| Author | Message | ||
     Banawi |
I've lurked for a while and I'll post a trip report and a few questions. I'm still new at this so please be gentle. First a few specifics: Bike - 2007 Ulysses Miles - 9184 Build Date - 4/07 Purchase Date 5-07 Mods: Cal Sci Wind Screen Touratech 35l bags Small Buell Tank Bag Garmin Zumo 450 O-Ring Throttle Lock Touratech side stand plate Previous Bikes 1999 Ducati ST2 - 15,000 miles 2002 BMW K1200RS - 73,000 miles I really purchased the Uly for this trip to Alaska. I live in Columbus, Ohio and traveled first to Atlanta and then to Nashville, Minneapolis, Minot, Saskatoon, Edmonton and on to Dawson Creek, BC to start the Alaska highway. I won't add to what others have said about this ride except to say that it is a great one and one that the Uly is well suited to. Especially as you go north there are frost heaves which leave pronounced dips in the road. I set up the suspension as per the manual and when I'd see some tire marks on the road I'd just stand on the pegs and the Uly would eat them up. 70-75 mph was no problem with the Uly on the bumps and was great fun. I arrived in Fairbanks with about 7500 miles on the bike and the rear tire was ready for replacement. Fortunately the Buell dealer in Fairbanks had a Pirelli Diablo in stock and after a few hours I was on my way further north. The next morning found me 140 miles north of Fairbanks and five miles north of the Yukon river at a place called The Hot Spot. This was on the Haul road and it is gravel with a lot of dust and a lot of trucks. It parallels the pipeline and is the road to haul freight up to the oil fields near Prudhoe Bay. I paid $100 for a room in a double-wide trailer with the bathroom in the double-wide next door. The people were nice and the burgers good The next morning I awoke to frost on the bike and a flat rear tire. I found some compressed air around the back of the motel and aired up the tire and determined that the leak was a slow one. As a side note, I do carry a plug kit but I'm not very good using it. I've resolved that the next time I have a tire wear out and I'm ready to replace it, I'm going to poke some holes in it and practice my tire plugging. I decided to head back to Fairbanks to the Buell dealer for a fix only to find that I had a piece of a metal bracket go through the tire and that they don't fix tires for "liability" reasons so I purchased another Pirelli Diablo. It was pricey but then again most things in Alaska are. From Fairbanks it was back to the Alaska highway and at Watson Lake I turned south on the Cassiar highway. This highway goes straight south through British Columbia. Near Watson Lake, you see a sign that says 143 miles to the next services. It is beautiful scenery and is mostly a paved road with only two stretches of about 20 miles of gravel. Services on the Cassiar highway are few and far between and I found myself unable to find a room. I was tempted to stop at a rest area and just sleep on a picnic table, which I've done before, until I saw the nearby bears. Not knowing their need for protein, I pressed on and finally found a room in Hyder, Alaska, which is on the British Columbia border and is a town without paved streets. The next morning I left Hyder and noticed that the bike was not handling right. In Hazelton, BC I finally figured out that the seal on the bearing on the brake rotor side of the rear wheel was not right. I found a small engine repair shop who told me that there is a Harley dealer 40 miles up the road in Smithers, BC. I traveled to Smithers, BC and soon saw a bill board with the pictures of three young ladies labeling it the Highway of Tears. It turns out that they have a serial killer in the area and at this point I figure that my chances of getting a ride would be pretty slim. I limp into Smithers but the damage is already done. The Harley dealership in Smithers, population 5300, is a family owned business and are wonderful people. I'll need a new bearing, axle, brake rotor, brake caliper and possibly rear wheel. Its a Saturday afternoon and they don't know if Buell will authorize them to do the repairs because they are not a Buell dealer. Because its a Saturday afternoon we can't get answers and it looks likely that it could be a week or more to get the parts and make the repairs. While Smithers is a nice little town, I really don't want to be there for a week without wheels so I opt to fly back to Ohio and contact the dealer later. As it turns out Buell won't authorize them to do the repairs and it has to be trucked to Prince George, BC where there is a Buell dealer. My questions are as follows: 1. Other than the factory the only people who have touched the rear wheel was the Buell dealer in Fairbanks who put two new rear tires on. Is it likely that they could have done some damage which caused the bearing failure? 