The Buell Ulysses XB12XT Odyssey
- Fred
- Sep 9, 2025
- 36 min read
A few months after passing my California M1 drivers test and getting into my Kwakersaki KLX 300 machine that I had specifically modified for a heavy pilot like myself, it dawned on me that Nor Cal was not exactly dirt bike friendly the way So Cal is dirt bike friendly.
I had schemed that riding on the many dirt trails I can see from my aircraft in my geo was the route to Valhalla.
However, the loon toon tree hugger brigade in Sacramento had gone to town on all the environmental banning of near everything with a gas engine on dirt bike terrain up in these parts.
I had to drive up to Bottle Hill near Scarymento almost 100 miles away from where I live to even get on decent dirt.
That trip is pretty exhausting on a KLX, even with the modified 4 gallon gas tank I put on it.
If you are familiar with ATV tracks, these are also good places to ride this sort of machine but bikes are usually transported to these in pickup trucks and I myself do not like sharing dirt with four wheeled ATV loon tune types much.
Now, if I'd had a pickup truck equipped to transport dirt bikes, it would have been a different thing entirely, but driving to Bottle Hill from my home and then going trial riding and then riding it home - all on the KLX, seemed like a marathon event and tall order for even a younger and fitter rider.
The lack of a screen on the KLX meant highway riding for these sorts of distances required a screen be added, which detracted from the dirt riding part somewhat.
Catch 22 there...
The new KLE500 has all of these things sorted out brand new by the way....
I slowly started to realize that although the KLX had been the best platform to pass my M1 test on for the CMSP antics, that the fun I thought I wuz gunna have on it was gonna be limited due to these emergent transport to the actual dirt trail venue realities.
I also found, after purchasing the KLX replacement (of course), that the lollipop test is so easy on the Buell that I felt stupid about the KLX endeavor in the first place...
Hindsight is just grate.....
In any event, I reluctantly started looking for a cheap project motorcycle platform that would fit the bill as either an add on or a total replacement of the KLX 300.
This also meant I was saying goodbye to dirt bike ambitions and saying hello again to sport touring stuff.
To be fair, I am more in my comfort zone with well balanced big adventure sport fare on two wheels anyways (unless the terrain is in Africa that is)...
It is a pity, as I had done a lot of custom work on that KLX, but it really is for a younger and more different type of (bigger) rider with a strong need for sad-masochistic experiences and a deep well of tenacity reserves.
It dawned on me that I needed something more practical, cheap and interesting instead.
Several of the Motorcycle instructor folks I got to know casually mentioned Buell when I presented my dilemma to them.
I had seen Buells before but could not take them seriously as the 96-2003 edition stuff was fraught with mechanical terrors, issues and mechanical design flaws it would take Erik Buell 10 years to sort out in the later series Buell stuff from 2005 onward.
Reports are that he did do this successfully.
I did note that these things were available real cheap from 1995-2010 and that the 2006-2010 stuff in particular seemed rather interesting.
I saw an ad in Craig's list for a 2006 Buell Ulysses model with 47,000 miles on the clock for $3500 and thought that was actually quite a bargain, all told.
The owner claimed it was only just run in which I have heard other Harley owners claim as the broken in mark on these modified Buell 1203 engines.
They are so modified they’re not really HD 1203 stock with a few tweaks, they really just took the crankcases and filled everything with new shit. Starting with the crankshaft…..and added an oil cooling kit to the equation.
Do note that not all Buell's use the Harley 1203 Engine base, so do your research on them as the 1125CR seems to use a Rotax 72 degree Helicon V-Twin motor design that was bought from the old Moto Morini motorcycle company by Rotax at some point.
I have ridden a few 1125CR’s in the last few months and I prefer the 1203 motor by a wide margin.
The new 1190 however has a Buell Motor that has nothing to do with either HD or Rotax and man, that is probably one of the best V-Twin engines ever made.
EBR, Erik Buell’s racing company took the Helicon 72 degree V-Twin architecture and built a completely new engine using these basic fundamentals.
Seems you order the 1190 from EBR if you want one?
I myself would take it over a Ducati every time, if it weren’t for the agricultural transmission the Buell 1190 is cursed with.
To be fair it's not a bad gearbox, just a bit of a dinosaur gearbox.
Even KTM build a more decent transmission than that 5 speed Buell box!
The Gearbox on the Ducati should be mated to the Buell, that combo in the Buell frame would probably deliver the best motorcycle you could ever imagine was possible.
It is not the standard stock Helicon unit in the 1125CR either, as is usual with Buell, it is highly modified, which is why they eke 30-55 horsepower more out of these motors than the stock Rotax or HD 1203 motor blocks.
The 1203 HD motor in my XB12XT for example, produces 31 horsepower more than the stock Harley 1203 motor.
HD shops refuse to work on these 1203 Lightning motors for some reason by the way, so if you buy a Buell you need to brace yourself for this reality.
I also jumped on Cycle trader and saw some pristine low mileage Buell specimen from $4500 onward but alas these were all in South Dakota or somewhere in deep dark Illinois.
I spoke to several XB12XT owners around the country, and they all swore by them (providing you did not get an early dud with a bad crankshaft that is).
