| Author | Message | ||
     Shc76239 |
Hey guys, im new here. Im about to purchase a new 9sx, but after reading the threads, im a bit concerned about Buells reliability. Some key issues seem to be bad electrical and oil consumption. Reliability is a major concern as I will be commuting daily on my bike. Any advice would be great! | ||
| Spatten1 |
The pre-XB bikes were no where near the quality and reliability of the 2003+ model years. The newer ones have the fit and finish of Japanese bikes, and that is a huge compliment coming from me. They seem to be very reliable, and many of us beat on them hard. I wheelie and stoppie every ride and do track days and mine has done very well. | ||
| Yohinan |
The research you have done are you sure it is on the XB series bikes? It sounds like you may be reading some old info about the tube frame Buell's. Please elaborate as to which your speaking of as the XB series have just as good a service record as the "normal" crotch rockets you see or even better in my opinion. Also if your referring to threads that are posted here keep in mind that most people when posting of that nature are only going to post when an issue arises and not if everything is going good. So just think of all the XB bikes that are our there that havent posted because they never have had any issues. HTH John | ||
| Dave |
Shc76239, I know what you mean. Folks that have the most to correspond are usually the ones with concerns, interests in modifications and those with problems. Doing research on a bike is smart...but just remember you're not looking at the whole picture. It's hard to survey via the web those that are happy and just riding. I had no problem dropping the $ on an XB bike. I've had a couple minor things but this bike exceeds my expectations. DAve | ||
| Olinxb12r |
I had the same concerns when I bought my 04 12R in July of 04. I have 9,000 miles on it now and no real problems to speak of at all. I bought the 5 year warranty just to be safe. Maybe that would make your decision earlier. | ||
| Shc76239 |
Thanks for the feedback everyone. I love the XB series motorcycles. In reviews about the XB series, I have heard nothing but sheer praise in its performance. I definetly want to buy the City cross. I was just surfing this forum and read some issues that came up in the archives that got me worried. I was debating between the SV1000, VTR1000, and the XB12s. After riding the 9sx, I was hooked. The power delivery was much smoother in the early gears than the 12. I think Ill go buy it tomorrow. Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone. | ||
| Streetbueller |
my 04 12r 1s just over 15K mi. with one one problem with a relay sticking and a bad belt that snapped at 1500 mi. Both fixed under warranty, no questions. | ||
| Gentleman_jon |
Welcome to the brotherhood of Buelligans. Before you sign on the dotted line for your City Cross, it might be a good idea to make sure that your dealer is one of the relatively few Harley Davidson dealers that really support Buell with all their heart. There is a least one of those in Georgia, one of our sponsors, Stone Mountain HD/Buell, home of the 3%ers. Their URL is : http://www.stonemountainhd.com/ Another excellent dealer in the south is another sponsor, Tilley's. Lots of Bad Webbers get their parts and their new and used Buells from Dave Stueve at Appleton HD in Wisconsin. They are one of the top rated dealers in the country and recently won the coveted Pegasus award. | ||
| Cochise |
REMEMBER THIS: A Buell is not a Japanese bikes and do not enjoy the same ammenities. For instance, on a Jap bike, you get on it cold, hit the start switch, rev the pee waddle out of it, take off like a bat outta Tulsa, and be on your way. With a Buell you take all your gear to your bike, turn the key on. With the key in the on position, use your index finger, push the start button. STAY OFF THE THROTTLE. Put your gear on. After gear is on, ride away, for a couple of miles,at least, take it easy, then ride the stuffing out of it. Also remember during Break in to take it overly easy, for the first 200 miles. After that use common sense about how you ride it. Go along with the break in procedure that is posted in the book, but don't go crazy. Basically, don't lug the engine and don't go near the rev-limiter until after 500 miles. You can ride semi-hard on it after 350 or so, but don't abuse it until after 1000 miles. I'm gonna get some flaq for telling you this, but it works. Also, don't let her run idle for very long in traffic, I did that with my other one and I had problems with it, but no problems with mine as of yet, except for a noisy nert in the Primary that was fixed easily. | ||
| Shc76239 |
