Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 16

Thread: new xb9sx owner intro and town riding tips?

  1. #1
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2017
    Posts
    106

    new xb9sx owner intro and town riding tips?

    Hi all.
    I always wanted a Buell when the XBs came out and now at 42 I can finally afford one[ok and maybe a bit of a midlife crisis lol]. So i got a 2006 xb9sx this weekend.

    I have not been on two (engine driven) wheels since my son was born 8 years ago so i'm frankly a little afraid of the thing (probably healthy IMO).
    Past riding CV: stock and tuned vintage Vespas (lest you scoff i have, somewhere, a VHS tape of me going 75 mph on 10 inch wheels immediately before the western entry to the Dragon) and an RD350.

    I've only been riding in town up til now, and I'm afraid my timidity and my daily 4 wheeled driver (jeep TJ 4.0, Diesel-esque torque) have got me lugging the thing... to the point i'm maybe about to foul plugs. The bike feels like a racehorse that wants to just GO and piddling around in traffic seems to offend it . I pull away from a stop and even trying to short shift it, I'm going faster than i maybe want to to quiet vibes and smooth it out.

    Definitely not a two stroke when the power comes in (way sooner than a 2T) and putting revs into it makes it all just so much happier... but then TORRRQUE happens and i back out of it fast. I feel like i'm unsure which gear is a '25-35 mph traffic' gear... 3rd seems too high, 2 seems to make the bike happy but then it's loud and i'm not used to engine braking like this (see previously only ever owned 2Ts).

    also: corner initiation is 220-lb scooter flickable, but then i really have to think about not running wide, unlike lighter bikes i own [that don't run]

    Please be gentle with my noob self and give me around-town tips?

  2. #2
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2017
    Posts
    106
    oh, and here's the bike. Carfax says it was originally Hero Blue... I plan on putting a Cherry Bomb airbox top and flyscreen on it
    buell.jpg

  3. #3
    Inactive
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    AmishLand, PA.
    Posts
    7,526
    CHICAGO ya lil' rascal..............you at it again?
    sadly that SX is missing all the desirable factory parts that make it an SX as well as alot of other OEM parts.
    and i'm curious how the hell "carfax" would know it was an original hero-blue colored XB? there is NO indication of factory color on any buell XB VIN....only the original dealer manifest and sometimes the BOS.

  4. #4
    Senior Member rchuff's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Willow Grove, Pa
    Posts
    2,018
    Tip#1 make sure you are wearing a helmet. Tip#2 hold the heck on!!! Tip#3 keep telling yourself it is NOT a scooter! Chicago you little fox you!

  5. #5
    Senior Member Silverrider's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Posts
    2,790
    I am reluctant to admit it but Tebag posts are more entertaining than Sh*tCHICAGO's.

  6. #6
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2017
    Posts
    106
    You're right, I thought I had read color on a VIN lookup site but I was wrong.

    It has a blue cheese-grater and gauge faces, so I assumed it was blue, but the tank has been flat-blacked since then. No hand guards, but has the light guards.

    I seem to have fouled the plugs, so i'll find out what the airbox lid looks like on the inside soon enough

    BTW you guys seem to think I'm trolling you but I'm not. It's probably not a good sign that my honest questions sound like an attempt to wind you up.

  7. #7
    Senior Member Cooter's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Location
    Crawling up your skirt
    Posts
    10,866
    No worries siniki, we're all noobs at something

    What makes you think you fouled the plugs? These are going to make noise, vibrate a LOT, and it's totally ok to RPM them. It's loud. It's going to be loud. 3rd gear at 25-35 is to high a gear for that speed. 2nd is fine. Use the tach, it's there for a reason

    The city (in town) is the worst place to putter around. Stop lights, stop signs, traffic, intersections, people walking... all bad for a motorcycle rider. Freeways suck too. Droning on and on at he same RPM...Take some time and cruise out to a much less populated area (hopefully one with curves). Go the speed limit and really learn about the bike and how she reacts to your inputs.

    These are torquey. You have almost 1000cc's of swinging metal between your legs. MUCH different than an RD350! I wouldn't ride around at less than 2500RPM.

    Running wide isn't anything the bike does. Its you. You turn the bike by pushing on the inside handlebar. NOT leaning your body in that direction. The harder you push, the tighter it turns. Running wide? Then push harder, don't lean! going faster is easier to turn than going slower and hitting the brakes will stand the bike up and make it go wide!. Since it's been so long, have you thought about a MSF course? You'll get a break on insurance as well.

