| Author | Message | ||
     Walt221 |
Here are a few garage shots of my new bike.    (Message edited by walt221 on February 25, 2005) | ||
| Gearhead998 |
HOLY ****!!! That is sweet. how much did you fab yourself? What other mods do you have on it. | ||
| Walt221 |
For the most part I built the bike in my garage. You can't really see in the picture, but the bike has a magnesium Marchesini rear wheel. It was originally from my X1 race bike. Making all the spacers so the brake rotor and sprockets line up was kind of tricky. The wheel saved 7lbs over stock! I'll try to post some pics with the bodywork off. It looks just as good. | ||
| Gentleman_jon |
Excellent. | ||
| Hogs |
Nice ride, What made ya do the air scoops, can u post a few pics, of the front chain pulley etc. How u idle the chain..? | ||
| Buellman39 |
Thats mother F'n bad @ss!! | ||
| Tucsonxb9s |
That convinces me that Buell should release a FX-XB replica for the street! I know, I know, our bikes are the nekked kind or "sport fighter" as the call it, but a fully faired R looks sooooooo sweet! Imagine it...I know I can. Thanks for the moto-porn, I need to excuse myself now.  | ||
| Ingemar |
That's what I call sex on wheels. I suppose you don't change things purely for looks, so what's up with that front fork? Why and with what did you replace it? | ||
| Ingemar |
I forgot, what do you use for a rear shock? | ||
| Walt221 |
I'll try to take more pics tonight. The reason for the scoops is the ram air effect. I know it looks a little funkadelic, but it works. After about 50mph, it feels like you hit the nitrous button! | ||
| Xring |
Wow. | ||
| Walt221 |
It has Ohlins 43mm front forks and a Penske rear shock. I switched to the Ohlins because of fork bind problems (under heavy trail braking) I had with the stock 41mm forks. I know that some of the newer XB's come with 43mm Showa forks stock, but in my opinion there's nothing like the feedback you get with the Ohlins. | ||
| Hogs |
Maybe after a 100 mph ( 160 klms) One "MIGHT" see a difference with the air scoops, and I wd. think if one could run the scoops to say down to the bottom of the bike in front of the headers you might again see "abit" of gain with cooler air What about the chain any close up pictures of that on keeping it Tight?? | ||
| Walt221 |
I ran the bike on back to back runs with and without the ram air set-up. I made no changes what-so-ever to the fuel map and I could FEEL a difference with it. Once I made the appropriate changes to the map, there was no more comparison needed. I would however like to lower the inlets and make it a little larger, (like the Hal's set-up) but that was the best I could come up with and still keep my instrument cluster. | ||
| Ingemar |
Thanks Walt. What would you say made the biggest (or most important) change in handling, the Ohlins front or the Penske rear? I would guess for street use changing the forks would be of lesser importance than the rear. Would you (or someone else who knows) explain "fork bind problems" in a little more detail? Thanks! Ingemar. (Message edited by Ingemar on February 25, 2005) | ||
| Lpd22 |
Walt- Sweet bike man. Looks awesome. Nice job. | ||
| Walt221 |
I would say the rear shock would be most important for the street rider. You don't have to totally change the shock though. The stock shock is rebuildable. If you buy a special collar from Henry Duga at Buell, you can mount a specific rate spring (as opposed to a progressive rate spring like stock), change to a better shock oil and you should be set. I ran that set-up for three races last year and I had a 5th, 6th and 8th place finishes with it in FUSA competition so it's no too bad. | ||
| Walt221 |
As far as the fork bind issue, it basically means the left and right lower tubes are flexing differently than each other (they all flex some). The top portion of the forks don't move so as the fork goes through it's travel and lowers are moving around, it creates a binding sensation. I would only feel it entering a corner while hard on the brakes. I would probably never have felt it on the street because I ride like a sissy. | ||
| Tarmac_eater |
All i have to say is ....amazing. I notice alot of trick parts and great workmanship into the bike. Love the chain ,excellent work my friend | ||
| Mikethebike72 |
Excellent bike, I would like to make a roadgoing xb with full fairing. As for comment on ram air effect, on my kawasaki zx6, if I would forget to hook up the balance tubes for the carb float bowls after doing work, the bike would start cutting out every time at 35 mph, so that would be the point where the ram air effect is greater than atmospheric pressure. That would be the time that u would begin to gain hp over not having it. That speed would only apply to the zx6, if you placed the intakes in different locations your speed may vary. (Message edited by mikethebike72 on February 26, 2005) | ||
| Surveyor |
Looks great. I see your not running a steering damper...but appear to have the front ride height set up pretty high (?) close to standard? what's it like to turn in under braking? Using the standard ride height I found it to be an absolute b*****d to turn under braking and altering the front ride height resulted faster turning but scarily unstable front end. Can you give any details on how the bike is set up and how it compares with the best setup you achieved with the stock suspension. Also how is the single caliper front brake working out, any evidence of fork twist under braking.....I've found it's fine for me but I'm slow but I know some fast guys swear by a twin disc conversion. | ||
| Matty7092 |
Walt, are you going to be a pikes peak in May, I would love to see your bike close up. Matt | ||
| Walt221 |
Yes, I will be at Pikes Peak. Stop by and take a look. As far as turn and braking. The ride height is close to stock. I still do run a steering damper. If you look close in the center picture you can see the fork clamp. It is a front mount HyperPro unit. Fork twist/bind is why I switched to the Ohlins forks. I had too many close calls with running wide under braking. Braking power was dramatically improved with the addition of the Brembo master cylinder. I also run a remote adjustable brake lever. You can see the knob on the left side clip-on. | ||
| Brupska |
Hey Walt, Great bike. Have you had the brembo master cylinder long? I know the Bloomington HD crew had a problem with them. The brake where to good at Homestead last year. I guess Josh Guyer kept overheating his front rotor with that setup. I could only dream of riding a bike like that. brupska | ||
| Walt221 |
Yeah, I've had the Brembo for about three races. I have had zero problems with it. It does tend to wear out the rotor and hardware, but that happens anyway. I replace the rotor and the hardware every three rounds. One thing about the master cylinder though. One has to make sure they get the right piston size for their application. Getting the piston size wrong will cause a number of problems. I know Josh was having some problems at Homestead. He and I traded a little paint. My front brake lever and fingers got the worst of it. | ||
| Tatsu |
Walt, What's your top end speed on that setup? | ||
| Ingemar |
Thanks for all your answers Walt. That is an excellent tip about that rear shock. I will keep that in mind. | ||
| Walt221 |
We might see 160-165 at Daytona (with a draft). | ||
| Tatsu |
Sweet! | ||
| Goldenboy9r |
Thanks for my new screensaver Walt! And again, thanks for answering all the questions! |
