Café Racer on Steroids

Saturday morning I took a friend to ride some Buells, and was lucky enough to get an 1125CR to take out for the morning. I had actually planned to ride the Ulysses XT again, so my girlfriend could experience it and thus urge me to buy one, but somehow the allure of the CR was overwhelming.

As far as I recall the only difference between the R and CR other than cosmetics, is that the gearing is shorter, thus offering more acceleration and less useless top end, since it's a more naked bike than the R.

It makes for a crazy, absolutely manic formula, and I think my girlfriend might never want to get on a bike ever again.

The bike has a number of on/off switches, you either brake or you don't, you either accelerate or you don't, you stop or you go....very fast. Okay maybe I'm lying a little about the acceleration, and it had everything to do with my complete lack of self-control, and just wanting to whack the throttle open. On the very first stretch of open road the nose already came up just a little, and I can't wheelie if I tried so that says it all.

The brakes however know only one thing...STOP. There is no progressive easing into a stop here, it simply bites and bolts down on the ground and you stop dead...no questions asked, except from the person on the back trying not to roll over your head.

Apparently the pillion seat is very hard, but I figured that had more to do with clenching butt cheeks than anything else,and possibly a minor fear of death just to round things off. For a sportsbike, where pillions are usually an afterthought I felt quite comfortable as a rider carrying a passenger, with none of the usual issues racking my brain. The passenger in question didn't like it at all however, and would much prefer riding it herself.

Initially I thought it would be a horribly uncomfortable experience when first sitting on the thing, but the moment we got going the anime-inspired Akira-esque riding position was strangely comfortable. You literally sit with your head on top of the headlight, sort of hanging into the bars. The mirrors dictate your tucked in riding position, as you see bugger all in them when sitting upright, and I couldn't adjust them at all, which leads me to believe that's just the way it is.

Cornering speeds are crazy. I just couldn't acclimatize to the dramatic increase in speed, and the ease with which the bike cuts through corners. When you are comfortable enough to look down at the clocks while going through a corner at warp-speed, it says a whole lot about the abilities of the bike.

I honestly don't think I could ever ride this bike at full tilt, unless I quit my day job and only rode bikes all day long to equalise my skills to the abilities of the bike. Coming into corners my brain would say you are going much too fast, while the bike wasn't even really trying yet, and I noted about a 30-40km/h cornering speed increase, this on a bike that I had just gotten onto. If I had to own it, or ride it for an extended period of time I could push up those speeds significantly, and probably kill myself in the process or just get into a whole lot of trouble.

Sadly, at the end of the day I feel that, just like the 1125R this simply isn't a Buell. Sure it does almost everything brilliantly well, lots of power and torque, superb braking ability, and astonishing handling with massive cornering speeds, but it simply has no soul, unlike my vibrating Harley-engined quirky Lightning does.

It is almost too purposeful, almost too clinical...almost like everything else.

2009 Buell Ulysses XB12XT Ride Report

Recently I had the privilege of taking my CityX in for it's 32 000km service. Now I won't moan about the cost of that little adventure, nor the fact that my head/neck bearings are shot because I've got more exciting things to talk about.

Buell Tygervalley, as always were nice enough to provide a demo bike for the day, which turned into the night and the next day...but anyway. I got a brand spanking new 2009 Ulysses XB12XT with only about 200km on the clocks, in a gorgeous Racing Red. The colour is a little bit flat next to the flashy Translucent colours of my own bike and others in the Buell stable, but by the end of the day I decided it suited the bike, and it's purposes well.

Now the XT is mostly the same as the regular Ulysses in the looks department, with the main visual change being the colour coded front tyre hugger instead of the offroad mudguard on the regular bike. The XT is pretty much a more road going version of it's adventure inclined sibling, with road-biased suspension and a much lower seat height. It also comes standard with the Top Box and Panniers, which is optional on the regular Ulysses, and further alludes towards long distance touring with the addition of an extended windscreen, also optional on the adventure version.

So basically where the Ulysses was dubbed an Adventure bike, instead of a full blown offroad bike, with the idea that it's owners are the types who would like to take the odd gravel road off the beaten track, but spend most of their time on road, the XT is for those who prefer to stay in the saddle a little bit longer and preferably all the way on tarmac. The tyres are Pirelli Diablo Stradas, full road touring tyres, a change from the Pirelli Scorpion Syncs which are geared towards easy offroading.

Getting on the bike I noticed the bike was a hell of a lot lower than the Ulysses I had ridden before, and I could flat foot this one comfortably, whereas before I needed to put one cheek off the seat just to feel secure. It doesn't feel much lower than my own bike, which it is supposed to be, but I write this off to the fact that the seat is much wider and the footpegs also much larger, pushing your legs out further. Getting on is a wee bit more tricky since I got the bike with the panniers and top box fitted, and thus you have to hurdle yourself over it, instead of just throwing a leg up.

A couple of kilometres from the dealership I thought I was getting feverish, just to eventualy figure out that the bloody thing has heated grips as standard fitment, something I've never actually used before, and it was turned up to it's maximum setting of Level 2. At the time it was quite warm and I didn't see the point, but the next morning it was very much appreciated when I hit some colder weather. I won't exactly fork out two grand to have them fitted to my bike, but as a standard feature it is most welcome and I would definitely make use of it.