The Craig's list one for $3500 I was looking at back in April seemed like the ideal project machine for serious tinkering antics and I decided to investigate the possibility further.
Mine came equipped with a laminar lip as the previous owner was 6 foot one and I am near 6 foot 4 and it is not quite right for me.
I just purchased a Kenimoto Laminar lip ujit for $75.60 and think this will be a better fit for me.
Laminar Lip Inc. went out of business in 2023 so they are no longer an option for anyone with this problem.
I will report the results of this Kenimoto device in detail at some point but it does the job and makes my motocross helmet viable while driving it.
Back to my tale.
Years prior, sometime in the mid 1980's, I had bought Moto Morini 500 and Moto Guzzi V50 Monza motorcycles and was immediately shot in the head with the zero spares availability problem for such small marques and did not really want to go there ever again.
As stated, these later Buells use highly modified Harley Davidson and Rotax Helicon Engines with Buell designed Gearboxes, so my thinking was the parts for the engines at least were not going to be a problem as Harley and Rotax are both thriving companies at present.
After my initial investigations into Buell, I also learnt that Harley Davidson had bought Buell outright in 2003 and Buell are currently making new generation (2025) machines with the Buell logo on them.
It seems Buell is a separate company these days but is minus Erik Buell who is off in electric motorcycle lala land.
I am confused on this issue as some claim HD stores will sport the two new Buell bikes?
As far as I can tell if you want a 1190 Hammerhead or one of the new machines you go to the Buell site, pay a deposit and the balance is due before delivery gets made?
This 2008-2010 series stuff was getting more interesting as an option, to my mind at any rate.
I have since discovered the S1 and X1 series Buells are also a serious option.
There seemed to be two legacy Buell model series with Japanese style reliability, and the XB series was one of them, which was in sharp contrast to my last Harley, a 1975 1200 Wide glide that was the most pointless thing I ever owned - two wheeled wise that is.
That thing suffered continuous gearbox failures and would drive for 800 meters before you had to tip gas into the left side fuel valve for the engine to get any gas.
Someone had done a custom tank paint job on the thing which was the only visually pleasing thing about it. It was the Uriah Heep fallen angel album cover.
I vividly recall that it held one whole gallon of gas in the tank! I have never seen such a small gas tank for such a large motorcycle before or since.
It also shook like a jackhammer when you rode the darn thing and was actually a pretty dangerous machine, all told.
It was actually more than a trifecta of utter shit that thing - shit brakes, shit gearbox, shit shocks, shit frame, shit seat, shit starter motor, shit wheels, shit electrics....a real festival of shit in other words..
Something to look at and never actually ride was my conclusion on that thing.
I had a lot of buds who became 1340cc Harley owners over the years and these folks all swore by these things' reliability, but I just humored them as being slaves to the chopper scene shtick and never took them seriously as I had that 1200 Wide Glide festival of shit festooned all over my mind.
I was not convinced by bobbers myself, and Harley stuff is definitely not cheap fare either.
The considered biking opinion however was that Eric Buell was a genius and had his engineering shit together and the actual Buell owners loved his later edition bikes.
I decided it was definitely a viable option to look at, considering the price and it was a V-Twin, which is all it really took to tickle my fancy!
I have a thing for V-Twin engines, it must be said!
The guy I was talking to on Craig's list lived on the other side of Pacifica on Highway 1, which is on the way to Half Moon Bay here in Northern California, but he did not seem in much of a rush to get shot of the thing.
I discovered that he had owned it from new moving up from a 1203 Harley ride.
He went to Tahoe for his summer vacation on the verge of me making the splurge and said I should get back to him mid-July when he eventually traipsed back to Pacifica.
Of course, he did not respond to my text messages and I deduced that someone had snapped it up at that low ask price.
I was to learn these these machines are as cheap as chips for some reason and quite the bargain if hunting for parts makes your boat float.
In any event, he responds one Monday Morning in mid July, and she who must be obeyed and I dash off to go look at it.
I thought I was buying a 2006 Ulysses, but it turns out it was actually a 2009 edition.
Big Bonus, as they had the crank problems totally sorted by then per my feedback from the Buell network I was pinging and there was no crankshaft risk with a 2009 per those who know these things.
The $3500 asking price was actually looking more like a serious bargain by the minute!
I rode it back to the Antioch/Brentwood/Oakley intersection where she who must be obeyed and I have a home - via Highway One after a quick test ride, then onto the 280, Then the Bay Bridge, then highway 24, followed the 680 to the 242 then on to highway 4, the 160 and home.
The traffic at 2 PM was pretty Godawful and the machine was running fairly rough.
I concluded the bike had not actually been ridden much by the way the brakes squealed and the engine spat on the low end here and there.
I was also to slowly discover the front brake is not up to the job if you do serious race work on the thing, so an upgrade to the 8 Piston Caliper looks likely for me at some point.
On the ride home I was fearful it would just die on me as it was real rough on idle at traffic lights.
The machine seemed to idle from 900 RPM to shy of 2000 which was a tad bizarre and the gear shifter was a total nightmare, being worn to nothing and most difficult to operate with its little smidgen of surviving rubber on a stub of metal to hook the foot under.
