| Author |
Message |
    
Teeps
| | Posted on Thursday, December 03, 2015 - 03:17 pm: | 
|
Crempel Posted on Thursday, December 03, 2015 -
I've thought about an FJ-09 to be honest. I like the price and relative simplicity, light weight, power, looks (mostly). It's kind of like a slightly (OK, a lot) more modern Uly. But the seat would have to go, the screen has to be better, I hear it's a little buzzy, gotta lube and adjust that chain. I guess I've got the right bike for me.
I've spoken to a few Fz/j-09 owners, at the local meeting place.
All have said the suspension leaves a lot to be desired.
And, are fearful that the addition of premium suspension will reveal short comings with the frame & swing arm.
From what I can see it's pretty good bang for the buck. Long as you don't expect too much and accept the bike as built.
That said; they do look good... |
Crempel
| | Posted on Thursday, December 03, 2015 - 04:46 pm: |
|
That's exactly the thing. Good suspension is expensive. Easy to spend $1500 getting it up to snuff. And you're right about what that might reveal. Certainly it would be an improvement, but an expensive experiment nonetheless. I put a $900 Penske racing shock on my TDM850 years ago and it made a massive improvement, but $900!!!! Got the forks done for another couple hundy. Traded that for a VStrom 1000 which had rubberband and salad oil suspenders, scary actually. Just made the bike unenjoyable to ride. Got the Uly and have never looked back. In hindsight, the biggest complaint I have had about every other bike I have owned is suspension. And the seats. That said, the day will come..... |
Steveford
| | Posted on Thursday, December 03, 2015 - 05:34 pm: |
|
Crempel,
You really should replace the rear bearings just to be on the safe side.
I guess we have to consider them to be a normal consumable on these bikes. |
Teeps
| | Posted on Thursday, December 03, 2015 - 06:44 pm: |
|
Crempel Posted on Thursday, December 03, 2015 -
That's exactly the thing. Good suspension is expensive. Easy to spend $1500 <snip>
One guy I talked to was thinking rear damper assy and fork replacement; cost up to $5000.
Too rich for me! |
Xbimmer
| | Posted on Thursday, December 03, 2015 - 10:13 pm: |
|
Mine is now just as I want it to be, perfect ergos, decent wind protection with the 1125R fairing...
Al, where can I see all about that? |
Steveford
| | Posted on Friday, December 04, 2015 - 04:10 am: |
|
Yeah, Al, we like pictures! |
Crempel
| | Posted on Friday, December 04, 2015 - 08:50 am: |
|
There is virtually no top to the price range of suspension. No matter what you spend you can find something that will cost more. (see Ohlins) Street riding, thank goodness, doesn't require that kind of expenditure. If you are riding fast enough on the street to find fault with "good" quality suspension, you're riding too fast. IMHO $5k worth of suspension is only necessary for the track. I considered the suspension on the VStrom to be dangerous. Had a couple of close calls at what on my TDM or Uly would be nothing more than a comfortable sporting pace. Makes you lose all trust in the bike and not want to ride it. Loved the motor though. Smooth and perfectly adequate power. I wonder what a set of shocks for something like the new GS LC with all the electronics would cost to replace? Probably the cost of a good used Uly.
I will likely replace the rear bearings at some time over the winter since I have a trip to New Hampshire planned in late April. I'm sure that even mentioning them on the board has jinxed me so they will fail this weekend.
I too would like to see some pictures of Al's bike. Having trouble imagining how a 1125 fairing would look on the Uly. |
Xbimmer
| | Posted on Friday, December 04, 2015 - 09:25 am: |
|
I test rode the new waterboxer GSA recently. 2up with my wife it had a lot of positives, loved that engine, more power than I need (I think), push button suspension trimming was cool. Negatives: waaay complex, push button suspension trimming scared the crap out of me when I thought about inevitable repair $$, handled weird. I wouldn't want to spend that much to try to learn to love it.
Got back on the Uly and it felt just right . Even with a weekend's worth of gear for two in all three cases and 100K it handled better than that GSA. I'm still considering another bike for superslab touring but it's going to be old enough that I can work on it. Probably R1100RT or even a GL1500, but the Uly stays. |
Uly_man
| | Posted on Friday, December 04, 2015 - 11:53 am: |
|
The problem Buell had was that they were a very young company compared to the others in the market at the time. Developing a new bike takes many years and huge amounts of money. Yes the original Uly was not perfect but its improvements to the 10 bike are outstanding for the time period. That is not to say that the 10 bike does not have problems but those are only due, for the most part, to a few inferior outsourced parts.
I think the mistake some people make is to treat a Buell like any other bike. Its design and build is very unique and needs to be understood to get the best from it.
I do, and have had, older bikes and you can always repair them. On the other had if you expect to be able to walk into a dealer for some obscure part in 20 years time then there is a good chance you will pay big bucks for it. This applies to any bike and always has.
