| Author | Message | ||
     Skully |
Hello Buell Fans, I now have over 2000 miles on the bike with absolutely no problems. The more I ride it the more I like it. Looks like I will have to replace the wheel bearings as they have the black seals. The D&D muffler for the XB9 arrived last week and I installed it on Friday. I am impressed with the quality workmanship and fit up. I had absolutely no problems bolting it on. It sounds really deep at idle. The lumpy cams give it a nice lope. At higher RPMs, however, it is LOUD. I'll make a video/audio clip of it and see if Blake will let me post it. I'll get bike dynoed again and post the results here soon. | ||
| Blake |
Then there's the MO Dyno...  | ||
| Jim_m |
Skully, I'd love to hear an audio clip of the D&D pipe...I haven't heard a bad D&D exhaust yet (my buddy just picked up one for his ZRX1200, he liked mine so much) | ||
| Skully |
Hey Jim, I can arrange that. I have a Canon digital camera that takes .avi video clips. I'll try to get that tomorrow. Keith | ||
| Aaron |
And a few more stock XB9's ...  | ||
| Jim_m |
Keith, if it's too big for BWB, email to me. my address is in the profile. Thanks | ||
| Skully |
Aaron - Thanks for charts. They are right in line with mine. Jim - Will do. Keith | ||
| Blake |
Jim, No worries, we'll post it here for all to hear.  | ||
| Skully |
This is the byline that this “Tale” is based on. Finally, I get around to editing an outline started by Blake last Fall. From Cruiser to Sport Bike (Harley FXR Superglide to XB9S) (The Rider's Log of a First Time Buell Owner, by Keith Thrash) April, 1992 Buy a used 1984 Harley-Davidson FXR Superglide, EVO 1340cc, chain drive, only 11,000 miles. Always wanted a Harley; finally got one after being bikeless for a decade. Ride that bike for over seven years and 80,000 miles. Sold it for nearly twice what I paid for it. How many times does that happen?  Keith’s Faithful 1984 FXR… Lots of miles, lots of great memories Photo by Blake Summer, 1999 Trade the FXR in on a new '00 Night Train. My dream bike. Bike looks like a custom, runs sooooo smoothly. Put on 24,000 miles in 3 years.  ’00 Night Train, The Ultimate Cruiser and a Rolling Work of Art Photo by Blake January, 2002 Blake gets me interested in riding track days at Oak Hill Raceway. I find a great deal ($600) on a 1986 Yamaha FZ600 (a/c IL4) dubbed the Lemon Racer for its yellowness and… after spending hours and hours fiddling with carburetors, dang thing still wouldn’t run right. Finally after countless tuning sessions, I break down and buy the Dynojet kit. The Dynojet kit solves the problem, no more mid range dead spot, and the bike runs surprisingly strong once revs breach 7,000 rpm. Kinda wish I had kept it…  The Lemon Racer aka Citrus Speedster, a 1986 FZ600 Photo by Blake February, 2002 Take CMRA racer/track school at OHR. Passing school will permit me to rent OHR for $50/day anytime it is available. OHR is an intimidatingly technical 1.8 mile track with lots of blind entries, tight turns, elevation changes, and varying surfaces. I pass the school (complete all riding sessions without crashing and pass the written exam). Wow, new tires of proper size make all the difference in how the FZ handles! Old front was oversize; putting on the proper, smaller front tire made turn in a breeze where before it was a battle. March, 2002 Find great deals online on leathers, boots and gloves. I'm ready for the racetrack! First track day. We time our first lap after a warm up. I do a 2:16. The track record is a 1:23. Fun rather than speed is the goal. By the end of the day, I'm down to 2:00 and having a total blast! 2nd track day… Lap time drops to 1:53. 