| Author | Message | ||
     Sgpatter |
The 1125CR is the bike that sets my heart a singin' but when it comes right down to it, there isn't another bike on the market that better meets my riding needs and style than the XB12ST. Then again, most of the reviews I read complain about engine heat. That isn't a huge issue for me really as if the bike's good enough the heat gets relegated to a grin-and-bear-it part of ownership. But some of these articles indicate the bike is unrideable under some conditions. Discomfort, OK no problem, having to sit on the side of the road, not OK, not acceptable. So the whining of journalists aside, how bad is the problem? Minor annoyance, major annoyance, flat out problem? I know many believe there's some form of a water-cooled version of the bike on the way but who knows when, let alone if, and all said in done, I'll happily leave aside HP for having a no valve maintenance bike. | ||
| Fung |
for me its minor. and its great with the colder weather. | ||
| Ratbuell |
I barely notice it, even in 90+ weather. I've NEVER had to sit on the side of the road. Not even close. (06 Uly X) | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
If you ride in jeans or worse shorts, you will NOTICE the heat. I don't really notice the heat riding the Buell the way a Buell is supposed to be ridden. If you lug it around town, it will get hot, and you'll notice more. If you have shorter legs requiring you to keep your inner thighs against the frame, you'll notice more. I don't know what kind of weak noodley rider would have to pull over because of the heat coming of a ULY, but they should report to Y Chromosome Central and turn in their man card immediately. It's a motorcycle. It shakes. It vibrates. It smells like gasoline. It gets warm. Buy the XT. You will not regret one minute of your ownership. Pssst. The CR gets warm too.  | ||
| Midnightrider |
It can get hot but it's rarely a problem. I wear full leathers 99% of the time. In Washington DC in August in stop and go traffic - yeah it get's a little warm. The ONE time last year I just rode in jeans ( also in stop and go traffic) I actually picked up 2-3 little blisters on the inside of my right thigh. Just another reason for ATGATT | ||
| Sgpatter |
Thanks folks. Ft_bstrd- " I don't really notice the heat riding the Buell the way a Buell is supposed to be ridden. " Meaning keeping the revs up a bit to keep it on cam? Midnightrider- I give up...ATGATT is? I have short legs, I do almost always ride in jeans (never shorts) but blisters on your legs? Yeah they heal, aren't fatal and not enough to scare me off but it seems a bit much for a modern bike; and more than what the other folks described. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
"I don't really notice the heat riding the Buell the way a Buell is supposed to be ridden. " Meaning keeping the revs up a bit to keep it on cam? Buells perform best in the "Buell Sweet Spot", 4000RPMs. If you ride it at "HD Sweet Spot", 2500RPMs, it will run hotter. It's counter intuitive, but the Buell engine is tuned to be bost efficient at a higher RPM range than Sportster engines. I was riding around today at 2500 to 3000 RPMS and noticed more heat and more vibrations. People who complain most about the heat and the bike being "vibey" usually come from HDs tuned to cruise at lower speeds. There is a weird "smoothe curve" with Buells. They are roughest at idle. They become vibey at 2800-3300 RPMs. They run smoothest from 4000RPMS and up. The 1125 and most other engines are just the opposite. The faster you spin them, the more vibrations you feel. The XB engines are just the opposite. The faster you spin them, the smoother they feel. The XB's are also opposite in that the harder you bang on them, the better the gas mileage and the cooler they run. Mostly, though, Buells are meant to be ridden like sport bikes. If you ride it like a cruiser, it will feel vibey, hot, and will provide crappy mileage. If you are looking between the CR and the XT, I feel the XT will be in good hands. | ||
| Etennuly |
ATGATT = All of The Gear All of The Time. In this case wearing riding pants will help immensely. Jeans will get you hot in the summer for sure. In the summer I wear Alpine Star double mesh padded pants, on cooler days full armor Buell XRUP pants. There is no heat issues from the bike with these. I did the jeans thing on my City-X for a year before getting the mesh pants. I suffered heat rash most of the summer on my right inner thigh. It cleared up after getting used to the mesh over pants being on all of the time. The cool thing was I can wear long shorts under them and just zip them off when I get where I am going, thus sporting walking shorts that are much cooler than jeans. | ||
| H2owerker |