The clutch lever also did not really engage fully for some reason but it has now smoothed out a whole bunch better.
As I said, this machine seems to have been standing doing nothing for a long while, so I probably knocked off a lot of rust and cobwebs on the thing by just riding it regularly.
I suspect the fuel pump is on the way out as well and have acquired a kit to fix that problem when it arises
It seems to have moderate salt erosion that is common to the Half Moon Bay type environs and I will have to treat and wash that all off with vinegar and a lot of aluminum polish work to deal with the salt erosion with something like a 3M Aluminum polish.
I have had several polishing sessions on it to date with a variable speed polishing device I acquired on Amazon.
It seems the only major thing I need to change is the foot actuated gear lever which should not run me more than $105.
In fact I picked up a unit on Amazon that was $57 but the screw for the gear lever linkage needs to be machined on a lathe to fit the hole so the old one is sticking around until that is done.
I have been having the struggles to find a CNC shop local to me that will do the quick job.
After that screw is machined and I fit the new gear shifter, I need to look at the front brakes.
I noticed heavy brake fade towards the end of my 80-mile ride home from Pacifica that bears looking into and the throttle assembly seemed to not be anchored and is floating which may explain the idle being all over the place.
My Ulysses also has the heated grips which are either egregiously hot or thermonuclear which I am told is the way those things are on all Buells equipped with heated hand grips.
Turns out the cable hanging from each handlebar grip was the cable for the heated elements in each grip and not the throttle assembly ujit itself.
I will be looking to removing these from my bike at some point as if it is that cold, I would not be on a bike in the first place!
Given how these Buells hate water I am never driving mine in cold weather anyhew and I will remove the heated grips and all their electrics as I want nice soft and comfy rubber grips grips on the thing.
Buells use their patented ZTL braking system which is also nothing short of engineering genius (when it works).
ZTL stands for Zero Torsional Load and their brake rotors are large and towards the outer edge of their 17" front wheels.
I was having issues locating a new front disc rotor with mounting kit screws et al for my XB12XT as it seems EBC does not make them any more - actually EBC in the UK does still make these rotors and pads - in the U.K.
The other options I can find are crazy expensive as well.
I found one online for $155 that was a Galfer cut rotor - the new ones direct from Galfer are over $400.
It did get a lot better after I bled the front brake a few times tho...
The prior owner told me it needs a new rear wheel bearing set at the next rear wheel change and the parts I inherited from him include new wheel bearing sets but he changed the rear bearings at 43, 100 miles with the rear tire, so I am not sure this is a good idea if accurate.
I have decided I want to change the front and rear wheel bearings at the next tire change if possible but I am not keen to go there if it ain't broke.
The prior owner changed the tires at 43, 280 miles though and I just hit 49,000.
I probably need to invest in a wheel bearing extractor tool for this job as well and there are a few options here.
You can allegedly fit a 2010 wheel which has 3 bearings to sort this out better but I am also pondering the belt tensioner it is currently hosting as it is said by the manufacturer not to work on the very bike I own?
It currently has a S&S 106 belt on it and I bought a S&S 560-0423 for $233 as a backup.
I see some folks claiming the 0423 works and some claiming it does not.
It has the right specs and should work fine, but that tensioner has me worried.
I got a lot of extra parts and components with this thing, and I also scored a front wheel and rear wheel stand for it as well.
I also scored all the luggage racks, cases and original exhaust setup and several ECU units including the stock one are part of the package.
I seem to have the racing ECU in it right now, and it has an exhaust pipe I cannot fathom the origin of manufacturer wise that is specifically tuned for this racing ECU.
Seems it is actually a Buell racing pipe per feedback from EBR.
Gas consumption is in the low 40's mpg naked and around 32 mpg with the cases on, which seems to be what everyone else I asked is getting.
I was surprised by this as my BMW RT100 RT did not have this huge a discrepancy and that was still carburated.
I am wondering if a Duster SS Pipe is the way to go instead....but the Northern Carolina folks who make them have been shy getting back to me claiming they are silly busy.
I will definitely go with their pipe at some point in the future though.
The handling on this machine was the biggest surprise of the whole riding experience package and is amazingly laser like and precise (very un-Harley IMHO).
I am shocked I was never told by anyone that a Ducati is not the best handling motorcycle anymore.
I have just been playing with tire pressures the week of the 20th of August and have found that 34 PSI front and 36 PSI back on the tubeless Dunlop RoadSmart III tires is fairly awesome.
It was set at 25 PSI front and 35 PSI rear by the previous owner.
These tires are darn impressive for this machine as well. They ain't cheep though, so I guess I will be saving my pennies for the next set.
The wheel bearing setup on these Buell Ulysses models up to April 2009 is a bit strange, it must be said.
It has two bearings at the back (but needs three) and the wheel spacers for front and back are made of aluminum.
This means the axle tightening torque settings they specify in the manuals are wrong and should not go beyond 28 foot pound of torque either.
It also liked cruising at just below 80 Mph all day long when I got snatches of open freeway to ride it on at that speed.
The more I have been driving it, the more cobwebs are coming off or presenting problems that need fixing that lead to a better running machine experience.