3rd track day… Lap time drops to around 1:50. Finally dragged both knees! Summer 2002 Sell the FZ, Buy a '97 CBR600F3 race bike. What a difference! Dang this thing is FAST, and has BRAKES, and race rubber! It is hard going from street cruiser for eleven years to racetrack. I am very conservative. Tipping a motorcycle over and braking this hard is NOT natural for me. Take the F3 to the drag strip. Manage 120 mph @ 11.6 ET. My launches suck! Maybe this isn’t as easy as it looks. Finally beat Blake at SOMETHING! Lap times at OHR drop to low 1:40s and I have my first crash. Bummer. Only minor damage to bike and me. All of a sudden, the Night Train feels more like a “freight train”. The Harley feels slow and heavy. The track has ruined me for riding a cruiser. The "Harley Lifestyle" has little appeal to me any more. Want something more agile and sporty for the street but most of the Japanese IL4s have absolutely no appeal to me. Delve into bike rag reviews and especially Motorcyclist’s "Hard Numbers" Want something sporty and agile, but not too leaned over and race-bikish. Neither top speed nor peak HP are primary concerns. Consider VFR, various UJM sport tourers, SV650, Superhawk... Combing ebay for good deals.  Honda VFR Photo by Blake  Yamaha R1Photo by Blake  Harley VROD Photo by Blake  Buell XB9R Photo by Blake XB9R is interesting…lots of cool features/innovation. I’m just not 100% sure yet that I’m ready to let go of the Night Train. Besides, I have the F3 for the track. The SV650 sure is a good deal! October 2002: Hhmmm. Buell XB9S is cool! Lonestar HD/Buell/Triumph in Tyler, TX agreed to let me demo their only XB9S. Took a short demo ride following the Buell salesman on his S3. Still not sure what I want to do…  Keith Test Rides a Demo XB9S Photo by Blake November 2002: I finally decide I’m ready to part with the “Freight Train” for a new Buell XB9S. I'd rather buy from Tyler my nearest Buell dealer, but Shreveport was willing to deal. Blake keeps asking me “Are you SURE you want to do this?” Sold the Night Train via ebay for a fair price to a guy from New Orleans. December 2002: Man, during break-in, 500 miles seemed like a lifetime… Finally get her broken in, complete the suspension setup per the owner’s manual, and am thoroughly impressed with how much fun the thing is to ride! But of course it can be even more fun… I spend some of my “Chrome Bucks” on a Race ECM and Race filter. The result as seen above was a 2 HP boost across the entire rev range. The change is noticeable. The thing is WAY too quite though. Enter a new D&D slip-on. Daddy like! The Lightning now sounds like the American hot rod that it is. Dyno testing results tbd. February 2002: Enter first race with the F3, CMRA/CCS GTU, a timed 20 minute sprint race. This is the first time back on the race bike after the crash. Gosh, it feels really heavy steering after riding the Buell all winter. I met my personal goals – finished the race (no crashing) and was ahead of last place, 16th out of 22.  The Shark Tail Racer Photo by Angela Spring 2003: I am ready to put some serious mileage on the Buell. I’ve racked up over 2,500 miles just riding locally, but the Lightning and I are ready for some a real long distance sport riding. The stock rear tire is toast, I opt for a D220 emphasizing durability over grip. The D220 has more grip than I need for street riding and the added durability will be very much welcomed. Blake and I and a couple of other guys blast off for a four day weekend in defiance of possible bad weather (we did end up running from a few twisters) and head for the mountains of West and Northwest Arkansas. We covered 1,400 miles in four days, almost all of it on tight twisty hilly roads, almost all of it on dry roads and good weather. I even found a Buell ignition key lying in the road, but that’s another story for another time. The Buell XB9S Lightning is too fun in the twisty, hilly roads of the Ozark and Ouachita Mountains. It was made for such roads. Some of the roads are truly world-class caliber and any road you choose in the area is a great ride. Can’t wait to go back! ![:]](http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/clipart/proud.gif)  The Lightning in Light Touring Mode Photo by Blake  {Park Here at Your Own Risk! Photo by Blake Blake is now egging me to take the XB9S to the track… I can’t bear the thought of crashing it… But it would be an amazing bike to run around Oak Hill Raceway… Blake suggests that I could sell the F3 and buy a spare set of race wheels/tires and spare bodywork for the Lightning… I could get out of the crazy congested squidly middleweight class and into the lightweight classes and Thunderbike and MW Sportsman… And my garage space would be liberated… I could make a set of carbon fiber frame covers myself… | ||