And I'd suspect that the "blisters" were mearly clogged pores from sweating. Blisters are a sign of a 2nd degree burn, and would be accompanied by pain. I'd imagine that on the inside of the thigh they'd be quite painful. I've never ridden a 12ST, and can't see (from looking at them) why they'd be any hotter than any other XB model. Having been in lakefront traffic during HD's 105th this summer for 1.5hrs at speeds reaching 5mph I can say that heat can become uncomfortable. (it wasn't an issue for the 1st 1/2hr) But other than wishing traffic would move fast enough to get a light breeze it really wasn't an issue. However it did give a few bikers the opportunity to ask, "What kind of bike is that?"  (Message edited by h2owerker on January 03, 2009) | ||
| Alchemy |
The other thing with heat is the fan thing. What FB says surprises me but may be right. I find if I run under about 2600 rpm that the fan does not come on (means engine is under 400 degrees or so. It may be close to that hot and you will feel it. Once steadily above 3k or so my fan will come on. The operation of the fan changes the way the heat comes off the engine cooling some areas in particular the fuel rails. We each probably experience it differently depending on how we are positioned on the bike but I find that the fan pulls the heat back off the heads and depending on how you have your legs positions may be cooler. There are deflectors that can be installed that help. I wear heavy pants even in hot weather and it makes the heat a non-issue but if I wear a thinner pair of pants then it is noticed. The other thing is the engines seems to run better and cooler as they get a few thousand miles on them. | ||
| Redbuelljunkie |
Check the 1125 board about the heat generated by the water-cooled powerplant... search under "boiling fuel". On all motorcycles you are essentially sitting on the engine- there will be heat issues. Dress properly and you will be fine. Repeat after me: "Leather- there is no substitute." "ATGATT is where it's at." Learn it, live it, love it. | ||
| Iamarchangel |
9R Wore Rocket mesh over jeans all summer, never noticed any bothersome heat from the bike. In Fall wore Buell Adventure pants over jeans. Then I noticed the heat but the ventilator strip worked. It was just a warm thing. Can't really figure these journalists out or maybe I just like bikes that are too hot. I don't really notice it at all. It would be worse sitting in a car that wasn't air conditioned. | ||
| Brazenbuck |
This is an unfortunate rep that Buells get. They do throw off some heat (not unbearable) when they're new and haven't been broken in. I've got only 550 miles on my '06 and I've already started noticing it running cooler. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
If it's weird or different, there must be something wrong with it. Find out SOMETHING that is wrong and blow it out of proportion. I have NEVER experienced this "standing up under trail braking" thing. I also don't really notice the "steering lock" issue unless I'm pushing the bike around the garage. If you want heat, ride and RC51 or last generation FJR if you want heat. Those bikes are "traditional", so I guess the burning legs are ok. | ||
| Htekwo |
I haven't noticed anybody mentioning exhaust wrap. I have mine wrapped and it cut down quite a bit on the heat issue. I would also say that as you ad miles, the heat diminishes quite a bit (as was mentioned). | ||
| Brazenbuck |
I took delivery of mine with a ceramic coated header so I don't have a frame of reference. At first the heat was enough to make me wonder why I bothered. Now with some miles on it, the heat is almost a non-issue. | ||
| Itileman |
The heat deflectors work well and are positioned under the outside edge of the seat and above the rear pipe. No tools required for installation. It would also be easy to fabricate a short heat shield to go over the rear pipe along the engine. Less heat coming off my 09 XT than my 03 Road King with stock pipes and full heat shields. A lot less vibration too. | ||
| Boney95 |
My sac gets a little warm on the really hot days wearing jeans, that's about it, nothing to write home about. Just move your butt around, spread your legs open on occasion, and hang off while in the corners and you're all good. | ||
| Aptbldr |
Wearing UnderArmor (a brand of synthetic 'wicking' overpriced underwear) shorts reduces the thigh-heat felt on XB-R. Frequently worn alone under mesh-armor pants this past Summer. OT: I've found this sort of underwear is generally more comfortable under any riding circumstances than typical boxers. These have a stretchy tight-to-skin fit like a wet-suit: no bunching, wedgies, or other such extra fabric problems. Also, no fly. | ||
| Ratbuell |