I also found out from the previous owner that the belt drive had been replaced just before I bought it from him with an S&S 106 135T 118 14mm pitch belt.
Them things are $300 per these days so I will be looking after that one like a grandfather would be careful with a newborn baby!
It also has fuel injection and the belt final drive unit means no chain grease!
When these were new, they claimed Belt drive for the life of the motorcycle guarantees. I guess I will write a letter to HD to find out about this being honored at some point.
Most of my motorcycles have been shaft drive as I really am not a chain drive fan, so this belt drive lark is a welcome thing for me.
I did see some guy in the EU offering a chain drive conversion kit for $1095 for these machines - total heresy that idea!
There is also a significant chain tensioner hack you have to engineer to such a setup with spacers et al and I would advise a 530 chain and not a 520 with the torque these things have.
The other thing I like about my bike, being an airplane pilot, is the sound it makes.
It sounds like a Curtis aircraft engine, and I will need to ride with ear plugs in the future but man it is a glorious sound!
I got a lot of cars giving me a wide berth because of the sonic effects it makes, and this is a really awesome safety bonus feature in my humble opinion.
My new shark lid cuts out a lot of the engine noise by the way!
It also adds safety to lane merging antics on two wheels, but I confirmed riding a sport bike in Bay Area rush hour traffic is a seriously bad idea, but at least now I can claim I have actually dunnit!
I had stopped for gas at a Shell gas station five miles out of Pacifica and as a result thought my better half who had accompanied me out there was way ahead of me.
She tells me later that I passed her going through the Caldecot tunnel on the 24 so I did not do so bad getting home on it at all.
I only started lane splitting after another biker passed me and led the way.
I do not recommend it as a healthy biking practice, however.
I think this lane splitting lark gets a lot of bikers killed as car drivers do not know what to do or how to react with bike traffic here in the US and California road conditions throw nasty surprises your way which can be pretty darn ugly if caught between two cars.
Buell was always 49% owned by Harley Davidson and in 2003 HD bought the entire company which is why I am totally fascinated why the many Harley Stores will not service the thangs.
I found a custom bike Outfit in Manteca called Binfords that will actually work on Buells but they want $165 an hour for labor charges.......
As a result, I think I just became a motorcycle mechanic again! (I was a Kawasaki and KTM certified mechanic from the 1985 era).
It seems a pretty easy engine to service though, so I will probably do most of that myself in any event.
I will need to find someone who can service them though for any major stuff that comes along in addition to Binfords.
I may use Binfords for the custom paintwork design I want on it though!
I have also discovered that parts acquisition for these Buells is an interesting game to play and I am looking for XB12XT Windscreen pins and silly stuff like nuts and bolts that are not corroded by salt air.
I see a Palmer conversion in my future though...
I painted everything in white salt vinegar and gave it a good rub with a suitable cloth which has stopped a lot of the corrosion but I must find something better from a marine shop somewhere.
The steel screws are all Zinc coated though, which means after exposure to sea air they look as rusty and nasty as heck!
I am surprised Buell use grade 5 or 8 stainless steel screws and bolts....there should be no steel bolts of any kind in use here.
I am already collecting vanadium and stronger materials nuts, bolts and screws that do not rust which I fully intend to use to replace most of the steel fare with on the entire motorcycle.
I am undoing that zinc corrosion with WD 40 and lithium grease everywhere I can as I go as well.
I must admit that on this particular bike, the engine oil being separated from the clutch and gear oil is probably a good thing.
Oil and air filters seem easy to come by and most of the Harley engine parts can be sourced online or from Harley stores.
I will have to discover which other motorcycle service orgs here in the Bay Area will work on them with respect to forks and suspension bits I will need for servicing from time to time.
Looks like I can con Oakland Harley to work on them....
The forks are 43 mm Showa's and the brakes are Nissen brakes - standard Japanese big four fare - so there should never be issues with the seals and such..
This Ulysses soaks up bumps and road ripples and amazes me with the handling for such a large capacity motorcycle.
It uses the 43 mm inverted Showa Shocks for the front end which is a fairly beefy touring bike setup.
My prior Japanese stuff like the Suzuki GS850G and the GS1000G drove like massive motorcycles and cruised at high speed all day long but none of them handled anywhere near like this Ulysses does.
I call my Buell the little big bike and it does have some quirks you need to get to grips with quick if you are used to Kawasaki KZ1300 or Big Honda Gold Wing fare like I was.
The first is throw engine braking expectations out the window.
It helps a small bit but nothing like the way any Japanese big four or large Suzuki V-Twin does.
The front brake on this thing is a sole six piston affair and the single front rotor is unusual in that it is on the outside of the wheel towards the edge and is only a few inches wide.
The rear brake is thoughtfully designed to not lock and while effective with the front brake, requires a bit of re-calibration with the old cornering technique to get used to.
If you go into a corner too fast you will need to handle your way through it, and I have seen this catch out many of the Japanese biking press journos from the videos I have seen.
I am still gingerly learning it all but it seems braking through corners with this ZTL system can be done without the bike snapping upright.
