| Author | Message | ||
     Ridetherejk |
Test rode a Uly today and loved it. Not as comfortable as my Bmw 1150 GS, but more powerful. Just plain fun. But, my 4 year old Beemer has over 67k miles on it. It rides the same as it did when it was new. No problems so far. How long is the life on a Uly. They say the belt should last the life of the bike. Does that mean the bike will all but die at about 100k miles? This is a huge problem if so. Beemers have been known to go over 200k easy. I do not believe that Beemers are the best bikes out there but they do last. But they sure don't feel like the Uly. Loved that bike. Any other issues that I should be worried about? I have been reading a lot of the threads here and on sport-touring.com. What's the most mileage you seen on one and how did the bike look and ride. The sales man at The H-D Store in Maryland didn't have a good answer. He was honest and up front. The first sales man I talked to pointed me in his direction because he owns one. He is full of info about the bike and if he didn't know, he looked it up, and not made it up. If looking for a Buell in Baltimore, look up Eric. Hope you can help with this. Thanks, John | ||
| Crusty |
My Uly has 19,000 miles on it.It's still running just fine. I expect it to last well beyond 100K. Considering that the bike hasn't been out for two years yet, I don't think you'll find many people with over 100K yet. (however, Mike Kneebone has a Uly, and if anyone is capable of putting high mileage on one in a short time, I'd suspect he would be one of the few) The biggest problem I've had with my XB12X is the painful jaw muscles that accompany the silly grin riding it gives me. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
The belt will not last the life of the engine. My X1 lacks that fancy little fan and it's up to 73K now. I see no reason why an XB couldn't see the other side of 100K. My first belt lasted 45K. My clutch lasted 50K I have no idea why they would say something stupid like "Lasts the life of your engine" What is "the life of your engine" anyways? The top end? The first leak? Total rebuild? The most invasive thing I had done to my X1 was the seond gear dogs became worn so that sometimes second would hop if I rolled on the gas slowly. Technically, I didn't HAVE to have it fixed but it was bugging me. Total cost at dealer: $720 That was at 65K I think. | ||
| Adamd |
http://a1264.g.akamai.net/7/1264/1354/19b1369db77a be/www.buell.com/en_us/news_events/pdf/112406+Moto rrad_article_en.pdf | ||
| Terrible1one3 |
Well if you planned on going over 200k than the beemer was a good choice, avas you are looking for a new bike at 70k. So honestly is it worth worrying about whether it will make it to 200k? | ||
| Gearloose |
Got some 'bimmer' riding buddies and they seem to have spline problems with there oil/airheads.Another bud has a K75 rt and just did a topend on it at 72k because it was eating oil and smoking,not just on start,up but most of the time.He road with me to T.W.O 2 yrs ago and in 3500 miles,2 lanes except for 135 miles of interstate used 3 qrts.At the time I was riding a 03 Tiger and didn't use any. Back on a Buell(3rd one) and loving the Uly.The X1's are fun,but the Uly is better than a $100 •••••,and not a'nappy headed one'as Don Imus would say!!!!! Gearloose | ||
| Chris_in_tn |
I do not think the Uly has been out long enough for any one to rack-up those kind of miles yet. There are a couple of posters who are running around 20K per year but it will take a while longer to see how well these bikes hold up. I like mine so much, I just totaled mine out last week and I am getting another one just like it next week.  | ||
| Ridetherejk |
I'm not sure I'm ready to replace the GS, I'm only thinking about it. When I bought my GS in '03, H-D or Buell didn't make that kind of bike. I have been offered $9500 for my bike so I thought what if. The GS is a great bike, but doesn't have the kick of the Uly. That Uly was a blast. Plus, if I get the Uly, I'll get rid of my 919, so that means more miles on the Uly. Adamd, thanks for the post. That helps and hurts at the same time. I ride year round and in the rain, corrosion could be a problem. At least it seams that Buell is trying to work all the bugs out. Like the belts, brakes, oil pump,ect... Happy to see that. As far as the spline problems with Beemers, yes they have them. But they only need to be lubed once in a get while to keep them from going bad. The K75 RT has a inline 4. I have an opposed twin.That's like comparing a V-Rods motor to a Buells. And as far as using oil, for the first 7-8k miles, it used about 1 qt. every 3-4k. But since then, it uses about 1/2 qt. every 6k miles when ridden hard. When ridden easy, almost no oil used. I not sure what I'll do yet, but I thank you for all your help. Is any one having rust problems? Never heard of this until now. John | ||
| Gearloose |
K75 inline 3 | ||
| Reepicheep |
19k on my XB9SX and it's been just fluids, tires, and brake pads. The corrosion is an area with an opportunity for Buell to improve, but thus far it has all been aesthetic corrosion issues, nothing structural. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Let's say that it did only go 100,000 miles before you needed a top end. You could do three top end jobs for the price of one BMW job. The biggest thing to consider is the cost of ownership. Buell parts are very reasonable. I wouldn't worry about the corrosion issue. It is minor, for sure. The muffler is the biggest issue. Many here have had them media blasted and either powdercoated or thermal painted. It's easy to remove, paint and replace. I have almost 10,000 miles on mine in 10 months. It is a frickin' hoot! I will hang onto this bike rather than to sell it. (Message edited by ft_bstrd on May 12, 2007) | ||
| Froggy |
Buy the bike, get an aftermarket exhaust. It will bring her to life and get rid of the corrosion problem  | ||
| Adamd |
anyone check the link I posted? It's an abuse 50000km test on the xb12 engine. | ||
| Etennuly |
Adamd, Thanks for that link, they did some good testing. Hasn't anyone, other than Buell, in the U.S. done any comprehensive testing like that? | ||