Immediately the bike feels quite familiar, with the same lounge in front of the TV seating arrangement as found on it's bigger, or rather taller brother. I might be lying about this one, but I think the handlebars are slightly different from the normal Ulysses, but it could just be the extended screen throwing my scale out. Either way the riding position is the same, very commanding, perched high up in the sky, back straight yet relaxed...I will conquer the roads of the world, and go on forever fare. Instantly you realise that as massive as this thing is, it is ridiculously easy to manoeuvre, panniers and all. One would expect the thing to topple over at the first hint of a sharp turn, yet you simply point and shoot, without even needing to throw your weight into it, riding on handlebar input alone.

Throughout the day I didn't once feel like I needed to get off the seat to take a corner, I simply sat bolt upright and maybe put some pressure on the foot pegs and that was it. The bike turns on it's own ear, with the only fear being the potential of scratching the panniers along the ground. Having never ridden a bike with hard cases before, I was quite weary when entering traffic, until much later when I realised the panniers are only slightly wider than the handlebars, meaning that if they were going to make it the rest would surely follow without drama. Those cases will make a long distance journey absolutely effortless, and Buell even sell custom made luggage which fits them perfectly, so you don't need to take them off when you reach your destination. That being said for day to day use the Topbox is more than sufficient, and with it's wide bed I'm sure you could fit an overly large notebook computer inside a bag, and possibly even a smallish briefcase.

Having a highly modified exhaust on my own Buell, anything else is quite underwhelming, and the case is no different here. The 1203cc Thunderstorm engine putters along quietly and is expectantly vibey shaking everything along with enthusiasm. Being a stock standard setup you don't expect much from it, but I think the catalytic converters fitted since 2008 have really murdered the poor thing, because even at higher revs it's quite boring, where my own free breathing stock exhaust used to leave it's VW Beetle idle behind when it hit 3500rpm to overpower the senses with an evil rumble putting a big smile on your face. Sadly the noise the XT makes is nothing more inspiring than just that, noise, and the linear power delivery of the bigger bore engine doesn't help to unlock any powerful emotions about the engine note. Torque is there in abundance, as is the case with all Buells and most V-Twins, and here it is delivered from start to finish in a curve so flat it is almost boring. I blame the treehuggers for the silly catalytic converter, and I'm sure my 984cc pushes more horses than the bike in question. Generally I find the XB9 motor somewhat more entertaining than the 12, simply because you feel the power come in as you go up the rev range, but I'm sure an aftermarket muffler would greatly improve the aural appreciation.

Fortunately the bike corners so well that a massive grin is ever present, even with the uninspiring engine characteristics. Actually that flat power delivery will gets you in trouble quite easily, because travelling speed just sneaks up on you, and next thing you know you are doing double the speed limit in residential areas. The bike is so easy to handle, that you never really feel in danger, and the abundance of torque means that you can just power out of corners in any gear.

Strangely the Ulysses range is not fitted with the new 8-pot calipers originally fitted to the 1125R, like all the other XB12's of 2009. Well I soon realised why not, because it simply doesn't need them. Maybe my brakes aren't quite what they used to be, but being fitted with the same 6-pot single rotor braking system the Ulysses felt a lot stronger when pressure was applied to the lever, than I remember my XB9 being when still running the stock pads.

To test the XT's touring capabilities I decided to take a pillion, as that would typically be the kind of arrangement I would buy this bike for, doing more long distance trips two-up. Normally when someone gets on the back the entire ride changes, more throttle is needed to get away from the lights, handling is slow and troublesome, and braking is normally accompanied by massive pressure from behind. Not the case with the Ulysses in the slightest. In this regard the engine is perfect, as the torque makes extra weight pretty much irrelevant. The massive seat is so accommodating that I had to look in my mirror more than once to make sure I actually had a passenger on the back. Braking is drastically improved by means of the passenger having a grab rail to hold onto behind them, or if the panniers are fitted holding onto their handholds, meaning the weight is completely removed from the rider. I did a number of hard braking tests, and my passenger hardly even noticed, and I was oblivious to their presence. Speaking of the panniers, they make getting on a little bit tricky for the passenger, as well as the rider needing to carry the weight, but it's one of those things where I'm sure one will find a method over time, making things much easier.

Handling I can honestly say is unaffected by adding a passenger to the mix. Where I would normally take special precautions when taking corners with passengers, often spoiling the ride for me, in this case I could effectively just ignore their existence and carry on as usual, and this without any complaints from behind. I did however manage to bottom the suspension out, for the first time in my life, going over a harsh bump in the road. This was easily rectified at the next stop by simply turning the easily adjustable rear preload a couple of notches up, compensating for the additional weight of the passenger. Normally this would be quite the drama with the seat needing to come off, and tools needing to be taken out, normally resulting in an injury.

The bike is so easy to ride with a passenger, and so comfortable for a passenger that even my mother, who has never been on a bike in her life, decided that I needed to take her for a ride. Even that proved to be easy to manage, with a passenger sitting bolt upright in corners instead of leaning with the bike.

