Bad Decisions - Master Class

[Kurlon]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6j9pNpsiiCY

THIS is how you make bad decisions.

[Imbeek]

Cool! Subscribed to the YouTube Channel

[sdog30]

Can I just say; I love Josh.

I do believe this is a PhD in bad decisions, though. Lol
Love the shirt... and also... you said "load". Hahaha

[typeone]

hah! awesome

[Gixxer]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6j9pNpsiiCY

THIS is how you make bad decisions.

Holy hell you have patience.

[Crconnor18]

I think this could be better than countering the Kramer.

Subscribed

[loudbeard]

Sub’d….also wondering from a PM/CM perspective….how does the 2nd racey Buell waiting in the wings make sense. Meaning, why are you doing the Ulysses? Just to make COTA this year? Certainly understand the desire to go rip that track ASAP, thinking this solution may be a bit…Out Of Spec?

[Kurlon]

Initially the plan was the other bike was going to be it, get it, revive it, race it at COTA, and a good time is had by all. Well, reviving it properly is going to require more effort than the owner thought, and knowing a bit more detail about it’s current specs it’s not something to rush through. The other fun is the bike has been apart and moved between storage spaces a few times over a long span so, just locating all the bits and pieces is taking time, I don’t know when I’ll actually have my hands on it to start turning wrenches.

Meanwhile, the clock is ticking, COTA is the last round of the year for SH, and the rumor mill says this may be the last year MotoAmerica runs there? Prior to the 4th of July I had never sat on or rode a Buell, last time I rode a Sportster was college, so I decided the best thing I can do is get a B bike to at least get some seat time and see if I’m going to even like the platform while I wait. Well… couldn’t find any race bikes for sale, and the few street Buells on the used market were either the factory lowered ones, questionable histories, Firebolts which aren’t legal, etc. On the other hand, lots of Ulysess out there for reasonable prices, and the Ulysess is just a Lighting Long with a longer shock and forks. The XT, or ‘Ulysess Touring’ slots in nicely by only being 1in taller than the Lighting Long, and the basic geometry ends up looking an awful lot like my FZR… Cheap, available, it’s an 08 so it’s got the improved crank and some other reliability gains over prior years in the engine, seemed like a good fit. I’ll be down on power compared to the top bikes, and I’ll be gearing limited on top speed if I can’t find a chain drive conversion setup that I trust, but it should at least get me out there this year I hope.

Two possible outcomes for it, I either race it and love it, or I race it and decide it’s going back to street mode as my solo fun toy. I’ve already had a ball on it on the street so I won’t be upset keeping it in the garage. It’s got an agricultural motor, but unlike other bikes I’ve made that accusation of it’s ALSO got tons of character and charm. I don’t love the pain that is unmouting and remounting the front wheel with the ZTL brake system, but I’ve got ideas on that too…

[tsorfas]

I love this with all my heart. Subscribed

[breakdirt916]

Subscribed!!

[Gecko]

Subscribed. You had me at “racey geometry” and “really get it under load once its good and hot.” I think similar phrases were used when I first met my wife. Hey, its a Buell, what could possibly go wrong, right? Good luck, and may the force be with you young Skywalker…..
.

[loudbeard]

Initially the plan was the other bike was going to be it, get it, revive it, race it at COTA, and a good time is had by all. Well, reviving it properly is going to require more effort than the owner thought, and knowing a bit more detail about it’s current specs it’s not something to rush through. The other fun is the bike has been apart and moved between storage spaces a few times over a long span so, just locating all the bits and pieces is taking time, I don’t know when I’ll actually have my hands on it to start turning wrenches.

Meanwhile, the clock is ticking, COTA is the last round of the year for SH, and the rumor mill says this may be the last year MotoAmerica runs there? Prior to the 4th of July I had never sat on or rode a Buell, last time I rode a Sportster was college, so I decided the best thing I can do is get a B bike to at least get some seat time and see if I’m going to even like the platform while I wait. Well… couldn’t find any race bikes for sale, and the few street Buells on the used market were either the factory lowered ones, questionable histories, Firebolts which aren’t legal, etc. On the other hand, lots of Ulysess out there for reasonable prices, and the Ulysess is just a Lighting Long with a longer shock and forks. The XT, or ‘Ulysess Touring’ slots in nicely by only being 1in taller than the Lighting Long, and the basic geometry ends up looking an awful lot like my FZR… Cheap, available, it’s an 08 so it’s got the improved crank and some other reliability gains over prior years in the engine, seemed like a good fit. I’ll be down on power compared to the top bikes, and I’ll be gearing limited on top speed if I can’t find a chain drive conversion setup that I trust, but it should at least get me out there this year I hope.

Two possible outcomes for it, I either race it and love it, or I race it and decide it’s going back to street mode as my solo fun toy. I’ve already had a ball on it on the street so I won’t be upset keeping it in the garage. It’s got an agricultural motor, but unlike other bikes I’ve made that accusation of it’s ALSO got tons of character and charm. I don’t love the pain that is unmouting and remounting the front wheel with the ZTL brake system, but I’ve got ideas on that too…

Sweet! I couldn’t see the strategy from the video, totally makes sense. Build the B bike, race a cool track while it’s still there to race. If everything jives then the A bike comes into play. Pretty cool, man. Looking forward to seeing the rest!

