| Author | Message | ||
     Terrible1one3 |
So I had some birthday money from family and after a quick stint wanting to sell my bike I decided only to add to the stable as opposed to replacing it, not only because it is the best financial decision but I really have come to love this bike and Buell's since my first '04 XB12S. That said I decided on a short list of upgrades including: Drummer Quiet Insert Kit Aprilia Tuono Mirrors Touch up rear passenger peg area New Bag insert color Rider Comfort Kit So I put the order into American Sport Bike and my gear arrived about two weeks later (didn't have the paint or comfort kit in stock but got it quick). First I tackled the comfort kit and it was much more of a PITA then I had thought it would be, but good instructions and patience prevailed and I only had to install the battery box twice as my only error (forgot to reinstall the helmet lock which I didn't even have to uninstall in the first place). Oh also I accidentally loosed the liquid connector on the preload adjustment for a split second and some fluid leaked out. I don't think this is a big deal but if it is please let me know  . I haven't had a chance to ride the bike for more than around the block since doing this but I will update you on true comfort upgrade and fan operation with the original Race ECM for XB12's after without a reflash. Secondly I hit up the mirrors, couldn't have been easier, even though I saw someone recommending keeping the stock mounting hardware as it raises the mirrors a bit I went with the Aprilia set up because I wanted it lower. Plus the same wrench for top and bottom makes it easy to tighten and adjust . Third was the paint. The spot came when I was trailering the bike from Michigan to my new at the time apartment in North Carolina (now I'm in Virginia in a home). My bicycle broke loose and leaned against the motorcycle and the pedal cleared a quarter size area by the passenger peg. I removed the passenger footpeg piece which wasn't bad, both footpegs came off easily with a dead blow hammer and all the screws were easy to uninstall. I sanded the entire piece cleaned it and then painted it with the Buell graphite grey spray paint. I was shocked with the quality results. Looked like the factory piece exactly. Having a ton of paint left over I had planned on painting the inserts satin black or even a truck bed liner textured black. With all the grey I had I decided to do that, you may have seen me post asking about the bag insert stickers. I ended up just masking them and it worked perfectly. I didn't really do any prep work on them other then wiping them down and sprayed them and the bumpers on the side bags. At first off the bike I thought it looked pretty bad and felt the same when I went to install the inserts the next day. I tell you what, the second I put the insert on the bag and looked at it I thought "wow this looks amazing, I think I found the color buell should have done these inserts in." And I stick to that as I think it looks great and I'm glad I contrasted the bags going with grey as opposed to black on black. Lastly I tackled the drummer quiet insert. I had noticed a lot of droning and thought the drummer had gotten obnoxiously loud as of late and when I refinished it (two years old) I realized that the exhaust is just a glorified drag pipe as there are no plates providing any type of backpressure. I figured instead of just repacking the exhaust and getting a tiny amount of change I would go with this kit and I got all the change I was looking for. The insert brings it down to near stock levels. Still has the grunt and growl of a drummer and sounds way better than stock in my opinion but it is nice to have a smooth quiet bike again as opposed to an obnoxious one that sounds great. All in all I am happy with all the upgrades and the bike feels like new to me. I guess if you made it through this much typing I'm obligated to share pics so here they are! New Mirrors  Comparison of new vs old mirrors  Quiet Comfort Kit Installed  Painting the parts in the garage  I didn't think these looked too great, the flash on the camera phone makes them even brighter looking then they are.  Just a quick picture of my last project. I built this work bench over a couple of weeks, really happy with it and it worked great for this project.  Here she is from the front, you can see the new mirrors, and comfort kit along with the new bag color.  I had another closer picture of the bags but they aren't uploading to facebook from the black berry for some reason. When they pop up I'll share them here. | ||
| Terrible1one3 |
For comparisons. Original Bag Colors  Scratch on the passenger peg  | ||
| Nadz |
Please say more about the Drummer quiet-downer. Near-stock noise level? How's the power compare to stock? How fast does the ECM re-learn? Do you have the Jardine version or Kevin's own? How quick to remove/reinstall? | ||
| Terrible1one3 |
