(preventative safety post)Suspension!DANGER!
After a recent lay down on my 12R, I have had a few days to recover and assess repairs. However, the importance of suspension adjustments has led me to making this post available for all. If for any reason at all, you decide to fine tune your bikes handling adjustments, please keep in mind, Buell scooters are VERY sensitive to said adjustments. In my case I voided a golden rule... ALWAYS do to one side as you do to the other. I decided to fully adjust the rear suspension to my specs without adjusting the front end. I had just gotten on to ride and less than a minute later when I was attempting to slow down from about 45mph at my normal predicted stopping range, I downshifted and the front end dipped due to the soft front and loaded up rear end. I attempted to slow using front brake, downshift and soon found my rear brakes were virtually useless due to the shift of weight to the nose. Had I taken the time to properly tune both ends of the bike and theorise possible weight shift outcomes I could have avoided this accident. Please don't be like me. The pain hurts for a while, but the damaged pride and complacency hurt so much more.
I'm in the process of finding the parts to fix my mistake, unfortunately Buell parts and pieces are getting more and more scarce and with that comes sky high prices for things like the primary cover and the fairing stay/mount.
I hope this post will be of value as a reminder and as general rule of thumb to new and experienced buell enthusiast. Thank you too Buellxb.com for giving us all a platform to speak and thanks to all contributing member's continuing to share the struggles and strife of being a Buell enthusiast.
Be safe
Also, if you're selling parts and pieces, I'd love to hear from you. ISO 04 XB12r