| Skully |
Tomorrow, I plan to dyno the Lightning with the Stage 1 mods. I'll post the results as soon as possible. The bike mileage is appraching 4000. I also plan to have a review of my Joe Rocket Revolution Boots and Buell XB Tank Bag. Stay tuned Buell Fans, Keith Thrash BadWeb Chief Road Test Editor (Message edited by skully on May 16, 2003) | ||
| Reepicheep |
Awsome postings Skully, Thanks! | ||
| Henrik |
Keith; great story. Started on an '82 Shovel Lowrider myself. An XB on track ... yeah, just maybe ... Thanks Henrik | ||
| Skully |
Hello Buell Fans, I finally got my XB9S back on the dynamometer last Saturday (17 May). The results were very interesting. To eliminate as many variables as possible, I took the bike back to the same dyno and had it tested by the same technician as I did in February (see above). My goal was to quantify the gains provided by the D&D XB muffler. The February runs first baselined the stock bike and then examined the additional power provided by installing the Buell Race ECM and K&N air filter. This combination yielded two horsepower and two pound-feet of torque all the way across the RPM range. At that time, I had not decided which exhaust system to purchase. I asked the technician to make three runs while recording air/fuel ratio: 1. Repeat the fourth gear run sitting on the bike to have a direct comparison to the run in February, the only change since then being the D&D muffler. 2. Make a fifth gear run without sitting on the bike. As luck had it, the rear tire wanted to hop making the graphs look like an EKG from a patient undergoing a heart attack. 3. Make a fifth gear run with the air box removed. The results look like this:  Stock vs Race ECM/Race Intake/D&D Muffler vs Race ECM/Open Intake/D&D Muffler  A/F Ratio Results for Dyno Run KEITH.009 shown above As can be seen, this combination gave a 6 horsepower and 7 pound-feet of torque increase in the middle of the power band right where I wanted it. This equates to a 12% increase in power over the stock configuration. Not bad. Then the air box was removed. This resulted in another 3 horsepower and 3 pound-feet of torque for a 17% increase over stock! Wow! Now, I have to figure out how to make the engine think the air box has been removed. My first thought was to grab a hole saw and just start cutting holes. However, this may not be the best approach since the air box has the structural duty of applying enough pressure to the air cleaner to provide an airtight seal. So I looked at where the air box fasteners were located and tried to make sure I did not destroy any load paths with holes. The results sketched out to look something like this:  XB Air Box, Stock Photo by Keith It seemed to me a coping saw would be a good way to cut these holes in the air box. When I turned the cover over, I found there were stiffening ribs molded in and by cutting these I could seriously weaken the structural integrity. So I grabbed my trusty drill motor hidden deep within the secret BadWeB workshop and a 3/8” bit and began drilling, trying to stay inside the cut-out I had sketched. Now the box looks like Swiss cheese:  XB Air Box, Modified Photo by Keith Obviously, to quantify the results I’ll have to make one more trip back to the dynamometer. But until then… it feels REAL strong through the mid-range. On my trip to Arkansas earlier this month, I had the opportunity to evaluate two new (for me) products, the Buell XB Tank Bag (PN 50514-02Y) and Joe Rocket’s Revolution Boots. You can see the tank bag on Buell’s web site, their catalog or in pictures above from our trip. The bag is exceptionally well made, very durable, and very functional. It is expandable, has a rain cover, a map holder, and has a removable bag that allowed me to bring valuables such as my digital camera in with me to eat rather than having to remove the entire tank bag. The removable bag even has belt loops that allow it to function like small “fanny pack”. Nice. While the method by which the bag attaches to the bike is simple and clean, there are no provisions for tensioning the straps. After just a few miles of use, the bag began to slide around on the “gas tank” and there was little I could do to stop it. That is