The guy I bought it from stated he had just changed the gear and engine oil but as the gearbox was overly clunky I was having serious doubts about this.
Buell gearboxes are fairly agricultural affairs by the way.
Forget slick Honda and Yamaha gearbox action if you have owned big Japanese bikes in the past.
This Buell is my 35th bike and on a par with the Moto Morini 500, Guzzi V50 Monza and Guzzi 850 gearboxes.
It's not the worst but it is nothing like the later Yamaha gearbox fare from my XS750/850 and XJ900.
After I got the Kawasaki KLX 300 sold in mid August, I decided to change the Buell Engine oil myself and went to Harbor Freight to buy the oil collector come pan gizmo for $17.99 plus a few old rags and an oil filter removal tool.
I also consulted a few videos of guys changing the engine oil and the gear oil.
I decided to transition the machine to full synthetic oil after consulting with a few HD folks on the matter and will probably need to change the first synthetic oil in the next 600 miles of gentle riding and use the first synthetic change as a washing machine mix to purge the old dino oil from the thing.
I did not see metal filings in the engine oil plug, but I did when I drained the clutch and gear oil sump.
I put the HD gear oil in and initially used HD Syn 3 oil for the engine.
It takes 2.4 Quarts of 20W50 engine oil with a new oil filter and 1 quart of gear oil by the way.
This bike is full of unusual engineering implementations and the measurement of both gear oil and engine oil is amongst them.
The Ulysses does not have a main stand, just a side stand and it must be on the side stand with a hot engine to measure the oil level properly.
The Ulysses XT side stand is like a golf putter by the way - I was looking at the stand feet mod but that will need additional engineering to pull off.
You cannot measure engine oil cold on these things by the way. If you do and fill it to the oil level xx line, the excess oil will come spewing out the air filter and not be a happy motorcycle.
You would think you would need to measure it level, but not so with all these V-Twin Buells is what the owners and manuals tell me.
The window for the gear oil level is behind a metal plate and most owners do not bother taking this off.
The technique here is to ride it 10 miles, stick it on the racing stands I was given (another quirk to learn with Buells) and let it all drain into the pan after removing the drain bolt.
The other thing to learn with these engines is never over tighten the engine or gear oil drain plugs.
I learnt this lesson the hard way on Moto Guzzi motorcycles back in 1985 and finger tighten and then give it a light tweak with a spanner or ratchet tool.
They have rubber O Rings for both these drain plugs and I will need to purchase some of these as it looks like they need to be changed every second oil change.
Now when you change the oil and oil filter you need to measure out 2.4 quarts exactly and remember you cannot measure it cold so you need to have faith that the 2.4 quarts will work and may just need a slight top off - after a 10 mile thrash and dash session at any rate....
I like to pour some oil into the new filter as well by the way, so as to avoid the air bubble and immediate lube shortcoming that may transpire.
The other thing I learnt was due to the massive torque these engines deliver, that you need to change the rear wheel bearings with every third tire change.
I am driving it very gingerly at the moment but when I have opened it up on the odd occasion, I have learnt exactly what they are talking about here so I will have to watch that like a hawk.
With new engine and gear oil, the motorcycle was instantly transformed.
Before I changed the oils it had an orange V-Twin dash logo and red oil pressure light that took a good while to go off.
I recently found this was due to a serious ground wire problem I was having but did not know I was having..
The main ground wire lug had not been crimped from new and must have driven the original owner nuts.
I am going to research the fully synthetic engine oil piece a bit more as I have seen wear graphs on the HD Syn 3 oil that warrant a better oil than what the HD fare offers.
This sort of oil is liquid engineering and is very important for this type of engine.
Erik Buell really did modify the crap out of the standard HD 1203 motor and I need to learn about the gearbox he built as well, as it does not seem very 1203 like to me.
After a quick gawk check under it to see if any oil had dropped on the garage floor overnight (as I did not replace the gear oil gasket cover or any of the drain plug O-Rings) I was happy it was all holding together nicely.
I over filled the Syn 3 oil and was trying to let a small amount out at a time when it all came gushing out on me and I was forced to rush over to Cycle Gear for Mobil Syn 20W50 oil as I could not find an AMSOIL reseller near me.
This Mobil synthetic is actually much better than the HD Syn 3 oil by the way.
I gave up on AMSOIL as it struck me that if I was out and about and needed some, I would need a readily available oil I could purchase anywhere.
For this reason I went with Mobil and I will stick with it, but AMSOIL is a superior synthetic oil for sure.
This particular machine, as I stated earlier, also has a lot of salt air corrosion on it and I will have to use a toothbrush and white vinegar to try combat this stuff and see what I can do to polish it out with that 3M Aluminum polish I just bought while I am at it.
I have had three polish sessions and had to resort to p120 sand paper disks to get the worst of the corrosion out.
There must be something better than 3M Aluminum polish but I have yet to find it.
Almost all the screws are stainless steel and not vanadium or titanium grade 5/6/8 fare and are pretty expensive for stainless steel grade 5 and 8 fare.
For some reason they also show sea air corrosion as they seem to be zinc coated screws which I coated with WD40 and administered a rag cloth wipe to for now.
