| Author | Message | ||
     Dynasport |
I became interested in Buells last October after my second annual trip to NC to ride the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Dragon, and various other great roads. I decided I wanted something sportier and more capable than my FXDX after I got passed by some guys on BMWs. I believed it was because their bikes were faster than my bike and if I just had something faster I could have kept up with them. After all, I am the fast guy in my riding group. In fact, one of my concerns is that if I had a faster bike I wouldn't be able to ride with my best friend, who can't keep up with me now. Reading posts like this one, however, make me realize that it's not my bike that holds me back as much as my lack of fast riding skills. http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/290 431/349912.html?1207329473 And I am pretty bummed about it. I want to be able to ride faster, but living in Florida there aren't many curves to practice on. And though I ride almost every day, the rides are usually pretty short and not really the kind that make me faster. I have learned some riding techniques from reading some posts here, though that have been very helpful. I just have to be realistic and realize my limitations. My next bike, whenever I am able to purchase another one, will be sportier. I am thinking the XB12XT right now, but by the time I can buy one I may have changed my mind. I really wanted to be able to buy a new bike for my trip to NC this September, but finances won't allow it right now. I had really wanted to go to March Badness and meet you guys and get a chance to ride with you. I think I could learn more from talking to you all and riding with you. It turned out to be held at the same time as my daughter's senior prom. I should be able to make it next year though. I would love to meet you all at Buelltoberfest, but I will have just gotten back from my annual trip with my riding buddies, so I am not sure the wife and the job will be too agreeable to time off again so soon. I am determined to meet you all sometime though, Buell or no Buell, and ride with you. Till then, be safe. | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
Hey Dan, if you could find your way to West Virginia the 3rd weekend of August for the WV Buell rally, you would be welcome to take my Uly for a test ride. | ||
| Dynasport |
Wolf, Thanks so much for the offer. I don't know if I can make it, but I will definitely look into it. My son is coming home from college and is buying a Duc Monster 696. We are planning to take a ride somewhere together this summer. Maybe we could work that in. I have ridden a Uly at a dealership and through a Buell demo day. I also rode an XT in Daytona this year. I really liked the lower seat height of the XT. I think it is my favorite Buell, but I have yet to ride an 1125 yet. They had them in Daytona, but the rides were booked up so I didn't get to try it. If I didn't love my FXDX so much I might could swing a trade for one, but I am afraid I would regret letting her go if I traded her. Maybe I can get to WV. I'll see. Dan (Message edited by DynaSport on April 04, 2008) | ||
| Teddagreek |
Plenty of Curves in Florida even when your in Concrete Suburbia.. Just got to tune in to the right circles. Plenty of fun stuff north and east of Tampa.. Granted, Its no Deals Gap but good Fun none the less... I've seen guys knee's down on a lot of these rides, I'd rather hone my skills on wide roads with grassy shoulders anyways.. All sorts of bikes too I've had the pleasure of riding with all sorts of bikes from cafe Racers, cruisers or favorite a dude on his 40's indian Chief draggin floorboards sparking.. Pretty good road info on this site... www.tampasportbikes.com (Message edited by teddagreek on April 04, 2008) | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
If I didn't love my FXDX so much I might could swing a trade for one, but I am afraid I would regret letting her go if I traded her. I traded my Road King for my Uly and I have had no regrets. I do miss my Ape Hangers and laid back ride every now and then. But I just loft the front wheel and that feeling fades FAST. I'll be headed to TPA in a few weeks for work. I'm looking forward to some Crabby Bills and trip to Sloppy Johns/Mahauffers on Indian Rocks for a Red Stripe.... or two...or 3 | ||
| Scotto |
Wolf, if I may make a suggestion when in Indian Rocks Beach, skip Crabby Bills and go about a half mile south of there to JD's. Better food, better view, less wait. Stay with Mahaufers though, that place rocks! | ||
| Jlnance |
Reading posts like this one, however, make me realize that it's not my bike that holds me back as much as my lack of fast riding skills. I think that's true for all of us. I ride with some really skilled people, there is no way I can keep up when they want to go fast. They are always happy to wait at the stop sign though. If you want to improve your riding skills quickly, take a look at one of the inside pass events Buell puts on. It's an inexpensive way to do a trackday, particularly if you spend most of it on the demo bikes. They have coaches out on the track, and their advice is extremely helpful. | ||
