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Lightning_strikes_now
Posted on Friday, October 01, 2004 - 07:43 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

Erik:

The XB9 and XB12 model Buells are really good motorcycles. But other than the performance kit from the Harley/Buell dealer, there are no really good performance products from Buell. We as riders would like to enhance the performance of our bikes once we purchase them. Harley-Davidson makes many performance products for their bikes, so we feel that its about time that Buell step up to the plate and produce some really good performance products for the Buells. We are looking for the following: Big bore kits and cylinder heads, a high performance exhuast pipe using the interactive valve technology already used on the XB12's, computer modules that are setup to change the spark timing and injection timing for maximum hp and torque - not low exhaust emissions, different programable computer modules that we can setup ourselves if we feel that the we could do better, etc. etc.
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M1combat
Posted on Friday, October 01, 2004 - 07:55 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

Ummm, Buell IS a performance product... Compare it to the sportster it was "derived" from as far as the engine is concerned.

Aren't most of the bolt on "high performance" parts available through HD actually screaming eagle parts? Don't they just have a partnership?

Why do you need Buell to spend valuable R&D money on performance parts when they have companies like NRHS or Cycle-Rama that fill those spots? There are plenty of aftermarket FI controllers and spark controllers that will allow you to do anything you want. Why do they need to say Buell on them?

I say Erik and Co. needs to continue on their path to greatness making great motorcycles. Let the aftermarket sort out the power demands. There are some VERY high quality people doing so.

That's one of the nice things about these bikes though... Erik is almost certain to read this post unless it gets archived too soon.
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Fullpower
Posted on Friday, October 01, 2004 - 08:20 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

American V-Twin
Rubber mount aluminum frame
Thank you mister Buell
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BadS1
Posted on Friday, October 01, 2004 - 09:29 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

One more thing you forgot M1.He's posting his message on the wrong board.Try the For The Factory Topic
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Lightning_strikes_now
Posted on Friday, October 01, 2004 - 11:21 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

The reason I posted this request is that just about everyone I've met that rides a Buell wants more power. The after market injection and spark controller are problematic from what I've been told and are probably not dependable on long trips or for long periods of time. Since Buell has the interactive exhaust system, they could develop a high performance muffler that uses this technology to keep the hp and torque high as possible down low, modulate and open up at around 4500 rpm to maximize hp up high. We could have the best of both worlds. Also, Buell could design OEM plug in control modules that would be much easier to use than the after market versions mensioned above. I would like to have a OEM module for the stock XB12 that remaps the injection and spark for maximum hp and torque instead of reduced emissions. The engine may pickup about 3 to 5 hp from that change alone. Since Buell is the OEM, they have the know how to do it better that these after market guys. Look at what Buell has done so far with the Sportster plateform! Buell can and should do more.
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Reepicheep
Posted on Friday, October 01, 2004 - 11:49 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

Look at Pammy's X1 dyno. Or Aaron's dyno's. Those are numbers big twin tuners would be thrilled to see.

I kid Harley folks that the Buells are shown, complete as from the factory, as the stage 4 screaming eagle sportster package. If you want to go beyond that, look to Colorado or Florida, neither will dissapoint you.
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M1combat
Posted on Saturday, October 02, 2004 - 01:08 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

The aftermarket controllers are reliable and you could trust them. If you really don't think you can... Buy two. They are cheap. I doubt the bikes will gain 4-5HP just by modifying the fuel curve.

"Also, Buell could design OEM plug in control modules that would be much easier to use than the after market versions mensioned above."

I think they do...

"Since Buell has the interactive exhaust system, they could develop a high performance muffler that uses this technology to keep the hp and torque high as possible down low, modulate and open up at around 4500 rpm to maximize hp up high."

I think that's pretty much exactly what they do with the exception that they chose (probably for good reason) different RPM points to change the valve position.
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Bud
Posted on Saturday, October 02, 2004 - 02:25 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

and you forget the whole liabilaty and warranty issue..
( i'm not talking 3-4 hp exstra, that's not high perf. ; ) )

and the cost off an high performance engine done by buell will be high ( > 5 grand ish )
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Shorty_ii
Posted on Saturday, October 02, 2004 - 09:46 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

Modern high tech, high performance V-twin.

