| Author | Message | ||
     Wrongway2 |
That said, if you expect to do much stop and go in traffic or off road, you might plan to swap out the primary gearing from the 12 to the 9. It will give you an 11% lower across the board reduction in gearing and help raise the RPMS at slower speeds. It cost about $150 for the kit. I caught this in a post by Ft_bstrd and it grabbed my attention. Who has done this and how are the highway revs say at 70 mph? I have trail ridden my Uly a couple of times and found it geared extremely high in first. I do a fair amount of highway ridding too though. Thanks in advance for the advice. | ||
| Packdog |
Hi Wrongway2, I know you are asking for a real world perspective, but until someone with that experience answers, have you seen the Speed Chart thread? http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/142 838/318435.html?1195359043 08Uly added the chart for the XB12 with the 9 primary swap recently. It should give you a fairly good idea about what to expect for revs on the highway. | ||
| 08uly |
Yeah, check out the chart for an idea...
Or just multiply your current revs by 1.117 (increase of 11.7%). So 3500 revs with the 12 (~70mph) would be ~3900 with the 9 and so on.  (Message edited by 08uly on November 18, 2007) | ||
| Hughlysses |
Or ride at 70 MPH in 4th with your present gearing and you'll be pretty close. | ||
| Gotj |
Wrongway2, I believe the parts are more like $200 if that would make a difference to you. To get the effect of the conversion at 70 mph, simply ride your Uly in fourth gear at that speed and see how you like it. The rpms are very close to what you would get in fifth with the conversion. (I was typing this as Hughulysses was posting the above note.) There are numerous BadWebers who have made the conversion and none have reported converting back. They all are very happy with the lower gearing. Sorry I don't have any links for you and I am not one of them (yet). (Message edited by gotj on November 18, 2007) | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
http://www.americansportbike.com/shoponline/ccp0-p rodshow/A17150.html George is right I was off on the price by a little. Above is the link for the ready made kit American Sport Bike sells. Asdf has completed the modification. Here is a link where he describes his experiences: http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/142 838/241342.html?1164036065 You may want to PM him for additional details or to ask questions. Hope this helps. | ||
| Wrongway2 |
Thanks for all the great advice. I am pretty sure I am going to do the swap. I'll let you know how it went and how I like it after. | ||
| Jlnance |
Who has done this and how are the highway revs say at 70 mph? As others have mentioned, ride in 4th as that approximates 5th after the conversion. FWIW, I was concerned about the effect on highway mileage, and I did the ride around in 4th experiment. The result is I now never use 5th gear (I will eventually get around to doing the conversion.) Do an experiment and check your gas mileage at 70 in 4th and in 5th. Mine was higher in 4th.  The bike is sure more responsive in 4th. I recently did a ride though the mountains of the western states. I found 5th to be a pretty useless gear. If you're at any sort of elevation, particularly if you're also climbing, 5th just has no power. As you get faster, the wind resistance climbs, so even at 90 mph, 4th works better than 5th. | ||
| Froggy |
I tried doing the don't shift into 5th thing, and it hurt my gas mileage a lot. I would normally get 56-59mpg, and without shifting into 5th for 4 tanks I got 52MPG, 45, 41, 48. That average is 11mpg lower, and there for not worth the loss in my opinion. Just some quick math: 17,000 miles is about what I had on my Ulysses divided by average 57mpg = 298.2 gallons of gas. 298.2 times $3.209 for super, = $956.92 for a year of Uly gas. Same for 11mpg less (46mpg) = 369.5 gallons, $1185.72 for a year of gas. that a difference of $228.8 a year or 71.3 gallons. Personally I would rather take that $228 and buy more carbon fiber rather than put it in the tank, but to each their own I guess. I still can't figure out how some get better gas mileage with shorter gearing. | ||
| Bertotti |
I haven't figured out how some get better the 50 mpg. My mileage went up until I hit the 75+ mph interstate then it dropped. | ||
| Chadhargis |
I seldom use 5th gear unless I'm droaning on the interstate at 70mph or more, which isn't often. I spend most of my time in 3rd gear. I can do anything between 30 and 90mph comfortably in 3rd gear. | ||
| Madduck |
MPG is directly related to rider size, ie aerodynamics. Those of us in the XXL and XXXL categories get better mileage in 4th. Your mileage may vary, you will also get better mileage at altitude as resistance goes down faster than hp as air density decreases. |
