2009 XB12XT Ulysses Refresh

[Vtwinster]

Background
My previous Buell was an XB9R with a factory race pipe (four bikes ago). I added the factory bags and rode on several long trips. I attended the Buell rally in Albuquerque (2005?) – long ago! It was a fun bike but eventually the exhaust noise became too annoying, even with ear plugs, so I sold it. I live in Colorado and there are many great dirt roads and 4WD trails to explore so my last two bikes were dual sport. The last was a 2017 BMW 1200GS – the best bike I’ve ever owned or ridden. My annual riding mileage started to drop off and I couldn’t justify an expensive depreciating asset so I sold it and bought the Ulysses for less than one fourth the price of the BMW.

The Purchase
Over the winter I bought a “project bike”: a one owner 2009 Ulysses with 9,500 miles, dealer serviced (including oil changes) and completely original. The owner said it was in “excellent condition and with new tires.” I verified the service records with the dealerships (no record of new tires), made a deal to buy the bike and drove 12 hours to pick it up. Upon arrival I found a bike with worn out, flat, and dry-rotted tires, a typical rusty muffler, discolored header and scratched bodywork with missing fasteners -classic over promise and under deliver. The bike started and ran fine so we negotiated a new lower price deducting for cost of a new tire.

Project Overview
Besides updating of all of the maintenance items, I decided to add some personal touches. I also added my typical list of safety features.

Maintenance
Plugs, Oils, K&N air filter, Lyndall Gold brake pads, wheel bearings, Shinko 705 tires (I will be riding off pavement), primary chain adjustment and adaptive muffler adjustment.

Cosmetic Changes
Color matching tail and hand rails, color matching luggage accent pieces (I will add reinstall the luggage hardware when I plan a trip), black satin fork tubes, ceramic coated muffler and header, Buell frame paint to address some cosmetic issues, 3M plastic polish to remove most of the bodywork scratches and WD-40 on the black engine cases.

Safety Upgrades
Stebel air horn, Skene tail/brake lights in the rear and Photon blasters in front and 3M black reflective tape.

Miscellaneous Upgrades
Jack nuts in fairing to facilitate quick removal of the windshield, Buell Comfort Kit (no ECM reflash), Vista Cruise, T-Rex Racing axle sliders, HVMP bar end weights, Doubletake mirrors, 2010 Ulysses clear blinkers, tennis racquet grip tape, CRG adjustable short control levers.


I didn’t take many photos although here are a few.

dissassembled.jpg

dissassembled a.jpg

Buell Rollins Pass.jpg

Ulysses fully dressed.jpg