So the perfect bike then? Well not quite. Firstly a problem that I hope applies only to this particular bike, and not the entire range, but it runs ridiculously hot. And by ridiculous I mean that I needed to get off it at one point simply because I couldn't handle it any longer. My own Buell which is mostly the same as this one runs the fan for a minute maximum after you switch it off, this one however ran for ten minutes at one point until I had to manually override it before it would shut up. Now it might be a case of the electronics sitting right underneath me, where on my own bike they sit more to the back, but even so I feel the heat was mostly trapped in the frame, leading me to believe it comes straight from the engine. Now my own bike has gotten a bit hot at times, but never to the point that it would actually burn me, and only on the hottest days of summer. In this case we are well into winter already, and the only thing I can think is that the bike is still brand new and might have been treated a little bit roughly, probably well outside normal run-in boundaries. Since noticing the problem I have done some reading on the matter of Buells running hot, and it seems this can be sorted out by adjusting the fuel management system. Now I know the new Buells are running DDFI3 where my own bike is still using DDFI2, so maybe it's just an initial glitch in the system, or maybe it just needs a little bit more time to adjust since it is a dynamic system. Still regardless of the cause, the problem is bad enough that I wouldn't be able to live with this particular bike.

The other issue is a minor build/design quality issue related to the windscreen. The see-through section of the windscreen is quite long as you can see in the pictures, and mounted very low on a the coloured fairing with four Allen bolts. Initially I thought one of these were simply loose when I noted a bit of "flapping" on the left side. I tightened the screw hoping it was a simple matter of adjustment, but then when riding again I realised that the flex was actually in the lower fairing. Logic tells me that the windscreen is simply too long, and mounted to low putting too much leverage on the lower fairing, and without some "give" it would simply snap clean off. It's not a deal breaker by any means, but I don't recall the same thing happening on the normal Ulysses which has the smaller screen fitted.

On the topic of wind, I found my head buffeting quite a bit more on this bike than on my own, and I was very much aware of the wind hitting my upper body and helmet. My Lightning has zero protection from the belly button upwards, but when you've gotten use to it you don't really notice except at extreme speeds. Now in this case the wind feels concentrated because of the additional protection, and thus you are made much more aware of it where it does hit you. Strangely I would like to try this bike with the shorter windscreen, which might alleviate this "problem" and also resolve the flex issue I mentioned above.

At the end of the day I can see myself riding thousands and thousands of kilometres on end with a passenger, and a regular car boot capacity of luggage, for days on end and loving every single moment of it.

So why wouldn't I buy one? Well mostly because I feel the bike is much too similar to my own Lightning, after all the frame is the same only longer, the engine is much the same and I prefer the power-biased nature of my 984cc. Ultimately I could even swap the handlebars on my bike for those of the XT, and have most of the comfort benefits, and only loose out on the hard luggage options, yet at a vastly reduced price compared to upgrading.

All of that said, if I didn't have a Lightning already and had to start fresh I would definitely opt for the Ulysses XT over my Lightning, it simply offers so much more on so many levels.

Here's hoping that Buell bring out something much the same, but 1125 powered in the coming year, then I might just find myself in a pickle.

Madness!!! This is V-Max!

Not having been around, or at least not old enough to ride bikes, in the days when the original V-Max was launched, I missed most of what the fuss was all about. In the couple of years I have been riding I have unfortunately not had the pleasure to find out what the original V-Max was all about.

Thus when the very rare opportunity came to ride the brand new V-Max, I honestly didn't have a clue what to expect. I had heard about this ludicrously powerful "muscle" bike, yet to me it still looked like nothing more than an overpriced cruiser. And then by cruiser standards my experience has mostly been riding Harley Davidsons of all sorts, which foolishly led me to believe that the V-Max would be much like a V-Rod, the names are virtually the same after all...what a mistake.

When I first saw photos of the final release version of the bike, I didn't exactly think it was ugly, but it was a hell of a long way from drop dead gorgeous. Having met the bike in person now, my opinion has changed quite drastically. It's not that the bike has become better looking, but rather that the details you see up close and personal give you a real appreciation for the amount of thought put into producing this motorcycle.

Being a limited production bike, no cost was spared on specially machined aluminium covers, with even the exhaust header being covered in aluminium presumably to keep the bike looking as good as the day it left the factory, and hiding the discolouration of the actual header pipes over time (or it might just serve the purpose of heat shielding, as some Yamaha fans have pointed out to me). Maroon accents can be found all over the bike, breaking the typical Black & Chrome combination, but adding a very exclusive and classy touch to the overall package. Everything has an immense sense of quality, and of course at the higher than average purchase price this is exactly what one would expect.

Everything on the bike looks fairly normal, except for those massive air intakes either side of the tank, the massive exhausts coming out of both sides and then the rear end which I don't like all that much but suits the bike very well with it's Mad Max styling. Looking at the bike it reminds me of a game I played many years ago Full Throttle. It's almost like it comes straight out of a comic book, for once the bean counters at Yamaha were told to bugger off so the designers and engineers could have their fun.

Yamaha build quality has always been phenomenal, and you would be hard pushed to find anything out of place on this bike. There are no wires or cable ties anywhere in plain sight, which can't be said for most bikes these days. If I have to be nitpicking then the only problem I experience with build quality was that the padding on the left side of the seat leading up to the tank, felt just a little bit more than on the right which might be fixed with a slight adjustment or fitting change on this specific bike.

Getting on the bike for the first time, knowing it weighs just over 300kg, it is a pleasant surprise to find that it feels much lighter than expected. My only real gripe with the bike is that the seat is too wide, making it feel much taller than it really is, because you can't put your feet down as firmly as you would like to. Quite possibly this is only an issue for someone of my stature, because generally it feels like the bike was built for people much larger than myself, which is strange for something of Japanese origin. Still cruisers are usually quite easy to flat foot due to their being so low, and it especially helps since they are always heavier than other bikes. It's tricky putting ones feet down when stopping, partly because of the wide seat but more so the protrusion of the rubberised foot pegs, which is of course the norm for cruisers so it shouldn't be a problem for anyone used to these kinds of bikes.



