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Thread: Buell 2008 XB12Scg cutting off and draining the battery

  1. #1
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Posts
    7
    Hi, I just bought a 2008 Buell XB12Scg from my older brother. He purchased the bike brand new and serviced the bike as recommended throughout his ownership “bikes in mint condition never dropped or badly used”. I drove the bike from Dallas TX to Houston without any issues. Before I left on my trip I switched out seats, he had this cheesy red seat that didn’t match the cherry bomb red color of the bike so I went back to the bikes original seat color black. As I mentioned the bike rode great and I didn’t have any issues on my trip back to Houston. I rode the bike on my first commute to work on a Monday; the bike made it to work fine but when I tried starting the bike going to lunch the bike wouldn’t start. I had a co worker jump start me with cables and the bike started but I noticed the engine light on. I continued to ride the bike that day because my older brother mentioned that I probably killed the battery by leaving the heated grips on and not placing the bike on off but on park, hence draining the battery, so continuing to ride the bike would recharge the battery. Next day the bike started without issue I made it to work but this time when I left for lunch the bikes exhaust backfired and the bike got extremely sluggish and finally cut itself off. I did notice that the bikes engine got hotter than usual and I didn’t hear the coolant fan kick on. Anyways I had my co worker drive me to a Harley dealership down the road and purchased a battery, very expensive! I put the new battery in and the bike turned on like a charm, bike sounded great but the engine light was still on. So later that evening driving home from work the bike did exactly what it did before replacing the battery, it got really sluggish and the exhaust backfired again eventually shutting the engine off and I came to an embarrassing halt in traffic. I pushed the bike to the nearest corner store and waited for my wife to arrive so that she can give me a jump. Once the bike was on I rode it down the street for about another 2-3 miles before it did the same thing coming to a stop “luckily I had my wife following behind”. We proceeded with the same steps about three times before finally getting home and parking the bike, such an exhausting experience. I called my brother out of frustration obviously upset and confused to why this was occurring and he assured me that the bike was in perfect condition and never had any issues with the exception of a bad clutch which had been recently replaced at the dealership. I believe this is an electrical problem but I have no idea where to start troubleshooting, my brother referred me to this site and said I can find an answer from experienced Buell owners. I would really appreciate any help; I really enjoy the bike it’s very compact allowing the rider to maneuver in and out of traffic and I love that it’s a 1203cc. But like I said I’ve only owned the bike for less than a week and already experiencing problems and would like to keep my expenses to a minimal due to already spending the money on the purchase. Once again any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

  2. #2
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Posts
    7
    Also forgot to mention that just before the bike shuts off both the speedometer and the rpm gage stop working and the lights go really dim

  3. #3
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2010
    Posts
    1,486
    My money is on the Voltage Regulator, mine on the '08 uly took a dump, but it was caused by not paying attention to the battery cables, they had vibrated loose and burnt up the reg

  4. #4
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Posts
    471
    agreed on the voltage regulator.. i got mine from buellster.com they shipped it pretty fast, faster then the stealership

  5. #5
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Posts
    7
    thank's for the help, how hard is it to switch out the voltage regulator myself?

  6. #6
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Posts
    256
    Wow - nice novella. Congrats on the the wheels!
    There are service manuals for download at the top of this page - no '08's but they're mostly the same for all years. See if they have the drawings for your VR swap.

    Post how it goes!

  7. #7
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Posts
    7
    Took my bike to Harley and it was the stator.. Cost for part and labor was 487.00 with tax... Thanks guys..



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