| Nevrenuf |
i've lived in florida for the better part of 26yrs and curves don't come that easy in suburbia although you are right about getting north. used to do the monthly ride out of lakeland which would have been today but their doing a charity poker run instead i guess. the only thrill i ever got around tampa was getting on or off the interstate on the ramps. ted, if you've never ridden over to lakeland, it's usually a pretty good ride to breakfast. dyna, test rode the xt last weekend up at suches and i was just in awe over the way it handled those curves and they are the real tight kind up there. so demoing the xt down in daytona does not even do that bike justice as to it's potential. i'll be down in tampa friday trading in the nightster and plan on turning around and riding the bike back up to greenville sc. buells have a tendency to make you a better rider. | ||
| Gentleman_jon |
Dan - As I mentioned on the "tank slapper" thread on the Quick Board, the stock FXDX can greatly benefit from proper set up. I found with my 2001 that the factory recommendations for suspension set up were very far from useful. I made the following changes which completely altered the way the bike handled, allowing me to hang with my sport bike buddies until they really got going, to their great surprise. 1. Fitted Metzler tires, ME 880 tires, going one size up in the rear. My particular bike has a 17" Deuce wheel so I was able to fit a 160/70b/17, but a 150 on a 16" wheel works great too, if I correctly recall what I had on my FXD. I consider the stock Dunlops to be positively dangerous. 2. Inflated the tires to Metzler's, not Harley's recommended tire pressures. Front 38 lb. Rear 44 lb. 3. Set up the sag, or what Harley calls squat, by measurement, instead of the recommended settings. Harley normally sets the bikes up MUCH to soft for sport riding. I weight 220 in my stocking feet, so I set up as follows: Front: Preload: no lines showing total sag 1.25" Compression: 8 clicks out Rebound: 6 clicks out Rear: Preload 4th position. rebound, (top screw) one click out. 4. I fitted a Police seat to raise the rider height. Surprisingly, this gave me much better control of the bike, as well as a more comfortable seat. 5. I fitted a side mounted Ohlins steering damper. Had to make the mounts myself. Storz has some that might work, but ever helpful, they won't sell them without their own, rather inadequate damper. 6. I fitted a custom billet fork brace. The Harley one works fine too, sort of ugly.( My old one is for sale cheap.) 7. And this is the critical one. I fitted a Buell XB front fender. This handles any Karmic infelicities, and lets the bike and everyone else know you are there to do the business, noam saying? Looks like this:  PS: The Built 95" engine and custom headers don't do any harm either.  | ||
| Jackbequick |
Jon, You have the stock 2001 FXDX front end right? I notice that the FXDX model specs say that has the "premium 39mm front end". That has much more room for adjustment than my plain jane FXD. I'm hoping mine will get better when I get the Race-Tech emulator and springs in it. That will give me some variables to play with and hopefully some improvement in both compression and rebound damping. I'll be able to play with the variables better with that kit. I don't expect miracles but would like something better. In disassembling the forks, I found the surfaces the lower tube bushing rides on in the left lower were badly eroded and the bushing was damaged, partially off the tube, and dragging. So that leg was not doing much of anything for me as it was. I'm working on getting a new pair of lower sliders now as you know from that other thread I started. My forks had about 3/4" of preload unladen, that increased to about 1-1/2" with my weight (220 lbs), and about 2.5" of downtravel remaining from there. The total travel appears to be 4" or so on those. I assume your 1.25" figure is with your weight on, right? Do you have any idea, does the FXDX have about the same amount of travel as mine? I went with a pair of the Progressive 412's for the rear shocks so won't have the rebound adjustment on the back but I couldn't bring myself to spring for the 418's. I'm looking forward to seeing how all this works out. I'm still some weeks away from finishing up and getting it back on the road. Next year my plans are to rebuild the engine and give it a few more HP with SE heads and a set of cams. Should wind up with about 82-85 HP I think. Jack | ||
| Gentleman_jon |