Initially the bike is somewhat scary, not because of the power from the 1679cc V4 engine as you would expect, but because of a strange dip when almost at full steering lock. Navigating the parking lot to get to the world outside was somewhat daunting, especially when you remember the price of the bike underneath you, never mind the fact that it's not even yours and one of only a few in the country. Coming from a sportbike background the low speed handling probably feels normal to regular cruiser riders, but in my case I had to over think every move just to make sure I don't topple over.

Surprisingly the moment I got into second gear and on the move, the initial fears of toppling over dissipated completely. I had told myself that I wouldn't be lane splitting on my journey, cutting out potential damage as much as possible. That was until the first gap in traffic presented itself, and I took a quick look around the bike to check clearance, and then proceeded through the gap and continued doing so for the rest of the trip. The only real worry when splitting cars, are the exhausts sticking out from either side of the bike, but amazingly the bike handles traffic so well I could easily live with it on a day to day basis. The turning circle is quite wide, so you won't be making any quick lane changes between cars, but then again with this being a cruiser you generally wouldn't be in a hurry to get anywhere would you?



Breaking free from stagnant city traffic, I finally got to open up the throttle and experience the massive V4 engine between my legs. I was told you don't need anything other than top gear, which is 5th, because it feels like you are breaking away from the traffic lights in 1st on any other bike. Hearing that statement I figured it was the typical marketing push, but I was astounded to find it to be absolutely the truth, and the realisation was shortly followed by a massive grin on my face. And then I did it again, and again, and again to the point that my face started hurting.

Spanking the V-Max away from the lights the weight of the bike is actually quite comforting, because you know that although it feels like the nose is going to come up any second it simply won't, at least not without some serious man handling of the clutch. Of course with that much power, breaking traction is a concern, but ultimately anyone should be able to launch the V-Max at warp speed much more easily

Sadly the engine note isn't quite as exciting as I had dreamed, which I'm sure has more to do with the environmental regulations of late, rather than by Yamaha's own choosing. Of course fitting some aftermarket exhausts would resolve that problem, but at an exponential cost I'm sure. That being said, having a quiet sleeper bike is exactly what you need to scare the daylights out of unsuspecting superbikes at the lights, or even better non-biker boy racers.



The V-Max will go from 60 to it's limited 220 km/h in top gear without hesitating, and without even breaking a sweat. I have never overtaken other vehicles as easily as I have with this bike, and I think it would make for a fantastic tourer if it weren't for the limited tank range I'm guessing the 15l tank offers. Which brings me back to my only real issue with the bike, the seat. Riding around town sitting up against the tank is quite comfortable with reach to the bars quite relaxed, and the gear and brake levers easily accessible. However when you approach highway speeds and you want to employ the crazy acceleration on offer, you have no other option than to sit back against the stop in the seat, otherwise you will slide right off. The problem is that in that position the reach to the bars becomes somewhat taxing, and at the same time the angle of the gear shifter a little sharp, not that you need to change gears, but it means you can't really grow into the position over time, and train yourself to sit against the stop permanently. Ultimately if the stop was adjustable the seat would have been perfect, but that would be asking too much, especially since the stop pops up to reveal the fuel filler cap.



The wind is surprisingly not much of an issue. Granted I ride a Naked bike everyday, so I'm easy to please compared to most, but for a wide which doesn't even try to keep the wind out it does a surprisingly good job. Naturally under extreme acceleration one's head gets pushed around a bit, but generally the torso and arms are well covered as well as the upper leg area. If anything the wind is a problem from the knee down where your feet are completely open to the elements and you need to make some effort to keep them on the pegs. Still overall I went out on a moderately windy day and it honestly didn't bother me in the slightest. As heavy as the bike is it should be really comfortable in cross wind conditions, not something that can be said for most.

At cruising speeds of 160-180km/h the V-Max is most comfortable, not only from a wind protection and ergonomic perspective, but also because the engine simply settles there. Acceleration from that speed is almost exactly the same as anywhere else in the range, but aerodynamics count against you and anything over 200km/h becomes a chore. Braking is phenomenal, simply because you expect something this big not to stop at all, never mind as well as it does. The ABS is a nice to have feature, although I didn't specifically test it out, and I'm not sure I'd want to. Besides who needs brakes, this bike just wants to go, go, go.



Although I only rode about 60km, I did so on familiar roads and again you just don't expect the bike to handle so well. Sure it's not a superbike, but it storms into corners with confidence, instead of the wobbliness experienced with all the cruisers I've ever ridden. Although the turning circle is quite wide, you don't want a bike like this to turn on a dime either. I much prefer slower steering, over twitchy snappy handling with this kind of motorcycle. The tyres are normal by all standards with the usual 120 up front, and a 200 at the rear, which means replacing them shouldn't be too much trouble.



One would need to have a Get-out-of-jail-free card if you plan to ride the V-Max on a day to day basis, as it simply does not do slow, at least not on the highway. Whenever I looked down I found myself at 160+km/h, even though it didn't feel like that at all. At the same time it idles along at 60km/h without complaint, so it's all about your mental ability to control that right hand, but then again why buy this bike if you only want to cruise. The power is a little tricky in slow corners, as you need to be on the throttle to steer the bike, but putting in those small throttle inputs around those corners can be a mental battle of extreme proportions. Strangely, I expected engine braking to be very strong but it's not, possibly due to the slipper clutch and shaft drive combination, as I can't remember ever riding a shaft driven bike which had a slipper before. The clutch itself is very easy to operate, although the reach was a bit far, and thinking back now I never even checked to see if it was adjustable. Although the gearbox is a bit clunky and quite loud, it's soft to operate and very accurate never missing a shift or hitting a false neutral.