cool, thanks. Im a salesman at Stone Mountain HD actually. | ||
| Gentleman_jon |
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| Madsx |
No worries with the XB. Only issue is not enough time to ride. Best bike i've ever owned. | ||
| Xxxb9s |
buy it, forget about reliability issues, my xb9 is better than my previous BMW... 17000 km on my buell, 2 years old. nothing else to add (Message edited by xxxb9s on November 24, 2005) | ||
| Redstar100 |
If your a salesman then what do you say when people ask the same question of you. | ||
| Neutron21 |
the old clangers are ok if you get the 400 recalls done to them  | ||
| Shc76239 |
If i dont know an answer to something, I tell my cutomers that i do not know the answer and i will try to find out. When it comes to the Buells, i try to highlight all the key features and design principles i understand. | ||
| Cataract2 |
Fellow XB9SX rider here. I have 20,900 miles on my bike as of today. Bought it back on Nov. 9th. Only problems on mine was the front break light switch and starter switch got a bit corroded and had to be replaced. That's it. | ||
| Spatten1 |
Wow cataract, that's a lot of miles in two weeks. Your ••• must be killing you. | ||
| Pwnzor |
LOL Spatten1 My 2004 XB12R is the best thing I've ever pwned. Minor warranty issues in the very beginning but other than that it is solid. | ||
| Bolt_action |
Hey Shc Don't worry about the electrical and oil consumption. You'll probably end up like me and bang it up on the ground before any of that happens.... I My suggestion is buy a used slightly damaged one and have fun..... | ||
| Redstar100 |
if your a dealer then you can get parts cheap and service cheap what do you have to worry about. ask the service guys what the faults are they are on the front line of repair. | ||
| Cataract2 |
Lol Spatton, guess I forgot to mention that it was Nov. 9, 2004. Man, I'd love to see someone ride 20K in two weeks. | ||
| Dbird29 |
59.52 MPH for 2 weeks straight = 20K miles. | ||
| Ratyson |
Shc, I own an 05 CityX. It now has about 7000 miles on it... Worry free miles. The only thing I have had to replace was a warped front rotor, which was done under warranty. I ride with a bunch of guys that ride IL4s, and I get a lot of flak about driving a steam engine around. But this steam engine really seems to take the punishment well. | ||
| Blake |
The new Buells are as reliable as anything out there. I rarely if ever let my Buell warm up before riding. I do avoid pushing it too hard right from the start. I'd do that with any engine. Further on the subject... If Japanese motorcycle engines are so amazingly reliable and tolerant of abuse, why are the mechanics at my local Honda/Yamaha shop always overbooked with work? Why did I recently see a 42K mile Honda Gold Wing blowing billowing clouds of water vapor out its exhaust (coolant entering combustion chamber)? Why do I hear about so many Suzuki's sucking a valve at the local track? Why was my own personal Yamaha sport bike such a nightmare to keep running? Compared to that Yamaha my Buell has been exceptionally reliable. | ||
| Xxxb9s |
yes, japs aren't that reliable.... looks like there are a lot of stereotypes out there. | ||
| Firewhirl |
Buddy of mine just purchase a brand new honda CBR600RR. He cranked it over the following day to go for a ride and the wiring harness caught on fire. Any bike can have problems. Going on 15,000 miles on my XB9R with Race kit. Only trouble I have had was O2 sensor going bad. | ||
| Shc76239 |
wow, all this really helps. Thanks for all y'alls advice. | ||
| Spatten1 |
Blake, All I know is that I've owned about 15 Japanese bikes and they have all been bullet proof. It is just anectdotal, but that has been my experience, and I'm not alone. I worked for one of the big four in the R&D dept. and saw all the problems, but I walked away very impressed with overall reliability and build quality. Like you've said, all makes have some problems. I bought a Buell X1 and it was a design disaster, in my opinion. Leaks, parts fell off, the intake system did not seal in two places so I had to build my own, it took three tools to take off the chin fairing, some standard and some metric, hard starting, and that's what I remember off the top of my head. I really don't want to remember more. However, the XB is a high quality machine and I have no qualms about beating on it and riding it anywhere. I really believe the XB is a world class machine on par with all competition, but I don't believe that my tuber was. | ||
| Shc76239 |
Well guys, i did it. I bought my city cross today. Thanks for the advice everyone. I feel more confident in my bike after hearing what you guys have to say about the new xbs. |