until I remembered that I had some small bungie cords that could be used as tensioners:  Buell XB Tank Bag With Tensioners Photo by Keith They worked but were not very attractive. When we returned home and removed the tank bag, not only did I find the problem, I found small scratches in the “gas tank”. I’ll get to that in a minute. The holes in the Nylon straps that tie the tank bag to the bike had seriously elongated allowing the bag to become quite loose. It seems two corrections are needed. One is a better way to spread out the load and reduce the localized stresses in the straps. The second is a method of tensioning the straps without using bungie cords. Here is how I solved problem number 1:  Buell XB Tank Bag Strap, Modified Photo by Keith Of course I plan to paint the piece of aluminum that I bonded to the strap. Cutting the strap closest to the seat and redirecting the strap through the buckle to allow one to loosen and tighten the strap as needed seemingly can solve problem number 2. I plan to modify and post a picture at a later date. Back to the scratches in the “tank”. I remembered reading something in the owner’s manual about care and feeding of the plastic body parts. On Page 78 of the 2003 Buell XB9S Owners Manual, they list using Harley Swirl and Scratch Treatment to remove minor scratches from the plastic body panels. The Swirl and Scratch Treatment did a fine job of removing the tank bag scratches. However, it left my black body panel looking a little “hazed”. I then continued to follow the instructions in the Buell manual that said to follow up with Harley Glaze. This helped but did not entirely remove the hazing. Has anyone had this experience? Wonder if Buell will warranty this? The Joe Rocket Revolution Boots were ordered from kneedraggers.com and delivered to my door for $135.92 including shipping. Joe Rocket lists them as waterproof. The boots are quite comfortable and grip the pegs rather well. On the way back from Arkansas I was given the opportunity to test their ability to shed water. We rode for about three hours in light drizzle. When we made the next gas stop, I happened to glance down at my boot s and to my horror, the leather had cracks running all through it! After arriving home I also discovered my socks were damp indicating the boots had indeed leaked. I emailed Joe Rocket telling them what had happened and asking what I should do. To my surprise, their warranty department manager responded to my email within 5 minutes telling me to ship them back! Within one week of the defective boots leaving my home, Joe Rocket had sent a brand new set to me with a note stating that I should rub some leather lotion into the new leather. I’ve done this but have not ridden in the rain again. I’ll let you know how they hold up long term. I am very pleased with their warranty department. More to follow… Keith | ||
| Skully |
Recently, I had noticed that my timer cover was loose. It seems the two rivets that hold the decorative cover on were not doing their job. I took a 1/4" drill bit and removed the rivet heads. The decorative cover could then be removed. I also removed the steel cover behind it be removing the two Phillips head screws. I then took a 10-32 tap and cut threads in the two holes the rivets had previously lived in. After a quick trip to the local hardware store, the cover now looks like this:  Timer Cover Bolts Photo by Keith Later, Keith edited by skully on June 01, 2003 | ||
| Skully |
I was curious as to how my D&D muffler, K&N filter, Buell Race ECM, and air box modifications stacked up against the Force XB pipe, Power Commander, etc., so I plotted them both in MS Excel and Blake made a .jpg file for me. Check it out:  Buell Exhaust Comparison, D&D vs Force The D&D makes lots of power right where I wanted it for the street. If you are looking for maximum power, the Force is the one. Keith | ||
| Darthane |
Keith, What kind of leather care did you use on the boots? I just bought a pair of the Revolutions to wear on the NE tour, along with a Highside 2-piece leather suit. I'm going to get some weatherproofing for both today. | ||
| Skully |
