| Author | Message | ||
     Electraglider_1997 |
http://www.visordown.com/review/reviewProductRevie ws.asp?rpn=289&prod=Buell-XB12X-Ulysses&rcn=10&rgn =1&v=6&sp=#873 | ||
| New12r |
What is with all the rear brake complaints? mine works just fine.  | ||
| Armymedic |
My weak rear brake is my ABS. Keeps me from locking it up! | ||
| Tootal |
Sorry, I agree, rear brake sucks. I found it strange that they listed the tank range at 130 miles. Mine will go 160 before the light comes on and then I have another gallon and at 46 mpg you can go 200 miles. Good to see some happy customers though. | ||
| Choyashi |
The drum brakes on my 1980 Vespa work better then the rear disc on my Uly!! It is unnerving the way the front dives if you grab too much brake.(on the "X") I would rather lockup the rear in a panic stop! (Message edited by choyashi on November 13, 2008) | ||
| Froggy |
Can we trade? My old Uly and SS will lock up the rear no problem | ||
| Tginnh |
The foot pedal brake on the Cushman Eagle I rode when I was 10 had a better rear brake! | ||
| Crusty |
I'm also in the rear brake sucks club. I don't even bother to use mine most of the time. I've owned four Buells; a 1998 S3-T, a 2000 M2, a 2006 Uly and my present 2008 XT. All had crappy rear brakes. I've gotten used to it, but a decent rear brake would be a welcome improvement. | ||
| Panhead_dan |
The rear brake on my Uly feels a little weak too, til I mash it while leaned waay over. It affects the handling big time. I can mash it hard enough to lock up the rear anytime I want. I think it's perfect the way it is. It's possible that some owners need to bleed the brake and adjust the position of the foot peddle. | ||
| Spicerack |
I don't have a problem with my rear brake. Today I rode 4000 vertical feet up and back, half of which was in the gravel, so i ONLY used my rear brake. Maybe the front brake just works so well I don't notice the back brake on pavement, but in the gravel and mud it never failed me.  (Message edited by spicerack on November 13, 2008) | ||
| Paul56 |
When I first got mine in Jan 06 I thought the rear brake was a little weak. This was before I started reading others' posts of same. I always use both brakes in combination. I feel the rear became more effective with regular use and familiarity. I recently locked the rear for a short distance when a DACD decided to change lanes with no signal and a 20 mph speed deficit at close range. In short, I like the rear brake. | ||
| Bearly |
Mine works fine. I burned them in when the pads were new. | ||
| Tginnh |
Hey Spicerack - what trail was that? 4k vertical? Sounds like fun! | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
I use my rear brake primarily for low speed stuff like traffic and dirt parking lots. Seems to work fine for that. The front brake is powerful enough to pop the rear wheel off of the ground. The rear gets really light under even normal aggressive braking. The brakes seem balanced fine on both my X1 and also my XB12x. | ||
| Johnboy777 |
We have a rear brake??? . | ||
| Ratbuell |
Buells in general (my personal list includes a 99 M2, and my current 95 S2, 98 S1W and 06 Uly) seem to have less powerful rear brakes. However, I've never had a problem stopping any of my bikes in time because of it. I will say I nearly never use rear brakes during a track day...coincidence? Going from one of my Buells to the FLHP I used to own, I'd lock the FLHP's rear up all the time, and it drove me crazy to the point that lots of times, I just wouldn't use the rear brake on that bike. +1 on adjusting the rear brake lever for your foot to make it 'fit'. Also, just because it's less powerful doesn't mean it needs to be bled - learn pedal feel and see if it feels numb or spongy - *that* means it needs bled, not overall "weakness". | ||
| Spicerack |
Don't know exactly where I was, but near Detroit Oregon. I had my GPS with me, but only turned it on at the spot where I took that pic. I was enjoying not knowing where I was. that spot was N 44 38.472 w 122 13.600 | ||
| Tginnh |
Wow! I can see how you could get lost there. Look at all those fire roads! Looks like a blast.   | ||
| Hughlysses |
I like my Uly rear brake. I think it's completely appropriate for the application. Worst rear brake I ever had was the "scrub" brake (piece of steel forced against rear tire by pedal) on my 2.5 HP Cat mini-bike. It actually worked OK when dry, but when wet, it was useless! | ||
| Fr8trane91 |
Compared with other bikes I've owned, the rear brake on my X is definitely weaker, but believe me, you can lock it up in a heartbeat! | ||
| Johnboy777 |
Looks pretty cool on Google...  | ||
| Tginnh |
I'm moving to Oregon... | ||
| Spicerack |
Oregon rocks. There is plenty of good riding. Today we rode to the coast from the valley via fire roads. turned a 45 minute ride into a 4 hour ride. that was about three thousand feet up to the coast range pass. These were both Ulys, and neither rear brake bugged us, on over fifty miles of exclusive rear brake use. When we got to "civilization" and switched back to both brakes it was like nothing had happened. I love that bike. | ||
| Spicerack |
 This was an old ghost town calledValsetz that we rode through while up there. this is all that's left. (Message edited by spicerack on November 14, 2008) | ||
| Luftkoph |
Hey spicerack I was a young lad and lived about 25 mi north of there between ripplebrook and timothy lake it was called silvertip but like valsetz i suspect it is not there anymore. thanks for the photos | ||
| Caddypat |
HEY,MY DAD LIVED AND LOGGED OUT OF VALSETZ WHEN I WAS A KID.HADNT THOUGHT OF OR HEARD OF THAT PLACE IN 50 YRS. SOUNDS LIKE A FUN RIDE. PAT | ||
| Khelton |
The weak rear brake is one of the reasons the ULY isn't a good "off pavement" bike. In the dirt and gravel I prefer to use the rear brake more than the front ( the opposite of on the street), the stock rear brake on the Uly has me using more front brake off pavement than I would like, particularly downhill.. | ||
| Echo15 |
I didn't like the rear brake at first, but perhaps I'm used to it now. I disagree with Khelton on the off road aspect of the rear brake... I think that's where it shines. Like Spicerack, after 30 miles off road, I had no complaints. | ||
| M2nc |
I did lock up the rear brake once on pavement. It was certainly less dramatic than when I locked up the front brake. I would want more rear brake for off-pavement excursions. | ||
| Xcephasx |
rear brake? i use that pedal mostly to let people know i am compression braking | ||
| Hooper |
I lock up my rear brake now and then, but it's just something I need to practice. I actually LIKE that it's not as grabby as the front...I can start easing it on as the situation requires, and feel more and more effect as I do. Or, I can slam it on and lock it up, and slide in a straight line (not preferred). The combo of front and back is the best for me on pavement. Off road, I definitely use more rear brake - the front freaks me out in dirt, especially downhill. On the demo ride I took before being TOTALLY hooked by the '06 X, the demo leader told the group: "The rear brake on these Buells is a high-effort brake. The front is NOT!" I bought my Uly several days later. |
