| Author | Message | ||
     Nobuell |
Monday I fly to Pittsburgh and then to New Castle HD to pick up my new to me 08 1125R. I will ride it home to the Chicago area over Monday and Tuesday. Any suggestions for a first time trip on this bike. I plan on taking stuff with me in my Buell backpack. | ||
| Syonyk |
08 1125R? Carry a bit of extra brake fluid in case the clutch has a weep. That's about it. You don't have to worry about the stator. Check the tire pressure, make sure it's got the latest stock ECU flash, and hit the road! | ||
| Timebandit |
Congrats! While you're having fun bonding with the new bike, be careful you don't get a ticket on the PA turnpike. They take speeding seriously. And see if there's any way you can beg borrow or steal a set of throttlemeisters before you go. They're a must-have for long highway rides, IMO. | ||
| Avalaugh |
Breakdown just incase the belt snaps and painkillers. Your face will hurt from smiling so much  | ||
| Reepicheep |
I got burned by a tire with "70% life left". It had 70% of life on the sides, and 0% life left in the middle. I didn't carry any tools, just riding gear and a cell phone (which I needed, see note above.  ). Also, even if the seller says "you don't need a cashiers check", bring a cashiers check anyway. Would not have traded the experience for anything though! | ||
| Pgh_biker |
I live 5 miles from there and bought my Cyclone there in 97. Bill the owner is a super guy , make sure you check out his Buell collection up stairs. Dave in Service has a Cyclone. Rob is their best Buell mechanic but he ran into a herd of cattle on his way to work one morning and totaled his Thunderbolt so now he has a KTM adventure tourer. I have to work Monday but if you would need anything give me a call. PM me for the info | ||
| Two_seasons |
Make sure you receive an owner's manual. Adjust the suspension, front and back, going a little softer than recommendations in the book, at the dealer, using a couple of their tools. DON'T ride any four-lane highways! There is way too much fun south and west of Pittsburgh. If you drink coffee, don't expect any creamer on this flight. Look at Mapquest and find those roads. A word of caution...don't over-extend yourself on this bike, be really careful at transition/intersecting roads. Don't wreck it the first couple of days you own it! Very sensitive front brake...be careful!!!!! And for what it's worth, I've had the clutch weep for 23 months and haven't added a drop. Pressures are 34f and 36r | ||
| S21125r |
Syonyk finger stirred my lemonade... Clutch weep was the only issue I ever had away from home. Mine was already weeping so I had the fluid and wrench in my tank bag to bleed it roadside. Other than that I'd say give it a good pre-ride inspection for the usual suspects like belt, lights, signals, tire pressure, etc, and have good trip. Oh.. maybe rain gear too - you know how the midwest weather is this time of year :-) Good luck and happy riding. | ||
| Timebandit |
That was a good recommendation that somebody made about the brakes. If your not used to this braking setup: Two fingers for brakes, not four. | ||
| Ratbuell |
Two?? I use one on my CR, two on my XB, three on the tubers. Net result is, though...it's a LOT of front brake. Be gentle. If you're tall, take or get a set of Ulysses footpegs to put on. 1" feels like a mile; it makes a HUGE difference. You're going to love it! | ||
| Torquehd |
i also use one finger for daily braking needs. only two if i REALLY need to stop in a hurry. | ||
| Timebandit |
Two for me. I can be very smooth, from minimal to maximal braking with two. With one, I'm just not as smooth, kinda choppy sometimes. YMMV. | ||
| Nobuell |
Thank you for the thoughts and recommendations. The bike only has 1000 miles on it so the tires should be decent and hopefully the clutch should not start weeping yet. The dealer said it does have the latest ECM flash. I am excited about the ride home. I am going to Cincinnati Monday afternoon to sleep over at my brothers house and I will head back to the Chicago area Tuesday morning. I will check out the nice roads from Pittsburgh area southwest to Cincy. There are some decent roads from Cincy to the Indianapolis area. The roads pretty much suck from Indy to Home. This new bike will be my play bike. I am keeping my XT for long distance trips and two up with the wife. Definably the opposite end of the spectrum. | ||
| Generalcuz |
Swing through wexford and some backroads around Mars. That's where my dad ran into Eric Buell back in the day when he lived in the area. Some fun twisties. | ||
| Nobuell |
According to the dealer, all recalls have been performed and the latest ECM flash was performed. What are the must do's upgrades on this bike? This is my understanding: 1. Replace the stator rotor nut and use the new loctite with new torque. 2. Shut the motor down using the handlebar switch first to resolve the battery drainage issue. Is this issue prevalent on all 08 or just early 08s? 3. It seems like I read about 5th gear galling on the clutch shaft. I assume it to be a recall issue I do not have to worry about? 4. Will eventually need to replace the cloth piston assembly with the EBR when seepage starts. 5. Rear wheel bearings - I lost the wheel bearings on my XT and upgraded to a 2010 wheel. I assume it to be the same on the 1125R. 6. De-noiding - Is it required on an 08 with the latest ECM flash? Is there an advantage to de-noiding? Am I missing anything? Any comments to get me moving in the right direction? | ||