    Nevermind the Chicago comments, he was a very 'special' member who likes to pop up and cause a ruckus now and then. These are all very smart, helpful guys who like Buells to a fault

  8. #8
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2017
    Posts
    106
    I'm pretty certain I've fouled the plugs by repeatedly starting it up (to show off the sound to my son and others) and then shutting it off stone cold. It will not start anymore. Of course it's only NOW that I read a bunch of threads saying never to do this, and my 06, if i'm reading right, does not have the ECU that will fire the plugs for 3 sec with the engine off to clear out any fouling (tried the procedure for 08 and up anyway, no dice). PO was like "you just start it with the button, no need to rev it" and not "do NOT blip it until warm." It started fine prior to me repeatedly starting it cold and putting away cold. Now it just cranks and cranks and sometimes fires one or another pot, or rarely backfires thru the tank, and stinks of fuel soot, so i'm pretty sure I fouled em out.

    I will use the "remove airbox top and bottom" procedure from here (i think?) on youtube to put fresh plugs in it and then let it light with zero throttle and warm up this time.

    Some nice curvy rural roads are <5 mins away; i only puttered around on city streets immediately after i bought it because i had no plate and wanted to just .... well you know how it is with something new, you just gotta try it out first thing. That ride by no means got it up to temp which also didn't help anything.

    Absolutely considering an MSF course, 8 years is a long time in terms of muscle memory and brain training, i was struggling to remember (and then find and use) the push-to-cancel button on the turn signal switch, etc etc. Also just finding out where the brakes bite and so on and so on is hard to do on city streets.

    It was also a bugger to find neutral on, but the clutch cable had loads of freeplay which i've since taken up with the barrel adjuster so fingers crossed there.

    Since I barreled in here all noob style and got Told (rightly) i didn't really know what i have.... what do you reckon I have here?

    - unsure why the fiberglas pipe wrap; i assume they were starting to look ugly so they wrapped them. I've read this ok as long as the bike doesn't sit with the wrap wet (it's in a carport, after a fashion, now)
    - the scoop on the right hand side is non-standard.... right[sic]? Tho i've read people recommend adding it? did i get that right?
    - no MX-style crossbar on the bars is not CityX standard but i'm fine with that (did i get that right?)
    - no hand guards but i always hated those anyway
    - bike has had the "burn both headlights on high beam" mod done (unless xb9sx burned both? I don't think so from what i've read, but I also read that the mod alters the flash-to-pass switch, which still seems functional?)
    - bike has a K&N style breather filter tucked in over the shock/swing, which suggests some breather mods have been done, tho no catch can I can see (but i'll have the airbox off to do the plugs so i guess i'll see how that was done)

    I absolutely need to take this thing out and just run it and get to know it (and get it warm). In regard to steering, I've always intellectually acknowledged that yes, you have to push on the inside bar to start a turn even if it doesn't feel like you are, but with small bikes and scooters I never felt like I was? I guess this bike is midway between the RD (i sometimes was aware of pushing, but mainly it 'felt like' it just went where i leaned) and a Nighthawk 750 I rode 15 years ago where oh yeah, you were definitely having to think about pushing it into and thru the corner, every time.

    I am trying to be ATGATT with this bike for the first time in my life so I've got SIDI B2 boots in the mail, a new Arai Defiant with the pro shade doohickey (my circa 2000 quantum /e was, well it's about 17 years out of Snell compliance), nice cortech short cuff gloves and an ICON Overlord Stealth jacket (came today) so lemme swap these plugs and get geared up and ride it on some back roads.

    Cooter thx so much for not dunking on me, i am a RANK noob here

  9. #9
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    May 2016
    Location
    Central Soviet state of new jersey.
    Posts
    2,674
    You'll be fine, just keep reading here !
    Did you take off and clean all your grounds ?

  10. #10
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2016
    Location
    Santa Cruz Mountains
    Posts
    237
    MSF course! Sign up now! (look left, push left, lean left, go left....)


    "hitting the brakes will stand the bike up and make it go wide!"

    This was the first thing that elicited butt pucker on my XB. Took me completely by surprise as I grabbed a handful of brake and stood the bike right up in a tight corner.



Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •