| Author | Message | ||
     Vaneo1 |
I am seriously rethinking this whole Buell thing.I purchased a new 2006 12R about 1.5 years ago. Since, the bike has been good for the most part BUT... it has been in and out of the service dept. for uncommon repairs. I wont bore you with the list but I will tell you of the most recent. Bike has been sitting over at Glendale HD for a week now and it is because the bolts holding the header intakes onto the engine broke off causing my header to gradually fall from the engine, and rub against my clutch cable. I didt catch the problem in time so the clutch cable is unharmed (just a little melted rubber) but this is not expected. I am fortunate Buell offers a 2 yr unltd. milage warranty because over the course of 30,000 miles I have taken advantage of it. Heres the financial part, I owe about 8k on the bike still but am considering selling it and going back to Japanese. I figure I can sell it for about 6-8k as a private party since the Honda dealer said they would buy it for 4k. If I can do this then I can pay off my debt as best I could, and buy a used 2000-2003 Japanese sportbike. I know there is no bike that has absolutely no problems but at least I would know what to expect from an import. I would seriously like comments, questions, suggestions, etc. Thanks | ||
| Djkaplan |
Working and tinkering on stuff makes me happy, so my Buell is almost a perfect match for me. Not everyone is like this, and most people have more interesting things to do than spend time locked up in a garage with their bike... so make yourself happy. | ||
| Glitch |
Once frustrated with something, it becomes difficult to overcome. Only you can decide if selling makes things right in your head. My guess is you'll not get close to 8K for any bike with 30K miles. What exactly are you frustrated with? Bike or dealership? You may just have to post you long list, I checked your profile and the list wasn't too bad IMO. | ||
| Nevrenuf |
i know when you start spending money on a rice burner it does get expensive apposed to the buell. my son's 636 still has the same road rash on it for the past 1 1/2 yrs. he can't aford to replace the plastic. and maybe you just got a bike that was built on a friday afternoon or a monday morning. look at what carlos did to his uly up in ga over the weekend and go to the website on the quickboard under the tucked it thread and think about what he's gonna have to put out. | ||
| Mesafirebolt |
First, I read your profile. I've had some of the same problems, headlights loose and the one no one wants to fix, the chrome behind the lens flaking off. One of my seat screw inserts is spinning in its hole etc...I have the extended warranty but have been reluctant to use it, its HARD to take my bike across town, drop it off and leave it there for????? days till they call me and tell me its done (They had it a week for the side stand recall I was part of on some '05's) When something goes wrong I have either lived with it or fixed it myself. It would seem like everything I own has SOME problem like that. My Dodge truck, BMW car, 4 Winns boat. I guess what I'm saying is if its mechanical, it WILL break. ONLY thing I have ever had that was Japanese was an 88 Honda Hawk GT 650. Fork seals went bad on it, the steel portion of the frame rusted even though theres no rust problem here in Arizona, my intake seals developed a leak, the Chain adjuster on the rear hub was worn so bad (soft aluminum) that it was WAY hard to adjust the chain, the radiator was leaking and the throttle cables were shot, causing the choke to hang up (20,000 miles when I sold it) among other things. I've never had a late model rice rocket so I cant tell you any thing about them but I do know all those valves, pistons and radiators not to mention the RPM's SCARE ME! I think that was one of the BIG factors in my purchase of the Buell. I'm a mechanic, on a buell, If it breaks, I KNOW I can fix it...and the parts ARE cheap. My 2 cents... | ||
| Sneth |
honestly, remind yourself why you bought a buell. if those reasons still apply, i would stick it out. Some people can't handle being different. If you can't handle being an outcast, might be time to sell. Personally, i thrive off the criticism. | ||
| Vaneo1 |
