| Author | Message | ||
     Nextcorner |
I've been told that if I plan to ride hard at all (do another track day) I should get the upgrade. I was surprised to NOT see this on www.erikbuellracing.com. | ||
| Hughlysses |
That likely means it's not considered a pure "race" part by HD (i.e.- HD wasn't getting ready to toss them all in the dumpster when they closed Buell), plus it fits Sportsters. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Worth watching for sure, but not all need the upgrade. I did it on my 05 XB9SX (30k miles and two track days) and it had significant wear, but would easily have gone for another 10k or 20k miles at least. How many miles do you expect to get on a race motor. It was stock from 2006 (I think) and later, so it's not a race part, it's stock. | ||
| Greg_e |
2007 had an update (there was a scan a while ago) so you need the most modern version. What year sporty used the newer style pump? Is it cheaper to get the sporty pump? | ||
| Cataract2 |
I replaced the one in my 05 XB9SX recently. It had 50,000 miles on it and still looked ok. Just piece of mind. | ||
| Billp |
how difficult is this to replace ? I've considered doing it on my 03 9S. Mostly for good luck. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Greg_e- the oil pump update is a different issue from the oil pump drive gear update. While the 07 oil pump is an easy upgrade, there's no pressing reason to do it. Buell never really "announced" this upgrade other than mentioning it in the model year update book for techs. It has a larger scavenging pump section- my guess would be to keep the crankcase evacuated better, perhaps in the interest of minimizing oil consumption. The updated oil pump drive gear (made of bronze) which was introduced in 06 addresses a known issue, occasional failure of the older steel drive gears. Billp- it's a pretty big job to replace the drive gear on an XB. You have to rotate the engine down in the frame, pull at least one rocker box assembly, and remove the right side engine cover to get to it. OTOH- it's fairly easy to inspect the gear (disconnect a couple of hoses, remove two bolts and drop the oil pump). An alternative to just replacing the gear is to inspect your existing one every couple of oil changes or so. In fact, if you've got significant miles (~20,000+) on your bike and the gear doesn't show significant wear, you probably don't need to worry about it. | ||
| Lovematt |
I just had mine inspected at just over 50,000 miles on an '03 XB9R...it looked good. That said if I were to need to rebuild the motor or get major work done...I would just replace it anyways. | ||
| Reepicheep |
It's a big job to replace the pinion gear, it will take a long time to do it if it is your first time. But it is just lots of straightforward steps. | ||
| Midknyte |
Are there tell tale sign(s) of one gone bad w/o opening the engine up? Also, is it something, that if it does fail, allows or causes damage to the engine? | ||
| Terrys1980 |
Are there tell tale sign(s) of one gone bad w/o opening the engine up? Metal shavings in oil or oil pressure light. | ||
| Socalbueller |
You can drop the oil pump and look at the gear through the hole. Make sure you rotate the engine to inspect the whole gear sometimes one side is good and the other is worn. Mine looked brand new after 50,000 miles so it is worth checking before getting into the engine. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Yup, just drop the oil pump at a convenient oil change, here is the view you will get if you crawl under the bike and look up into the cam cavity.  That is a tuber picture. I have one from the XB as well, a lot less worn at a lot higher mileage. It's pretty uncommon for it to fail on an XB series bike. Many of those of us running around replacing them "just in case" are brain damaged from the tuber days (when it wasn't uncommon enough...). | ||
| Rocketsprink |
Usually when those go, the outcome is not good. A fellow Buell racer screwed his engine up to the point that it required a total rebuild. He purchased the bike from a highly respected Buell dealer/race team. They built the motor up, but used the steel gear drive and that's what broke. Had it been the brass one, it would have sheared before the motor let go. I believe 2006 and up use the brass gear. I'd swap it out. Easy enough to do and gives some peace of mind. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Minor clarification... the gear looks like really pretty brass, but I think it is actually copper beryllium. Cool stuff... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper_beryllium
(Message edited by reepicheep on June 09, 2010) |
