| Author | Message | ||||
     Court |
I am in the process of trying to get my 2008 Buell XB12X Ulysses back on the road. It's been sitting for several years with only an occasional trip around the block. I've purchased new tires and am looking for parts and install intel information on the "best" options for the following: FRONT WHEEL- mine has a slight dent, looks like it hit something. Not bad. FRONT WHEEL BEARINGS - I recall, when I did not need them, lots of evolving discussion about the best wheel bearings. I'd like to make certain I get the best ones I can. They aren't showing any signs of distress at present and I am going to follow the Al Lighton "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" wisdom. But, I would like to pick a set up. 3 BEARING REAR WHEEL BEARINGS - Ditto. I'd also be interested in the stacking diagram . . although I think I can find it . . . I recall posting it when the 3 Bearing Wheels was announced. BRAKE PADS FRONT AND REAR - Which are the best pads for street/touring. I would very much prefer the stock Buell. BELT - Best source for a new belt. Well . . . . Scratch that and, once again, I am reminded how cool Badweb is. Fellow Badwebber and racer Doz is working in the area and wrote offering to lend a hand . . . Wheels with the 2008 tires were off pronto and the Pirelli Angel 2'2 were on the next day. I've yet to meet a more generous and giving bunch of folks . . Court | ||||
| Whisperstealth |
Great to see this post. Kickass that you're getting the bike back in shape to ride! As far as brake pads, I had good results with EBC Double-H Sintered Brake Pads. They are good brakes at a fair price point. I'm sure there are better one's out there on the market, but these meet my needs just fine. I rode my UlyXT at 300lbs body weight and loaded down with lots of gear. Never did a track day, but lots of cross country and local riding. If you can find one, the three bearing 2010 rear wheel set up would be a wise investment. Wish I had gotten one. Went through three sets of bearings on the two bearing set up. SKF and others, they all failed on me, and always soon after a belt change. From what I understand St. Paul HD in Minnesota is still able to get a variety of parts. Yes, Buell riders still rock! Very grateful for having gotten to know you all. | ||||
| Motorfish |
Great to see another Uly getting on the road. I have the 3 bearing wheel,no problems with about 20k miles on it. I have about 32k on the front bearings, but after a recent tire change, they felt fine. I was considering new ones as preventative maintenance. I also have the EBC pads, and like them a lot. Seem to be better than stock. This is an awesome forum! Good luck with it all. | ||||
| Pushr0d |
I bought a 3-bearing wheel from Newcastle HD. The HD (Buell) part number includes the new axle. | ||||
| Court |
This look like the right pads . . . .  | ||||
| Whisperstealth |
Yes, that looks like the right pads to me. I also sanded my rotors with fine fine grit sandpaper. For the life of me I can't remember the exact grit, bit it was wet/dry. I've heard complaints about the brakes on the Uly, but since I didn't track day the thing, I found the brakes to be just fine. Man I miss my Uly... | ||||
| Court |
I am having a blast fiddling with the Ulysses . . . . Doz pretty much saved my by helping me get over the wheels and tires hump and he did a masterful job (typical racer) of making short work of the wheels and tires. Since then I've gone back through about every fastener I can get my paws on . . . removed, anti-seize where specified and returns to factory torque settings. And oxidation or rust being removed to the best I can do. The oil and filter got changed with Syn3. I haven't done the gear box yet . . . likely tomorrow. I'm debit . . . I have plenty of Syn# I could toss in but I have a left over quart, from a couple years ago, of Formula+ . . . debating if I should use it or ditch it and just go with the Syn3. Some things . . . by the way . . NEVER change . . . I went to the local Harley-Davidson dealership and bought about $127 worth of stuff. The Syn3 accounted for a good part of it but I picked up spare washers, gaskets and oil filter (I know I have case of them but no clue where) and an assortment of the small O-rings. Sure . . . enough . . . WITHOUT EXCEPTION . . . . every piece they gave me was wrong. I was trying to put the oil filter on and something was not quite working . . . the filter was jamming against the muffler. . . the threads wouldn't quite engage . . . I knew better than to force anything . . .oil filters are