Ok, sorry I havent commented earlier, with 5 posts it appears Im not exactly everyones favorite on here haha. Anyway, I decided to sell the XB and go for an import aka cookie cutter. Not that this has anyting to do with my decision to sell but it is just extra info. So, after calling Glendale HD for the second time once weds and once yesterday I got the "its on the work list for today we will call you when we know what happens" for the second time. I decided to pick my bike up today from the dealer and put it in the back of my truck to do it myself with the help of a good friend. I went to the parts counter to get all the parts I would need for the job. The man selling me the parts advised me that the job will be tough and that I should let service handle it. I told him that the bike had been collecting sun in the service parking lot for the past two weeks and that I cant wait any longer. He was surprised and said that is a little long for a bolt needing to be tapped out. Needless to say he sold me the parts and wished me good luck. My friend and I were able to drill a really nice pilot hole into the stud but that factory (BMC) must have put there heavy duty locktite on so we were not able to extract the now hollow stud. Therefore, as soon as I get the bike repaired I am going to sell it. I guess to some my list of discrepancies is not too long, maybe I ended up with one of the best Buells ever built on the line but I am starting to see this is not good enough for my expectations. On the plus side for Buell, the "catastrophy" problems were centered around the items that are HD stamped. To each his own, there are some who love them and some who hate them. Thanks for your input guys, the bike ran fine until about mile 23,000. The problems I have listed to me just arent "common" problems in the motorcycle world. Buell is correct, this bike is anything but common. | ||
| Rogue_biker |
You put 30k miles on a 2006? Wow! That's a lot of riding! That's twice the NORMAL mileage on a car not a bike! I also have a 2006 and I "only" have 6k miles on mine and I consider myself to ride a lot. Okay. You got a header bolt bust out. A headlight housing come loose. And the Buell seat upgrade mounting hole crack. That's it or was there something else? If this is the case, I would say you didn't give the bike the benefit of a tiny break considering the amount of mileage you put into it. I mean, that kind of mileage is way out of the normal range and for those items to go wrong, I would say that's NOT bad! You should have given your dealership a chance to fix all these problems under warranty. However, I think you had already made up your mind for some reason. Let me tell you, put 30k miles in a year and half on an English/Italian/German/Japanese bike and something will go wrong with it too! I personally have owned nothing but Japanese bikes and none of them were 100% trouble-free and I put about 7k-10k mile a year on mine. | ||
| Lord_deathscyte |
The grass is always greener on the other side.....put then again as an automechanic I see new heavy duty work trucks that are design for daily use and abuse break down and they are only dong 15k-20k a year(the Isuzu trucks are worse then GMC). So maybe a used bike will solve the problem. This way he has a bike that is already road tested and abused by somebody else. | ||
| Cgocifer |
I noticed you are in the CG. What kind of collar devices are you sporting in your profile pic (a bit blurry)? Anyway, I came from Japanese sport bikes: CBRs, Kawas, and an R6 (pic attached). Those engines rev to around 15000 rpms. Engines like that are usually due for a major overhaul at 12,000 - 15,000 miles. I wouldn't even consider purchasing an inline 4 bike with over 10,000 miles. Try putting 30,000 miles on an engine like that, and you'll see all kinds of issues like worn valve seats, bad piston rings, excessive bearing wear, worn valve guides, and etc. The low-revving HD-based engines used in the Buells can easily do 50,000-100,000 miles without too many major issues (especially the newer models). Buells are inexpensive to repair, have less scheduled maintenance items, and parts are relatively inexpensive. I bought the shop manual and can easily do most of the maintenance in my home garage with basic tools. I really enjoy having a rare bike considering how many of the "cookie cutter" bikes there are out there. The bike gets so many more stares and head turns than my previous bikes. Not to offend anyone, but as someone in my 30s, the Buell fits my age better than the boy racer bikes. It is more mature in nature. A nice comparison is a tuner car with a coffee can for an exhaust, a bunch of flashy decals, and a huge, useless wing to a new Corvette. Good luck with your bike search, Semper Paratus!  | ||
| Molly_hatchet |
couldnt of said it better myself...ive had jap bikes...dont think for a second that they dont have problems...i saw my share with the R-1 and the gixx 600...the katana actually took the best beating and kept tickin ..euro bikes...yikes...i have friends that have aprillas and duc's...oooh they have issues...a friend with an RC51 has many problems now that he has passed the 10,000 mile mark....but hey ride what makes u happy man...i wanted to unload mine a while back...im glad i didnt now. | ||
| Cgocifer |
