| Author | Message | ||
     Dalefranks |
I am really interested in the new XT version of the Ulysses, though I haven't seen one in the real world yet, and my local dealer won't have one for another month or so. So, since the performance of the XT version will probably be really close to the X, I'm curious about what Uly owners think/ Right now, I'm on a XL1200C. Sportster. As far as a possible XT goes, this will be a daily ride for me, so--even though I thought had outgrown the sportbike urge, and was apparently wrong--I'm looking for something that's noticeably more aggressive than the Sporty, but will be better for 2-up riding, as well. I've tested the UC, and at the weight and performance, I'm definitely not interested. Great touring, maybe, but a suck daily ride. On the Sporty, I find that I have two problems with it. My daily commute is 1/3 street, 1/3 superslab, and 1/3 twisties. So I find: 1) I twist the throttle all the way on the Sporty and it just quite give me what I'm looking for in acceleration, and 2) With the relatively sedate lean angle, I just don't find myself wanting to fully commit to curves at speed. Sitting on the X model, I'm impressed with the big seat for rider and pillion. But if the performance isn't noticeably better, I won't be happy with it as a daily ride. I've gotten back into riding from an extensive absence, and while the Sporty was a great starter bike for me, and my first cruiser, as time goes by, I'm looking for...I dunno...something...more. At the same time, I have to get something the OL will be happy and comfy on. She doen't ride much, but she'd probably ride more if she was comfortable, which she isn't on the Sporty. The XT looks like a good compromise, but I don't know enough about it to really tell if I want that, or if I really need to save my pennies for something like the R1200RT. I'd love to get a bike with full luggage and comfy pillion, and be able to ride at the edge when I'm by myself. It's really hard to find since I'd prefer not to be seen on a UJM bike, but the cruiser isn't fully doing it for me. Maybe a few years down the road, I'll be happy tooling along on a Road Glide, but right now, I don't wanna drag 800# of iron along with me everywhere I go. So, Uly owners, will it impress me with it's performance, or is it just a bit less tame than the Sporty? What's the ride like for the passenger? That's a minority of what I do, but it is a consideration. | ||
| Froggy |
Try leaning this much on your sportster:   A picture is worth a thousand words, so whats a video worth? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUe7fdvSJt4 Trust me, you will NOT be dissapointed with the performance  | ||
| Ratbuell |
My wife rode on the back of an X today for the first time. "wait...I just sit here, like this? I don't have to lean forward or anything? neat..." She's only been on my FLHP with me before, and seen me on my S1W and S2...both notably more agressive than the X/XT. I grilled her mercilessly when we got back from Home Depot (love a bike that can carry 2 gal's of paint, brushes, rollers, and tray liners!) and she said it was comfortable, but *different* than the FLHP. Well, duh. But she liked it. See here: http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/142 838/348592.html?1207142352 and here: http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/142 838/348148.html?1207075308 For my comparison on the X to the XT. Ridden a day apart, which is just about as close to scientific as you can get, LOL. Unless your Sporty pulls the front wheel off the ground on its own...you're going to notice a HUGE difference between the bikes. And yes, I can quantify that too - there's an 02 1200C in the garage as well | ||
| Strada |
The Uly is as quick as a 2004 CBR600 and faster than an R1200RT - from personal experience. I haven't come across a bike yet that has had superior handling - a track day will be a diffrent story though. | ||
| Dalefranks |
Well, Froggy, I don't have a protractor handy to measure it, but I'd say that lean exceeds the 29-degree max lean angle on the Sportster. As far as the wheelie goes, I'd probably kill myself trying it, but am I correct in thinking the Uly will pull one even in higher gears? My sporty can pull the wheel off the ground, though. In first. Can't hold it up though. | ||
| Dalefranks |
Oh, by the way, what about weather protection. I've seen the guy here with the Cal Sci windshield, which looks like it gives you at least as much weather protection as my Sporty has. The stock one--even the tall version on the XT--looks skimpy. Is it worth it to get a bigger aftermarket shield for extra weather protection? By the way, thanks for the answers so far. | ||
| Froggy |
It will wheelie no problem in first and second, so if you do get ham fisted you might be in for a suprise The only way I found to be able to 3rd or 4th is to have a passenger, but then you just learn to not hammer it as hard merging onto the free way. | ||
| Etennuly |
Test drive one! My wife and daughters have no problem riding back there. You got to make sure they don't lean back on the seat rest and hang on to the luggage handles and fall asleep! Normal size passengers can get back far enough to slam into you if you have to stop too fast. If you need to ask about handling just read back anywhere in the BB&D! It is never compared to a Sporty that is for sure! | ||
| Ratbuell |
Well, I get to ride a stock X in to work in the morning with the low windshield. It's gonna be pouring-ass rain. I'll post on the protection factor once I dry out | ||
| Rwven |
