| Author | Message | ||
     Cworley5150 |
I am currently riding a BMW Rockster and it is a great bike. I like most everything about it except for the boring boxer engine. The power delivery is torquey and quite to my liking, but it is the most boring sounding bike I have ever owned. I guess I am a V-twin guy at heart. So, here is where you guys come in. I am researching for my next bike and I have so far narrowed it down to a Buell or Moto Guzzi. The ability of the Ulysses to do some light off-road duty is appealing to me as are some of the standard features. Especially on the '08 model. I have been browsing through the forum and I guess I am looking for the things that you need to look out for. What are some of the problem areas of the Buells? How many miles have you guys piled up and what has went wrong? I have been averaging about 20k miles per year on a bike. Will I kill a Buell in 3 years? What kind of warranty do they have? Can any Harley dealer work on a Buell? Are parts readily available at most dealers? Appreciate the help. This appears to be a very informative sight and the place to go for info on Buells. Chris (Message edited by cworley5150 on July 17, 2007) | ||
| Orangeulius |
I would check out the thread a few posts down "Ulys built to last?" Most of us 06 owners have had the greatest number of first year bugs. The 08 should be pretty solid. Test ride one and and if you grin from ear to ear like most of us did on our test rides, you'll be hooked. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Warranty is 2 years/unlimited mileage. If you change the oil regularly you won't wear it out in 3 years. If/when you DO wear it out, it's easy to work on and parts are cheap. Only HD/Buell dealers can get parts or do warranty work. Only a very few dealers stock parts beyond filters, but most parts can be obtained within 7-10 days if your dealer's proficient and several sponsors of this board do stock lots of parts and will ship you parts quickly at a discount. Problem areas? If you scan this forum you'll find a few rear wheel bearing failures (often due to improperly torqued rear axle), some minor electrical problems (usually connectors or wire rub-throughs), That's pretty much it. If you can find a Buell-friendly dealer in your area OR if you like to do your own maintenance you won't have a problem. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
I was on the lighter end of usage. I only got 12,000 on mine in a year. I think Dr. Greg ran almost 30,000 his first year. It'll do 60,000 miles without a problem. Take a look at this article: http://a1264.g.akamai.net/7/1264/1354/19b1369db77a be/www.buell.com/en_us/news_events/pdf/112406+Moto rrad_article_en.pdf | ||
| Erz |
I just sold a 2002 R1150RA and bought an 07 Uly. I now have about 3500 miles on the Uly. So far I have had a metal clip break that held the clutch cable away from the hot motor. When the clip broke the cable melted a bit. All fixed under warranty. Mechanically, the bike has been rock solid. So far, the overall feeling is that this bike is wayyyyyyyyyyy more fun to ride than the BMW. The BMW was a great bike but the ULY handles a lottttttttt better and I like the fact that this motor just feels so much stronger with no RPM's.... can you say TORQUE. It also has a great growl when you are running it up through the gears All in all, this is one of the most fun bikes to ride that I have owned and I have owned a bunch. I will have to wait an see about how the bike holds up over several years. There was a very good article by a euro magazine "Motorrad" that did a long term tear down on the Buell motor. They admitted that they were very surprised by the fact that at the end of beating this engine hard over time... it was making more horsepower and torque than ever. They were very impressed and admitted that for such an old school motor they could not get over the fact that this motor seems to be very well built. | ||
| Old_mil |
So, here is where you guys come in. I am researching for my next bike and I have so far narrowed it down to a Buell or Moto Guzzi. The ability of the Ulysses to do some light off-road duty is appealing to me as are some of the standard features. Especially on the '08 model. I have been browsing through the forum and I guess I am looking for the things that you need to look out for. What are some of the problem areas of the Buells? How many miles have you guys piled up and what has went wrong? I've got relatively few miles on my Uly as it's been part of a multi bike stable to this point compared to some...however, I'm getting rid of the other rides and it'll soon be my only ride. I put 20,000+ on a S3T which was still going strong when I sold it, and the Uly is supposed to be more reliable than the tubers. I have been averaging about 20k miles per year on a bike. Will I kill a Buell in 3 years? What kind of warranty do they have? Can any Harley dealer work on a Buell? Are parts readily available at most dealers? Shouldn't be a problem - I bought the 7 year unlimited mileage warranty with my bike. All Buell dealers are Harley dealers, but not all Harley dealers are Buell dealers. Still, there are probably more Harley/Buell dealers than BMW and Motoguzzi combined. Parts are plentiful and cheap. | ||
| Florida_lime |
"All Buell dealers are Harley dealers" Most Buell dealers are Harley dealers -- Seminole Buell Shop (one of the sponsors) is not a Harley dealer. They were part of Seminole Harley, but are now a stand alone operation. | ||
| Court |
>>>>Most Buell dealers are Harley dealers -- Seminole Buell Shop (one of the sponsors) is not a Harley dealer. They were part of Seminole Harley, but are now a stand alone operation. You might want to check on that. I think it is inaccurate. | ||
| Ftd |
Seminole Buell is owned by Seminole HD-Buell. They sell Buells, Big Dogs and used HD's. They are located in the old HD Buell building that was vacated when the main dealership moved to a fancy joint next to the interstate (I4 near Sanford). Frank | ||
| Supertoon |
It is very important that you try this bike, even rent one for a long weekend. It is so "outside the box" that you shouldn't rely on opinions. If the 08's are alot better than my old 06, then this will be an fantastic bike! Try one and get perma-boner  | ||