supposed to just spin on as easily as can be . . . it it ain't going . . something is not right. Sure enough . . . I grabbed the old oil filter out of the waste and sat it next to the one they gave me . . . close but about 1/2" different diameter. Idiots. I got the ladder out and started digging through the cases and cases from when Tom and I pretty much bought up Al's remaining Ulysses inventory and sure enough there was a case of 12 Buell oil filters . . . problem solved. They gave me the big round clutch cover gasket for a Sportster. The best one was that they charged me something like $6.75 each for a pair of those 01111 tiny little rubber O-rings for the oil plug. I bought a bag of 10 online for something like $3.75. Anyway . . . still playing and plan to start getting some progressively longer rides in as I rebuild confidence in the Ulysses. I confess I have belt-anxiety . . . The bike has but 8,400 miles, the belt looks great and I've ridden belted Buells in 44 states and never had a problem. But . . between belts and bearings (I have the 3 bearing rear wheel) and everything looks fine) I find myself antsy. We'll see . . . fun anyway. | ||||
| Ratbuell |
Grab your Buell tool roll, that you're going to carry with you. Pull that old belt off, using only those tools, and put the new belt on. That way you have practice for a roadside swap. Then, gently coil the old belt, and store it in a case or under your top case as your "get me home" emergency belt. Now, you have a spare (and the old belt will be easier to install since it's pre-stretched), and you're riding on the new one. For the bearings, I've never had a failure. I preemptively replaced my FRONT bearings years ago (at like 5k miles) because they were the old orange seal bearings, and installed the later (better) black seal bearings. They were starting to get a little notchy, so we figured better safe than sorry. I do run the 3 bearing rear wheel now, and have zero concerns about it whatsoever. I don't pressure-wash the bike (hell...I don't WASH the bike!), and riding in rain doesn't force any water on the bearings (splash only)... | ||||
| Court |
I like your idea about the belt for 2 reasons. 1). Peace of mind. 2). I'd prefer to learn to change a belt in the comfort of my garage when I can learn to do it, and what tools I'll need . . rather than sitting on the side of a road in Nova Scotia at 11:00pm with a screwdriver and Leatherman. I did the Transmission today . . . Used the Formula+ I had sitting here . . . and came up short, about 1/2" from overflowing . . . so I drained it and filled it to the "overflow" level with Syn3. | ||||
| Whisperstealth |
Note on the belt change: I used the ball end of the allen wrench on the swing arm bridge spacer. Was not a good idea! The ball broke off, and I spent an hour drilling the piece out. It sucked! | ||||
| Ratbuell |
Exactly why I suggest the dry run. Practice...and you're home. Don't have "that" tool? Find it, stick it in the tool roll. Now you've got it when you need it. Hint: you can get leverage on the allen wrench by pulling the insert out of the multi-tip screwdriver in that kit, and slide the handle over the allen. Gives you length, and a better piece to hold on to (less likely to skewer your hand). If you're using an allen too thick for the screwdriver, use a box-end wrench as a lever - slide it over the allen. | ||||
| Ratbuell |
Oh, and you CAN replace the belt (especially with a used one) without removing the rear wheel. Back the axle off until the taper lets the wheel slide forward. Remove the tensioner pulley. That will give you enough slack to fit the new belt. Put the tensioner pulley back on BEFORE tightening the axle. | ||||
| Hughlysses |
For the bearings, I've never had a failure. I just replaced the bearings in my 3-bearing wheel with about 35,000 miles on it. I know they were installed properly because I got the wheel from Al Lighton with the bearings installed. I had the wheel off to do a preemptive fuel pump replacement and noticed the bearings felt pretty gritty. Interestingly, the only failing bearing was the single bearing on the disk side; the other 2 were fine. It would have probably gone another 1 or 2 thousand miles, but it was definitely getting gritty. One thing I was a little disappointed to see is the external dust seals apparently did nothing to keep water out of the wheel hub. Mine had a tablespoon or so of water inside and the inner faces of the bearings were pretty rusty. The bike had been ridden several hundred miles in the rain; one trip to March Badness and back took care of that. No water crossings or any pressure washing though. I know someone drilled a small vent hole in the hub of their wheel before the 3 bearing wheel was introduced hoping to give moisture a way out. I wonder if that helped? | ||||