I had the opportunity to ride Ratbuell's XT today. My wife had to work today, the forecast was for rain, so I had no set plans for the day. When I woke up this morning the clouds were breaking up and the forecast had changed to partly cloudy with little chance of rain. My wife and I drove into town (separately so she could go straight to work) and enjoyed a nice breakfast together at a local diner (crab and cheese omelets, ummmm). She headed off to the office and I stopped into Wally World to pickup some milk and a set of wiper blades for my wife's car. While browsing around the automotive department I spied a bottle of Chevron Techron fuel additive that a few of the guys in the Honda PC800 group I ride with swear by. I picked up a couple of bottles, paid for them and the rest of my purchases and drove home. I arrived home with nothing planned, and an entire gloriously sunny day awaiting me. So I said to myself, Self, let's dump some of this Techron into the old PC800, gas 'er up and go meet this Ratbuell fellow and kick the tires on that XT he's been posting about. So I got on the Buell website and looked up the address to H.D. & Buell of Frederickton and loaded the info into my Garmin StreetPilot 2720 (I also found that there at about 25 Buell dealers that are closer to me than H.D.& B of F.) called the Missus at work to let her know of my plans, loaded on the ATGATT and took to the road at about 10:15AM. Garmin said I'd arrive about 12:00 noon, and Garmin was right. I walked into the dealer and there was this smiling 6'4" fella standing over in the Buell area. By the way, at this dealership the Buells are in the FRONT of the store, and they actually have a selection ! There was an 1125R, 2 XB12X's, The XB12XT, various Lightings including a Super TT, and a FireBolt. We chatted awhile, I asked him if he was the real Ratbuell and he admitted that he was. I asked him about the demo day and mentioned that I should have waited a week to drop in. He said the XT had 100 miles on it and I was welcome to put a few miles on it if I so desired. Believe me, I desired. The XT is shorter than the X, but it is still a tall motorcycle. I have a 33" inseam and I was able to flat foot it, but it felt like the ground was a ways down especially compared to my PC800. The bars are, for me, at a very natural very comfortable position. I was surprised at how light the clutch and throttle efforts are. The clutch was as light as the hydraulic unit on my PC and the PC is known to have a very light clutch pull. The throttle turns much easier than the throttle on the PC, carbs vs. F.I. I imagine. The instruments are obscured by the chinbar on my helmet, much further down than the carlike dashboard of the PC more like the clocks on a dualsport. You know these bikes shake at idle don't you? Well, they do. It's kinda cool in a raw mechanical sort of way though. I pick the bike up and fold up the rather long kickstand, put her in first gear and head out to the parking lot out back of the dealership to get the feel of the thing before I head out on the public roads. The bike feels light and agile , more like a small single cylinder dualsport than a 1203cc stomper. Once around the lot and out the driveway I go. Below 3K rpms you can feel every firing of the cylinders. The bike feels like it surges forward, relaxes, then surges forward again. The traffic is a bit heavy in this heavily commercial area so I ride along like this for a bit Boom boom-Boom boom. Then the road opens up a bit and I roll the throttle open a bit. The XT surges forward and the thumping just disappears. All I feel is a low frequency pulsing in the grips and the seat. It is similar to the way my PC800 (which is also a V-twin with a power band between 3K and a 7.5K redline) feels, but stronger and lower for a given road speed, quite pleasant really. I now know a little bit about what it is about the way a Buell handles that is so appealing. It's effortless, due to the short wheelbase the lean angle needed is so much less than I am used to. I don't know the roads or the bike so I'm not willing to push very hard, but it is obvious that corner carving is this thing's forte'. Two things I was concerned with before I rode the bike was that a: I wouldn't be able to hold the front wheel down on acceleration and b: I wouldn't be able to hold the rear wheel down stopping. Well, I didn't find it that way at all. Yes, I was able loft the wheel easily from a standing start but it was fun and easily modulated, not knuckle whitening. The brakes were very strong but the feel was excellent. Two fingers are all you want to use. I'm sure that if you grabbed a fistfull of them you would be very sorry very soon. I loved the seating position. Lots of room to slide back and forth on the seat. Good open seat to peg relationship. The bars are right there where I wanted them. The seat cushion is wide and firm and feels like it would be comfortable for hours and hours. The ride quality is very good, controlled without being harsh. Ratbuell adjusted the bike for my weight according to the owners manual specs and it felt great to me. I rode for about 40 minutes and reluctantly returned to the dealers lot. Ratbuell gave me a tour of the (very cool!)Buell racing shop adjacent to the dealer and gave I the XT a parting look, wishing I were riding it home. The old PC felt rather cramped and underpowered when I saddled up for the return trip. When I got home my wife and I decided to get to the demo day next Saturday so that we can do a two up test ride. Here's hoping... (Message edited by rwven on April 05, 2008) | ||
| Nevrenuf |
R, nice little write up and thanks to people like ratbuell and all the other salesman who get it you might actually be an xt owner after next weekend. i am more giddy than any kid there ever was on xmas eve right now cause i am going back home next weekend to trade in the nightster for the xt. the demo ride you get to do in suches is what it takes to show anyone what those bikes can do in the real world. i'm not gonna wonder whether i should or shouldn't. i'm just gonna. | ||
| Rwven |
I want to add something about the tall shield. I am 6'2'. My helmet was in clean air. The fastest I had the XT was up to 75 (I was on country roads, with 40-50 mph limits) and I felt no undo wind pressure on my chest. I left out my hearing protection for the test ride because I wanted to hear the bike. I was surprised by how quiet the wind noise was around my helmet, on the PC there is always a certain amount of "booming" from the wind buffeting my helmet (I run the short factory shield but I had a tall that did the same thing) not so on the Uly. Nevrenuf, +1 on the thanks to Ratbuell. What a pleasure to deal with a vehicle salesman who really knew and appreciated what he was selling. All too rare today. | ||
| Towjam |
Rwven, Thanks for taking the time to write your test ride report. Like Nevrenuf, I'm about a week out from getting my XT and I've been scouring the web and the print rags looking for reviews and your impressions are very consistent with what else I've found so far. Here's hoping you too are on an XT in the not too distant future. And Ratbuell, kudos to you for not only offering a test ride, but also taking the time to set up the suspension. I have NEVER had a salesperson even offer to do this before - despite the fact that a properly setup suspension is crucial on an XB. |