Dyna and Jack - Do you guys know that there is a Harley topic on this board now? It is located right above the "Racing" topic. It is called "Critical Mass". Blake put it up recently in response to numerous requests from Harley owners. I think this thread might fit a little better over there, and that topic could use more posts just now, if only to show Blake, and Jerry Houghton that we appreciate their efforts Jack - The "premium 39mm front end" is a Showa cartridge fork. It is about a couple of inches longer than the stock fork, has about 6" of travel, adjustable preload, and compression and rebound adjustments for the shock. It also accommodates dual disc brakes. All together a big improvement over the stock forks I had on my FXD. The rear shocks are 13.5 " long, so the whole bike rides higher, and has more cornering clearance. 85 hp is plenty. I have higher compression, just makes it harder to start, and less reliable in the long run. | ||
| Dynasport |
Jon, thanks for the suspension settings. I have been playing with mine a little recently. I don't know much about suspension settings, but I did realize mine was set too soft. I have tightened things up a bit and can tell it handles better now. And no, I didn't know there was a Harley thread here now. I don't know if I can move the thread or not. I'll try to see if I can. If not, maybe the moderator can do it for me. Thanks to all for the advice and encouragement. The funny thing is I assumed my next bike would be a bagger. Now, other than thinking it would be nice for my wife, I can't imagine having a bagger. It is funny how what I want has changed in the last year. Glad I didn't already spring for a bagger. I have put 600-700 miles on an Electra Glide and they are comfortable and really eat up the highway miles. Other than that though, I like my FXDX better. In fact, I now think my FXDX is the best Harley ever. Still not as sporting as I would like. A few more HP would help and getting my suspension settings right would be great too. The problem is HP on my FXDX would be a bit pricey now. Dan | ||
| Glitch |
And no, I didn't know there was a Harley thread here now. I don't know if I can move the thread or not. I'll try to see if I can. If not, maybe the moderator can do it for me.  Easy peasy | ||
| Dynasport |
Thanks Glitch. I think the power thing is going to your head though. | ||
| Gearheaderiko |
"I consider the stock Dunlops to be positively dangerous. "That seams to be a common thought! After swearing I'd never buy Dunlops, I did buy a set of Dunlop HD whitewalls that I got cheap...for a bike a rarely ride (and always conservatively). | ||
| Gentleman_jon |
Thanks Glitchester. All R bAse R bLong 2U.  | ||
| Jackbequick |
I'm with Jon on his opinion of both the Harley branded Dunlops (bad!) and the ME-880's (good!!). I put the ME_880's on last year and it made a breath taking difference. The thing just tracks, never wiggles a bit on cracks or seams, and seems to go where I want to go without another thought. The Dunlops were doing something that had my attention most of the time and I was never really sure that they'd go where I wanted. Jon, Thanks for the details on the FXDX shocks, looks like a FXDX front end would be a step up out of the dark ages and good thing to find. I had not realized that they were as much of a step up as they are. Glitch, Thanks for the help! Do you have an opinion as to if our posting the Critical Mass tech stuff the the appropriate sections of the KV would be a good thing or a bad thing? Or if a separate Critical Mass KV is or should be a long term goal? Jack | ||
| Dynasport |
I used to run the ME880s, but I have since gone the Avon Venoms. I like them better than the ME880s, but I don't think I get quite the wear out of them. | ||
| Jackbequick |
What kind of mileage were you getting with the 880's? I'm on my first set but I'll consider others when the time comes Jack | ||
| Glitch |
I think the power thing is going to your head though. I just like that picture, I forget why I made that one, probably the same smart ass motivation as this time...  Or if a separate Critical Mass KV is or should be a long term goal? I'm thinking we're just going to see how this end of BadWeB evolves. No telling how things might end up. | ||
| Dynasport |
Jack, I'm not real good at noting mileages when I have new tires mounted. I get about double on the front that I get on the back. I know I only got about 4-5,000 miles on my Avon rear and I think I got more miles out of the ME880s. I am trying to pay better attention on my latest set. I don't have anything against the ME880s, they were fine. I just seem to get a bit better cornering feel from the Venoms. They are also really good in the wet, and here in Florida I get lots of practice at that. For me, summertime highway riding really trashes my tires. The heat and lack of anything but droning on wears the center out pretty bad. I think either tire is fine. Dan | ||
| Warlizard |
Dyna, if you want a great bike at a reasonable price, look into the tube frame Buells. You can pick up a nice used one for less than 5 grand. I w/ avoid the new Buells all together, just cookie-cutter Jap clones. As for tires, I run Pirelli Scorpions and am very pleased thus far. I must say for the record I highly disagree w/ a Harley section on the badweb. | ||