2. My riding is mostly paved road with some gravel road and no dirt. I have done no water crossings and have never used a high pressure car wash on the bike. In short I haven't been abusive. Unfortunately something like this shakes your confidence in a bike. I like to ride in some remote areas and have done so in the western US, Quebec and northern Mexico. If I opt to keep the bike should I just plan on replacing the bearings every time I change tires? 3. Has anyone had any experience collecting from Buell their out-of-pocket expenses for something such as this? I am referring to things such as the $200 it will cost me to sent the bike from Smithers to Prince George, BC and my airfare home and back to pick it up. Thanks for listening to me whine just a little bit. Bob | ||
| Hughlysses |
Bob, There have been enough Uly rear wheel bearing failures mentioned here and at advrider.com to at least merit a couple of threads on the subject. See the thread here where Ft_bstrd's trying to compile a list of those with failed bearings. A mechanic that wasn't careful could definitely do something that would eventually hose up the bearings. The shop manual requires the rear axle to be torqued, loosened, and then re-torqued to the final value any time the rear wheel is changed. If he didn't follow this procedure and/or over-torqued the axle, the aluminum spacer in the wheel between the bearings can be partially crushed which will eventually lead to bearing failure. Of course, the mechanic may have done nothing wrong and the bearings simply failed. In the threads here and at advrider there have been several suggestions for better wheel bearings. The factory bearings are standard off-the-shelf units. One suggestion was to go to your local industrial bearing supply house and buy replacement bearings, being sure to get bearings made in the USA, Europe, or Japan. The manufacturing location varies even within bearings of the same brand and the bearings made in these countries are evidently higher quality than those made in China, India, etc. The jury is still out on whether the bearing should be replaced at every tire change. It's certainly a good idea to inspect them any time the bike is off the ground. Any signs of notchiness in turning the wheel or bearing races or any signs of rust coming out from the seals is a good indication that it's time to change your bearings. No idea what Buell will do about reimbursing your expenses. I'd certainly make a call to Buell customer service and probably follow up with a letter. | ||
| Kieefer |
it would be very interesting to find out if the 08's are using a different brand or style bearing, lets hope so. still,.. might be too early for R&D to make changes or compile the complaints but, seems like a recall is in order, IMO.  | ||
| Campjo04 |
recall is in order IMO. i have big trip planned and am getting worried about these repeated failures. is this common on other xb's?? | ||
| U4euh |
The 03 XBs's had a big problem with this. The company stepped in and made it a standard replacement that didn't cost the owner, BUT it was not a recall. It was something that even a lot of dealers didn't know about, until someone called the mothership customer service. | ||
| Lduly |
Banawi , I took that same trip in July except reverse order. The burger was great!  | ||
| 2_spuds |
"3. Has anyone had any experience collecting from Buell their out-of-pocket expenses for something such as this? I am referring to things such as the $200 it will cost me to sent the bike from Smithers to Prince George, BC and my airfare home and back to pick it up. " Bob, I'am sorry to hear about your bike problems. I had the same problem with the wheel bearings and some other things on my trip to Alaska last year. I bought the Uly just for that trip and purchased the five year warranty to help cover any problems that I might have. In my case I submitted a little over three thousand in receipts for, towing, shipping via truck to the dealer, bus fare, and hotels and received about six hundred in return. As you are aware everything is a bit more expensive in those parts, but the warranty has limits for everything. I think part of the bearing problem is due to the aluminum spacer, I think it allows the bearings to be preloaded even under the stock torque settings. I have replaced mine with a steel one and will see if it helps in time. | ||
| Banawi |
Gentlemen, Thank you for the words of advice. I will not trust the current, factory supplied bearings which I suspect is what will be put back into the bike. Lduly, you did indeed stay at The Hot Spot. The white cloth dining area is no longer there. They moved the tables to between two of the trailers a bit further back. Over this area they put on a semi-permenate metal roof. I also had a burger and it was good. Bob |
