| Author | Message | ||
     Woodreaux |
I have been a lurker for some time on the Uly and the Tubers forums. I have a 99 S3T. Prior to the 99 S3T I have owned a 97 S3 and ridden my best friend’s 97 S1 with countless miles grinning ear to ear. I also own an 08 Electra Glide. On Tuesday 4-26 I bought a 08 Ulysses from Gruene HD with ~900 miles on it. The week prior I had tried to purchase a 06 that Mark W had posted but that deal didn't work out for me and I bought the 08 instead. FWIW – I started looking at Uly’s as motorcycle to take with me on trips that I would trailer. This thought has changed. I have never trailered anything-don’t know how and probably won’t now. I put about 150miles on the Uly the first day I had it and thought I ran out of gas about 5 blocks from the house. I don't know if the low fuel light came on or not as I had certainly had a good time riding. Now that I have retraced what happened it may have been another pesky issue. Being a bit bothered that the Uly wouldn't idle and coughed sometimes when I took off was quickly forgotten when the engine finally smoothed out. The top end on this bike may not be the most stellar as other posters have noted but you have to admit it is very effective acceleration. So last Thursday I loaded the Uly up and headed for West Texas to check out ride quality and reliability. I had read the post questioning reliability so I decided that West Texas (meant Big Bend NP) would be a great place to check out desolate curvy roads. I have been going out there for several years on my Road King or Electra Glides but never on a Buell. Leaving Houston anytime is difficult and this time proved no different except that with the Buell’s sure footed tires and brakes in a flash rain. Easing around a wet I-10 West with the Pirelli’s was effortless. Non locking rear brakes and great front brakes inspires confidence when riding conditions are less than favorable. Surviving the escape from Houston I sped west and stopped at Buc-ees in Luling, TX for a late lunch and conversed with a guy who had ridden from Anchorage to Prudhoe bay. One of my goals in life. After lunch headed towards San Antonio and stopped in Javelina HD near Boerne, TX to visit my best friend EC. We got caught up and then I headed south towards Leakey, TX. Leakey has some very good roads for motorcycle riding. I have been going out there for a long time and the place is now getting swamped with motorcycles. When I started riding out there I could go for a day sometimes 2 days without seeing another motorcycle. Having dinner and beers with a friend I have known for several years closed a good half day of riding. On Friday morning my friend and I loaded the Uly for some 2 up riding from Leakey to Alpine, TX. After a flash rain had passed we headed towards Camp Wood, TX through a series of twisties that the Buell carved like butter. I stopped in Camp Wood and asked my friend how was the Uly and she replied very good. My friend is a seasoned rider and has been a passenger with me for many miles. With her report we headed towards Brackettville and Del Rio, TX. In Del Rio we had lunch and a topped of the gas. The concern that I had was fuel capacity and mileage as the distance from Del Rio to Sanderson, TX is about 130 miles. So I slowed down a lot and cruised at the speed limit but all bets were off at Langtry when I spotted a functioning gas station/store. We topped off and back to 80-90mph for a short distance as the sign read Loose Gravel-Fresh Oil next 32 miles. Be Prepared To Stop-Escort Vehicle. From Dryden to Sanderson, TX Hwy 90 was being re-paved. In Sanderson we stopped for fuel (an activity that I choose at every opportunity) and snacks. From Sanderson we continued West to Marathon where DPS issued a speeding ticket 90 in a 70. At this point in the ride the Uly was just rolling along. Keeping the tach at 4K and watching the scenery; I guess the speed kept creeping up there. I knew I was more that 70 but it didn’t seem that fast. The officer was good natured about the situation. We arrived in Alpine, TX about 7PM and checked in the Holland hotel. There were several HD’s parked outside and I benched raced and drank ice cold beer with those guys for quite a while. They were headed for Leakey on Saturday morning so my friend contacted some of her folks who rent really nice cabins in Leakey. We dinned and after a few beers called it a good day. Saturday started with breakfast and talking to Ted Gray a local cowboy and author in his 80’s. As we talked about horses, boots, motorcycles and West Texas it was clear that if I didn’t get out of there all my riding time was going to be consumed as talking time. We headed south to the Big Bend NP which is a very desolate area of Texas and I love it there. Not many cars!!! The desert is an unusual landscape that intrigues and the roads intoxicating. After cruising through the Big Bend it was time to head north to Fort Stockton to catch I-10 and head east towards Leakey via Junction, TX. We crusied at 85MPH as the speed limit is 80mph and arrived in Leakey at 7:30pm. Steak and beers concluded our evening. On Sunday morning I cruised through some twisties heading back to Comfort, TX to catch I-10 west to Houston. The ride back to Houston was typical with bumper to bumper cars. I hate it. My observations This weekend trip was ~1900 miles round trip. The coughing, stuttering and idle issues were minor annoyances when compared to the overall ride quality and performance in power and handling in the twisties. The Uly loves the twisties and is very good in the straights but make no mistake about it the Uly is a canyon carver. Adjusting pre-load on the fly was required a few times on certain roads-kind of cool to reach to the left and turn. The luggage volume is excellent and removable saddlebags are easily removed to carry