Sounds a bit like a certain engine in the H-D lineup.....why not?
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Buckinfubba
Posted on Saturday, October 02, 2004 - 10:06 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

BTW the pipes harley makes for there bikes suck...you have to go to the aftermarket,

If you want a good pipe for your buell, I know someone in North carolina, hickory to be exact, where you can get a good one. The DRUMMER.....

email me or clck on the banner at top...

heck call kevin at the shop 828-324-9991

as far as heads go....the xb heads are pretty dang good just the way they are, but aaron or pammy I am sure could squeeze just a lil more out of them.
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Lightning_strikes_now
Posted on Saturday, October 02, 2004 - 07:30 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

Brian Gardner

I was at Tilley's in Statesville and put my XB12S on his dyno. It made 88.9 hp and 72.9 ft-lbs of torque at the rear wheel. I feel that Buell could make a performance muffler using the interactive exhaust technology. They could make an ECM for the muffler to remap the fuel injection and spark advance for maximum hp and torque. This is really all I would want to do to my XB12S. This muffler would keep the torque high across the rpm range. The current factory Buell race kit is not good enough. I rode an XB12S in Boone with the race kit installed during the Running The Ridge event, and I was really disappointed. The bike lost power down low, but I couldn't feel anything faster than stock after 4500 rpm's. My XB12S would slam the doors on it.

Gary
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BadS1
Posted on Saturday, October 02, 2004 - 08:18 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

Sorry Gary but what they did with the muffler is about the best that can be done with it and using the interactive valve.If it was something worth the time it would be on the FX race bike but there not.The valve is really there to give you the best of both worlds at the same time make it EPA legal.
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Johncr250
Posted on Saturday, October 02, 2004 - 08:29 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

Buell`s definately need more power from the factory and not just five or six HP. More like 20-25 and sixth gear too while your at it please.

My Buell is screaming at over 4000rpm`s or more at my highway cruising speed of 80mph. Thats real high for a bike that redlines at 6000.
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Xb9er
Posted on Saturday, October 02, 2004 - 11:17 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

If you people wanted 110+ HP street bikes then why did you buy Buells?

I bought my Firebolt because the features and specs touted by Buell like "mass centralization," low unsprung weight, short wheelbase, low center of gravity, "ZTL" brake, high torque V-Twin seemed to me to be the best combination of features for riding twisty backroads compared to the other bikes I looked at.

I could spend a couple thousand bucks or more and get the horsepower and torque up there to have a nice, pretty dyno chart. Sure, that would impress lots of badwebbers, but do I really need that much power out on the twisties? More experienced riders keep telling me "it's the rider not the bike" on the twisties. Are they lying to me?

If I had been more interested in riding track days or doing a little racing, the Buell would not have made the first cut! There are lots of bikes out there that fill that bill and many of them are much cheaper than Buells.

Maybe I'm missing something???
Mike.
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Prof_stack
Posted on Sunday, October 03, 2004 - 12:21 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

It's a cult, I tell you, a cult.



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Rocketman
Posted on Sunday, October 03, 2004 - 03:38 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

If you people wanted 110+ HP street bikes then why did you buy Buells?

Ever consider that guys that like \ want more power like the bikes too?

Rocket
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Oyvind
Posted on Sunday, October 03, 2004 - 04:33 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

any one try the 1250cc or 1420cc from nrhs ???
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Johncr250
Posted on Sunday, October 03, 2004 - 09:29 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

These days 110hp street bikes are very common. I really don`t consider 110hp a ton of power.

Especially when you have stock bikes running around with 150 to 175hp.

Buell has the package, they just need a real motor to put in it.
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Xb9er
Posted on Sunday, October 03, 2004 - 01:17 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

A Cult!! Wow, that's a good answer.

Yeah, I always forget that people actually form emotional bonds with their bikes. I personally wouldn't buy a bike if I liked it but it didn't have the performance and features that I could and would actually find useful. Or at least one that I would only need to spend less than $1000.00 to make it what I want.

I only used the 110+ HP number because I thought that for all but the actual teams racing Buells, people will max out at around 110 or so without spending exorbitant amounts of money.

I have said before that the XB won't be "world class" until it has a new, world class motor (with HP in stock form that matches at least the stock 600cc repliracers). So I agree on that point.

I still ask, why did you buy a Buell if you want 150 to 175 HP in a stock bike and no current Buell will ever, ever make over 140 HP no matter what you modify, short of replacing the motor with a "world-class" motor.
Mike.
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M1combat
Posted on Sunday, October 03, 2004 - 01:49 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

Riiiiiiight Mike.... If a person spent as much money on his FX race Buell as Honda does on their FX 600 the Buell would certainly make more than 140HP. All it takes is getting a little jiggy with the materials used. Maybe a former F1 engineer would help too.
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M1combat
Posted on Sunday, October 03, 2004 - 01:50 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

They are making close to 140 for a GREAT deal less than 10K right now : ).
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Cataract2
Posted on Sunday, October 03, 2004 - 05:11 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

I tend to agree, Buell needs a better motor in the end. I would love, along with many others, to see a VROD engine in the Buell. Will it happen, who knows. But, they really need to get the power up some.
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Xb9er
Posted on Sunday, October 03, 2004 - 08:58 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

"If a person spent as much money on his FX race Buell as Honda does on their FX 600 the Buell would certainly make more than 140HP. All it takes is getting a little jiggy with the materials used."