There are bikes that are considered to be "classics" and people are prepared to spend the money on them. The Uly is not yet such a bike but it IS a very well built and designed bike that still "out does" most any road bike ever made for the price.
I would be inclined to say that if you are able to appreciate the Uly, over other bikes, then you would know what you like and how to proceed. |
Al_lighton
| | Posted on Friday, December 04, 2015 - 06:09 pm: |
|
Drat, I thought I'd hyperlinked to it in my first post, but it was a loop back to this thread that I hyperlinked....DOH!!!
See here http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/171 43/634109.html?1384466392 for more info and pictures. I've been exceptionally pleased with the conversion.
 |
Phelan
| | Posted on Friday, December 04, 2015 - 07:53 pm: |
|
Al, that is one of the best looking Ulys I've ever seen. Beautiful bike and excellent job. |
Phelan
| | Posted on Friday, December 04, 2015 - 07:55 pm: |
|
My Uly is going in the opposite direction
 |
Xbimmer
| | Posted on Saturday, December 05, 2015 - 10:53 am: |
|
Al that looks great! 
I'm puzzling out my own frame mount solution also, wanted to keep it Buell but decided to go K-bike BMW. Love that RS fairing.
Yours looks a lot lighter than mine will be (15-18 lbs) and I'm concerned the extra weight up and forward will adversely affect the handling. Taking all that stuff off the bars would help I'd think, but did your conversion change anything in the handling department? |
Tootal
| | Posted on Saturday, December 05, 2015 - 11:37 am: |
|
Good job Al! That really looks nice.  |
Al_lighton
| | Posted on Saturday, December 05, 2015 - 11:39 am: |
|
Hard to say what, if any, effect the fairing has on the handling. I didn't really notice any adverse effects when I did the conversion, but my bike does feel quite a bit different than a stock Uly.
But I think that 90% of that is that I have 1125CR handlebars on it. They are quite a bit lower, and further forward, than the stock Uly bars. When I trade bikes with Reindog, who has a pretty much bone stock Uly, it's a totally different feeling. Some of it is visual, because of how much stuff is in front of me. But there is no doubt that the narrower bars change the feel substantially. The lower bar leverage is especially noticeable at slow speeds. But I had renthal bars on it prior to and for a while after the fairing conversion, which were also narrower.
One positive aspect of the conversion is that I have much lower wind effects on the handling. Stock Ulys have always had a little bit of a wandering feeling to them at speed on the highway, especially in turbulence. I've always attributed that to the wind inducing small amounts of unintended bar movement. That is all gone on mine. So in effect, I've traded better low speed handling for better high speed handling. |
Xbimmer
| | Posted on Saturday, December 05, 2015 - 11:51 am: |
|
Excellent, that's what I wanted to hear. I won't know until I get it mocked up but I'm wanting to keep the stock bars for the leverage (we ride a lot 2-up and loaded down). If there's a clearance issue I have S and SX bars in the garage, I think I'd like the height but they are narrower.
Thanks Al, and by the way I wish I could "hack" aluminum like that! |
Uly_man
| | Posted on Sunday, December 06, 2015 - 09:46 am: |
|
"But there is no doubt that the narrower bars change the feel substantially". On both my 06 and 10 bikes I cut 25mm off each side of the std bars. I found this made for a more "natural" width (less stretch) to the bars but more importantly a much better feel/ balance to the steering. But that is just me since I set-up a bike for my own preference. I have always been amazed at how many people do not bother to adjust even the front brake lever span let alone the suspension and then bemoan the bike as having problems. No one bike is made to fit everyone or there preferences and if you do not make these adjustments then you will miss out on the best the bike has to offer.
One advantage of this bike is that since it is a naked bike it is easy to change things like the front cowl to another style. Something that is much more difficult and expensive with a full fairing bike.
Oh and one thing to mention about future part/ cost availability is that most of the time it is the plastics that cost the BIG money. This is not something that is a problem with the Uly since it have very few of them IE No side fairings which ALWAYS get damaged even in a "side stand" drop.
(Message edited by uly_man on December 06, 2015) |
Lornce
| | Posted on Wednesday, December 30, 2015 - 12:44 am: |
|
Al, your bike looks very nice.
After four and a half years on this bike I still marvel at how well the chassis works every time I ride it.
Love the Uly and can't think of a bike to replace it. Actually looked at a Moto-Guzzi Stelvio just recently. Appreciate it's solid mechanicals, but that's a big, heavy motorcycle. Wouldn't be near the supple fun that the Uly is on bent roads.
For a long term commitment I'm going to need to learn the bike's systems a little better. Had an engine light on for a little while: O2 sensor? And the odometer functions are getting a little wonky; fuel light and fuel odo kicking in at odd times with plenty of fuel etc. And it seems to vibrate more than it used to. I remember turbine smoothness above 2.5k rpm, now there's a bit of shake all through the rev range: Motor mounts? Intake seals?
At 50k kms it's due for a good going over from stem to stern. Such a rewarding bike to ride, it'll be well worth the effort.
 |
|
