|
LONG term:
This bike was the first delivered XB12R on the Coast, from the first Aussie shipment August 04, & now has 38,000k's.
I purchased this bike with STUNTS in mind, but used it daily until the life of the motor was cut short by the BIG-END shitting itself & destroying the whole motor @ 34,000k's. (I now know the limitations of a Harley 1200cc motor that is thrashed to the limiter every day.
Rear disc pads crumbled on the first track day with less than 4,000k's, & the fitment of EBC full sintered pads fixed that.
While front disc pads only lasted 5,000k's, the large perimeter disc developed loud clicking noise @ 15,000k's, from the five bolts & floaters that hold the disc.
@ 12,000k's, one hard landing turning stoppie, resulted in the rear engine mount breaking off from the motor. As the swing-arm is attached to the motor, it dropped down an inch, with the rear shock preventing the motor dropping on to the road. While it handled real bad, the starter wire shorted the battery.
Two weeks later the drive-belt broke & rear wheel bearing shat too.
As a standard bike, the torque is great on the twisty roads & makes for a good joke rounding up 160 horse Hyper-sport Jap bikes with a mere 96HP @ rear wheel.
The motor starts off with a but of vibration, smoothing out to it's sweet spot @ 4 ½ on the taco, & keeps pulling hard to it's 6800 limiter.
Wheelies straight off the throttle take some provoking, or with a little help from the clutch to balance point, but you need to be careful not to flip it with the clutch-less shift to second, (due to the huge gap between 1st & 2nd, ) snatching third needs to be right on balance or it's all over. Being a V-twin, it is forgiving & comes down once the throttle is closed.
Stoppies: This bike is really good for stoppies, but has a small problem. As the disc is located on the right fork leg, aggressive braking & stoppies cause it to pull serverly to the right. As I brake, I steer the bike to the left to compensate the twisting effect. If you watch the bars, I nearly turn 5 Degrease to the left. While I'm very use to this, I pull stoppies from standing up, kneeling
on the seat, lying down, & one handed. It is also easy to steer on the front wheel.
MORE POWER 4 FREE:
By simply removing the air box snorkel located inside the left frame/tank-cell, the power is increase is amazing, & it should now wheelie straight if the throttle in first & by yanked up in second. There's more induction noise, & a pop & a fart on wide opening of the
throttle, which can be felt as a puff of wind in the left knee. This is easily fixed by using the top part of the snorkel for a gasket.
MORE POWER & MORE NOISE:
Fitting a FACTORY BUELL RACE KIT is bolt on power & heaps more noise. The kit marked for race purpose only consists of a high flow air filter, CPU, (located under the fairing above the head lights) & a lighter & hollow muffler with short slash-cut pipes exiting
both sides. The fitment is recommended by HD technicians, & while the snorkel is removed, air filter, CPU & muffler is fitted, then adjustments to TPS & idle made as required.
|
