| Author | Message | ||
     Maximum |
 I’ll give everyone a little history on my Uly modifications, but don’t worry, although this will be very lengthy there will be a lot of pictures. This is where is all began in Dothan Alabama around ten weeks and 4,500 miles ago.  Prior to my 1600 mile trip from Alabama to home in Colorado (see http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/142838/258527.html), I installed a couple gadget and comfort items like the Garmin Zumo 550, Polly Grip Heaters along with a Heat-Troller for variable control, and a second Heat-Troller for my Warm-N-Safe jacket liner.  I mounted all of these accessories to the Uly crossbar (which has worked out really good for me), keeping everything in clear view and easy reach while riding. The Heat-Trollers were mounted in a small project box from Radio Shack, attached to the cross bar with a $.99 ½” pipe clamp from Lowe’s. I wanted a little smaller box, but that was all I could come up with on short notice.  The actual Heat-Troller module for the Polly Grips is mounted under the fly screen with power coming from a tap of the accessory power port so that it gets switched power without the need for an additional relay. The Heat-Troller for the Warm-N-Safe heated jacket liner is located under the seat so that it can directly tap into the battery power and the plug cable just slips out from under the seat when I need to use the jacket liner.  Not long after getting back to Colorado, it was time to begin the work of doing some mods on the Uly. Although my daughter looks eager to help, she was really just hoping that I was hurry up and get the project done so that we can go out back to play some basketball! Anyway, first thing on the list is to install the PIAA 510 Series Super White Driving Light System.  I elected to use the Auto Switch AS-5P2 to turn my aux lights on and off. The AutoSwitch uses a double pulse of voltage to turn the lights on and off. This allows me to use the High Beam flash switch to trigger the aux lights so that I didn’t need to find another place to install another switch on the handle bars. After all, there really wasn’t much room left on crossbar! The AutoSwitch comes with complete instructions and wiring diagrams to help with the installation. Of course the PIAA lights come with their own instructions and on/off switch. So it took a little time to marry the two sets of instructions together for everything to work properly.  The AutoSwitch also comes with a small LED that lets you know when the aux lights are on. I elected to open up the left grip switch assembly to install the aux lighting LED right next to the Hi-beam/Low-beam switch (I was going for that factory look). Just a warning about this, be very careful about what you take apart inside this assembly, or you will end up having little springs and pieces of plastic and metal fall out onto the floor. Don’t ask me how I know this! While I was in there, I went ahead and installed a jumper from the hot wire to the low beam switch contact so that the low beam would stay on all the time. This was pretty tedious operation, so I would not recommend this action for someone with limited soldier experience (like me).  I ended up running a pair of 14 gauge wires from the battery, with a fuse inline on the battery side, along the inside of the frame up to the fly screen area. I installed the PIAA provided relay and the AutoSwitch in the fly screen area, and cut and soldiered all the wires to an appropriate length so that it would not get too cluttered up there. In the picture below, you will see the Autoswitch and Heat-Troller stacked together just to the left of the horn, and the PIAA relay is mounted on the back side of the horn mounting bolt (just above the Autoswitch). I ran the aux lighting ground directly back to the battery, but the Heat-Troller and the Autoswitch are grounded to the structure up front.  I decided to use the Ulytility light bracket (http://ulytility.com/index.html) to mount the PIAA lights and it worked great. I paid the little extra and got the black powder coated version. I did have to drill my mounting holes pretty close to the edges of the bracket, but the bracket was just long enough to fit the PIAA 4” lights without touching the main head light assembly (with about a quarter inch to spare). The aluminum bracket does shake some at idle, but goes away as the engine smoothes out while driving. Of course you can also see in the picture below that I installed the Zero Gravity shield at this point. For me, the ZG shield puts the wind blast right at the top of my shoulders and keeps my head in clean air. I am 5’ 9” and I am using the 2007 stock seat (just in case some of you are curious). I love the looks and performance of the ZG setup!  I had also picked up a set of the Touratech hand guard extensions. As others have said before, they are very well made and fit perfectly. So far there seems to be better protection, which is especially noticeable when it rains as my gloves stay dry (or at least till I reach up to wipe my helmet visor).  Based upon some people being concerned about the large nut on the inside of the hand guards when mounting the extensions with the supplied hardware, I elected to secure the extensions with rivets. The rivets are much smaller than the nuts and bolts, but the rivets would not be as easy to remove, although I don’t foresee there ever being a need to remove the extensions.  