I did the front brake pads in late July as I was given a set of Hawk Performance pads when I bought it from the previous owner and these are actually pretty darn good brake pads.
There were a few shocks when I did this pad replacement job, however.
The first is I almost stripped the 5mm Allen screw hex head with an SAE key but as it was, that particular hex key was loose fitting, and fortunately I did not do that much damage before deciding that one was actually metric.
The other shock was I had to go get a rounded ball SAE Allen key set to extract the one marked "need new".
It can go in and out fine, I just want proper fitting screws on it that fit the tools properly.
I will buy a good few of these in a better quality material than steel while I can as I can see this will be a problem in years to come.
The Hawk Performance pads I put in were marked HMC5011.
I was gifted a whole bunch of parts for it from the prior owner I bought it from and those pads were amongst the collection of bits I had for it.
These are great pads by the way, but I do not like the sound they make when engaged.
In fact I finally bought some EBC pads and threw the HMC fare away as the sound they made was not for me.
In the process of fitting new pads I seem to have knocked some dirt out of the caliper and I also replaced the brake fluid which seems to have sorted the binding issue I was having.
I noticed the rear brake fluid reservoir is a very teeny, tiny setup.
I may modify that with something bigger from a Suzuki V-Strom one weekend I am into modifying it a tad.
That 5mm Allen key bolt is actually for the pad hanging pin set and I also had a spare one of those in my donated collection of bits and I used that one.
I am searching for a replacement hanging pin with a 5mm head that is also in a new condition.
I acquired an Ultrasonic bath and will clean the pins and screws in that thing as I go.
I gently pushed the pistons in the caliper back with a flat head screwdriver and this seemed to do the job OK.
I had to loosen the top damaged bolt, remove the bottom twin bolt that was OK, loosen the hanging pin, move the caliper down and forward between the wheel spokes after removing the bottom screw entirely from the brake caliper.
I then wriggled the front pad closest to me out while inserting the flat screwdriver blade between the pad and rotor to make space for the more meat on them new pads.
I then tried the same with the rear pad but used my fingers to push the pistons back with the actual old brake pad plate.
I then got that pad wriggled in place.
There was a light flimsy metal plate on each old pad I removed and placed on the new pads before I put them in by the way.
I believe this material is more friendly to the brake piston surfaces and each side had three pistons in this caliper.
When I replaced the HMC pads with the EBC ones I also dropped the brake fluid level in the front reservoir as when upright it was over the max fill line - I think this was contributing to the brake drag issue.
I may also replace the front brake reservoir with a Ducati unit.
There is a later Buell ZTL2 conversion kit that has eight pistons in it but I will not be doing this conversion with my driving style unless I get gifted the parts somehow but I am looking for an 8 piston Caliper as I go.
It would be nice though..as would a new front rotor.
I should have taken the caliper off and cleaned it with a suitable cloth but as I was dealing with stripped caliper screws, I did not want to tempt providence here and will do it next time.
Most annoyingly, the Buell service manual that describes the process does not tell you what size Allen keys you need for the job, so for those reading this be aware it is a mixture of SAE and Metric keys!
So make sure your Allen keys are a precise and snug fit before you strong arm them or you will strip the heads on these things!
This is the first bike I have seen this mix of metric and SAE bolts on and it is pretty crazy, IMHO!
Anyways, it is not a biggie if you know about it beforehand!
I had to pump the front brake lever a few times for the pressure to crank back up and took it for a gentle ride around the neighborhood streets and did a few hard nose dive brake stops to ensure the new pads did the job without drama.
By the way, the rear brake on these XB series Buells is pretty interesting.
They are almost impossible to lock, which I think is a good thing, but you may conclude the rear brake does not work very well when it is in fact just fine.
They apparently designed it this way on purpose.
This bike's controls are very captain caveman in operation which suits a large Sasquatch like myself rather nicely.
Once you are used to the front and rear brake operation and the zero engine braking you learn to use the brakes a lot.
I will have to collect and horde EBC brake pad sets for this machine.
The rear set is near immortal, so I see only front pad replacements happening a lot.
By the way, as these ZTL front brakes are so effective and dissipate a lot of heat, get in the habit of holding the bike at traffic lights etc. with the rear brake and allowing the front rotor and pads to cool off as much as they can.
They can glaze the front rotor which has unfortunate consequences.....
You need to get some Scotch-Brite 7447 pads and do a thorough de-glazing job on the rotor some rainy weekend to sort this one out.
Also note that all XB series Buells use a lot of common parts between them, but you have to check their designation and differentiators in the Buell XB catalog.
The XB12XT is designated FX in the catalog and several parts are the same across the models but note the other Ulysses model is designated XB12X and is designated the DX in the catalog.
The DX does not use the same suspension and forks as the FX!
The drive belts for the DB, DX, FX & JX are all the same 135T belt but pay attention as a lot of folks claim they are selling a Ulysses belt that has 128 teeth and there was never a 128 tooth Ulysses belt, they both use the 135T belt, so do pay attention to these details when looking at and ordering parts like this for your Ulysses (or other).
The HD 135T part is for a 70T wheel sprocket, the Buell Belt is for a 65T wheel sprocket but I do not think it matters. All the XB series use a 27T front belt drive sprocket by the way.