[typeone]

ALSO got tons of character and charm.

[Pittenger5]

Stop it, I can only get so erect.

[boosten lebaron]

Lol. Krieger.

[Kurlon]

Two fuel pumps and one ECM later, bike is now happily running save for a typical Buell pulsing all to hell warped front rotor. When I test rode it before purchase, with no plate in the middle of a very nice community with a warning that the police do frequent the area I tiptoed around to make sure the very basics were there. The front brake was an immediate item of concern, but I also expected it, thought the steering stem bearings might have been on their way out as well from some odd handling but otherwise it did what it was supposed to do. Got the bike home, what I thought was steering stem bearings was a very under inflated rear tire, easy fix. Front pads were long overdue for replacement, and it's common for the OEM pads in combo with bad usage patterns to result in a hot spotty rotor that acts warped but just needs TLC. So, hone the rotor, discover the brake system was immaculate, put in new EPFA pads and should be good to go, right?

When test riding, after the bike was up to temp, about 3mi out it'd cut out if you gave it moderate throttle. Just straight up stop firing like you hit the kill switch. Coast for a bit (tach still reading properly the whole time) and it'd start responding to throttle again. Push your luck and it'd take less and less throttle to trigger, and it'd take longer to recover. Ok, 15yr old bike, bet it's the original pump and filter, it's either that or the ECM has been monkeyed with and the map is out to lunch, or the ECM is on it's way out which happens on these bikes too. Went through the pain of rebuilding the pump, three times, could NOT get the regulator assembly to seal, wouldn't make pressure. Finally got that sorted and... the NEW pump gave up after finally wheezing out 5psi. I'm chasing that with the mfg, in the mean time I bought two used pumps, one arrived yesterday and got tossed in and worked out of the crate. Paired it with a new ECM (clock is ticking, some times you just gotta buy parts now and diag later) and test rode today and all is good. Old ECM will be going back to the mfg, who is still in business making these units, and will diag it, and if the hardware is good it'll get reflashed with the current firmware and mapping for my setup as a spare.

Now that I know it works, I'm scrambling to get racey bits for it's conversion, get the other crap I need for MotoAmerica (I need team shirts, it's just me?!) and find track day opportunities to start doing some test and tune action.

[Kurlon]

Welp, I did the dumb, crashed it at NYST. (AWESOME track BTW.) Botched my line into a corner, needed to tighten things up but ran out of ground clearance, so dumbass me brought in more front brake and washed the front out.

[Gixxer]

Stop it, I can only get so erect.

Stealing this

[tls25rs]

Welp, I did the dumb, crashed it at NYST. (AWESOME track BTW.) Botched my line into a corner, needed to tighten things up but ran out of ground clearance, so dumbass me brought in more front brake and washed the front out.

Seeing as you would seem to be ok physically and posting this up for all to see

What corner? Direction (Uptown or Downtown)?

[Kurlon]

Counterclockwise, left turn, think it was 6 based on the map on the site? The corner numbers they were using don't match the map though and I don't have a good mental map of the track yet which is part of what got me in trouble.

[sdog30]

Sounds like the right-hander after wheelie hill. I've crashed there before.

[Kurlon]

Hotels booked, race entry in, wallet hates me, parts on the way from Italy, Sweden, multiple points in the US and I still need to get more... tires, lever guards, ez-up... "Full send" is not a strong enough descriptor for the amount of blind winging it in progress.

[loudbeard]

We’re hungry for content! When does the next video drop? How’s the repair job coming?

[Kurlon]

Just got back to real wrenching, a bunch of time has been tracking down and waiting for parts. Bike is buttoned back up as of tonight for test riding tomorrow, unfortunately I wasn't able to use the race rotor 'cause it doesn't work with the older caliper... grumble... but I hedged my bets and also bought an EBC rotor at the same time so threw that on and hopefully I won't have a juddery mess of brakes tomorrow.

If the brakes pass muster, I've also gotten a bunch of other stuff on hand finally for race conversion, the biggie being a belly pan that hopefully won't require too much modding to fit, a used slipper clutch, steering damper, etc. I also need to do some bolt drilling for safety wire, get someone to machine me a couple custom spacers for said safety wiring... need to hack into the tail light wiring to convert it to a rain light, rig mounts for number plates, etc. (SuperHooligans actually requires use of the old school big square plastic numberplates that I remember from the early 2000s which I think rocks.)

I've also been chasing down team shirts, paperwork to get credentials for the track, paperwork to get a spot to pit, paperwork to get permission to file paperwork. I need to pre-order fuel, buy an EZUP, finish cleaning and prepping my trailer, decide what I'm bringing vs not... next week is going to be manic as the 25th is my deadline for go / no-go.

If the brakes don't work... well... fuck.

[csmutty]

Where the heck is Erik Boos for this thread...