OK, it's oafish-al I will not be joining the clan of the Ninjettes, my Almost Angelic white XB9R is here. I'll get a real picture when it is daylight but here is basically what it looks like:

http://www.ninjette.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=4347&d=1254195536

sweet greg!
when i started hunting for a ride the xb's were my fantasy picks!
congrats and enjoy!
:thumbup:

Wow! That is HOT!

If you get up this way, let me know.

From what I've read and been told, it has one of the best handling chassis on the road, and that is without spending another $2000+ on new suspension parts. Just wish it was water cooled, but it is fuel injected. Wish I had got this last month, not sure I'm going to be able to wring it out a little until May. Need to pull the front wheel off and get a tire ASAP as the one on it is completely bald. I was going to wait to take it to a shop, but I think the wheel needs to go NOW!

^ congrats on your new ride

Got a few pictures. Needs a bunch of parts for the exhaust because I don't have any of the correct mounts. Need to rip out some kind of after market fuel fooler thing that is all intertwined in with the wires:mad: and need to run the front tire out for replacement. The battery needs to be replaced because it has the wrong terminals on it so it doesn't fit or work properly. It's pretty clear that at least one of the previous owners was a real DOLT.

Oh and since I've owned imports for basically forever, now I need to go out and buy a bunch of SAE tools.

I like those xb9r when they are made into streetfighters..Chopped tail no wind screen fairing..

That would be the stock XB9S which you can still buy, they dropped the 9R a couple years ago in favor of the 12R because the 9R was not selling well. People wanted the extra 20 horsepower of the stroked motor. You can make an XB12 out of an XB9 by changing the crank and con-rods, keeping the 9 pistons jumps the compression way up for more power.

Hope I can get the exhaust mounting parts soon so I can get this on the road before it snows!!!

I like...

Do Buells have a better reputation for reliability now? For a long time they tended to have a very poor rep...

Many people ride theirs with almost no problems, some people seem to get lemons, but the lemons seem to mostly be from second hand machines. I have a strange feeling I'll be tearing mine down in the not too distant future. The pipes got really hot more than a couple of times, so did the heads. I have a feeling that the dolt that pulled the guts out of the exhaust didn't get the TFI device set right, and things have been getting way too hot for far too long.

There is an article where a guy grabbed a Ulysses in Alaska and rode the entire iron but down to the keys with nary a problem. So yes I think the reliability has been improved. I'm fairly certain that the 1125r and 1125CR is far more reliable than any other model, it has a Rotax water cooled engine and transmission. I also like the look of the 1125R but too much money for me right now.

I had a Buel Blast for a weekend...absolutly hate it. The clutch was too finiky, could not find the sweet spot at all, unless I was hard on the gas it would stall out and I prefer doing a controlled pull out instead of a power pull out. Rumour has it that the clutch on the blasts are from the Harley Sportsters and that is why they aren't that good.

Love the other Buells though, might buy one next year...we'll see how the ninja treats me

Almost $200 for a front tire installed, another $70 for brake pads. Waiting for $35 worth of used parts to pu the stock exhaust back on ($160 new price) and then I might actually take the time to get it insured and registered. Might be able to ride it on Saturday. Need to put the pads in and pull that fuel fooler thing out tomorrow.

Why not take a look at the 2010 Blast, they have fresh video of it on the Buell site, also in the Book of Buell. I think you'll like the video of the new version.

If there is anyone in the north east I know where you can get a "Hero Blue" version of the above for $3200. It's in Vermont and may still be listed on Craig's List. Only issue is that you may need to buy a stock muffler to make it more quiet. If you are close enough I can help turn the computer back to stock too, or help you get set up to do the programming yourself.

Getting closer to being able to run this down the road.

Nice!! Congrats!

Are those the ones with the oil in the frame itself? If so, that's some crazy cool shiet!

Nice!! Congrats!

Are those the ones with the oil in the frame itself? If so, that's some crazy cool shiet!

Fuel is in the frame, Oil is in the swing arm.

DMV:mad:... grumble, grumble, grumble


Starting to think I won't get this thing on the road until spring. Maybe I should just get the title updated and not bother trying to register it this year:(

What's the issue?

Need the signatures on the title notarized, no mention of this on the DMV website it is would have been done. It's something that NY doesn't require, but apparently Ohio does. And of course they are closed on Monday because it's a holiday. I'm starting to think I should just get it running properly and then tear it down for paint/powdercoat and try to get it on the road in the spring.

I must say that the entire process seems to have been more difficult that it needed to be, buying new bikes is so much easier, wish I could have afforded to do that. The brand new 08 Buell 1125R sitting at the dealer for $8000 is really pretty and 120 horsepower at the rear wheel.

