| Author | Message | ||
     Hughlysses |
Just wondering if anybody's done a conversion on theirs yet- I'm considering it after my first long two-up weekend with my Uly. So far, 95% of my riding has been on pavement and I'm thinking dropping the bike 1" would make me much more comfortable with it riding two-up. I'm mainly wondering what the minimum required parts are for the conversion. I'm thinking for the rear- an XB12XT rear shock and spring, and reuse my existing preload adjuster. For the front, I can install Precision Engineering bar risers and drop the triple clamps an inch, but I'm a little concerned the stock Uly suspension will allow too much sag during hard cornering with the reduced clearance. Could I get by with substituting the XB12XT front fork springs, or would I need to get the full fork legs? I'm guessing the XB12XT forks are re-valved and re-sprung compared to the X. Lastly, I guess I'd need a new kickstand, probably the new 09 variety. Anybody ever done the conversion or at least priced the parts? Thanks in advance. | ||
| Thrux181 |
I hope someone in the know or has an opinion on this. I have wondered about that myself. PS Was that you camped next to Brad, Bruce and Micah at Suches? Bill | ||
| Etennuly |
Hey Bill, the wife and I enjoyed meeting you in the campground at TWO. Hugh, Gotj lowered his '06 Uly when he got it. He will have some ideas for you. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Bill- No, I stayed at C3 Central with the NC gang. Vern- I searched for some of Gotj's posts. Sounds like he wound up with a shortened rear shock, dropped triple clamps, and a shortened kickstand. I saw a lowered Uly at March Badness IV and talked to the owner for a while, but I don't think he's a BadWebber. IIRC he sent shock and forks to Traxxion Dynamics and had them altered to suit; he shortened the kickstand. It was a nice looking conversion; seems like he even had a webpage on it. He wanted the bike strictly as a sport-tourer and was willing to give up the height for optimum handling. I got a price on the parts from MiketheBike at Ray Price; looks like the fork legs, rear shock (complete) and kickstand for an XB12XT will run around $1200. Based on the reviews I've read on the XB12XT (improved ride and handling over the XB12X), that's the way I'm leaning. | ||
| Gotj |
Hughlysses, Another possible option that I can imagine is to just replace the fork's internals with the XT's. I don't know how much that would save but it wouldn't be a hard job. When I have some spare time, that's what I'm going to look at. | ||
| Hughlysses |
George- Mike looked into replacing fork parts but he thought it would be more trouble than it was worth- the cost would be almost as much and there'd be a lot of disassembly/reassembly involved. | ||
| Yo_barry |
Forks on the XT are 43mm, on the Uly, 47mm. Don't think swapping the internals would be an option. | ||
| Froggy |
His X is a 07, it has 43mm. | ||
| Werewulf |
i just run my tires with ten pounds of air... it will lower the bike a lot... | ||
| Longdog_cymru |
Hughlysses, The guy with the lowered Uly was almost certainly Warbaby who used to post on here. He does indeed have a webpage and here is the URL for it.... http://www.zenfire.ws/buell.htm | ||
| Hughlysses |
Mike- that's the guy! Wow, I didn't realize he'd dropped it 2 inches. That is one low Uly. | ||
| Longdog_cymru |
Yeah! It's pretty impressive, isn't it? I was wondering if you couldn't just slip on a set of 43mm tube XB forks from a Firebolt or Lightning into Uly triple clamps and a Lightning Long rear shock to get the same effect? | ||
| Hughlysses |
Mike- the easy "poor man's" way to do lower a Uly is the shorter shock in rear (someone's got a new TT shock for sale in the classifieds right now), and in the front install bar risers which will give you enough room to drop the triple clamps an inch. | ||
| Longdog_cymru |
Thanks Hughlysses, Is the TT shock the same as the Lightning Long? | ||
| Hughlysses |
Mike, I don't think it's exactly the same, but it's close. The valving was supposed to be slightly different on the TT's; the TT was dropped for 09 but the XB12Ss now has the TT suspension components. | ||
| Longdog_cymru |
Thanks Hugh, I gather the length of the TT shock is the same as the Lightning Long then? | ||
| Sodamichael |
Hugh, I've been thinking of doing the same thing to mine but wasn't sure what all would be involved. Is it just the fork legs, or the internals too? By the way, i live just down from you in Kings Grant - been keeping up with the posts but haven't had anything to add. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Hey Michael- wow, another Buell rider in Summerville. Be sure and check in over in the SC Buell Riders forum: http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/37/ 130123.html? The price included the complete fork tube assemblies at ~$325 or so each. Evidently the XT forks have different springs and valving, and I'd imagine the lower fork tubes are shorter as well. |