I don't disagree at all with that. I was referring mainly to what the normal Buell street rider now has available to get max horsepower.

Not to mention if you spend $10K or whatever to be able to compete (horsepower-wise) on the street with a Japanese 600 repliracer, you will be replacing that Harley V-twin a couple times before the original 600cc reaches the end of it's life.

Mike.
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M1combat
Posted on Sunday, October 03, 2004 - 09:03 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

The XB12 is already competitive with the 600's... And IMO a lot more fun.
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Johncr250
Posted on Monday, October 04, 2004 - 09:46 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

A stock XB12 is no threat to a stock 600 on the street or the track.

Its down atleast 12-15hp, short 6th gear, lighter, all for thousands of dollars less. Compare the numbers top speed quarter mile, and lap times in the magazines.

And i think there are very few 140hp Buells running around on the street or track.
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Xb9er
Posted on Monday, October 04, 2004 - 03:21 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

The only way a stock XB12 can stay with a stock 600cc bike is with a superior rider on tight twisty roads. Everywhere else the 600 would smoke it.

But you are right about the XB being more fun.

Mike.
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M1combat
Posted on Monday, October 04, 2004 - 03:51 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

Well, I should have clarified I suppose... I did mean in twisty roads. I have no interest in straights. I don't believe they need to be all that tight though, just as long as there aren't a lot of long straights. The 600's don't seem to be able to gain much distance in the straights at all. You're right though, XB9er... It all comes down to rider skill.

Johncr - Keep in mind I didn't say "superior in every way to the 600's", I said "competitive with the 600's". If course the 600's are faster in a straight line, but that's almost counter intuitive. If you want to go fast in a straight line, you need a drag bike. Not a bike that's made for road racing. In a road race, the XB's will keep up with bikes that are widely considered far superior (once you change the tires).

"Its down atleast 12-15hp, short 6th gear, lighter, all for thousands of dollars less."

Maybe so, but it's up about 100% in torque, sixth gear would be acedemic, There's a fine balance between CG and overall weight and the money doesn't bother me in the least. Maybe people just need to learn how to use torque instead of reving the out of an engine that's not meant to be used that way. I asure you, the XB12 is most certainly a match for a 600cc repliracer just about anywhere other than Monza...

It's all beside the point anyway though, the Buell is a riders bike. I think you'll find more experience and for the most part more skill on a Buell than a 600cc IL4 repliracer. I mean no offence by that, but the seasoned veterans tend to like Buells on the street. Job well done by BMC as I think that's mostly what they were aiming for. A good rider's bike.

Here's the thing... I've walked around liter bikes on my favorite section of road, and I've been passed by dirt bikes so fast all I could think was "DAMNIT!! That guy BETTER not be on knobbies!". Anything is beatable, buy what suits your needs. I think if you are looking for a good 600 class track bike, an XB12 or XB9 punched to 1050 is a great choice. If you want more... Get more.
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M1combat
Posted on Monday, October 04, 2004 - 03:51 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

damn... so many mis-spelled words in that one I'm not even going to worry about it : ).
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Reepicheep
Posted on Monday, October 04, 2004 - 04:40 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

M1... Could be worse, I have been passed by a dirt bike with knobbies...


... While it was in the back of a trailer...being pulled by a Jeep Grand Cherokee.....

... In a straight!

Geesh! How embarassing!

(It was a buddy of mine and we were on the way to deals gap... I chickened out when I reached speeds for which I believe they impound motorcycles in Kentucky... it was my first and last high speed stunt, I found it tedious and uninteresting).

Bill "I slow down for the straight bits" Kilgallon : )
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Bomber
Posted on Monday, October 04, 2004 - 05:57 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

M1

two short stories to support your world view -- story the first

down at the gap, my bud really wanted to run the Skyway in is Probe (breathed on, suspension gone trough, pretty good little sporty car at that point) - - - so we went out at dusk and he began to smoke on . . . . . . .. .til he noticed the black on black suburban on his tail, which he could not shake, no matter what . . . .that battlecruiser passed us on a reverse camber, blind left hander that had me squeezing out drops! . . . . his plate said he was a local, but still . . . . . .

story the second -- I was down near Starved Rock, a State Park near here, running with a guy I'd jsut met on a S1 (he used to post regularly here) . . . .led me a merry chase, with me barely keepin him in sight . . .at the next rest, he told me of running the same route at the same speed and being passed by "an old guy in a 70s Pontiac Bonniville like I was on blocks!

I understand folks' desire for more power (ur ur ur ), but, a tht eend of the day, there's ALWAYS gonna be someone who can beat you like the family mule!
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