| Adrian_8 |
I have 31K miles on my 06 ULY and had to replace two front rotors and a fuel pump..The 07 and later have a diff. fuel pump number...The bike is a blast to ride, would buy another. I ride my friends R1200GS...no likee...just handles weird... One thing about a Guzzi is where are you going to find a dealer on a trip? Same with BMWs..The maintenance on the Buell is simple and the 08 are even better, no TPS resets. | ||
| Cworley5150 |
Thanks for all of the responses! You are all confirming things that I have been thinking about. BMW dealers are hard to find when needed. Guzzi dealers would be even harder to find. It seems that so many of the HD dealers that display the Buell sign out front don't sale Buells and seem that they are not interested in helping you. You might as well go in and ask about a Suzuki. Any machine will have a failure at some point. It's good to hear that most are getting very good service from the Buells. I like the idea of virtually no maintenance on the bikes. At least compared to what I am used to. Thanks ERZ for the direct comparison to your R1150R. That helps answer several questions I've had. I'm afraid to take a Uly for a test ride. I think that I will really like and want to take it home with me. Thanks again everybody for the responses and links. My research will continue. | ||
| Jmhinkle |
Dr. Greg turned 20k miles on his one year anniversary last October at our Buell rally. Last I heard he was well over 30 now. His only problems were a headlight bulb that burned out and a leaky oil line I think. Other than that, tires and oil changes. I have 5200 miles on mine and my 1 year anniversary was on July 14th. I haven't been as happy or as lucky with my bike as Dr. Greg. Now that it has been near 100 degrees regularly, the bike has been damn near useless unless I want to be Ghostrider. If you want an air-cooled one, at least go with the '08 in hopes that the revised oil pump system works better. Otherwise wait for the water-cooled 1125X. I'll never own another air-cooled bike thanks to this one. | ||
| Dr_greg |
Hey Joel you took the words right outa my mouth! But you were very accurate...my '06 has been extremely trouble-free. Perhaps I'm one of the lucky ones. I never modified anything; just left it alone. Now...how has your bike been acting up? We live in the same town and I ride my air-cooled beast every day. What's up? PM if you wish. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Joel, What's your verdict on running the Shell Rotella 5W-40? Last I saw you felt it was letting the engine run significantly cooler and therefore the fan was running much less. It sounds like it's not helping much if you feel like Ghostrider. Did you ever do a UOA on it? | ||
| Etennuly |
Jmhinkle, What are you wearing for riding pants? I tried shorts once....way friggin, boiled the leg, too hot! Can't do that! Then I have ridden on 90F+ days with jeans, still too warm when moving and too hot when stopped. Then I went to cotton shorts under Alpine Star double mesh padded riding pants that zip off easily without removing my boots. The double layer of mesh allow air to insulate me from the seat and pipe heat, a very good combination. I also have the heavier Buell padded riding pants that have a mesh liner. These are worn with just underwear. They insulate me even more from the heat. They are a bit bulky and hot when walking around, but are excellent at repelling the bikes heat. | ||
| Jmhinkle |
Dr. Greg, Maybe I'm just too sensitive to the heat. I tried going for a ride on my birthday (the 17th) and the amount of heat bellowing off the bike was just unbearable. I got stuck in traffic and it started doing the loud tapping thing that someone spoke of before. It's not pinging, but I forget what it is. It goes away after a few minutes of at speed riding again. I've got a few other issues aggravating me as well from the rear end of the bike. I just don't have the time to take it in to Santa Fe and don't trust Thunderbird. Hugh, I'm still much happier with the Rotella than the 50wt I had in it last summer. My fan will cycle on and off when moving where it wouldn't with 50wt. My problem is just that there is absolutely too much heat emanating from the bike to ride it above 90 degrees. Only got a little over 1k on it since oil change so no UOA yet. Did you find out anything about that rear shock preload issue? Etennuly, I've tried jeans alone, jeans under first gear pants with insulation in and out, shorts under first gear pants with insulation in and out. I would never ride in shorts alone. Stupid and I would lose my part time job of MSF RiderCoach. Once it is above 90 degrees outside, I have to ride with my legs as far out as possible or I get burns to the inside of my legs no matter the amount of gear. Actually I find the jeans only the best solution because when I swing my legs out, they will cool off. If I have riding pants on too, the heat becomes trapped in and I cannot cool off. The frame is too hot to touch while riding and for a long time after I park it. (Message edited by jmhinkle on July 19, 2007) | ||
| Wademan |
"The frame is too hot to touch while riding and for a long time after I park it." That is odd. I have ridden on 90+ degree days and never experienced that... I dont know what to tell you. | ||
| Adrian_8 |
Order some of the new heat deflectors from the 08 ULY...should take care of the problem... | ||
| Jmhinkle |
No they won't. They are deflectors that replace Odie's shields for the subframe heat directioning issue. I have Odie's shields and they do their job. Neither item has anything to do with the actual frame of the bike where your leg rests and the fact that the rear jug is about 1/4 inch from the right side and radiates mass amounts of heat thru it. | ||
| Etennuly |
The only time mine gets that hot is when stuck in traffic idling for three minutes or more, then it will cool right back down after moving for a quarter mile or so. I know you've been over and over it, but is it possible that something is restricting air movement from the opening of the left scoop, over the heads, and through the fan and out the right side? I have seen people carry stuff under the seat that covers or blocks the fan outlet. |
