| Author | Message | ||
     Adamd |
I did not get my ULY yet, it's still at the dealer. I'm a KLR650 rider and I was hesitant to buy a Buell, after reading this forum, advrider, yahoo groups and some others, I'm fairly confident with the XB12X's reliability. What does everyone think of a faq of problematic areas on the Buell by model / year? Like belts, tip sensor .... I've read over some of the ping threads, but I still don't know if this will affect 07's because nobody has their bike, year and mods listed in their signature or they don't always say what year and what mods they've done? Sorry, not trying to gripe, I'm sorry if it's coming off that way!!! Just lloking for ways to help improve the site  So will the 07's be pingers? Thanks and sorry for the rant Adam | ||
| L_je |
If you plan on getting a Uly and keeping your KLR, you should be totally set! Keeping your KLR will help to keep you from taking your Uly into stupid places, like I did last week. My bike is an '06 with about 10000 miles. I'm currently running a 97/3 road/dirt ratio, for whatever that is worth. Belt: Don't worry about it. Tip sensor: Mine works just fine. Every time the bike is on it's side, it shuts off, as advertised. ...but I am taking it in next week for the recall, so THIS doesn't happen while I'm still upright! Pinging: On my bike, there is a very narrow window where this will/could happen. The Buell tech couldn't even get it to ping on Friday. I purposely did not add any octane booster to help him out, but in the end it was No Fault Found. Buell CS called back and asked me to drop to drop the bike off for a day's worth of diagnostics next week. I rode the tar out of the bike on Friday, thinking the Tech was just missing it, but I couldn't get it to ping either; maybe I got one isolated "tick" out of it, but that was it. Ping? Now, I'm almost thinking that if you ride it like it's stolen, you may scare the ping away? Skill: Owning a KLR probably means that you have waaay more skill, and longer legs than I. Hence, you will probably get waaay more out of your Uly off pavement, than I can. Dirt: Much fun in the dirt. You can jump it off of things. Great suspension, and and many have proven the muffler to double as a formidable bash plate. Coming from a KLR, though, you may not have the same juvenile fascination that I have when taking my Uly off pavement. The Uly is going to be heavier than your KLR, so your smile factor may not be the same.?.?. Mud: I never want to see Alabama mud again. Mud + Me = Faceplant ...this was starting to look like a fundamental law of physics. I'm running 616's, and while they may look aggressive, they are not knobbies. I don't know if knobbies would have saved anyone on this stuff, either. I fell down on this mud, while just walking around on my own two feet! (Pacing around, trying to figure out how I was going to get the bike upright) Let us know how you like your bike! | ||
| Jmhinkle |
I was also a long time KLR and KLX rider. I had planned on keeping both after buying the Uly and using the KLR for more dirt work. In the end, I kept my KLR for exactly 1 month after buying the Uly. I rode it 1 time after the purchase and then never again. Still one of my most favorite motorcycles, but the Uly completely replaced it for me. As far as the Faq for problematic things, some are still too hard to pin down to a year specific issue such as the pinging. Some get it bad, some not at all, I fall in between with not getting it at my altitude but getting it at low altitude which I have only been to once. Sure you can pin the recalls down to specific time frames, the model year changes, but being only two model years old and not enough '07's with input yet it is hard to create a problem Faq yet. If the bike lasts as long as the KLR, then it will be no problem. I would have to say give it at least until the '08's come out to see how the '07's act. | ||
| Windrider |
Adamd, I have owned 2 KLR650s and sold one to get the Uly. I have not regretted it at all. For me the Uly is simply a lot more fun and versatile. I also like how easy it is to do all of my own maintenance on. I don't take my Uly in any real off road situations. I live 2.5 miles off of the highway up a steep, rough mountain road and the Uly deals with this with no troubles. I also take it down a lot of fire roads and gravel roads but don't ride it down trails. To me it is too expensive and too heavy a bike to flog it off road. Others have done it and the suspension is vastly superior to a KLR in any situation. The tires are the biggest limiter in the dirt. There are no good tires that fit the Uly's rims for very dirty D/S work. You can coax it through the mud but it isn't much fun in the mud. Too much power and not enough traction. On the road the Uly rocks. It is faster, way more comfortable and better in any respect than a KLR. It even gets better fuel economy. It is a complete joy on a twisty mountain road. PInging? I have heard mine ping a few times on a 100 degree day pulling a handful of throttle uphill.... but I don't worry about that. For the most part mine has never had a problem and if you do see it I think you can just retard the spark a bit and go on. | ||
| Maximum |
L_jr said: "Tip sensor...Every time the bike is on it's side, it shuts off, as advertised." Hummm...How many times have you "tested" this function? | ||
| M2nc |
Hummm...How many times have you "tested" this function? Sad to say, twice - It work fine both times. It cuts out the fan too, which was how I realized that the Tip Sensor was working. As I righted the bike the fan came on. I have had my Uly since Oct '05. It has 18,500 miles now. It pinged until the first service at 1,000 miles when my dealer retimed the bike and rest the TPS. The bike came back Ping free and more powerful. So I have 17,500 miles of Ping free riding which includes temperatures up to 102°F. I have an '06 belt on my M2. I stripped the original 32,000 mile belt at the drag strip. The bike got me home and I still have the belt. The M2 now has 44,500 miles. So between the two bikes I have 30,000 miles experience with the '06 belt with no problems. I looked the belt over on the Uly this week and it look fine. The belts have lasted longer than the chain on my Honda. I had my Kick stand recall done, but the original never broke. I was one of the first to report the problem with the Uly bag latch. I broke one before I learned not to try to close the latch unless it will do it without effort. A true weak point of the bags that to me still needs to be addressed. Buell does a great job of replacing the latch if this happens, but it still is a problem. (Message edited by M2nc on February 26, 2007) | ||
| Ihavemanyfleas |
As far as I know, there haven't been any reported pingers from 07. So far just 06, and nothing out of one particular run, they seem to be spread out along the entire production run. This is something I've asked, and the answer I got was they weren't aware of any 07's with this problems. Some Lightning Longs, also... I'm taking off a little early on thursday (with a frown from the boss) to meet with the guys from buell who are looking at my bike. I'm sure they want to see what I'm doing to my uly when she starts pinging. Hopefully with the weather being as warm as it is this week, they'll have the op to listen to her before I show up. If you're worried about buying a bike that pings, you're probably ok with the 07's. I would be interested in knowing if any of you with an 07 have had this problem. (Message edited by ihavemanyfleas on February 26, 2007) |
