| Author | Message | ||
     Glockowner |
Went out for a 250 mile ride on my Uly yesterday. After about 50 miles I noticed that upon moderate to strong braking I would hear a loud click in the front end, when the braking pressure decreased it would click again. The bike has just under 15k on it. I have ridden the bike a total of 800 miles or so, only about 400 miles since I installed new Lyndall gold pads. From browsing around BadWeb I am thinking the steering head bearings need re-torqued or replaced, but I cant seem to locate instructions for this. I need to get it straightened out before I take it up to the Indy MotoGP at the end of this month, I plan on riding the track the Friday before the race so I need to have it all ironed out in order to represent Buell well. Thanks in advance for the help! | ||
| Badrap |
Loose steering headset bearings. Tighten to speck and if continues have replaced. | ||
| Rwven |
May also be the brake rotor moving in it's mountings. Mine did that until I got the Erik Buell Racing rotor mounting kit. | ||
| Glockowner |
Anyone got a link to the instructions for tightening the steering headset bearings? I couldn't find anything in the online manual. I will try that first, if it doesn't solve it then I will check into getting the Erik Buell Racing solid mounting kit. | ||
| Badrap |
I highly recommend the factory service manual for all your service needs. | ||
| Dr_greg |
I highly recommend the factory service manual for all your service needs. Ditto. The best FSM I have ever used. --Doc | ||
| Ulynut |
Before you dig into that, take off the fly screen and check the horn bracket. Some of them broke and can make noise like you described. Once I had a noise like that and it was driving me nuts trying to figure out what it was. Turned out to be a 1/4" ratchet I had in my tankbag. When I hit the brakes, it would tap on my spare visor that I keep in there. Almost ordered head bearings too. Cheap fix for that one. | ||
| Glockowner |
Good suggestion on the horn bracket, it almost sounds like a plastic clunk instead of a metal one, so hopefully that is it. I plan on picking up a FSM, but won't have a chance to before this weekend. I really need the instructions to re-torque the head bearings before this weekend, so I can get the bike ready for the GP which I am taking off for later next week. Anyone got a manual handy with the instructions for this chore? | ||
| Od_cleaver |
Glockowner, The horn bracket does not need to be broken for the horn to hit the fly screen. Look for tell tale witness marks on the back of the fly screen. If the noise happens often enough, take a ride without the fly screen and see if the noise is still there. Buell did not concentrate on clearance in their design; assembly tolerances or parts tolerances. IMO, the FSM is as good as it is because Buell used the Harley manual as a template. Where the manual fails, such as, identifying critical fasteners or the engine oil drain plug torque, these were Buell failures. If you still need the bearing torque procedure, send me a PM. I will copy it from my '07 manual and send it to you tonight. | ||
| Glockowner |
Took the flyscreen off this morning, but sadly it was not the horn making the noise. At least it gave me a chance to put a fresh coat of black paint on the screen. It is odd, because the steering seems fine, just that click noise when I push hard forward with the front brake on, and another click when I let off. Guess this means it is time to tighten the head bearings. PM sent. | ||
| Bosh |
Exact symptoms my bike had. Headset bearings needed to be replaced. They still looked like brand new. Hopefully an adjustment is all you need. Not a hard job to replace them though if you have to do it. | ||
| Ironhead1977 |
Check front engine isolator,Mine had the same symptoms except with extra buzz vibration in the bars. | ||
| Glockowner |
Thanks for the replies guys.  Bosh- I hope I don't have to replace the bearings, but thanks for the heads up. Ironhead- What do I look for to let me know the front isolator is good or bad. My bike does vibrate heavily around 1800 RPM. Mostly happens when I pull the clutch in approaching a stop sign/light and the RPMs are dropping. I get a pretty solid shaking just below 2kRPM, then it smooths back out (relatively of coarse) at Idle. | ||
| Od_cleaver |
Glockowner, Check this link out for pics and discussion on the front isolator >> http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/142 838/369491.html I also sent you two PMs. The first was a Word Doc of some of the front isolator discussions from this board. Then second was the steering head bearing procedure. (Message edited by od_cleaver on August 18, 2010) | ||
| Dennis_c |
Sounds just like mine. Could not feel any play back and fourth needed 2 new bearings $52. later I had them. OK now. | ||
| Glockowner |
Thank you for all the info Cleaver, sometimes it gets frustrating searching through the hundreds of posts that come up when searching the board. I plan to inspect the front isolator tomorrow morning, hopefully my problem is one or the other not a combination. | ||
| Glockowner |
The front isolator did have a small tear in it, but nothing catastrophic. Guess that means I will be hanging the bike from the rafters and tightening head steering head bearings. Anyone have a suggestion for a good tie off point to hang it from? Thanks again for all the input everyone. | ||
| Etennuly |
To properly adjust your steering head bearings you need to be able to turn the bars full sweep. So, what ever you use to hang it from it cannot get in the way. | ||
| Glockowner |
I got the front end lifted up this morning, I grabbed the forks and was able to recreate the clicking without using the brake at all so it must be the head bearings. I did not however have any allen head sockets, so I couldn't break the triple tree fasteners loose, and I wouldn't have been able to torque them correctly. I talked to a guy at a shop nearby he said he would do it for 30 bucks, worth the money to me so I know it is taken care of before my trip this weekend. On a side note I didn't have a scissor jack, or a block cut specially to fit the XB exhaust but I did get it off the ground. I leaned the bike over on the kick stand and slid a milk crate underneath, worked perfectly. (Message edited by Glockowner on August 23, 2010) | ||
| Glockowner |
Crappy cell phone pic, but it shows the milk crate at work.  | ||
| Ulynut |
Why didn't I think of using a milk crate? Nice job. | ||
| Glockowner |
Isn't a milk crate the original motorcycle lift? | ||
| Yamafreak |
You are the Man! | ||
| Prior |
Ah... How funny. Went for a two-up ride yesterday with Heather and was noticing a clunk in the front end as well. Was going over the bike for a week on the road next week and, TaDa! Broken isolator. Dealer says they're available, which is good, so I'll drop in tomorrow for them to take a look. Suppose I'll ride it like it is until I go out of town for work in Sept and have them fix it then. Mine a leftover '09 with about 7k on it, and has a few other things they'll need to address too. | ||
| Glockowner |
Just got the bike back from the local shop this morning. He re torqued the steering head bearings, he said it did not solve the problem and I still need new bearings. I took it around the block when I got it home and couldn't get it to recreate the clicking noise. It certainly is better than it was, but I will take his advice and order new bearings. I am still riding it up to Indy for the MotoGP, I will just have to concentrate on keeping the front end on the ground. I looked on the American sport bike website under Ulysses and couldn't find steering head bearings. I googled their website and came up with these http://www.americansportbike.com/shoponline/ccp0-p rodshow/17171.html Are these the correct head bearings for my 06 Uly? | ||
| Ironhead1977 |
American Sport Bike are the only ones I deal with if possible.Just got a front isolator from AL. Fast shipping and generally good to deal with. | ||
| Closetbueller |
I have just discovered the same issue on our 2009 xb12xt. will this be covered under warranty or its it a wear item that will not be covered? | ||
| Glockowner |
Just as an update, I rode the bike up to the Indy MotoGP. Didn't have any clicking issues at all. Riding on the track was a blast, I know a few other BadWebbers got to enjoy the track because they parked not long after I did. Now the second day we were up there the low fuel light started coming on for not reason. Now I need to get my hands on a service manual and check the low fuel sensor and the wires on the pump inside the tank. The bike is new to me, so hopefully I get these issues straightened out soon and have lots of worry free riding. |