Vertict's on the Modifications. Riding impact/pleasure First place: Drummer Quiet Insert I must say this has made the most positive effect on my bike. I may have been exagerating on saying it is close to stock because it isn't. It does sound more like stock than it did before that's for sure though. Now there is no drone at highway speeds, above 60 all I hear is wind as opposed to wind and the drone. The bike feels smoother, when I blip the throttle to down shift it sounds like the engine fires 6 times as opposed to with the drummer a throttle blip at speed would produce two thumps. This is an off the wall comparison but think of a Corvette sound as opposed to Ferrari. It is that kind of a difference but in no way does the bike sound like either. I will say the American Sport Bike comment about noticeable power loss is probably true, but not complete. It seemed that there was a loss of power at 4000 RPM and above with the throttle fully open. When I got on it the one time I did up to red line I was a bit surprised that I actually noticed the difference. The offsetting factor to that is not only the throttle response increase, but it also seems like there is a noticeable difference in low end torque. When cracking the throttle around 3k RPM's she really scoots but doesn't have the 2-stroke dirt-bike like power-band pick-up at like 4500-5000 she used to have. So real world drive ability is positive for the insert while top end power is a negative. I would be interesting to see if dyno results would back this up. There is a little more engine noise but that is to be expected when the droning is gone. Didn't seem to take the ECM any time to learn anything as the 1 minute gear-up warm up cured the hiccups I was experiencing when I took it around the block without warming it up right after install. Speaking of install and uninstall, takes literally 10 seconds and a 7/16 wrench. The winner for the best bang for your buck award also as the insert is somewhere around $60 bucks. Second Place: Rider Comfort Kit This one was close but the comfort kit ends up taking this spot. I noticed a considerably cooler right side throughout most riding. It would get warm but would be even with the warmth coming from the left side and that is to be expected with an air cooled motor right there. It did still get uncomfortably hot in the stint of stop and go traffic I got stuck in but it recovered and cooled off really quick once I got to speed. Fan operation with my original Race ECM seems to be about the same, the biggest difference is the fan is much quieter. The buffer between my ears and the fan make it impossible to notice at speed, barely noticeable at idle, and not as obnoxious upon shutoff, but still runs about the same amount. I am happy with it and will not be re-flashing my ECM. Coming in at $120 bucks I think it is a fair deal if you aren't an ATGATT person. I ride with a jacket, gloves, full face, and boots but skip out on riding pants for a pair of jeans which when is cold are lined. That said this makes the upgrade good for me as the jean is an OK heat barrier but not as good as a pair of riding pants. I would say the $120 and hopefully improved engine cooling will be justified in slowing wear on the top end... That is just my hope though. Third place: Aprilia Tuono Mirrors A very nice and modest upgrade. I thought the view wasn't much improved over stock, the big difference comes in VIBRATION REDUCTION. I didn't use the word elimination for a reason but there is definitely a reduction in vibration. Probably has to do with the length and position of the stem as opposed to the Buell's but I'll take any improvement over the bug eyes. Functional improvement isn't quite justified of the $60+ dollar price tag but the cosmetic difference makes it worth it. Fourth and final place: Touch up paint and bag insert paint. Cosmetic touch that set's off the bike but provides no functional benefit to a ride. Also the cheapest mod coming in at about $15 bucks. So about $250 bucks in modifications will provide for many more miles of enjoyment. I am happy with the choice of modifications as my spending limit was $300 (which is why the Cal-Sci windshield isn't an option for my bike). I also feel I got a pretty good bang for my buck factor with most of the mods. The quieter drummer is about worth the $250 by itself so all in all I'm very pleased. (Message edited by terrible1one3 on April 29, 2010) (Message edited by terrible1one3 on April 30, 2010) | ||
| Nadz |
Thanks for review. Actually my mind's already made up- want Drummer at Homecoming, but want it quiet 'til I get there. | ||
| Terrible1one3 |
Yeah, I just went on a 100 mile trip with the neighbors. The leader had a Kawasaki Vulcan 900 and he rode at a real fast pace. The other neighbor is on a VTX 1800 and slows up a little in the corners but is generally at pace. Well the leader upgraded to a Vulcan 2000. We went on our first ride and we kept up fine but he is still learning the bike. I have a feeling in a few rides he will really be making us work to keep up and I might want the extra horses on the top end so I might be removing and installing the quiet insert a bit. Still being able to remove and install it in seconds makes it a very versatile part. Still really like it! |