| Froggy |
1, don't bother unless you start hearing rattling noises. 2, it only affected early 08s, and regardless of what bike, it is safer to shutdown with the switch than the key. 3, first time I've heard of it 4, possibly, possibly not. Not all bikes have issues. 5, it seems the 1125s are less failure prone than the Uly. My Ulys ate bearings at 15k miles like clockwork, both my 1125s are still on originals at 20k 6, just get a Race ECM, it bypasses the solenoid and improves overall driveability anyway. | ||
| Syonyk |
1. Replace the stator rotor nut and use the new loctite with new torque. Probably a good idea. 2. Shut the motor down using the handlebar switch first to resolve the battery drainage issue. Is this issue prevalent on all 08 or just early 08s? This only helps the core issue, which is a firmware bug in the cluster. If you have an early 08 (through May, I think, though don't quote me on that), there's a tech tip (I believe it's 396) that discusses replacing the cluster. Turning it off with the switch won't fix it entirely - it's a random failure mode. You can ride the bike just fine with it, but you'll want a battery tender or such if you're going to leave it for more than a few days without being ridden. When mine had the bug, it killed the battery stone flat in 1.5 weeks, and drained it enough that the bike wouldn't start from Thursday evening to Monday morning when I was out of town. Annoying, but possibly livable. 3. It seems like I read about 5th gear galling on the clutch shaft. I assume it to be a recall issue I do not have to worry about? Is it a dedicated track bike? If no, don't worry about it and run good oil. Amsoil, for instance. 4. Will eventually need to replace the cloth piston assembly with the EBR when seepage starts. Assume you mean clutch. Yeah, and there are a few aftermarket replacements now - one EBR unit, and one from someone else. 5. Rear wheel bearings - I lost the wheel bearings on my XT and upgraded to a 2010 wheel. I assume it to be the same on the 1125R. Yes. You can go to a 2010 three-bearing wheel. If you do this, you will need a 3 bearing axle - it has a larger supporting area to handle the 3rd bearing. It's not really a big deal - many people have put a lot of miles on the stock 2 bearing option. Just don't direct a pressure washer at the bearings. 6. De-noiding - Is it required on an 08 with the latest ECM flash? Is there an advantage to de-noiding? With the stock ECU, yes, it will still snap the throttle plates shut if it thinks you're about to make too much noise. Advantages of denoiding: Weight reduction, reduction in throttle pull (definitely noticeable). Am I missing anything? Any comments to get me moving in the right direction? Yes. You go buy the race ECU. http://www.erikbuellracing.com/store/parts-accesso ries/fuel-injection/1125r-preprogrammed-ecm-for-us e-with-pump-gas.html It transforms the bike. Seriously, just do it. | ||
| D_adams |
2. That was traced to a cluster drain I think. Odds are you'll be fine. 3. 5th gear oiling jet recall. Could result in a seized gear if the recall wasn't done, only happened from certain conditions at race speeds, ie; 150+ from what I recall. 4. Ride it until it starts to go, carry a bottle of brake fluid and a Phillips screwdriver so you can refill as required to get it home. 6. It's a 30 lb unit, lose it asap. Some of the early 08's were even heavier at about 36 lbs. | ||
| Syonyk |
... 30 pounds for the solenoid? I don't think so! Maybe 30oz... | ||
| Froggy |
I had mine on the scale, then reinstalled it as it makes no noticeable difference in weight, handling, responsiveness, or anything else on my bikes. The Race ECM changed the .0001% chance of it actuating to 0%. | ||
| Timebandit |
1. if you wait to hear clattering, you're too late. clattering means that loose parts are getting thrown around inside of your motor. worst case scenario, the motor will seize and you'll be thrown off the bike. (IIRC it happened to JDugger who was seriously injured.) best case scenario is that the rotor and stator will be shredded to bits, releasing all sorts of shrapnel into you oil. either way, you lose the engine. it happened to this guy -- motor was a total loss: http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/290 431/676132.html (Message edited by timebandit on May 03, 2012) | ||
| Timebandit |
"it makes no noticeable difference in weight, handling, responsiveness, or anything else on my bikes." i think you're a minority of one. | ||
| Froggy |
