| Author | Message | ||
     Minidiesel |
So I'm a Soldier deployed in Afghanistan currently and had a buddy of mine pick me up a 2003 XB9S. So far it appears to have only cosmetic mods and a Jardine slip-on. Any suggestions? I've been riding about 10 years on various rice rockets such as the GSXR 750 & 1K's. Grew out of my need for speed and just want this thing to be a torque monster wheelie machine. Although I haven't been home to ride it yet I already want to bore it to a 1050 and sprocket it if possible. Been doing a little reading...any thoughts on how I can make this thing a ridiculous power house? Oh yeah and I still need to be able to keep up with my buddies 1K's (Honda n Suzuki), so I need to retain some top end. | ||
| Pkforbes87 |
Nothing you do to it will keep up with a 1k in the straights. In it's current form though, you can enjoy giving them a real good run for their money in the twisty stuff. My suggestion is put money into suspension before the engine. You'll get a larger increase in riding enjoyment without spending as much $$$. Welcome to the addiction, and thank you for your service. | ||
| Minidiesel |
Yeah they're def gonna be in trouble when it comes to canyon carving. Getting out in about a year and I'm headed for Denver. Theres no fun in hauling ass in a straight line anyhow. | ||
| Minidiesel |
So I picked up the afore mentioned machine for 4K...good deal or did I get taken...survey says? | ||
| Slaughter |
Yep - suspension and brakes. Straight line speed is just a number on the dial. The 1050 kit is a bolt-on so you won't have to bore the cases! The 1169 kit requires case boring. | ||
| Minidiesel |
Sweet...where do I learn more about this 1050 kit, cost, and where and what kind of gains can I expect? | ||
| Slaughter |
You can go to http://www.revperf.com/XB9-XB12/xbPerformKits.html Ask LOTS of questions of them! If you still have original suspension, you may want to consider upgrading. That 03 shock will be about used up and the forks more likely will need to be more properly sprung for your weight. Brakes and braking confidence while turning will do WONDERS! Keep it safe in the sandbox! | ||
| Gentleman_jon |
You really don't want to do much to the engine on a nine, they are already pushed about as far as they can go with any reliability. If you think there is any thing you can do to a nine, or a twelve, for that matter, to keep up with a modern inline four, even a 600, you are in for a very rude awakening. The main engine mods that are within the realm of sanity are: 1. Drummer muffler 2. Buell race ecm if you can find one. 3. K+N air filter. Here are some notes I published in 2008 on the 2003 nine, they are a bit outdated, but there might be something in there that's still useful. I had over 13,000 miles on my 2003 XB9S, “Ole Yaller,” so I thought I would share my thoughts with those who have just purchased a similar model, or are about to buy one, so that they may fully enjoy their recently acquired unit , and perhaps avoid a few pitfalls that I have already encountered. These motorcycles will be seen as true classics as time goes by, and they very likely provide the most fun for the dollar of any bike on the road today. 1. The dealer situation. The Buell dealership situation is in flux. At first most Harley Davidson dealers carried Buell. Many of them were not too enthusiastic about the brand, so Harley is reducing the number of dealers, to increase the importance of Buell at the dealers that actually carry them, and provide better support to Buell customers. The other dealers can no longer repair or sell Buells, and many of these have sold off their ‘03 Buell stock at low prices. The result: there are some excellent Buell dealers out there, but relatively few of them, very few. That’s the bad news. The good news is that the new XB line of Buells are well made, reliable, need little service, and parts are very readily available. Virtually all required service can be done by a motivated owner with an ordinary set of tools, bike stands , the shop manual and the parts book. 2. Bad Web If you have gotten this far, you probably realize the one of the best resources for the Buell owner is the Bad Weather Biker web site itself. The knowledge Vault has excellent discussions of every aspect of the Buell motorcycle. The sponsor section has grown over the last few years, and almost every part and service required can b e found there. Many Buelligans, (including me), order all of their Buell parts from one sponsor or another, a tradition started by the redoubtable Dave Stueve, who now operates his own archery shop, Double Lung Archery in La Porte City, Iowa. Among my personal favorites are Tripp at Precision HD for parts, Al at american Sport Bike for aftermarket stuff and top notch advice on how to use them, Matt at Trojan Horse for European aftermarket stuff, Paul at Gainsville for parts and new bikes, Kevin at Drummer for mufflers, and Odie at Special Ops for the same, and Pammy at Cycle Rama for engine performance parts for Buell and HD. Pete at Grandstand Designs for power coating, and special accessories, and I am sure there are lots of good people that I just haven’t met yet. Buell Customer Support line which is improving all the time. The number is 414-343-4056. Expect the best. And one more thing................... There is a nutty old coot on this site named Court. One of the only Bad Webbers who is actually almost as old and nutty as I am:-). Thing is he is one of Erik Buell’s oldest friends, wrote the book on the company, ( with Dave Geiss), and has some kind of unspecified connection with the company. Sort of an unofficial ombundsman. He has his own topic on this site. If you run into a problem with your bike that neither you, your dealer or anyone else can solve, and if you are polite and thinking positively, you might just drop ol’ Court an email. Couldn’t hurt. The questions most asked by new owners are: A. The first thing to do. I always recommend buying the shop manual and parts list if you plan on working on the bike yourself. This is a bike that lends itself much more than Japanese or Italian sport bikes to home repairs, due to its inherent simplicity, and design. Parts are normally readily available, and not too expensive either. 