After my 1600 mile return trip to Colorado this past February, the only thing that was sore was my right wrist. So I figured that I would go ahead install a throttle locking device. I had to do some major modifications to get this NEP universal device to work on the Uly; a little cut here, a couple holes drilled there, and some Dremel work to get it to fit around the switch housing. After a couple hours of work and a little more time to tweak the adjustments, it works perfectly with no binding when not locked. The same day I also went ahead and installed some of the Buell Traction grips. I was a little concerned about the effectiveness of the Polly Heaters with the extra thickness of the Traction grips, but I am happy to report that I can still burn my palms!  Up till this point the mods were more comfort related, but why stop there? Now at around 3000 miles on the bike it was time for some performance changes. While I was in Alabama I was going to have Odie build me a special "Special OPS" pipe, but time ran short on us. I am supposed to head back to Fort Rucker this spring, so we are planning on working on it at that time. I did however work out a deal to borrow a spare header Odie had lying around the shop to send off to get Jet-Hot coated matte black. It definitely felt pretty weird to be rotating the engine on this new motorcycle to swap out a header for mainly cosmetic reasons, but with service manual in hand (and the moral support of TROYYZ) I dove in with both feet (actually hands).  It all came back together pretty easily. It probably took me a grand total of eight hours to do the whole job start to finish, but I spent a lot of time just looking over things and admiring my own handiwork (I think that is a man thing). One more piece of advise, when putting the airbox and filter back together, Do Not, I repeat Do Not leave that piece of protective cloth wedged into the air manifold. Let’s just say that you will notice a major performance difference (and not for the better).  Oh, I forgot to mention. While I was waiting for my header from Jet-Hot, I came across a great deal on a brand new Buell race muffler. I had already owned the race ECM (not installed at the time) and the race air filter (installed with 2007 airbox cover back in Alabama), so what was I to do? But was the polished silver ceramic finish good enough for me? Nooooo! I had to send it off to get Jet-Hot coated to match my header, except for the exhaust tips that I wanted to keep silver. I still plan to have Odie work me up a special pipe this year when I head back to Alabama (for a little more grunt), but for now it is at least performing and sounding much better than stock!  One of my final diabolical plans to take over the world including changing the stock Barricade Orange to Sunset Orange! This top secret plan was actually initiated about nine months ago, that’s right six months before I purchased my Uly. Call me crazy (my wife certainly did), but I purchased a set of Lightning Long Sunset Orange plastics from a fellow BadWeber last summer while I was in Iraq! During my spare time in Iraq, I began researching motorcycles, which led me the Buell XB12X, which led me to the BadWeb site, which led me the decision to purchase a Ulysses when I got back home.  With the Lightning Long parts I had two dilemmas'. First was what to do with the Barricade Orange seat. I could have just purchased a black seat, but I really liked the spilt color seat. I found a vinyl dye product from a company called Parasol (http://www.parasolinc.com/) that seemed that it could be the solution. There are other vinyl dye products out there; some that I have used before very effectively, but this company indicated that they could do color matching. I could have just ordered the product and done it myself, but I decided to send my seat to one of their dealers, a company call Classic Upholstery out of Danbury Connecticut. They did an outstanding job, a perfect match! Contact Lin Kendall at classicuph2001@aol.com if you ever need help with Upholstery stuff.  The other part I needed to convert to Sunset Orange was the Fly Screen; obviously the XB12SS screen would not fit. So I could either paint it, or try the dye method that I have read about on BadWeb. So I figured that I would spend $8 on dye first and see how it would work. So I did some tests using Rit brand fabric dye. In my tests, it appeared that 8 oz of yellow to 4 oz of scarlet along with 8 Gallons of water (at 140 degrees) for two hours was a pretty good match on top of the Barricade Orange plastic.  It did not turn out perfect, but it is so close that nobody can tell until I point out the details. The biggest thing is that the color did not take perfectly even, it seems like there is slight variations in the density of the plastic (possibly because of the injection process) which causes some slight variations of color. At first I thought that I would be resigned to paint the Fly Screen, but then I decided that I liked the minor variations of color. It almost looks like faint wood grain when you look real close. Notice all four lights on at once up front.  Here is a close up of the matte black header and race pipe with the Sunset Orange lower cowl. I was going to also put the Lightning Long front fender on the Uly, but for now I think that I prefer the stock off-road looking fender setup. I can’t really tell if the Jet-Hot coated header makes any heat or performance difference, but I do like the color next to the Sunset Orange!  