Oh well that stinks. I just assumed it would be required to have the title notarized, but maybe thats just because I am used to that here in PA.

Good luck!!

Some states do, some do not and the info is hard to find. Hopefully I can get this done this weekend as I do know someone that is a notary. The person at the DMV hinted that as long as the impression was there no one would really look very closely. If I have to I'll send the title back and have him get his signature notarized and I'll do the same. With the time it takes for that then I'll just title the thing and tear it down for the winter, maybe ship the frame out for powdercoat. No it isn't staying white for long.

No it isn't staying white for long.

That's too bad.

Finished all the diagnostics after ripping that fuel fooler out and reset all the error codes that it had generated. Put everything back together and now just have to wait to send the title back and get it back to get this on the road.

Good news. At first I thought you converted the gauges to an lcd screen, then realized it was your computer sitting on top :D

Yup, just doing some diagnostics like checking the mechanical timing and making sure things like the fan worked.

There's a realy nice digital dash that works with the MicroSquirt/MegaSquirt EFI controllers, but it is a bit expensive:
http://www.diyautotune.com/catalog/lcdash-digital-touchscreen-dash-display-for-megasquirt-p-167.html

But it would be really COOL!

There is another smaller LCD type display that I'll probably put in the empty space on the dash when I get this thing converted to MicroSquirt. Gives readouts on pretty much any variable and you can make some small adjustments with it too.
http://www.diyautotune.com/catalog/megaviewii-unassembled-kit-p-96.html

Still no stinking title back so I can register it:mad:

NIIIIIIIICE. I want one in black, but I'd want the headers to be black too. Sorry to hear about the registration troubles. Hope you get it sorted soon.

Just a note... The color in the plastic is molded in and goes all the way through. I'm thinking that all I need to make it matte black is to buy some used black plastic, sand it with 220 to 320 grit paper and run it. I just finished sanding some scuffs out of the rear seat cover with 320 grit and I was going to polish it with Novus #3 and then #2 to get the shine back, but now I'm thinking of sanding all the rest of the plastic to make the whole thing matte white. I'm still torn between keeping it all stock and painting it the way I wanted when I bought it. If Harley hadn't killed the line it would have definitely been matte black on everything.

I did get an email back from the guy that promised he would take care of the title on Saturday, if not I may need to ask a few guys on one of the Buell forums to push him a little. The guy I bought it from really needed cash and I was the only person to step up and help him, now I'm feeling a little put out about this title snafu and I want to ride what I spent the money on!

Finally got the title and now have the plate in my hand! If the weather improves I may leave work early (or at least on time for a change) and go fill up the tank since it is just about empty now.

Well, it has lots of power. Won't pull the front wheel up, but will break the rear free if I'm clumsy with the clutch between first and second. It is certainly the best handling machine I've ever ridden, not that there are lots of choices thrown in there. It's extremely fast if you want to slalom back and forth, way faster than I ever was able to make my Kat go, and it is effortless to do this. The front break will never need more than 1 finger, seems stupidly strong.

Only had it up to about 70 tonight in third or fourth or fifth.

Going to take a lot of getting used to since it only revs to around 7000rpm, gains speed way faster than what I'm used to for the rpms you hear.

The mirrors are certainly completely useless, not nearly wide enough to do any good at all.

Need to work on the suspension, it is a little stiff, never fixed the damping from the last owner who weighed a lot more than me. Springs might be a little stiff too which may be a problem since the rear is on the lightest setting. The back brake needs some attention too, couldn't get it to really do anything.

Sounds great. Now that it's together, MOAR PICS!

If I got a second bike I'd want an XB9R (painted black), black XB12R, or black '09+ Ninja 650R.

Now if that GoPro HD would arrive!

Finally had the time and weather to go for a decent ride, put about 60 miles on it and found that it is far more capable than I am. Any corner marked as suggested slower speeds I was able to go at twice the suggested rate, and that was without stressing about going to fast.

Also rode some really harsh roads, need to work on the suspension damping a lot.

Found out that it will do 70mph in second gear and is perfectly happy to do that for a long time. No idea what top speed is on this thing, much faster than I was wiling to go.

This machine is certainly more satisfying to push fast through corners than I ever remember with my Katana, the loads of torque make it simple to go through slowly and push back up to speed (if I slowed down at all).

Had to stop when the sun started getting lower and the pavement cooled down, didn't trust my old skills to come back enough to keep me from ditching. Need more riding time and maybe a race school.

If I had money I would buy a new 1125r they're selling them for like 6K OTD right now.