Molly_hatchet, I was trying to sell mine too because I thought I wanted a more acceptable-to-general-public bike. I am really glad I didn't sell it now! I like going against the grain. You know what else is funny? I've read so much negative criticism about the XB's transmission and how it's like a box of rocks. My R6's transmission was way worse!! That thing clunked into 1st, 2nd, and sometimes 3rd. The XB's is smooth in comparison. Even from the day I brought my R6 home from the show room, I was worried that one day, the tranny would just clunk itself to death! | ||
| Molly_hatchet |
its funny how the whole acceptance thing works..i was taling to a bunch of teenagers the other night ...my bike was out in the parking lot and one came over then a group of them wandered my way...they were all over my bike...wow thats cool....all the usual stuff...then they figured out it was a v-twin...the questions start///first question was...how fast does it go....ok , about 130 or so....wow thats not as fast as a gsxr/r-1/zx/cbr whatever....so i asked...have any of u actualy ridden at over 130 for any length of time...noooo...well lemme tell ya kiddies its pretty damn fast...we all talked for a while and they were pretty cool with the fact that it was what it was....i doubt any of them will run out an buy a new buell...until they hit the later years hahahaha....anywhooo...ive had my share of rice rockets and ur right they all have problems....maybe u should buy a beemer and a KTM ...they seem pretty reliable...i dunno man i dont need anybody tellin me my bike isnt what i want and i can deal with whatever problems come my way...its what i wanted it fits me waaay better than the other bikes and it has soul....i loved my other bikes as well....still to this day i miss my RD's ....il find another one someday....do what makes u happy vaneo....but dont think other bikes dont have problems..they all do...and jap bikes are spendy to work on big time....good luck man. | ||
| Thepup |
"I noticed you are in the CG. What kind of collar devices are you sporting in your profile pic (a bit blurry)? Anyway, I came from Japanese sport bikes: CBRs, Kawas, and an R6 (pic attached). Those engines rev to around 15000 rpms. Engines like that are usually due for a major overhaul at 12,000 - 15,000 miles. I wouldn't even consider purchasing an inline 4 bike with over 10,000 miles. Try putting 30,000 miles on an engine like that, and you'll see all kinds of issues like worn valve seats, bad piston rings, excessive bearing wear, worn valve guides, and etc. The low-revving HD-based engines used in the Buells can easily do 50,000-100,000 miles without too many major issues (especially the newer models). Buells are inexpensive to repair, have less scheduled maintenance items, and parts are relatively inexpensive. I bought the shop manual and can easily do most of the maintenance in my home garage with basic tools. I really enjoy having a rare bike considering how many of the "cookie cutter" bikes there are out there. The bike gets so many more stares and head turns than my previous bikes. Not to offend anyone, but as someone in my 30s, the Buell fits my age better than the boy racer bikes. It is more mature in nature. A nice comparison is a tuner car with a coffee can for an exhaust, a bunch of flashy decals, and a huge, useless wing to a new Corvette. Good luck with your bike search, Semper Paratus! " Cg,ther are a lot of older Japanese bikes with way more than 15,000 miles that hasn't needed a rebuild.I don't know where you get that info,but it is wrong. (Message edited by thepup on April 08, 2007) | ||
| Spatten1 |
Those engines rev to around 15000 rpms. Engines like that are usually due for a major overhaul at 12,000 - 15,000 miles. The low-revving HD-based engines used in the Buells can easily do 50,000-100,000 miles without too many major issues (especially the newer models). That is BS. I was a motorcycle mechanic at Japanese dealers, and you are absolutely incorrect. Additionally, long stroke and big pistons do not equal long life. It is piston speed and weight, not RPM that stress parts. There are those like Pup and me that did not make to to 10k without a rebuild due to the goofy transmission and final drive design, crank nut, etc. Vaneo obviously puts a lot of miles on bikes and knows what has been reliable for him in the past, and what has not. Seems like he gave Buell a fair shot and it did not really work out for him. Why tell him he is wrong? | ||
| Spatten1 |
DJ said: Working and tinkering on stuff makes me happy, so my Buell is almost a perfect match for me. Not everyone is like this, and most people have more interesting things to do than spend time locked up in a garage with their bike... so make yourself happy. Wow, well said! | ||
| Molly_hatchet |
he isnt wrong....seems kinda like buell needs a lemon clause or something...u hear on this forum once in a while about a buell that needs way more than others...some seem to fall apart and some take one hell of a beatin and keep going. | ||
| Spatten1 |
Yeah, mine has had too many problems But... The Denver Buell club guys have had better luck across the board, which is why I'm keeping my bike rather than selling it to go back Japanese. | ||