The Ulysses X has different suspension and forks to the Ulysses XT but the actual ZTL front brake rotor, calipers and pads are all the same.
Wheel bearings at the front are also common across ALL XB series.
This means part numbers G0120.02A8B (front axle), G0313.02A8 (valve stem with cap), G0325.02A8 (Aluminum front Axle Spacer) H1201.02A8A (front brake rotor) and a few bolts and the E0004.02A8B (front wheel bearings x 2) are common across all the XB series bikes.
The spacers, brake rotor springs, brake rotor nuts and drive bushings are relatively hard to find these days though, as is the actual front brake rotor itself.
I am in a continual search mode for these parts these days.
The next biggish job will be replacing the rear wheel bearings, and I will get a mechanic to do that for me as I do not have the tools or know how for that job just yet - though I see myself doing this as well as it is pretty easy!
I do not like the aluminum wheel spacers the front and rear wheels are festooned with and may go to an engineering shop for a steel set to be made for me instead.
The Buell manual also has errors for the torque settings when tightening bolts and those aluminum wheel spacers cannot be tightened to 43 lbs, as the manual states.
The max for those is 28 and I rarely go over 24 myself as it is soft aluminum!
I must also find a replacement belt drive in case this one breaks and have that handy as well, though the prior owner tells me he changed the belt at 47,000 miles.
This means I should be good for 25,000 miles at least. I never wheelie or do fast drag racing so I think I am good with the belt drive here.
I will keep this motorcycle adventure updated as I go but I am loving the handling and the charm of this machine with each passing week.
The vibration at idle does cause a lot of problems, however, but there ain't jack you can do about that!
It has had three motor oil changes now and feels a whole lot different to when I first got it!
Finding the parts is a never ending treasure hunt tho....
I was waiting for a delayed shipment from St Paul HD for some bits and bobs that include a new side stand spring as the current one seems a tad droopy to me.
New Shifter rubber and the new Dual Spring Side-Stand setup!
These took 2 months or so getting to me! They have a note on their web site stating delays are a problem.
I also changed the battery as it was having issues starting and per the past owner was up for a new one anyways.
I got some Duracell 220 CCE affair from Batteries plus in Pleasant Hill and it was hesitating to crank from cold before bursting into life.
This was also due to the grounding lug on the battery not being crimped properly from new by the way.
The prior owner told me to keep it on a trickle charge, so I got me a trickle charger off Amazon.
I might get a CTEK unit for it.
The weekend of 8/23 I ripped off the windshield arrangement and made some adjustments which required a swift trip to Ace Hardware for some 3M Extra tough Velcro gubbins.
I had to remove the six T20 screws that held the front red base plastic the windscreen was attached to.
Once I got that off the bike and on my dinner table, I could tackle the 3M circular velcro points, that held the top screen deflector on.
It seems that my Ulysses has the short Windscreen that was supplemented with something called a Laminar lip.
The previous owner was about six foot one so this probably worked for him.
I have a longer upper body segment and have to wear 2XL XT fare (Extra Tall) so I suspect I will be getting the longer Windscreen from the U.K and may still use the laminar lip.
You can see I moved the laminar lip all the way to the top and it is better than it was, but I am still getting a lot of head buffeting effect at the moment which is not ideal.
I will look for the tall windscreen on the interwebs thang ASAP STAT!
While I was testing the new taller Windscreen setup one Sunday by driving out to NorCal Moto to look at CMSP Sunday training antics via a short blast down Highway 4, 680 and the 242 I started to get the orange light with the V-Twin logo come on and stay on……
This is the engine check light but in reality, it could mean a shit ton of other stuff that has gone awry apart from a duff engine.
As I was reading the code sequences and the chicken dance to get them as well as the codes from a plug in device I started to realize this was something that could mean a lot of different things to look at as being the potential problem.
What was peculiar was that 7 miles in on the return leg this warning light came on and stayed on.
It was only when I spun off the freeway and got down to 20 Mph that the light went off but as I accelerated it came back on then went away again.
I was fearing an O2 sensor issue or three.
This bike has O2 sensors in the front and back of the Vee configuration.
I was assuming the worst and started by taking off the rear seat and tightening the battery terminals.
I started with the positive one and that was all AOK.
Then I switched to the negative or ground wire and found this situation.
The entire ground wire bush had come adrift of the metal clamp that was bolted to the negative terminal!
It also showed signs of rust corrosion.
I whipped the battery out after unscrewing all the positive then negative stuff and wrapping them all in tape before using a T27 on the negative side clamp rail.
Once I had it free I had it into my workshop with my Weller soldering Iron set to Max.
I then pushed the wire bush back into the clamp and whacked it with my hammer a few times until I could not pull it free of the clamp.
After that I stuck the nose of the Weller into the wires at the clamp and melted some solder into the wire and clamp arrangement.
I then dressed the rough bits with a needle file and did the other end that was not loose with the same treatment regime.
I tested for continuity and bent the cable seven ways to hell and did not hear any disconnects on my meter so put it back in the bike.
Well bugger me if it did not fix all the funny intermittent issues I was having with it!