I think the 1125R would be nice. They did a lot with the hammerhead shaped upper fairing that I noticed would be nice on my XB. Reports are that the 1125R fairing gives you way more protection from the wind. Even tucked down the wind is tugging on my shoulders with the XB*R. That said it would be hard for my to say I would like an 1125R better. The XB12R or also going out the door pretty cheap if you can still find them.

About two weeks ago I took some time off of work, had great weather and got a lot done. Changed the motor and transmission oil over to Mobile 1 V-Twin 20w50, transmission is a lot better. Adjusted the clutch (and made a video of the process). Replaced the brake fluid and bled the brakes. Replaced the rear brake pads. Put the newer wider mirrors on it so I can actually see. Did a little riding but not too much because I was lazy. Also thought a lot about painting the mirrors white to match the body. Prepped the old mirrors and painted them with Fusion paint for plastic and installed them today to take a look. Going to let it sit for a while before I decide white or black mirrors. Internatrix TW-1000 alarm will be going in sometime next week after I find the connectors I need to do it right.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v329/Greg_E/XB9R/whitemirrors.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v329/Greg_E/XB9R/blackmirrors.jpg

The white looks hot, but Im wondering how Fusion will hold up to road debris and bugs... I would probably leave the black.. and the newer mirrors are much nicer IMO..

Nice bike. I have always liked the Buell bikes. It's a shame Harley gave up on the Buell line.

Nice! I like the white mirrors.

I'm probably going to paint the wider mirrors, I bought them used (cheap) and they have some rash on them so they need some work. If the paint comes off, then I'll just sand it 'til they're black again and keep riding. Other people on the Buell forums have done similar jobs with fusion and say it hold up to washing just fine, but no one had done the mirrors before so I'm breaking new ground.

Working on the lettering on the air cleaner cover (what you guys use as the tank). It has orange letters on it, I have the letters gone and I'm cutting black reflective vinyl for the replacement. I have B U E L L L L cut and took a break before I wreck the next B U E and waste material. Hoping it looks good since there is no way to go back but buy new letters.


Test fit my Cortech tail bag and saddle bags... The saddle bags will not fit with stock turn signals so I need to shop for some new ones that have much shorter "stalks". All in all I'm not real impressed with the Cortech saddlebags, going to need to do a bunch of mods to the attachment straps, the stitching is real weak and a few other things.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v329/Greg_E/XB9R/airbox1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v329/Greg_E/XB9R/airbox2.jpg

Looks OK, wish I had a laser cutting machine since the edges are not really perfect but not horrible either.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v329/Greg_E/XB9R/headlight1.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v329/Greg_E/XB9R/headlight2.jpg

Painted black and then added 3M black reflective vinyl not sure if I like it, hope it is brighter with headlights than camera flash.

I'm loving the reflective vinyl. I'm cool with anything that looks good and adds to a riders safety at the same time. :thumbup:

I really don't care about the safety aspect of the reflector around the lights, what I really wanted was for it to look evil and intimidating when headlights hit it. Ultimately I plan on retrofitting some Hella high/low lights onto this bike so that I have 2 lights all the time.

I think this reflector mod would look better on a black bike, a pair of ghostly eyes coming out of the darkness...

I see what you mean. Colored reflective vinyl would be really nice, like red. It would make the headlights look like bloodshot eyes.

No one makes a black base color with red reflective material. That would be extremely nice for a blacked out bike! You can find yellow reflective with black base if you look hard enough, but not red reflective.

I might have to cut that part of the fairing out and do LEDs for an angel eyes look though I'm kind of saving that space for ram air induction if I can ever find an EFI computer that I can make work (and doesn't cost $1000).

megasquirt

Nope, no more Megasquirt for me. It used to be nice and open, now not one thing is open including trying to get things like this motor working. Lots of mad people, those who worked hard to make it function then have their free hard work ripped off into a commercial product.

There is another DIY system in the works but I haven't kept up on it because I haven't had the time. It is open and pledges to remain that way, so I should be able to bend it to my will. Or I'll go the hard way and build my own from scratch. If I knuckle down I could probably do it.

That stinks. I'm not real familiar with it, but I thought it was still like that.

The only one I have experience with is Performance Electronics, but that is $1K.

New turn signals installed, exhaust wrap (failed), Cortech bags, and Internatrix alarm fitted. New clutch cable to replace the one that kept "stretching".

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v329/Greg_E/XB9R/lights1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v329/Greg_E/XB9R/lights2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v329/Greg_E/XB9R/lights3.jpg

lKrlGY98zVo

Next up is an adjustable clutch lever and matching brake lever and then I think I'm done.

Keep it up Greg.. that XB is getting better and better!

would like to ride an XB someday - seems like a good ride