| Orangeulius |
Thanks Adamd. I skipped over the link initially but when I saw Etennuly's comments I went back and checked it out. The article is recommended reading for any Buell owner. It sure makes you feel good about choosing a Buell. I would recommend printing a copy and keeping it with the bike records. If for some reason an owner has to ever sell their Buell (god forbid) this would definitely be of interest to any potential buyer. | ||
| Dr_greg |
Well, I may be one of the 20K miles/year guys since my '06 turned 20K miles on exactly its 1-year anniversary. Just turned over 28,000 miles with a 700-mile jaunt Friday through NM and AZ. Runs better than ever. Absolutely zero problems of any kind. There are others out there w/higher mileage than I... | ||
| Stevenknapp |
Is any one having rust problems? Never heard of this until now. My muffler doesn't look perfect anymore. But I do ride in all sorts of crap, and I'm not particular about washing it either. I've seen on this board the rusty muffler is a warranty issue. I'll probably get mine powercoated for $50. I had a 02 R1150RT and an 05 R1200GS before the Uly. For me, BMW and Buell bikes really only differ in the ways they are different. Weird boxer character vs H-D V-twin character. Both seem to run forever, but need some work here and there along the way. Both belt and shaft drive claim to be easy to take care of, but both need some work now and then regardless. Where Buell seems to step ahead of BMW, for me at least: - Factory support, very proactive. - Fun/raw bike. (no weird EFI issues, no servo assisted brakes) - KISS engineering - User serviceable, including a 3rd party PC app that lets you peek into the ECU, VDSTS. | ||
| Ridetherejk |
I want to thank every one for their responses. I feel better about the Uly after reading your comments. I have told many people that the BMWs are not that much different from H-Ds. Both have problems that need to be addressed, although, don't try and tell a die hard owner that. You've heard it " I'd rather push a _____ than ride a ______ ." All bikes have issues that have to be dealt with. I'm thinking of renting a Uly for a day if I can. That should be all it takes to want it enough to sell my current bikes. | ||
| Jlnance |
Is any one having rust problems? The mufflers on the Ulys tend to rust. I don't know if the factory has addressed this, but I addressed it myself with a $55 trip to HPC where it was ceramic coated. I've not noticed rust on anything else. Most of the bike is Aluminum, which isn't going to rust unless you keep it near the beach. | ||
| Adrian_8 |
Yeah.. the muffler does rust some...but no big deal as it comes off real easy...sand it down and spray on some High Heat Rustoleum barbeque paint..a very small niggle as it serves as a skid plate too.. so it is going to get scratched up and will rerust..just repaint. simple fix. | ||
| Old_mil |
Does that mean the bike will all but die at about 100k miles? This is a huge problem if so. Beemers have been known to go over 200k easy. I've seen older Buell tubers up for sale on eBay with 70,000-80,000 miles. I'd imagine that the Uly will be longer lived than that with proper care. As far as BMW goes, the reputation of that brand was built largely by older motorcycles like the K75. Newer BMWs certainly won't be bikes that will go over 200k easily, and have no doubt that the Uly will turn out to be both more reliable and more durable than modern BMWs. In a sense, BMW Motorrad is suffering through the same problem as Mercedes-Benz. The Mercedes cars of the 1970s and 1980s were in a very real sense lifetime vehicles that would go a million miles with proper care. However, pressure from Lexus (and I'd imagine the Japanese sport tourers in the case of BMW) forced the brand to move to a gadget intensive design that is expensive, prone to flaws, doesn't hold up as well, and is expensive to repair. Quite frankly, I'd rather own a Lexus, or for that matter a Cadillac, than a modern Mercedes. ...in the end, any motorcycle will live forever if you replace enough parts, and Buell parts and service is a fraction of the cost of BMWs. (Message edited by Old_Mil on May 13, 2007) | ||
| Ridetherejk |
Hey Old mil, I have to disagree with you that the newer BMWs won't easily last to 200k. I have seen many of the newer ones with more than than 150k and still running fine. I'm part of a club that has many riders doing more than 50k miles a year. Again, I don't think there are the best, but they are great bikes. As far as being gadget intensive, they have gotten rid of that stupid servo brake crap that no one liked. The ABS is still there which I like alot. Saved my A$$ once in the rain. Car pulled out in front of me in the middle of a turn. Other than rain, I turn it off. Heated grips, GREAT! And that's it for the gadgets on the GS. There is alot of people who feel that the oil head engine just isn't as good as the air head. They said it wouldn't last as long. It's been lasting just fine so far. Some BMWs have had issues with final drives, or splines, but not all models. LT tour bikes are hard on final drives, eats um up. As far as being expensive to work on, they're cheaper than most bikes on the market. I know when I had my H-D, we had a saying," They hundred dollar you to death ". That was a '86 Sportster that just wouldn't stay running for more than a year at a time. That bike went through 4 sets of lifters in 5 years, not to mention other things. The one thing I have noticed with this site is that I haven't seen anyone brand bash yet. I commend all of you for that. I'm sick of one group always knocking on another. Buell riders are the first group that has been this open to others. You all should be proud and keep up the effort. You guys are great. | ||
| Old_mil |
I think we may have a bit of a different vintage in mind...I'm specifically addressing the 2005 and up BMWs...I doubt any of these have 50k+, let alone 150k+ yet...but the number of serious failures are adding up. As far as brand bashing, well, I don't design em...just comment on the results. |
