| Author | Message | ||
     Estresco |
Coming home from my current deployment and I have some maintenance to do on my 06 XB12X. Im taking the Lee Parks Total Control riders clinic in Olympia, Wa., anyone taken that course by chance, and I wanna make sure the XB is ready to roll for it. Need to replace battery, any good upgrade batteries you suggest? Got the comfort kit ordered also. Need to do maintenance on the front forks and I read on here people recommending to upgrade to the 07 springs. Why? And is there a link that has instructions and what tools needed to do it? | ||
| Froggy |
http://www.EBRacing.com/shop/product65.html Best battery available for it  The 2007 fork springs are progressive. They significantly reduce brake diving and improve the handling overall. $40 for the springs plus the labor to tear the forks apart. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Short of the Erik Buell Racing miniature atomic pile battery, I think the general consensus is the OEM HD battery is very good. | ||
| Ratbuell |
Still have the OEM battery in my '06. I did upgrade to the '07 fork springs. Like Froggy said, they're a progressive rate and eliminate brake dive, totally transforming the bike. I used to run mine one and a half weight ranges heavy on front preload to try and keep the headlights out of the dirt when I was braking; changing to the '07 setup lets me put it where it belongs, enhancing the handling noticably. If you have a shop manual (hopefully you do, before you take the front end of your bike apart!), follow the fork service instructions. Instead of putting your '06 springs back in, put in the new ones and - this is important - USE THE '07 FORK FLUID LEVEL. And - welcome home and thank you! | ||
| Mattmcc00 |
the Erik Buell Racing battery seems a little weak no? only 4.5ah versus 12ah on the HD battery, etc...  nice and light though, wow! | ||
| Etennuly |
Well you could run two of them and still save seven pounds. AGM batteries from O'Reilly's work very well. None of my new HD provided batteries were up to 12.6V from new. That is the threshold Buell puts in the SM for minimum battery output. HD won't warranty one, it seems, unless it has exploded or will not hold 12V. My AGM replacement has been at 12.9 whenever I have checked over the past year and a half. I may be an anomaly with the fork spring deal, but coming from years of dirt bike riding I like the softer spring rate. | ||
| 7873jake |
I have an 07 on the title and paperwork (mfg in 09/06 according to the headset sticker). How would I know if I have the upgraded springs? Being 6'3" and 225#s, I'd prefer to have the progressive spring rate over the softer. | ||
| Hughlysses |
7873jake- Your bike is an 07, so it has them. See here for a list of changes by model year: http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/142 838/442728.html?1249156262 | ||
| 7873jake |
Thanks! I've often wondered sometimes if bikes in the grey/gray area between model years, and I know Buell didn't do M.Y. in 1/2yr increments, were fully included in the next M.Y. upgrades. I've seen auto makers do that before (i.e. sell an '07 made in late '06 without the 'perks' of the next model year). It seems like the more I ask or dig to find out things like this, the more I find that those guys were in fact consistent and I did get the benefit of many '07 upgrades/changes. One day I'll learn to trust...<sniff>  Thanks for the confirmation tho! | ||
| Fung |
Have fun with the Lee Parks class. I really got a lot out of it. did it on the uly with the bags on, no prob. | ||
| Froggy |
They did some minor mid year tweaks here and there, minor things like the updated clutch cable retainer part way into the 08 models, updated bearings partway into 09 and such. On the 08+ bikes there was several versions of the ECM programming depending on when it was shipped, but thats upgradeable anyway. | ||
| Ratbuell |
Vern - next time we get together, I'll have you take a spin on my '06 with the new springs. I didn't "miss" anything handling-wise with the OEM springs...but WHOA NELLY when I made the change, it was a totally new animal. WOW. | ||
| Pso |
Ratbuell, I have an 06 and also 06 shop manual. Plan on upgrading the springs, what is the new level for fork oil w/07 springs? also any recommendations for fork oil? also tight coil at top or bottom of fork? thanks | ||
| Arcticktm |
Check out the "New Ulysses Owner Information" link near the top of the Big, bad and Dirty forum page. It has the links to all the common improvements and fail-safes, including the specifics on the '07 fork spring change. I did it easily myself and like the results, but I have done fork maintenance before on dirt bikes. IIRC, the '07's have 3 progressive spring rates in them, and the initial (softest) rate is the same as the '06 single-rate springs are. | ||
| Etennuly |
Joe, I helped Orangulius do his and have ridden others with the upgrade, as well as the triple tree change. Just not enough difference in a direction I want to go with it. | ||
| Ratbuell |
Fair enough. I feel the same way about the tree change, actually...springs were cheap, easy, and tons of bang for the buck. Trees...well, I've never noticed the "missing" radius, so in my mind, on my bike...why bother? | ||
| Deltablue |
As for Total Control try and track down Babired, she is a TC instructor. | ||
| Rwven |
The HD battery is made by East Penn. Any East Penn AGM battery (google "Big Crank" for example) is the same as the HD battery except it doesn't have a bar and sheild stamped in the case and it will cost you significantly less because of that. Chances are the "aftermarket" battery will be fresher also. +1 on the Lee Parks class, it'll transform your riding. (Message edited by rwven on May 04, 2010) |