I usually wear jeans, no blisters or discomfort. All of this could be a matter of personal fortitude, though....I wonder, has anyone taken a thermometer (just a meat one from the kitchen would do) and bungeed it to their thigh for riding in warm weather? Might get us some *objective* data here, other than lots of opinions. I'd do it when I ride to work today, but it's in the 20s out...it'd be less than helpful, lol. | ||
| Teeps |
How bad is the heat really? Only time engine heat is a problem, for me, is during parade rides. I.E. <30 mph stop and go riding. But it hasn't kept me from doing the L.A. "Ride for Kids" Charity ride. | ||
| Panhead_dan |
I have an X, not an XT but in my opinion the heat is almost a non-issue. On ocasions when it bothers me I simply tip my knee out away from the bike a little for a couple of seconds and it's all better. Honestly, that's all there is to it. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Steve- given your location, I don't think you'll have much problem with the heat. Riding in traffic in summer heat in the southeast US, (90+ deg. F and 90+ % RH) a stock Uly is HOT. Most of the heat comes from the right side of the frame and from hot air blowing out between the seat and the frame forward of the rear brake reservoir. There are several easy things you can do to knock this heat down: You can insulate the inside of the frame with adhesive-backed foil face insulation (hot rod firewall/floor insulation). Wrapping the exhaust headers or having them ceramic coated also helps. If you seal the gap between the seat and the frame along the right edge near the front that'll keep the hot air off your leg (especially when the fan's not running). Somebody here installed a piece of rubber weatherstripping to the bottom of their seat that seals the gap when the seat's in place. Some people have richened the fuel mixture using ECMspy and claim that makes a big difference. As stated above, getting some miles on the bike helps a lot too. | ||
| Iamarchangel |
Suggested this before. A welders glove heat reflector fits right in there, well, close enough. | ||
| Kazz1949 |
'08 XT On the initial ride home from the dealer (60mi.)I got dime size blisters on the inner right thigh. Air temp. ranged from 45 to 50. 900 hundred miles later it's considerable better.  Bob (Message edited by kazz1949 on January 04, 2009) | ||
| Midnightrider |
Somebody already covered me for the ATGATT explanation - thanks. And don't get me wrong - I love my Uly. But it does throw some heat. The day in question I had just come off about 45 minutes at 75+ mph on the the capitol beltway - sunny day, over 100F - then ran right into rush hour traffic crawling along at less than 5 mph. The right side was throwing so much heat I was tempted to pull over - but didn't. BTW - I'm a registered nurse and those were blisters. Surrounded by about 10 square cm of erythemic (1st degree burned) skin. Still goes to the same point - ATGATT | ||
| Iamarchangel |
Wow, second degree burns from riding. Not to challenge your experience but I've never felt anything close to that warm on my 'bolt. Or any bike for that matter. Heck, I'm a welder and I rarely get second degree burns. Lots of first degree, a couple of third. Second you can usually avoid. Not to challenge your experience. | ||
| Schleppy |
That is one of the major things keeping me off a Buell at this point. Based on the demo rides I had on an XB9SX and XB12STT I don't think I could ride the bike in the summer. I wear full leathers in the spring/summer and a two piece touring setup in fall/winter. I have to deal with traffic a lot since I commute on the bike, and I don't think the Buell would be great in the MA summer heat. I rode the Buells in the fall on a fairly cool day the heat was ROASTING hot when stopped at a light. Once underway you're ok, but if you have to crawl around in traffic for any sort of time I would imagine it would get unbearable after 10 minutes or so. Just my 2c... | ||
| Srwitt |
On my 08 12R I only get bothered by the heat in heavy traffic when wearing jeans. When I am leathered up, it is less of an issue in stop and go, I am more bothered by the heat of the sun in my leather than the bike. I have noticed the seat and frame get warm when "cruising", but not more than any other bike I have ridden. Even my Bandit 400 with the watercooling, when the fan would kick on in traffic I would feel it, BAD, it would blow all the heat off the radiator straight around the gas tank and up into my helmet and onto my legs. | ||
| 818guy |
Having my XT for 2,500 miles now I can add, yes it will get hot on the right side. I knew that when I bought it but it's something I live with. On the freeway it's not really that bad; it's the stop and go that can get tough on the leg. IMO probably the only "negative" of the bike (and the under-achieving fuel mileage I'm getting). |