Bryan, I used Kiwi "Camp Dry Leather Lotion" to clean and then I used Kiwi "Camp Dry Mink Oil" to protect the leather. I've still not had to ride in any rain, so I can't endorse this treatment method. I am of the opinion that if it rains very hard for very long, I'm going to be needing some slip on rain "booties". We'll see. Let me know how this goes for you. BTW, if you look above, I have the Joe Rocket Speedmaster leathers I use on the track. They've already saved my hide.  Keith | ||
| Jim_m |
Keith, Do you still have the pic of your bike along with Blake's during your trip (in the by line above)? I love that pic, but lost the email that had it... | ||
| Skully |
Jim, Check your email! Keith  | ||
| Jim_m |
Thanks much | ||
| Darthane |
Keith, Just FYI, I wore those Revolution boots through one day of off and on rain (light and heavy) and a whole day of decent rain without a leak. They broke in well and are nice and comfy now. Bryan | ||
| Skully |
Bryan, Hey that's great news! I've yet to wear the new ones (replaced under warranty) in the rain. What if any, did you treat the leather with? Keith | ||
| Skully |
Hello Buell Fans, It's been quite a while since I posted here, but in this case, that's a good thing. I've crossed the 5,000 mile mark and just completed the full 5,000 mile check up. The only item that even needed adjusting was the primary chain. With my wife's car getting totally destroyed in the explosion on the 3rd of July, I've been riding the bike to work every day. The bike has been absolutely flawless. The only problem I have is deciding what rear tire I'm going to put on next. I find myself looking forward already to a Fall trip into Northwest Arkansas. This bike is just ideal for that. More later... Keith | ||
| Dblhaulxb9s |
Hey Keith, My name is Morgan and I was wondering if you could send me the sound clips and dyno charts of your bike with the D&D Exhaust and airbox mod. The charts aren't showing up on this page right now. My e-mail is dblhaul@gunnison.com. Thanks Morgan | ||
| Skully |
Oak Hill Raceway, Saturday, September 27th Saturday dawned a beautiful, cool morning here in East Texas. Blake and I were both looking forward to two days at Oak Hill Raceway participating in the ninth weekend of races in this season’s CMRA series. We made plans to arrive in time to get registered, teched, and make a couple of practice rounds before the afternoon’s GT races began at 4:30. After making various adjustments to our bikes, we managed to get in a few laps before the track was closed for racing. The GT races are similar to an endurance race in that it is timed (30 minutes) rather being a set number of laps like a Sprint (8 laps in CMRA). For someone who has never ridden at race pace for 30 minutes, it is very physically demanding. I hoped that my physical conditioning and practice would give me some slight advantage over Blake’s superior riding skills. In the end, my only hope was to out last him. Blake got a better launch and jumped ahead of me at the start from a row behind. I managed to let three bikes get between us through Turn 1 and down the straight to Turn 2. I’ve ridden with Blake enough to know that if I let him pull away this early, I’ll never catch him.  Blake at Speed in Turn 7 Slowly, I was able to thread through traffic and reel Blake in. Soon, it seemed we were the only two bikes on the track. I chased him for three or four laps before he finally ran wide and I was able to pass. I couldn’t shake him! The sound of that Buell Cyclone with the race header and muffler thundering behind me was very intimidating. Somewhere around the middle of the race, Blake passed me again. Man I was getting tired and Blake was pulling away! I put my head down again and after three or four more laps, he ran a little wide again and I passed. Yahoo! Now if I could just stay ahead.  