| Cgocifer |
"Cg,ther are a lot of older Japanese bikes with way more than 15,000 miles that hasn't needed a rebuild.I don't know where you get that info,but it is wrong." I'm an engineer and at one time was a certified M/C mechanic. I didn't say all Japanese bikes need overhauls at the higher milage marks. Many; however, do need some serious attention, especially if they were flogged. As for the Buell engines, the Evolution series of engines are designed for 100,000+ miles. | ||
| Thepup |
Cg you implied that most Japanese engines require a rebuild after 15,000 miles and thats not true.The evolution wasn't meant to Rev to 7500 RPM and produce the HP that the Buells are making so they may or may not last 100,000 miles. | ||
| Cgocifer |
Whatever, to each his own. I'll admit, I'm not a HD expert, but I've had zero issues and one of my riding buddies has over 45000 miles on his XB with one issue, which was a stuck clutch cable. Bottom line, all bikes, Japanese, American, European, 4 cyl, 2 cyl, 3 cyl, boxer, V, inline, push-rod, desmo, and OHC all have issues. It really comes down to what you like to ride. I do know that when an XB does break, the repair costs are much lower than they are with any of the other previously mentioned bikes. If you guys don't like your Buells, then get rid of 'em. As for revving to 7500 rpms, these engines don't NEED to in order to make power. Most of the time is spent below 4000-5000 rpm. There really isn't any reason to rev to the redline due to the torque curve. Most of the inline 4s don't begin making the majority of their power until 6000-8000 rpm. | ||
| Thepup |
Cg,once again your info is wrong,Only the 600 I4's need to be reved to make power,the 750 to 1300 IL4's have power everywhere.So it turns from you saying that IL4's only last 15,000 miles to I don't want my Buell,interesting. | ||
| Ridrx |
I was going to post something relevant, but I SEE where this is going. | ||
| Thepup |
Please Ridrx,please post something relevant about mileage of sportbikes. | ||
| Spatten1 |
As for revving to 7500 rpms, these engines don't NEED to in order to make power. Most of the time is spent below 4000-5000 rpm. I find my bike running 5k - 7k anytime I need to really accelerate. The 9's have a significant power rush over 5k. At the track I never got below 4500, for 20 minute stretches. In fact, to do a clutchless wheelie I have to bounce the front at 5k or higher to have any hope of getting to the balance point. Maybe it's because I weigh over 200lbs. I guess it is different riding styles. 3k to 4k is great for cruising on an XB, but for sport riding power just does not cut it until you rev them up. | ||
| Glitch |
2003 XB9S I wouldn't say I've abused it, but I ain't been easy on it either, I've kept up on the maintenance. I've burnt out two stators at 20,000 mile intervals, I'm no longer using Mobil1 gear oil, so we'll see what happens at 60,000. I'm at 50,000 now. I've had other bikes, plenty of 'em. All had their problems, and when the problems got beyond what I wanted to deal with, I sold 'em. The most miles I've ever had has been with the XB. Second would be my Bandit that had almost 30,000 before I sold it. The Bandit was a great bike, I didn't sell it because I was tired of fixing it though, I sold it because after I bought the XB, I just quit riding it. | ||
| Glitch |
Oh yeah, I had a leaky fork seal on the Buell as well not too long ago. Had a pinging problem, but that turned out to be a timing issue. | ||
| Spike |
We've been over that before. Claiming 750s make power everywhere just isn't true. Do I need to post the dyno charts again? | ||
| Spatten1 |
Spike- ride one. If you think the Buell makes power, a GSXR750 will scare the hell out of you. | ||
| Cgocifer |
Look at the torque numbers and at what rpm the Buell's peaks. Torque = quick acceleration. None of my other bikes, including a 2004 GSXR 750, pulled at my arms like my XB12S does. Everyone has their own opinion about the engines in question. The fact of the matter is this: The XB bikes are very quick from the line up to about 3rd gear (where the other bikes blow by you), the inline 4s are fast as he!!, and some (the 1000 cc bikes), have the torque needed to accelerate quickly too. For me, I like all bikes, yes ALL. Currently, I am enjoying the Buell because it has more of an adult essence about it, is easy to work on, is one of the most reliable bikes on the road, gets outstanding gas mileage, handles like it's on rails, sounds awesome, is an under dog (which I like), is unique, is inexpensive to repair (when it does have issues), has low maintenance requirements, and because nothing else out there currently except for the 1098, gives me any sort of emotional attraction. It's an easy-to-live-with bike that is fun to ride. Ciao, let the flaming continue... (Message edited by cgocifer on April 09, 2007) |