As a finishing touch, I decided to put some pin stripes on the wheels. These are a red reflective wheel kit that I purchased for $15 on Ebay. They went on easy, and actually look like a very close color match. Being stickers, I’m not sure how well they will hold up in the long run, but for now they look pretty sweet.  The only thing I have left to do is add an intercom system in order to make it easier to communicate with my wife and kids as we go out riding. I have looked at several systems, and I am leaning towards the Autocom Super Pro AVI Kit. I really just need an intercom system that will allow me to connect the Zumo GPS (which has XM radio and the ability to play mp3’s) and maybe a standard cell phone, but the Autocom is the only system I could find that allows the use of in-ear monitors. I prefer to use my Shure E3’s with the yellow foam inserts when I am going for rides lasting more than 10-15 minutes. Just the helmet speakers would be fine for the short trips to the store.  Well, in closing I would just like to rave about Buell and the Uly. As everyone on this site knows, the Ulysses is one incredible motorcycle! It is very comfortable to ride, easy to afford and maintain, extremely versatile for many different riding environments, extremely passenger friendly, and so very, very fun! And the fun is not just in the riding, but also in the way Buell builds machines that are so easy to customize and personalize. Thanks Erik and the entire Buell team for building this one for me!  | ||
| Terrible1one3 |
Definitely the coolest looking Uly I have seen I would do all of the same mods to mine in a heartbeat, and maybe even black the wheels then put the red stripe on them. All in all, awesome and motivating for me to try and chop mine up  . Did you clear the front fender or is it just wet? Kinda looks nice with the dark gray gloss look. (Message edited by Terrible1One3 on April 03, 2007) | ||
| Treadmarks |
Awesome write up, and a great looking Uly. Good Job, and thanks for your service.  | ||
| Supertoon |
Definitely the faster red color! Very nice and great pics  | ||
| Az_m2 |
Steve, that is outstanding! Great job! | ||
| Dano_12s |
Max, great write-up.Looks good,You may want too look into the Scala-Rider team set for you+the wife.Good reviews+bluetooth about $200.00 | ||
| Sleez |
great write up, thanks. | ||
| Froggy |
Damn, I've always wanted to get my headers powdercoated, now i want to do it more. The PIAA lights look tempting too. Great job! | ||
| Beachbeemer |
A great looking bike!! One question on the Zero Gravity Shield. Is it very noisy? I want to replace my Cee Bailey with something quieter | ||
| Bienhoabob |
Very, very nice. I like everything about it. Thanks for serving our country also. | ||
| Windrider |
Wow. Great Write up. Your Uly is definitely Maximized! Truly a one of a kind completely personalized ride. Thanks for sharing. | ||
| Discodino |
Great bike, great write-up and loads of good info... I don't have my Uly yet (waiting for my licenses & etc...), but I hear ya on the "changing the color" before even owning it...I'm in the same boat now... | ||
| Florida_lime |
Sure, make me wait to see if the '08 is offered in "Sunset Orange"  Looks very nice, excellent work ! | ||
| Maximum |
Terrible1one3 Asked: "Did you clear the front fender or is it just wet?" No I did not, it is just wet after cleaning her up for the photo op. Beachbeemer Asked: "One question on the Zero Gravity Shield. Is it very noisy?" I do not find it noisy at all (which is subjective), but I do love how my head is in clean air and the wind blast is right at the top of my shoulders. | ||
| Metalstorm |
Wow, wow, wow. That is above & beyond a great job. Outstanding!  | ||
| Ulynerd |
Awesome!!! I love the black headers. they look sick. I was thinking of powder coating the pegs and shifter and the like but I hadn't even thought about the headers. nice job. | ||
| Paochow |
Sweet looking bike. I love the color. | ||
| Kip |
Looks great top notch job! | ||
| Chadhargis |
Sweet ride! If I ever stop riding long enough, I'm going to pretty mine up. Ah...who am I kidding? I do good to wash mine. LOL! | ||
| Troyyz |
Steve, Great job on the bike and the write up. Was anxiously awaiting the results of your vision. Well done. Congrats! The finest ULY I have personally seen yet...! | ||
| Tankhead |
tankhead say "Simply Stunning" Great work! | ||
| Snub13 |
Steve:  That is awesome! Top notch work! | ||
| Crusty |
Really Nice Job! Congratulations! | ||
| Fastfxrs |
Nice job Steve. Your Uly looks great! Please get rid of the WARNING stickers on your swingarm and steering head lol. Tim | ||
| Maximum |
Fastfxrs: Thanks for pointing out those warning stickers, now they are going to bug me!  | ||
| Fastfxrs |
Hair dryer,fingernail,WD-40 and a rag to wipe it off. All my best Uly pics show my bike with the stickers on. It never bothered me till someone pointed it out. As U2's Bono asked on Rattle and Hum, "Am I buggin' ya? I did'nt mean to bug ya." Keep the pics coming. Love your bike, man. Tim | ||
| Ulywife |
I love the Red Uly. I've wanted to see another Red since the Cherry Bomb came out. Nicely done. | ||
| Kedo |
Wow. What an inspiration. Great vision, detail, execution and communication. Congratulations. You should be very proud. Thanks for sharing. Ride safe. | ||
| Captain_nartman |
BRILLIANT!! I Aint Showing this Thread to me Missus Though... her Fav Colour IS RED... Satin Black Pipes.. the ONLY Colour for an Ugly. 10 Outta 10. ya canna see me, But I'm Clapping Your Mods. N x | ||
| Centralozzy |
The Orange looks Awesome! I love the Uly, my Mate Captain Nartman lets me ride his sometimes!! |