Come and ride both my bikes back to back and tell me which bike has the solenoid still connected. One has it still, the other had it removed. Then again, I rode for over 5000 miles with a loose rattling rotor nut, nothing blew up, and at 20k miles still haven't had the clutch leak or burnt out turn signals or anything other than stator failures on my CR. (Message edited by Froggy on May 03, 2012) | ||
| Timebandit |
if you have stock/100% street legal bikes, then i can guarantee that I will not pick the wrong bike. OTOH, if you've modified the bike so that it is no longer 100% street legal by installing a race-only ECM, then your characterizations of your bikes' behavior aren't relevant to the original poster's questions -- he's talking about having the stock ECM with the latest flash. with that setup, the presence of the 'noid is easily recognized by just about anyone. even if you have an ECM that turns off the 'noid, just about anyone should be able to tell if it's still hooked up by the feel of the throttle pull. this is a no-brainer. | ||
| Froggy |
Yep even with it 100% bone stock, you can't tell it is there. I had my CR before the 2010 bikes hit the showrooms, and I still had my 08 R long before EBR started selling Race ECMs. I had thousands of miles on both bone stock before putting in the Race ECM or physically removing it. Even a parking lot test of gripping both throttles at the same time will feel identical, a Race ECM can't affect that. If you can feel a difference with the solenoid being installed on your bike, I would suspect the pull cable is binding on your throttle linkage, which from what I've heard is fairly common if the airbox isn't reinstalled perfect. | ||
| Timebandit |
Just to make sure that I understood your previous post: You drove for 5000 miles without realizing that you had a loose rotor nut clattering around inside of your engine, and you can't feel the the difference in the throttle pull with vs. without the solenoid? | ||
| Froggy |
I knew it was loose, I even mentioned it when dropping it off for service, it wasn't fixed till the 08 rotor was swapped in. The 1125 isn't even the first Buell to have crank nuts come loose on. | ||
| Timebandit |
Wow. I can't imagine knowing about the problem and not doing anything about it. By any chance were you analyzing your oil while all this was going on? | ||
| Froggy |
Like I said in the last post, I did something about it. I notified my dealer, they checked it out, did the usual no trouble found. While I didn't think it had the possibility of killing me (as pretty much everything including running out of gas can kill you), I figured if something blew up it would be no questions asked new motor, as I had documentation of bringing it in for it. Never came to pass, as the nut was replaced during the 08 swap, the tech said he was able to remove the nut by hand without tools. I don't have any oil analysis, but what you said about them in another thread pretty much made me drop the idea ever doing them from that point on anyway. | ||
| Timebandit |
There's nothing wrong with doing UOA -- It's a great help if you know when to use it and why to use it. But having seen a lot of peoples' interpretation of UOAs, I get the impression that a lot of people aren't sure how to interpret the data, some of the people writing up the reports being the worst offenders. I've talked to the tech at Blackstone on the phone, and I got the impression he was a total moron. One popular lab has a problem reproducing their test results on blinded samples, which caused me to look for other labs. UOA can be very useful for people who want to want to run synthetics and extend their OCIs. That can make a lot of sense in cars and trucks, but it's never made sense to me in a high-temp high-shear wet clutch application where oil life is short, or in an application where oil is rapidly saturated with slipper clutch debris. When UOA would be particularly useful would be in recognizing an acute spike in wear metals, which is exactly what one would expect if he had loose parts clattering around in the engine. That kind of documentation would be very helpful in forcing a warranty engine replacement. I find it interesting that the dealership told you that the nut was still on, but could be taken off by hand. If the nut was not off of the shaft, then the rattling was not caused by a loose nut banging around on the stator and rotor; in that scenario the noise could only have resulted from wobble in the rotor, with the rotor banging the ignition cover and/or the stator. Either one of those abnormal friction events would release all sorts of microscopic metallic debris into your oil, which would be really, really bad for an engine, and would be picked up by a UOA. It would be very interesting to inspect your ignition case, rotor, and stator. Do you still have the take offs? I just received an industrial photographic microscope that's on loan for a couple of weeks. If you still have your take off parts I'd be happy to look at them when I run a batch of parts through the scope to see if there are any signs of abnormal wear -- just in case you run into a problem down the road that would warrant bringing the warranty replacement issue back up. |