into the hotel at night. The tour pack while not as big as the one on my EG is handy for the items you need at stops during the day; water, maps etc. The right side is hot and there is no sense not to address it and was border line painful at times in the desert. I have seen links to suggestions on this forum on how to deal with the heat but I have not studied those ideas yet. I will. Soon. This motorcycle rivals the functionality of my Electra Glide and challenges me as to whether I keep the EG which I will-everyone should own a Harley. If you are on the fence as I was and as others will attest; the Uly is a fine motorcycle and the only disappointment is that you wished you had bought it sooner or that Buell had made it sooner. To all of the people who’s post I read about the Uly on this forum – Thank you. Your sharing of your experiences gave me insights to the coughing, adjusting pre-loads on the fly, which model year to buy and the courage to buy the motorcycle. Passenger Comments I recently had a chance to ride as a passenger on a 2008 Buell Ulysses. I have been many miles as a guest upon some pretty impressive motorcycles. I found the ride to be very smooth and gear transitions were made with no jerking motion what so ever. The seat and backrest were very comfortable for being on more of a sport bike but gave the feeling of just being able to relax and enjoy the beautiful scenery. The bike was designed with passenger in mind and comfort is a great feeling when riding long distances. The saddlebags and tour pack held our things with room to spare. Once you learn the routine of using the key each time on the tour pack your home free. I rode with a friend for two days through The Texas Hill Country and on into Big Bend National Park. The bike carved the curves with ease and would just take all you could give it each day. We rode approximately 700 mile each day and I was not too fatigued to enjoy dinner each night. For this bike being bare bones stock it was an asphalt animal and I was glad I jumped on the back for the thrill ride. It's always cool when your on the road and everyone wants to come over and check out the bike your on, yes it's that kind of ride! Buell has always been a unique ride. Thanks to the whole design team at Buell. I'm one lucky passenger. | ||
| Itileman |
+1 On your comments. I took my 09 XT for a test ride in November, came back in and traded my 03 Road King for it. It's a great sport touring bike, and I've had absolutely zero problems with it. Heat in Montana isn't generally an issue, but I put a heat shield off the Road King's stock pipes over the rear exhaust pipe along with the stock heat shields that go under the seat. Only problem is with me - I'm selling it to go to a more dirt/off road orientated bike. I originally thought I'd be 90/10 street to dirt, but now I'm looking at 50/50. Only wish I could afford 2 bikes & keep the Uly too. | ||
| Etennuly |
 Good write up! So do you now have a case of permagrin, or what? | ||
| Court |
Great read . . . I'm envious. | ||
| Thetable |
I think that one sentence pretty well sums up the whole bike. When you take the bike to play, all the issues become little niggles, and that is all. | ||
| Atoms |
what he said! Welcome aboard and thanks for the great post! | ||
| Nvr2old |
Electraglide and a Ulysses, nice combo. They complement one another well. Anyway, I'm finding that to be true. | ||
| Bartimus |
"The coughing, stuttering and idle issues were minor annoyances when compared to the overall ride quality and performance in power and handling in the twisties." I disagree. None of my other Buells show these symptoms, and they are all a dream to ride. I find the surging, and stuttering to be a safety issue when I'm in the middle of a curve, hanging a knee, and the bike decides to surge and then sputter. It's a bit un-nerving, and pretty much ruins the rest of the ride. My '08 Uly is the ONLY Buell I've ridden that does this, except for my S1W when I first moved to New Mexico, and it was resolved with the proper jetting. The '08 Uly is truly a wonderful machine, but I feel it is overshadowed by the issues of the fuel mapping system. Some may consider it a minor annoyance, the factory apparently considers it normal, as I've had my bike in the shop numerous times for this problem and they tell me, "that's the way they run". It's a shame when you spend over ten grand for a vehicle that runs this way. I can see this bike isn't going to stay in my garage as long as my other Buells... | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Bartimus, Must be the 08' because my 06' does not do that. The only time it has ever coughed was just after starting it up and that has really been only once in a blue moon. | ||
| Crusty |
My '08 doesn't behave like that either. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
Sounds like the ECU needs to be updated. Ask your dealer to perform a mind-meld with H-Dnet. My 2008 ran like that when it was new. Updating it made it possible to thump away from a light @1500 RPM. It also added a good amount of miles per gallon. | ||
| Tipsymcstagger |
I returned to NYC this past Sunday after 4100 miles over eleven days. Not a single problem. No reliability issues and MANY enjoyable miles through some phenomenal twisties in northern Alabama, Georgia and NW North Carolina. I've had my car for seven years and it has 26000 miles on the clock. I've had the Uly for just over a year and it has 16000 miles on the clock. I love my Uly. Welcome to the club. Tipsy | ||
| Werewulf |
as ive said before, my 08 scg was crap and customer service refused to get involved... my 08 uly is a nice bike. now if someone with an SS will swap suspensions with me, so i can lower it.. | ||
| Idaho_buelly |
I have an 09 X,had the exhaust done,no coughing or any problems @ all...  Love this bike! |