Looking back I don't have anything particular to comment about the suspension, which leads me to believe it's more than adequate. Normally after getting off a bike the complaint is generally that the suspension is either too hard, or too soft. In this case I honestly can't say that I found the suspension bothering me in either manner, and that tells me it's perfect. Should you find yourself unhappy with the suspension it is fully adjustable, which is something you rarely find on a cruiser.

On top of the tank is a small screen hidden under more machined aluminium, indicating the usual odometer, trip meter, time and temperature gauge as well as a half-circle fuel gauge and gear indicator. The gear indicator is a strange one, since I honestly don't see why you would need it with this bike, but mostly because it's location is impractical since you need to look down between your legs to view it. Maybe Yamaha just put it there to add another feature to the list, just in case someone felt it was lacking.



In front you will find the usual dashboard with analog rev counter, digital speedometer, the usual warning lights and a massive dragster style shift light.



Maybe I should stop referring to it as a cruiser, because as much as it looks like one, it's nothing like any cruiser I've ever ridden, except maybe for typical tractor gearbox. As I said at the beginning, I expected the V-Max to be something like a Harley Davidson V-Rod, which is not even remotely the case. The V-Max is a truly unique experience, and not having the money for one I find it difficult to justify paying R235 000 for a motorcycle, but I'm dead certain if I had that kind of money, it would already be on it's way into Yamaha's account.

The Key is a somewhat strange entity. It is so large and oddly shaped that I doubt any biker would be able to pocket it comfortably. Yamaha must have done this on purpose to get people to place it where everyone can see it, thus scoring some free marketing. I couldn't figure out if it's possible to attach it to anything, but then again it would be quite difficult to lose something that big.



Which actually brings me back to a thought I had before riding the V-Max. I wondered why anyone would pay this kind of money for a generic Japanese bike, when they could have a Harley with a true heritage. Well I found that the V-Max isn't generic at all, if anything the Harleys seems generic in comparison, but most of all it might not have a heritage, but it sure is the start of one.

Regarding generic, one thing I simply cannot get over are the indicators straight from the Yamaha sportsbike parts bin, which spoils the dark and handsome looks of the bike completely with their screaming orange covers. Personally I would have fitted smoked or clear indicators with orange bulbs, instead of orange covers. Other than the indicators I have personal issues with the seat, which would probably be perfect if you carry a little bit more than average weight.



The V-Max is so solid that it almost feels immortal. When you approach an obstacle you think to yourself that if things should go wrong, you'll just fly straight through it, and out the other side in one piece without a scratch.

If you have the money, I doubt you will find anything else in this class as entertaining. If only Yamaha built a smaller engine, smaller chassis and somewhat lighter version at half the price, then I would have one parked in my garage...but then again that would completely defeat the purpose of the V-Max.

Recession this way comes

And I'm happier for it, since it seems that fitting the Special Ops and K&N Lifetime filter couldn't have come at a better time.

I now average 20-30km more per tank (read frame), and this is without trying very hard. Short shifting at about 4500rpm like I always do, keeping a steady speed of 120-140 on the highway and overtaking at pretty much full throttle still gives me roughly 230km for 12 litres amounting to a little over 19km/l.

Not bad at all for a big American V-Twin of the old school air cooled variety. Previously I managed just about 200km and then the light would come on, so all in all not a bad deal.

Of course I haven't done the Race EEPROM just yet, as money has been a little tight of late and shipping the cable from the US won't be exactly free either. Needless to say I suspect the Race EEPROM might give me even better mileage going by what I've heard, and failing that I'm sure the custom Xopti tune will sort everything out, including the bit of a backfire every so often.

Backfire isn't the end of the world though, it's quite bad ass and I like it, but I believe it's a good indication of fuel being wasted on all the wrong reasons so it would be nice to get that sorted.

Hopefully there's enough money left after the festive season to organise the ECMSpy cable from Xopti and play around with the Lightning some more.

Special Operations

Well some time ago my Jardine exhaust blew up spectacularly on a low ride where I was unable to attend to the loosened rivets.

The Drummer pipes have always been rated as some of the best in the business, but since I was having trouble supplying a stock exhaust being half way around the world, and the outright pipe was too expensive at $700 and also didn't support the stock chin cowl mounts it was not to be.

Next up on my list of options was Michael Oldfield at Special Ops who does mostly the same kind of thing as Kevin (Drummer) by making modifications to the stock exhaust to allow better breathing, and of course a much better sound.

Mike is the only stock modifier who is also willing to sell a pipe outright, without the need to send in you stock pipe, so this helped greatly. However he didn't have any stock of XB9 pipes, so I was put on his waiting list.

In the meanwhile I went and made a Wanted post on Buelletinboard just in case someone was keen on sponsoring me a stock XB9 pipe, which Odie could work into a Special Ops wonder. Problem is that Buelletinboard doesn't have a pop-up on private messages by default, and thus I completely missed the messages from SpdKls who was willing to hook me up with a stock exhaust which he would drop off with Odie on the weekend.