Keith at Speed in Turn 7 After being lapped twice by the race leader Michael Sanchez, the race was finally over. I had finished 14th out of 22, was 8th in my class, didn’t crash, and beat Blake! However, the weekend was not over… Oak Hill Raceway, Sunday, September 27th Another beautiful day in East Texas had dawned. Blake and I arrived in time for me to get in a few practice laps while he made a few mods to the muffler brackets and belly pan. We then had time to hang out before the next race with family, friends, and one of our own BadWeB members and fellow racer, Mark Godfrey (Englishman119) and his step son, Robbie. Blake plotted his revenge in the Formula 40 race. He once again got a better start only this time, I was never able to catch him. Rats. Blake spanked me pretty badly. I ran one last race, Middleweight Grand Prix. I once again got a really lousy start and found myself in LAST place. I was tempted to simply finish. But that’s not racing. I made up my mind to put forth every effort and try to catch the person in front of me. After five laps, I had finally reeled in the person ahead of me. Then, in lap 7, as we were being lapped by the race leader, Michael Sanchez, my prey ran wide and I had him. I managed to pass just before the last turn before the finish line. Whew! I eased up and he nearly caught me crossing the finish line! Dang it was close. What a way to finish a beautiful weekend. By the way, my XB now has 6500 miles on it and has not given me one bit of trouble. I’m about to spoon on a Michelin Pilot Sport on the front and a Pilot Road on the rear. I’ll let you know what I think about this combination as I’ll be chasing Blake around the mountains of Arkansas in two weeks. Later, Keith | ||
| Skully |
Hello Buell Fans! I really must apologize for being a slacker; I've not contributed to my Rider's Log like I intended. I have some trip pictures and product testing results to share with you. First, however, I want to replace the missing graphs above from my dynamometer testing:  Stock vs Race ECM/Race Intake/D&D Muffler vs Race ECM/Open Intake/D&D Muffler  A/F Ratio Results for Dyno Run KEITH.009 shown above I have lots more for you; I 'll just have to make the time to get it compiled and posted. Later, Keith edited by skully on April 27, 2004 | ||
| Skully |
And, here is a repost of the missing exhaust comparo:  D&D vs Force vs Drummer | ||
| Skully |
Hello Buell Fans! I apologize for taking so long to get back to you. It has been an unbelievably busy six months. I’ll pick up where I left off in my last post: Fall Trip to the Texas Hill Country Well, our trip to Arkansas was rained out, so we went south instead. Almost immediately, Blake began to have trouble with the muffler mounts on his race exhaust. We stopped in at a tractor supply store and purchased some really heavy duty band clamps. The hardware store is the Buell owner’s friend. These clamps held for a good portion of the trip, but when they failed, the muffler ejected itself into Blake’s rear wheel. Thankfully, Blake was not leaned over in a turn.  A Man and His Muffler Photo by Keith Blake simply rode the rest of the trip without a muffler. The modified 1200 has a pretty wicked sound. My friend Ian found the limits of lean with regards to the body work on his Ducati 750 SS:  The Limits of Lean Photo by Keith More to follow… Keith | ||
| Blake |
Correction, the tractor supply "U-bolt" clamp held amazingly well. Dummy Blake failed to protect his pre-recall race can against the well known fatigue failure at the inlet with its also well-known self-inflicted auto-ejection and thus saw his race can cartwheeling through the air at 80 mph. The U-Bolt automotive type clamp held up fine. | ||
| Skully |
Talimana Drive, Spring 2004 This was just a quick jaunt up to Southeastern Oklahoma to the famed “Talimena Drive”, 50 plus miles of twisty, curvy road. This was the first time I had ridden the Buell on it and I was amazed how much faster I got to the other end as compared to when I rode my Harley Night Train. Imagine that. This is a picture from one of the many overlooks.  Talimena Drive Photo by Keith A small portion of Talimena Drive can be seen in the right hand side of the photograph. Unfortunately, the road takes its share of inexperienced riders and shows them who is really the boss:  Crash! Photo by Keith Fortunately, the rider jumped off before going over the edge and was ok even though his safety gear was subpar.. I rode my friend Martin’s ZX-12. Man! That thing probably should not be allowed on the street. I hit 150 mph in third, shifted to fourth, and hit 160 mph! The scary thing is, the engine was still pulling like a freight train! More later, Keith |
