self maintenance was a real selling point for the Ulysses when I was looking at these three bikes. | ||
| Xbimmer |
Windrider, I don't know much about the new Beemers and less about the KTM, but removing the rear wheel for a recent tire change proved to be the most complex tire removal procedure I've ever undertaken. Older Airheads take under 5 minutes and the Monolever models less. But I agree that simplicity of design and intermodel parts redundancy are two of the reasons I went for the Buell. Like BMW used to be. And the service manual and also the parts manual are definitely worth the money! | ||
| Debueller |
I've removed my rear wheel at least a dozen times. The first time was a learning experence. I leave the caliper on. It's very clever the way the axle is tapered so the tension is released off of the belt. Removing the hugger and belt guard is the most time consuming part. With the tools ready and the rear raised I can have mine off in less than 5 min. Opening up the brake pads helps a lot on re-installition. While definetly not as simple as a bike with a centerstand and a monolever the process goes quickly as soon as a person developes a routine. | ||
| Xbimmer |
Debueller, you don't remove the idler pulley? On my bike that's the hard part, since my right sidecase mount is welded up wrong I have to loosen up the bolts also so I can remove the footpeg bracket, to remove the pulley, etc. | ||
| Adrian_8 |
You do not have to take the idler pulley off...the manual makes mountains out of molehills. | ||
| Debueller |
No, do not remove the idler pulley. There is no reason to do that. As you unscrew the axle, there is a section of the axle that tapers down to allow the right wheel bearing to move into this smaller dia. area of the axle. This will allow the wheel assy. enough movement to get slack in the drive belt. Do not unscrew the axle all the way at this point. Before removing the axle carefully work the belt off of the the rear pulley while slowly turning the wheel by hand. Hook the belt aside to get it out of the way of the wheel, (I loop mine on the rear peg) being careful not to bend or twist it any more than needed. Finish unscrewing the axle, pull it out and the wheel will almost fall out. Upon re-installition, carefully spread the brake pads in the caliper with a large screwdriver to make guiding the rotor into the caliper easier, and reverse the process. Don't forget to pump the brake petal before riding, to get the pads to contact the rotor. You WILL NOT have rear brakes untill you pump them up. I can almost do mine with my eyes closed...it's become that easy. | ||
| Debueller |
The manual also said to remove the idler for muffler removal. I was able to remove the muffler without removing the idler also. The less things I screw with is the less things I can screw up. | ||
| Adrian_8 |
You must remove the idler pulley to get the seat off, and to adjust the handlebars | ||
| Xbimmer |
So THAT's why my handlebars won't adjust!  Teeps already clued me in to the idler on/muffler off procedure. Thanks guys for the tips on wheel removal, will be much easier next time. My biggest gripe was getting the footpeg bracket/sidecase bracket relationship correct again in order to keep the right rear peg from contacting the case. Oh yeah a centerstand would be nice... '47 Indian at the Rock Store today had one...  | ||
| Windrider |
Not sure, but I think that the service manual has you remove the belt idler pulley in order to not put any stress on the belt. The belt is supposedly very sensitive to being kinked or twisted. You do need a lift to work on the Buellysess. Well worth the money invested. |