What a surprise then, when Odie lets me know that he'll be done with my pipe on the weekend, ready to ship the following week. A shock to the budget but a welcome surprise nonetheless, and while I was at it I got a K&N Filter shipped to Odie so he could ship me one package with all the goodies.

Two weeks later and the goods finally arrived on local shores, with customs not screwing me over as expected.

As you can see it looks exactly the same as the stock exhaust, just some what shorter with the outlet at the back, instead of at the side. A much better paintjob than the stock part as well, lets hope it lasts.

I much prefer this option, as the chin cowl mountings are the same, and thus don't require silly additional brackets to be fitted, as is the case with many of the other options available. Also it helps that it looks stock, because that means nobody will notice, and thus will be caught by surprise.

The sound is fantastic. Many people will cringe at the thought that it sounds more like a pissed off Harley than ever, but I quite like it. At the moment there's a lot of decel popping, which is pretty bad ass, but I think will need to be sorted out later.

The bike definitely pulls stronger, but maybe not as smoothly. I find myself in the higher gears much faster than I remember, and it seems like the bike revs up faster and more easily especially the higher ranges.

XoptimizedrsX has offered to help me out with some fuelling maps, and I'll definitely be taking him up on that offer once I have the cash to hook myself up with an ECMSpy cable. Hopefully that will sort out the minor fuelling issue midway through the rev range, and will result in a smoother and even more potent bike.

Oddly enough I've only done one tank of petrol since the pipe and filter were installed, and it saw lots of pretty hard riding, and lots of needless revving, yet tank range was only 5km less than my result. So in theory if I ride "nicely" the bike might even be more economical with mods, than without.

Problem is, with such a bad ass sound you just want to spank it all the time!

I have a blog?

Pester me all you want for not writing anything for six months, but it's my Blog after all so be quiet :)

Well work and life in general just got away from since that Epic journey earlier in the year. The clock reads almost 26 000km, which I figure is a decent figure for less than two years of ownership, and only one really long trip.

The bike is almost run in now, and is getting more and more lively by the day. I've thought about trading it in on a bigger and badder Buell, but I just love this bike too much, and with the catalytic converters on the new bikes, mine is actually up on power it seems.

Clutch cable snapped at just over 24000km, which fortunately wasn't too much of a hassle since I was close to home. At the same time Buell Tygervalley confirmed that they would replace my front rotor under warranty, so the bike went in for the whole shebang. Front wheel bearings were also replaced at the time, which initially I wasn't too happy about, but looking back at the past two years and the number of speed bumps and potholes I molested at speed, I figure it's understandable.

I have also installed a Special Ops muffler, and K&N Air Filter since the last post but I think I'll make a seperate entry regarding that, as it's quite a story and a few people need to be commended.

Ultimately the Buell is stronger than ever, and miraculously has dodged many mishaps to it's person. Many have fallen in it's wake however...which is odd for a supposedly "slow" bike.

The Buell goes to Port St John

Alrighty so I have a moment to tell a few stories, in case anyone cares to listen.

Firstly a round up of the petrol statistics...

Total Litres Consumed by the Vibrator - 164.582 l

Total Cost of litres consumed - R 1 329.63 (not bad considering my guesstimate was R1200 for the trip)

Total Fuel Stops : 21 - Range between the Buell and R6 balanced at about 200km so we didn't want to take chances.

Km/l Average : 17.63 (not bad, considering this includes two tanks or "frames" which saw nothing less than 200km/h on the clock)

The bike would run up to about 160km/h with consistent fuel usage across the board, but the moment you crossed that line I only managed about 150km on the tank instead of the usual 200+. Bear in mind this is a 14.7 litre capacity with a slightly over zealous reserve light.

Ultimately I think it's not down to the bike being thirstier at higher revs, but rather a case of aerodynamics requiring much more power at those speeds. The R6 on the other hand tended to be more economical in the 180km/h region.


Day 1 (Thursday) - Fairly event free, and rather boring. As I said before my perception of touring has changed dramatically, and in future long trips like these should be covered with less than 500km a day and time to spare to make any stops possible. Ultimately an end destination shouldn't even be on the cards, but that could get a little hairy especially with regards to accommodation at the end of the day.

Our destination was Port Elizabeth on day one, and our progress was fairly slowing. We had been warned with regards to lots of road works, but hadn't really had any problems up to about Stormsrivier where we hit the first real Stop/Go. Those of you that rode with to the Buffalo last year will be pleased to find that the roads around Caledon are now complete and in fantastic condition.

The toll road through Stormsrivier is however under construction, and I'm guessing they are adding an extra lane on each side, which ultimately will remote the only bottleneck on that entire section of road. At the moment though the surface condition is shocking, and of course the Stop/Go's aren't much fun especially when you are suffering from numbum after doing 500km already.

So the final 200km stretch into PE we were just about gatvol, and ready to nail it, just to be pleasantly surprised by the worst road works of the day just outside PE. Fortunately being on bikes we slipped past to the front of every single Stop/Go which eased the pain somewhat.

We stayed in Blue Water Bay just past PE, in a B&B which is basically a massive house with I think 5 different apartment sections for guest, and a community breakfast area. Think we paid R190 per person which included breakfast and was quite reasonable. Smallish room, but completely separate bathroom with fancy bath and shower, and also a separate entrance where we parked our bikes right at the door. We were however rudely awakened the next morning at 6:00 by some Whamkilikili doef-doef stuff which sounded like some conference or something.

722km for the day if I remember correctly.