1. The belt. If you bought the bike new, it probably has the original belt. These often had a relatively short life, and have been replaced by an upgraded model that seems to be much better. If the bike has more than 3000 miles on it, it may already have the new belt. The '03 belt was in it's third version, part number # G0500.02ABR when this was written in 2006. The belt parts number is permanently marked on the outside of the belt. If you don't have one of these, you might want to fit one the next time you change tires, cost about $136. Lots of hard riders, such as Glitch, one of our leaders, has tons of miles on his, no problems. With the latest '03 belt, the conversion to an '04 belt doesn't seem to be as necessary, but many brothers have done it for peace of mind.The conversion requires new sprockets, belt guards, belt, and a few other parts. Al at American Sport Bike, and others, can give you an estimate of what it would all cost. Another option is a chain conversion, which has been much discussed on this site: see the knowledge vault. One of our members, Saintly has produced a simple chain conversion that cost little more than a new belt. B. When you do change tires. Take a look at Dunlop Qualifiers, Michelin Pilot Powers, Pirelli Diablo, or Metzler M-6's: many members report better steering and longer life with these than the original equipment Dunlop 207’s. I am now replacing my first Michelin Pilot Power rear tire, and I was very happy. I got 4200 miles out of the rear, including one track day, and they still work great, just running out of tread in the middle. ( I subsequently converted to Dunlop Qualifiers for better handling). Several brothers have learned the hard way to always replace tires in pairs: the front may look ok, long after the rear is obviously worn out, but its profile will have changed, compromising handling. 3. Steering bearings: The steering bearings on the Buell tend to require tightening from time to time. The symptom is a clunk when you put on the brakes, that is often mistaken for a problem with the brakes. Takes about ten minutes to adjust as per the shop manual. The top triple tree is a bit delicate on these bikes, and have been broken more than once by over-tightening: the pinch bolt only needs about 18 ft/lb. Now a days a torque wrench is pretty much a standard item in the home garage. The front forks must be off the ground to do this properly. A rear wheel stand, and a scissors jack under the muffler jacking points is a simple way to do this. 4. Wheel bearings. Long story short: if the seals are orange, you are good to go, if they are black, they should be replaced by any Buell dealer at no charge to you. 5. The lubricants. The oils that seems to be preferred by many of the members are : Mobil 1 15w 50 in the motor, Harley Formula +l in the gear box. The Mobil 1 available at Walmart very inexpensively, especially in the 5 qt. jugs and the Walmart Super Tech ST4967 oil filter was exactly the same as the factory part, (manufactured by Champion), last time I bought some for two bucks apiece. I change every 4000 miles, probably a bit excessive, but it can't hurt, and doesn't take very long to do. Factory recommends 5000 miles between changes. Certainly every year if your mileage is less than 5K. You can’t go wrong if you simply change the oil and filter every time you replace your tires. One more thing: some riders have used Mobil 1 gear oil in the primary but anecdotal evidence points to this oil as contributing to premature failure of the stator. 6. Suspension settings. Because of its somewhat radical frame geometry, the suspension settings on a Buell DO count! You can assume that they are not set just right for you, so go to the owners manual, ( shop manual not required for this one:-), and follow the directions. Shawn Higbee has some settings for aggressive riders which work great too, and I use them. See Knowledge Vault. 7. Dipstick. The dipstick is located on the top of the left side of the swing arm: no kidding:-). Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to read. I put some yellow shrink wrap on mine to aid visibility. Using a little wooden coffee stirrer and comparing it to the dipstick markings works even better. 8. Frame Pucks: The Buell OEM frame pucks will keep you from denting your frame if you accidentally drop the model. They can be painted to match the plastic or the frame. These are really a must have item, because it is not to hard to dent the frame if you drop the bike, and it is very difficult to repair, and very expensive to replace. That should get you up and running for a while, while you plan how you want to personalize your mount: it IS legal to run a bone stock Buell, it's just that no one has ever tried it:-). First 1000 mile service. I take a preventive maintenance point of view to this service, which takes place shortly after the bike is broken in, and the new owner has pretty much got the hang of things. So in addition to the factory recommendations, which are basically change the oil and filter, check and normally adjust the primary chain, and reset the Throttle position sensor, I recommend the following be done at this time. a. Fit the factory “race kit”. In spite of its name, this is more of a “make it a bit more fun to ride on the street “ kit. Improves mid range, makes it sound like a motorcycle instead of a lawn mower. Easy to fit, works fine. Requires a TPS reset, and removing the belt tensioner, so this is as good a time as any to do it. There are several other aftermarket mufflers, D+D, Drummer and Jardine to name just a few, that are louder and have found favor with many of the Bad Webbers. b. Replace the belt. Why worry about the belt breaking when a new better one only cost $140, and you already have the tensioner off. c. While you are replacing the belt, you have done most of the work to remove the rear wheel, you might as well replace the original Dunlop 207s, which only have about 1000 mi left on them, with some better tires like those mentioned above which will greatly improve the handling, and last twice as long. d. check the steering bearings. The have probably started to loosen a bit, even if you haven’t noticed it. After doing this additional work you will have a bike that: 1. Sounds cooler 2. Runs faster 3. Steers much better 4. No belt worries 5. Mostly likely will not need anything but gas for 4000 miles:-). Just my .02˘ | ||
| Slaughter |
Re-valve the forks, re-spring to your weight. SET the suspension on both ends. Start with setting sag by measuring directly - 35mm front, 25mm rear. Then set the damping per the Higbee Suspension tables (search on Badweb) Brakes are adequate but pads can be improved (EBC HH) Get a notebook. Record all settings and changes. Suspension setup including tires and pressures takes a lot of note-taking and tweaking... but you WILL be rewarded. Many folks really seem to want to do engine work to Get a "feeling" of speed without having to do much homework. Handling confidence will make you a MUCH FASTER rider than more motor ever will. | ||
| Boney95 |
If you think there is any thing you can do to a nine, or a twelve, for that matter, to keep up with a modern inline four, even a 600, you are in for a very rude awakening. +10 |
