| Author | Message | ||
     Warbaby |
A couple of days ago, my Uly engine was fired up for the first time since the installation of Kevin Drum's standard Drummer with a black, Jet-Hot header, a billet Catch Can from Al Lighton, and an `07 Air Box Lid + Denso Iridium Plugs (#IXU24) from Dave Stueve. With the stock air filter and stock ECM (no `07 re-flash…yet), it started instantly and settled into a clean idle around 1000 RPM. I checked everything for leaks and headed out for a shakedown run in the 58 degree Tennessee air. I’m happy to report that these mods work very well and I highly recommend the vendors mentioned. If it were otherwise, I would be bitching instead of smiling. Honest injun!  The Drummer’s deep, low-frequency rumble becomes a satisfying bark when the throttle is blipped. It is “loudish” but a judicious right hand can modulate the throttle into stealth mode for slipping through traffic without offense to motorists or cops. I like to hear what my engine is doing and the Drummer is certainly not obnoxious in the way that raspy, Sportster drag pipes can be. Best of all though, both throttle response and torque are very clearly improved. It pulls hard throughout the powerband without any hesitation, stumble, or other aberrations. Rolling-on the throttle from about 2000 RPM in any gear made me giggle--especially in high gear. Although the ECM probably has not yet fully adjusted to these mods, it runs cleanly, feels “right”, and sounds like a V-Twin should IMHO. Because of that, I’m in no hurry for the `07 ECM re-flash. I’ll arrange some dyno runs soon to see what the air/fuel and power curves are doing. The catch can is remarkably well designed and easy to install. The location of my small breather filter just behind the catch can is experimental. I want to see when and how much puking will occur and it can be easily monitored in that location. Later, I’ll probably re-route the breather hose and simply eliminate the filter. I also installed Renthal medium-rise bars with adjustable CRG bar end mirrors. The new riding position is more aggressive for twisty work and tight traffic while remaining comfortable for touring. To complete the “XB12XS” mods, the folding rear backrest and hand rails were removed (for weight savings and cleaner lines) and a Lightning front fender was bolted on. A Velcro pad was temporarily placed on the tail section to cover the grab rail holes until I decide how to fill or otherwise cover them. With a well-tuned custom suspension and Pirelli Sync tires, the modded Uly handles pavement with aplomb and, although your tastes may differ, it is my interpretation of a stealthy, sport touring bike (with Buell hard bags) that is capable of pure sport bike handling without a highly-strung, stratospheric-reving engine. I won’t be needing a chiropractor either. It’s juussssst right for an old fart like me.      More pics are here: http://www.zenfire.ws/buell.htm Happy trails… http://www.zenfire.ws/ (Message edited by WarBaby on December 13, 2006) | ||
| Brad1445 |
Sexy looking. last time my bike was that clean was the day I bought it. I looked at your web page, I vote fer dem Eye talian mirrors vs the bar ends, they sexy too! | ||
| Treadmarks |
Very nice looking Uly Warbaby.  | ||
| Lowflyer |
Nice bike. Mine might look nearly that good if I didn't ride the shizz out of it. | ||
| Daulyfreek |
NIce Warbaby! Couple of questions-what's the part # for the tank bra? Why did you install the crankcase breather and catch can? What are the better sparkplugs supposed to do? The bike looks sharp! Mine was that clean for one day  | ||
| Old_mil |
>Why did you install the crankcase breather >and catch can? I was curious as to what motivated you to do that as well...Great looking ride! | ||
| Hughlysses |
>Why did you install the crankcase breather >and catch can? Routing the crankcase fumes away from the engine intake is supposed to be good for 2-3 extra horsepower (maybe a little more) according to dyno testing. Al Lighton has the dyno graphs to show this. | ||
| Warbaby |
Thanks gents. I'm pretty much done fiddling with it. About cleanliness--it's clean at the moment but it's often nasty--then it gets cleaned again.  I've been riding my Aprilia while working on the Uly but I enjoy the Uly more and will probably sell the Tuono now. In fact, for pure fun, I like the Uly more than any bike I've ever owned and that seems to greatly puzzle other riders, especially sport bikers. I tell them it's because of torque and handling. They get the handling part but they usually seem vague about "torque" and want to talk horsepower. I rode a `Busa for four years and 170 horsepower is a trip (when you can use it) but a well-ridden Buell can run circles around a `Busa in the twisties. Each to his/her own, I suppose. Now that my Uly is setup for me, I can't imagine more fun on two wheels! | ||