Day 2 (Friday) - First stop was Oakley in PE so Nico (R6) could take some specs in to be repaired. Oakley made good and said they could do it on the spot and have it ready in 15min, so we decided to wait and headed out at about 9:30 for Grahamstown.

Apparently we missed something, because everyone is always gaaning aan about Grahamstown, but we found nothing spectacular at all, and struggle to find petrol never mind anything else. We were warned that the road to King William's town was in a dire state, and filled with cops. We passed one Gatso just outside Grahamstown, but got away with a friendly wave, which in retrospect might have been a sign to pull over....oh well.

The roads towards the Transkei in my opinion are in better condition than anywhere else really, and there are some fantastic passes in between which are in perfect condition actually. Problem really is that the roads have recently been reconstructed and thus there are no lines. Pot Hole warning are everywhere, but we found them to be pretty much unfounded. Often you'll have pot holes to the shoulder, but those are hardly a problem for a bike which travels closer to the middle.

I can't remember exactly but I think it was just outside Peddie where I came around a corner at about 120 just to find a massive queue of cars waiting for the Stop/Go. Naturally a bit of hard braking was in order, but what made it hilarious was the oke with his red flag, because the faster I came closer the faster he waved as if it would make a difference. Slightly hairy situation, but nothing too serious. Fortunately I took the chance of having a peek past the cars, because they were standing for a good kilometre, and we opted to skip past all of them.

King William's town is actually quite a nice little place. Naturally nothing spectacular out here in the Wild East but they seem to be on the ball.

Next stop Mtatha (Umtata) where I was born.

Now I need to mention that the country is absolutely fantastic to ride through. The scenery is just amazing, and it stretches for miles on end, and absolutely everything is green. It's also an amazing cultural experience because naturally everything is Xhosa, and it's clearly apparent that many of these people have never seen bikes in their lives, or at least very rarely. Every stop in the completely black towns like Peddie and some of the other small villages was met with absolute wonder, and people asking questions about the bikes and where we were going, like we were celebrities or something. It was also apparent that nobody knows that a bike is legally required to have it's lights on at all hours, since we got flashed by every second car to tell us our lights were on.

And then things got hairy...

Now I might have been born in Umtata, but I didn't realise that the surrounding country was virtually in the mountains,and thus ridiculously high above sea level. Needless to say we literally got stuck in the clouds, which effectively brought our viewing distance down to less than 30m.

Cattle dodging had already been fun for most of the day, but entering roads you haven't seen before blindly was rather intimidating. Ultimately I'm guessing we did about 200km perfectly blindly, both outside Umtata and later approaching Port St John.

As dangerous as it was, it was a lot of funny. Amazing to see the massive landscapes completely disappear and losing 360 degree vision entirely. Makes you really feel small in the world.

And that's when it got really exciting...

You see Mtatha/Umtata has this ridiculous infatuation with speed bumps. Not normal large speed bumps, no rather a series of small very hard very upright speed bumps in a row with a cars length between them. A case of "this is a 60 zone, if you don't do 60 we'll make you do 60".

Not only does it completely cock up the flow of traffic, especially at peak hour when we passed through, but it's bloody dangerous. Traffic comes to a complete stand still in town, because of people negotiating the bumps out of town. And there's no robot in the main street, just a four way stop.

I figure we lost about an hour, just trying to navigate through and out of Mtatha.

And then we went back into the clouds...

About 10km outside of town I see a 80km/h sign, and fortunately slack down to about that speed, and then soon after follows a 60km/h which I don't really slack down for. And then...blindly I strike a massive speed bump, and I have zero chance of cutting speed because there are another 5 in close succession. Needless to say I figured I bent a rim or two, and possibly lost an exhaust but the bike help up well, and my luggage was still in place.

Oh somewhere along the line we realised my running light was dead, but later from the rest we heard it's been dead for a few weeks. So I was riding in front, since cars only saw my numberplate light, and my brake lights.

The final stretch to Port St John was in the clouds, and full on showers this time at a steady 80km/h following a Ford Focus through the mountains because we couldn't see anyway.

We arrived absolutely soaked, and not having stopped to put the rain cover on the luggage, figuring we only had so far to go, all the stuff in the bags was wet as well.

Friday night was good fun, considering the Gautengers bought a drum of Crayfish for something ridiculous like R350. Naturally all under the table, and I figure I had about 12+ straight off the braai. Envy...wa ha ha ha ha.

Saturday saw us doing about 10km of offroading up and down a mountain on roadbikes just for breakfast, but keeping it slow made it event less so all was good. The Gautengers decided their measly 900km was too much and they needed 2 days to ride back up, because it was too much for them coming down, so they set off on Saturday afternoon.

Of course this was after I had my fun on the ZX14 and Z1000.

The Z1000 is very nimble, and actually a little bit scary in my opinion. I also sensed a very strange vibration which made the Buell seem sedate, half way up the revs. The rear suspension was a little bit soft, so maybe that caused the vibration, but it seemed completely revs related.

The ZX14 was just over the top and way too much bike for me. This particular one has a Full Arata system on, Power Commander and I believe some cam work done as well. We all know I can't wheelie, and I managed to lift this bike second gear virtually off idle. Absolutely clinically insane!

It is however a very comfortable bike, I couldn't believe it. I figured it was just a bigger over the top brother of the ZX10, but it is in fact much more of a tourer than expected.