| Smorris |
i installed my own 3 bearings. went as far as having special bearing presses made to keep center aluminum tube centered. before installing, drilled weep holes into hub and then thoroughly cleaned. been few years but haven't, but not 35k miles, still rolling fine | ||||
| Falloutnl |
"rather than sitting on the side of a road in Nova Scotia at 11:00pm with a screwdriver and Leatherman." Sounds like a great time lol | ||||
| Tootal |
Before I put the 3 bearing wheel on I located the deepest portion of the internal casting and put drain holes 180 degrees apart. I've not had any issues with bearings ever since. | ||||
| Glenn |
Couple of pdfs that may help. Glenn
| ||||
| Motorbike |
Glenn, thanks for posting both of those PDF's. The second one entitled Wheel Bearing to Sleeve Clearance explains exactly what I have tried to explain in several different posts in the past. Even though it is referring to a Suzuki Motorcycle, the principle is exactly the same on a Buell. Basically, when installing the wheel bearings, only the first bearing gets pressed all the way into the bearing bore. The OUTER race of this bearing will be seated in it's bore in the hub. Install the spacer. Then, the second bearing gets pressed in until the INNER race of the bearing contacts the spacer tube. At this point, there will be just a small amount of clearance between the outer race of the bearing and the bottom of the bearing bore in the hub. If the person that is installing these bearings doesn't understand this concept, he or she should find someone who does and have them install their bearings. I know some people just hammer the bearings in on both sides until they stop moving. This will only work for a short while and wheel bearing failure is inevitable. Sorry for the rant, thanks for listening! | ||||
| Glenn |
Great, glad this has helped! I had a bearing failure 210 miles from home near the Highlands in TN. No cell coverage. After a long time with no bikes offering any help a couple of three wheelers with Wings stopped and called for me in the Highlands. The dipshit AAA driver then took almost three hours to get to me. I later found out that he was doing his own errands! Anyway, rant off, I bought a 2010 wheel and installed the bearings myself using these two articles for help All is good now! Glenn | ||||
| Pushr0d |
I've got a well-used two bearing wheel in my garage. I'm looking to find out if I can make a planter out of it, or something. | ||||
| Court |
Glenn: Thank you. I have printed these out and placed them in my Ulysses service file. Good stuff. I appreciate it. Court | ||||
| Glenn |
You're very welcome Court! | ||||
| Firemanjim |
Court, the proper amount in the trans has liquid just touch bottom of the clutch basket--28 fl/oz usually does it. Good to see your name around this bunch again--- | ||||
| Court |
Got the entire thing done and I'd forgotten how much fun it was. . . . I'd like to do some long trips and am still working my way toward having confidence in the belt and 15 year old parts . . . But, I've been learning a lot doing a lot of this work myself. I got spoiled for years having Dan Lang and Dan Remington (the Buell R&D techs) setting up my bikes. It's also been a great excuse to buy tools. :-) Good to see your name as well and I still have a ton of crap I should send you sometime . . . All the best, Court | ||||
| Mnrider |
Great to hear you got the bike out Court. I drilled holes in my rear hub also and replaced the bearings at my first rear tire change back in 2009.No bearing issues.I sand the front disk a couple times a year lately and that seems to keep the pulsing at bay. Thanks to everyone on BadWeb my Uly is still working great. | ||||
| Ratbuell |
Just replaced the rear tire on my '06. 3 bearing wheel. I coat the hell out of my axle with antiseize - and it was ALL still there in between the bearings. Bearings are nice and smooth. There's an outer seal OUTSIDE the bearings - I popped them off, also still filled with antiseize from last time. Re-coated the axle with new antiseize, installed, torqued...damn, she rides nice with a new tire back there! Court - go for it. I've done MD to FL multiple times. MD to Homecoming a couple times (one time, 2-up by way of the UP). MD to Buelltoberfest a couple times. MD to NJMP was a stroll in the park. Just ride it, you'll be fine! |