| Warbaby |
The air box cover mask is Buell #91212-04Y. The Iridium plugs were installed while it was easy to do when the engine was rotated down for exhaust work. They offer long life and are nearly foul-proof. I'm with "Hughlysses" (above) about the breather/catch can. Why contaminate the incoming air/fuel charge with crankcase puke and combustion blow-by vapors? | ||
| Frankf |
Tell me more about the black jet hot header. Is is a coating or is it something that gets baked on. | ||
| Warbaby |
Mine (Jet-Hot 1300 in matte black) was done by Jet-Hot http://www.jet-hot.com/Pages/coatings.html in Pascagoula, MS. The turn around time was 4 days. It is an inside and outside thermal coating that is heat cured. Most coaters also offer an aluminized coating (chrome-like) that is more thermally efficient than black. I chose black for asthetic reasons on my bike. Thermal coatings retain more heat within the exhaust tubes. More heat retained = higher energy levels = improved gas flow. I think Al Lighton has them already coated and available for exchange at http://www.americansportbike.com/ (Message edited by WarBaby on December 14, 2006) | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Those black headers do look real nice against the rest of the bike. The mirrors are a keeper also. Do they come in larger sizes and how is the vibration compared to the stalk stock type that the rest of us have? | ||
| Warbaby |
The diameter is very close to 3" and I've never seen larger CRG's in this design. My eyes are no longer those of a "sniper" but I've had no difficulty resolving rear images with the CRG's. I use them a lot for situational awareness and I haven't noticed any buzz. I don't know if that would be true with the stock handlebars.  (Message edited by WarBaby on December 14, 2006) (Message edited by WarBaby on December 14, 2006) | ||
| Jlnance |
That is one clean bike! | ||
| Lowflyer |
Yeah, that is the cleanest bike I have ever seen.   | ||
| Bienhoabob |
Still room for improvement. In picture #3 there seems to be some dust inside the left air scoop and possibly a dead bug in the oil cooler scoop. Anyway, nice bike! | ||
| Warbaby |
Nah...the dust is on the camera lens and the bug is not dead--he's my pet named "Coach" (the roach). He goes where I go and dines on organic matter that accumulates on the bike, including less fortunate smashed bugs. He gets a free ride, room, and board and I get a clean bike. It's a classic symbiotic relationship.  | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Did someone say roach!  | ||
| Warbaby |
Pleeeeeease, show a little respect. Coach is hyper sensitive about being associated with...well, you know--hippies and the cannabis sub-culture. Thank you.  | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
What is that, a land based catfish? A couple of those would be a good meal. | ||
| Mainstreamer |
Could be a 'guard roach', maybe? | ||
| Chrisb |
There are some things you just never want to learn about peoples other lives... Now give us some scale in that pic take one with it next a quarter or a dollar bill. | ||
| Reepicheep |
I had an old room mate that was a biology teacher and had a bunch of those home for the summer. Get them hissing and they can make a racket! | ||
| Warbaby |
Sadly, the notoriety here was too much for Coach and he expired, along with the thread... | ||
| Onemanclan |
The subject line threw me...I'm the ONE MAN CLAN and I thought someone was posting about my bike (One Man's Uly)... Nice bike...I wish I had that much money to waste! | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
I'll bet he was good and dead when you peeled him off the undersole of your boot. | ||
| Brotherbuell |
Warbaby, How much fork travel do you have on the new suspension? Eyeballing, it looks like it's a lot less than the TT and maybe a tad less than the XB12SS. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Would have been much cheaper to just buy the lightning long. | ||
| Warbaby |
How much fork travel do you have on the new suspension? Eyeballing, it looks like it's a lot less than the TT and maybe a tad less than the XB12SS. Fork travel is within .25" of the Ss "Long" by design. As you may know, suspension travel is not a measure of suspension quality/compliance. Would have been much cheaper to just buy the lightning long. Your "wisdom" is correct...as far as it goes. My preference was for a Ss Long but Buell hard bags were not available. They were available on the Uly which I chose instead and transformed into what I wanted--an enhanced Long with hard bags. | ||
| Xbimmer |
Same here Warbaby, bought my Uly because the Ss had no bags... BMW will sell a hell of a lot more R1200R's than Buell will sell Ss's. And you can put hardcases on them. Too bad, because IMO the Lightning is the better machine... |