Saturday night saw us getting slaughtered at the resort's pub. They basically have a standing rule that when Pool is played the loser buys shots for all players. Being pretty good at Pool meant not leaving the table once, and getting a drink with every round. Fortunately I didn't feel as bad as it really was Sunday morning, and by the time they started putting Mampoer down, I figured someone needed to go Braai otherwise we would never eat, so off I went.

Sunday we aimed for East London, because the R6 had managed to stretch it's chain, even though it was find on Thursday night. Must have been those bloody speedbumps, or it just went weak at a point unexpectedly. It was a rather slow and relaxing ride, since the rest had a rather intimate discussion with the Mampoer the previous evening.

Yet as the time went by the speed increased, and that's when we passed a Gatso with a nice little blue man jumping into the road. I was already 100m passed the thing when I eventually stopped, as I was thinking of skieting if the R6 did as well, but he pulled over so I figured if this copper wanted my number he would have to take a walk. No problem, five minutes and R40 later we were back on the road, and the 141km/h in an 80 magically disappeared. It's days like these that I don't mind the corruption in this country.

We ended up staying at the Premier Regent hotel in EL, because I wasn't particularly keen in going to stay with my family, and Nico's buddy couldn't help us out. We were warned the Backpackers is a bit risky, and when we found out the hotel has rooms for R320 a night we figured it's a bargain.

Terms & Conditions and Fine Print apply as it always goes. Turns out the rooms have absolutely no view or hole to the outside world. No windows, only a ceiling fan. It wasn't that bad, but it definitely wasn't great either.

Monday morning saw us heading for De Rust. The plan was to head back out along the N2 as we had come, and then jump onto the R62 from there.

And heading back to Grahamstown is where the little "oopsie" happened. I'll write it down to getting into the momentum of overtaking. No lines on the road and I took a peek past a truck, and my brain said there is a massive gap to overtake with no oncoming cars. That was until I found myself next to this truck which became longer and longer the more I accelerated, and then all of a sudden a car from the front.

I figured it was the end of the road for me, because there was no run off whatsoever, not even a gravel section. Needless to say I'm still here, and what resulted was a pure miracle. I ended up line splitting about five cars head on, while also locking up the rear under braking in an attempt to get back behind the truck. And I knew I couldn't try to look behind me to see where the truck ended, because surely I would run right into it.

It was HECTIC very very hectic. And after coming out alive at the other end I immediately pulled over for a breather, because my concentration was shot.

Naturally I let Nico take the lead, and the pace was dropped considerably for the remainder of that section.

Coming past PE we picked up the pace again, not being too lus anymore and just wanting to relax a little.

Once we hit the R62 the ride became fun again, and we were slaughtering corners until we met the sign to Uniondale saying road closed. But the sign was sorted of in the middle of the road, and we saw numerous cars come out. Turns out the road was flooded, but there were single lane sections open, and the locals assured us we should be fine.

Fine on a bloody GS maybe!!!! We negotiated some dongas with our sportsbikes, which some okes with their duellies would be scared of. Best of all, some were at relative speed, because we couldn't see the surface changes at all, due to the sun shining directly in our eyes. The Uniondale road is almost identical to Meiringspoort only not as long, and not as hectic. It could be a great biking road when it's repaired, until then I would advise even cars to steer clear.

No such luck as to pick up the Spook in Uniondale, I guess she didn't smaak sitting on top of the luggage.

The final stretch round the back from Uniondale to De Rust sucks. The sections with corners were a nightmare due to the time of day and the sunlight completely blocking our vision with dark visor or shades on. The rest is perfectly straight for kilometres on end, pretty damn boring unless you plan on doing top end runs.

De Rust was the same old same old. Herrie's Pub is a little bit more expensive than I remember, but we figured after eating crap on the road for 5 days, we could afford to dish out on a rack of ribs. Needless to say it wasn't fantastic, but it did the job.

Tuesday morning I figured it was my duty to go show Nico Meiringspoort. The road is as good as always, but the trucks have mangled the surface just a little bit since my last visit. We only did one up and down, because we needed to get on the road.

Oudtshoorn here we come for breakfast at the Steers which Abu will remember we stopped at as well. We hit a Stop/Go just before the pass to Ladysmith where we ended up waiting for a good 20min. Not bad since it's the only Stop/Go where we actually stopped long enough to take our gear off. Made some friends with some locals, whom we passed back and forth all day as we stopped and such.

I initially wanted to shoot over Tradouw to the N2 like we did before, since I was heading for the Strand, but then I figured I would accompany the R6 all the way home.

By the time we hit Montagu we were tired, and the warp speed drive was engaged. The Buell unbelievably has still not been top ended. The R6 was very optimistic though, since it saw 240km/h on the clocks, and I'm dead sure the Buell can't maintain that.

Filled up at Robertson, and Scott's warning about the heat was really hitting home. The closer we came to Capie Town, the more fluids we needed to take at every stop. And with the riding going a little bit woes, the bikes were also suiping quite heavily.

A priest in Robertson lied to us, telling us Worcester is only 15km out. Bastid, it was a good 35km, but anyway. Hitting past Worcester we opted to the take the tunnel instead of the pass like we original planned. And then it finally happened. As I adjusted in my seat for a stretch, the right knee finally gave up. No more jumping around in the seat then, and just nurse yourself home Shaun.

The 70zone through the tunnel and down the mountain was blatantly ignored, as we simply couldn't care less.

Eventually hit home with exactly 2795km on the clock, and I'll sure as hell do it again but next time taking a lot more time and possibly taking a different bike.

I've added a few pics, saving bandwidth you know...