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Thread: 2005 XB9R Custom Build

  1. #1

    2005 XB9R Custom Build

    Hi guys, my name is Charlie. I'm new the the forum, new to Buells and honestly new to motor cycles. I do however have a long background of building custom vehicles with 4 wheels. My cousin, who's been lending me a hand with projects for year's, asked me to look at his '05 XB9R. One thing led to another and I'm doing a full rebuild of the entire bike. I'm starting this thread in hopes of sharing information, documenting the build and getting advice from the experts on this forum. So feel free to jump in and point out mistakes or make suggestions.

    The bike is a '05 XB9R with 20K miles on the clock. From what i can see its been a very hard 20K miles. My cousin bought it a year and half ago and really hasn't touched anything on it. It have a terrible rattle can paint job, runs and rides like complete crap, every single control on the bike was loose and sloppy and its clearly been on its side a few times. But, he really likes these bikes and Is willing to throw some money at to build it "right".

    Before I began the tear down i ran it a bit and it was very low on power. A leak down test showed that it was likely a compression issue. The plugs also looked like it was running very rich. The other issue that was immediately noticeable was the amount of oil that was venting from the heads into the intake of the engine. Commonly on cars that would suggest high crank case pressure, i'm not sure if thats the same on these bikes.

    Regardless we were already planning on completely rebuilding the engine so I split the bike and tore down the engine. I'll post some pictures below but the carbon build up on the heads and cylinder heads was excessive for sure. Now, I have my recipes for power in engines with 6 additional cylinders but my knowledge in these Harley engines is severely lacking, so I reached out to some experts. I'd like to thank Aaron from Hammer Performance for taking quite a bit of time going through the details of these engines with me. The currently plan is to go with a 1050cc big bore kit on this build, which is actually 1042cc, with new 30 deg pistons, Hammer Performances competition valve job, new valves and springs, new lifters, a new clutch with more holding force, and an exhaust. Add to that a new paint job and all new plugs, wires and anything else that looks like its seen better days and ultimately a custom tune and this thing should be pretty nice when all is said and done. I'll also be going though and inspecting the lower end and transmission, i plan to leave it all stock but why put al this time and money into the bike if something is worn and waiting to cause issues.

    I'll keep everyone updates with progress as well as review any parts and products used on the build. Let the fun begin.


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  2. #2
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    Welcome to the forum Charlie, Aaron Wilson is the “rain man” of sporty engines. He won’t steer you wrong. To make power on a 9 motor requires it to be built a little different than the 12. I’ve wasted a lot of time and money on my 1169cc motor by building it the wrong way. HAMMER PERFORMANCE has my top end as we speak. They are good people for sure. I also recommend an Energy One clutch for an upgrade. Fantastic clutches. I’ve already been down the road that you are heading down. If you have any questions let me know. I’m here to help!

  3. #3
    Senior Member 34nineteen's Avatar
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    I am building an XB in a thread on the Lightning subforum. You may soon find out that building up a “cheap” XB gets pretty expensive. Well, at least you will have plenty of time to sort out the other issues while you wait for the heads get the competition valve job. It will probably be about 3 weeks from when the heads arrive at Hammer. They do good work, though. My heads should hopefully arrive back to me this week.

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    The 1050cc kit is actually 1021cc by the way.

  5. #5
    Hi Mike, thanks for the input. I did order the Energy One clutch pack which a bit stronger spring then stock to handle the extra torque. Aaron actually explained that Hammer's 1050 kit is a 1046 where "the competitions" is a 1021 like you pointed out.

    34nineteen I learned a long time ago that no "cheap" build is ever actually cheap. I will say that parts for this build seem cheap compared to their 8 cylinder counter parts.

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    That means you went with the 1275cc cylinders not the 1250. Good choice. Are you getting any port work done on the heads or just or just the comp valve job?

  7. #7
    Senior Member 34nineteen's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by C.P. Engineering View Post
    34nineteen I learned a long time ago that no "cheap" build is ever actually cheap. I will say that parts for this build seem cheap compared to their 8 cylinder counter parts.
    Holy carp! Who are you? Welcome to the board, my friend!

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    Quote Originally Posted by 34nineteen View Post
    Holy carp! Who are you? Welcome to the board, my friend!
    See what you started Charlie? Here we go again...

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    We have to keep 34:19 in the mindset that he is Tolerated. Not necessarily having any “friends”

  10. #10
    Hahaha, this is gonna be a fun build thread, i can tell already.

    Mike, I'm just doing the valve job. Aaron said that there would be some porting involved with that service but nothing to serious. According to him the valve job alone will be more than capable of flowing the amount of air necessary for this build to make max power. The way i look at it is if Aaron, who would make money on doing the porting, says its not necessary it must really not be. That being said my obsession with detail on these types builds may lead me to break any hard edges and polish the ports just for my own satisfaction, but i really don't think it'll gain me anything.



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