| Author | Message | ||
     Bmwdavid |
Hi all, I've been away from these boards since 2008 when I sold my '06 Uly. Have several other bikes but I've always missed that bike. Well...I have an opportunity to buy a 2007 12SS Long with 6500 miles. Looked at the bike last night briefly and its dirty and missing the hugger and the upper belt guard. No indication of ever being dropped. It appears intact otherwise and I'm going to give it a much closer inspection later today along with a test ride. Seller very motivated and is thinking about $3000.00 to let it go. I think this is a steal providing bike checks out. It will need a good detailing and the mentioned missing hugger and belt guard. What do you guys think? Please advise me on anything I should look at. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
The 2007 engines had a bad batch of cranks. Not ALL of them but listen for odd sounds from engine. 6500 miles may not be enough time for it to manifest itself though. For $3000 though, I'd say roll those dice! | ||
| Bmwdavid |
That is not good. I just did a quick Google of this subject and sure enough there it is. What I can't seem to find is if there is a range within the VIN that this issue pertains too? The bike I'm looking at has a build date of 11/06 I'll know the VIN after I see bike later today. Might still consider bike after riding it and checking it over thoroughly. As you said @ $3000.00 might be worth a toss of the dice. | ||
| Hughlysses |
David- We've never been able to match up the failures with serial numbers, build dates, or anything similar. The problem seems most common on Uly's, and that may be because of how they're ridden or maybe just more Uly riders hang out here. The failures always seem to happen at around 30,000 miles; mine occurred at 29,000 IIRC. I'm guessing it was some kind of quality control problem, like the hardening of the crankpin was not consistent. That would explain the seemingly random failures. If you want to make CERTAIN you never have the failure, drop the engine and install a 2008-up crankshaft/rods assembly. The parts will set you back something less than $1k. This crank has a 1.5 inch (vs. 1.25 inch) diameter crankpin and stronger rods. You also have to install a new primary sprocket and I believe the left side crankcase bearing has to be replaced. If you don't want to do a pre-emptive change on the crank but you want warning of the possibility of an impending crank failure, send in some of your oil for a used oil analysis every time you change it, especially when you get north of 20k miles. Amsoil, Blackstone Labs, and others offer this service. I'll bet you'll get a clear signal your rod bearings/crank pin are going long before you hear a knock. Otherwise, just fix it if it breaks. Odds are you'll get at least 24,000 trouble-free miles out of it and you might never have the issue. | ||
| Bmwdavid |
OK...if failure typically occurs as mileage approaches 20-25K+ then maybe it will be worth the risk for me. This would be one of five bikes I own so riding mileage is spread out among a few bikes. It would be a few years before the XB gets near 20K miles. The oil analysis sounds like a good way to catch this in the earliest stages. | ||
| Froggy |
Here is a thread keeping track of the 2007 failures - http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/384 2/648773.html Like said above, there is no rhyme or reason or anything else to determine a bad range. Unfortunately we just don't have enough data on real world bikes to figure it out without some kind of factory resource. | ||
| Bmwdavid |
Well I looked the bike again. It runs well, the idle hunts a bit. Bad gas? Vacuum leak? No apparent oil leaks, shifts well, very dirty brake fluid, seems intact except some after market LED winkers. Needs a new front tire and a tune up/fluids change. Started right up from cold and idled fine except for the hot idle that hunted a bit. The fan works... It was missing the rear hugger and upper belt guard. But seller says he has them at another location so I will check with him tomorrow to see if all of the plastic and mounting hardware is in fact there. Only has one mirror. Not sure about brake pads...need to take a closer look again. Think I can get it for $2850.00 by pointing out front tire, tune, brake fluid and etc. It needs a thorough cleaning. The exhaust/muffler can is rusty and the header bolts are corroded. But man it was a blast to ride. I'd forgotten how these things felt since selling my Uly a long time ago. | ||
| Bmwdavid |
Well I bought it. Looked at it again and realized it was in pretty nice shape. Needs a good cleaning and got to spoon on a new front tire and service it but all in all a nice solid XB. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Congrats on the "new" bike. IIRC long-time Badwebber Court once said the Ss had some suspension wizardry learned while developing the earlier bikes that made it the best handling XB ever. | ||
| Bmwdavid |
I've had my '07 XB12Ss for a couple of weeks now. Found the few things I needed and did a full service and new front tire. Cleaned up great and is intact. Runs great and really enjoying it. Happy to be an XB owner again. Hard to believe these bikes did not survive in the market. The design and engineering on these bikes is really cool when you really study it. | ||
| Submax |
Nice! Glad it's working out and you are having fun with the bike!  Yeah...it would be cool if they were still making XB's! |