| Leftcoastal |
I must say for the record I highly disagree w/ a Harley section on the badweb. Maybe, if it's not too much trouble, you could simple NOT attend this area! Some of us 'dual ownership' people are totally fine with this category. There's plenty of Buell stuff on the balance of this site to keep you agreeable. Well... maybe not the XB area. or the uly threads. probably should avoid the racing stuff 'cause there's new Buells there. How ya doin' on the Blast!? You OK with thumpers? !!OLD SCHOOL!!! There ya go! Be warned - there's folks there runnin' different tires than the Scorpions. Hope there not too much disagreement there. AL | ||
| Citified |
there is a reason dinosaurs went extinct. they had carburetors and tube frames.  (Message edited by citified on April 10, 2008) | ||
| Jackbequick |
Thanks Dyna, I was just looking for ballpark figures. I put about 4,000 on mine last year and they look like they're good for another year. I don't ride real hard and not a lot of hot slab work either, most secondary roads and highways with more and steady changes. Jack | ||
| Jackbequick |
"..I must say for the record I highly disagree w/ a Harley section on the badweb..." Then you must have missed the several discussions that we had, going back over a year or so, on having this topic. I think the deciding factor was a commonality in the drivelines and the shared histories of the bikes. And also the fact that many of us like and either ride or have ridden both H-D and Buell motorcycles. I don't remember anyone stating strongly against it and no one was as intolerant of it as you seem to be. Do you use the all new messages since your last visit utility from the search page? I do and I get to skim through all the posts and pick the ones that I want to read. I've found a lot of entertainment and enlightenment in following threads that I might not have read otherwise. But there are many topics (the regional ones primarily) I don't read. If I found this a topic to be one I did not want to read I'd simply not read it. You seem to find a need to both pursue it and criticize it. I don't think that makes any sense. The BadWeb has very knowledgeable membership of very diverse people. The Buells are what brings most of us here and are the glue that holds this together. That and the polite and constructive tone makes it a very pleasant place to come to. Jack | ||
| Citified |
I plan to keep my dunlops on my nightster till they wear out. They seem to work fine for what I use it for. After that I hope to get a set of whitewalls for that oh so classic look. Any one know a good brand in the 16"- 19" combo? | ||
| Dynasport |
The Nightster is a very nice looking bike. I like it with the blacked out look, but if you want whitewalls I believe a number of manufacturers make them. Since you are happy with your Dunlops, you should check with the dealership, I think they make them in whitewalls as well. You could probably even get the Metzlers in whitewalls. The 880s are very popular so they probably make them in that variety. | ||
| Blake |
"there is a reason dinosaurs went extinct. they had carburetors and tube frames." BLASPHEMER! | ||
| Warlizard |
Hey Al, a little relevancy w/ be nice. All the sections you listed are about Buells. makes perfect sense on a Buell website. I doubt a Suzuki website has a forum for Honda. That's exactly my point, it's a Buell website. Enough said. As for tires, I listed what I have, nothing more. You can run whatever makes you happy. Hell, ride on the wheels for all I care. | ||
| Mikej |
Funny stuff: V-Twin Forum : Harley Davidson Motorcycle Forums http://www.v-twinforum.com/forums/ has Buell Motorcycle Family General Discussion http://www.v-twinforum.com/forums/buell-motorcycle-family-general-discussion/ But  http://www.hdforums.com/ Doesn't have a Buell section. But they do have somewhat regular Buell related discussions http://www.hdforums.com/m_1904132/tm.htm Just thought that was funny. I haven't logged in to those sites for months now. | ||
| Dynasport |
Well, I am glad we have this forum. I have more in common with the attitude of most Buell riders, so I spend my time here instead of the chrome obsessed HD forums. Besides HD does actually own Buell. So the connection is a bit different from Suzuki and Honda. | ||
| Strokizator |
Another thing you can do to improve your speed (it worked for me at least) is to pick up some reading material. I read Keith Code's "Twist of the Wrist" I & II and picked up a lot of good points on technique. Practice those and you'll be able to go faster on the bike you already have. When you watch some guy blazing through Deals Gap on a Goldwing, you realize the skill of the rider is more important than the capabilities of the bike (I couldn't have caught that guy if were on a ninjabusa). |