All the folks on All Weather Bikers made reference to grounding and checking this out and they were bang on in this instance.
Suddenly, the random misfiring and the not running on both cylinders issue at certain vibration levels just disappeared and the bike was running much better.
I took it down Highway 4 to Railroad Ave and then turned around for a reverse blast hitting 100 Mph a few times each way.
The bike was now picking up across the range sans spluttering or rear cylinder not firing cleanly.
It was like riding a completely different machine altogether!
They really are serious about the shaking on these Buell V twins being a problem!
This will also probably fix the wild gas consumption I was getting. 3 gallons for 100 miles on Sunday being the most alarming number to suck on for me.
It is back to 40 Mpg again as of August 31.
I think I will make a new cable and terminal setup for my machine and make them available for sale as well.
These Buell machines need a solid ground wire experience, or all sorts of mayhem will ensue, forcing you to leap to conclusion and buy new ECU units, New O2 sensors and even coils only to find your problem was a stupid ground wire you could spend $25 on to fix quick and easily!
Even if I had read the codes it means nothing if your ground wire is adrift like mine was as it will trigger everything.
I plugged in the code reader after I fixed this issue, and all the issues and error codes had cleared themselves now that the grounding is stellar A1 OK!
I did file the solder going into the wire clamp with the wires I had rammed back and hammered then applied fresh solder to it all on both sides as they seemed to have had some salt air erosion having taken place care of light electrolysis. I also used grounding grease so this problem should not be seen again.
As I am now on the Sacramento River well inland with low salt air content, I do not expect to see this issue again.
I will check and tighten all screws and bolts every 1200 miles from now on.
The hesitation with the starter motor having a micro pause before firing the engine has also now gone by the way, so this adrift earth terminal was causing a great many different problems for me all at once!
Now I can focus on the laminar wind flow problem around my head again and worry about that rear wheel bearing!
As you can see I fitted the rear panniers which required new GR 5 and 8 bolts from the Bolt Company.
The bike does not handle differently with the panniers on which was surprising to me, though the cruising happy spot drifted from 78.5 Mph to 71 Mph.
September 1 has arrived and with it some polishing and cleanup tasks await my Ulysses.
I grabbed some 3M Aluminum polish and started working on the salt air corrosion on the Showa front fork housing on each side of the front wheel with my polisher and a ton of rags and micro fiber cloths.
It is obviously not going to be an easy job that one!
I also at long last got my new side stand spring and shift peg rubber doodad from St Paul HD and fitted them both.
As I do not have a spring pliers tool I had to devise an Edward DeBono kind of solution for fitting it.
I hooked the old spring around the new one and used my Kamado Joe coal poker to leverage a pull down to the N shaped horseshoe thingamabob and once the top spring was around the mid peg just used a screwdriver to hook onto the Inverse U you see the old spring hooked into at the bottom.
I realized removing the old spring could flip the new one off the peg so I just left it as is and it looks kinda funky.
It actually works a lot better than I had hoped too.
The Gear shift rubber was interesting; I had to cut the old worn one off and that was a bit if a mission.
After I squirted cable grease into the new rubber, it was too slick and down shift caused my motorcycle boot to slip real bad so I had to pull it off, dry the grease inside off and leave it for a day then slide it back on.
I took it for a long ride on Sunday and it is now perfect up and down shifting with zero foot slippage.
The engine oil is still a nice color and the engine is running well with the new solid ground wire that was causing all those issues with everything.
The next issue to tackle is going to be the ECM tune and a replacement exhaust though I suspect this may be a mission too far for whatever the replacement pipe happens to be.
I must also look at replacing the fork oil in the front at some point as well as the air filter situation.
The Buell panniers are a bit of a bitch to open as well and I must get some tips from the Buell folks on that subject as I go as well.
As of October 2025, my Ulysses seems to be running rather swell! The problem I have is the front brake drag and I have been told the fix is unscrewing the two caliper bolts, removing the caliper from the rotor, placing a 3mm wood insert between the pistons after removing the brake pads, gently pressing the brake to extend the pistons and cleaning them with a toothbrush, shoe lace and DOT 5 Brake fluid.
I will try this when I return from Kauai the week of the 25th of October.
Google searching for cleaning brake calipers actually suggested using soap and water instead of brake fluid! Great if you want to destroy the rubber seals on the pistons I guess?
The Googles is delivering molto gaslighting these days!
Anyway I will also probably bleed that brake line and suspect I will be installing new brake line hosing as a result of all of this but we will see.
I am on the lookout for a ZTL2 8 piston Caliper that will fit my Ulysses and suitable brake lines in the meantime.
So the other day I started to notice my Laminar lip add on to the windshield was not gripping very well and was not even sticking to the perspex.
I looked for a new Laminar lip only to find they went bust in 2023.
Kenimoto seemed to have something that looked interesting and may work better so I went and got that ordered off the interwebs and it came on Wednesday that week.
It comes with plastic sheeting and the clamps screwed on.
Taking it off is where the trouble starts with this thing.
When I removed the plastic on these things and I had to unscrew the thing from the clear perspex plastic is when things got a tad difficult.
They are not moving in alignment when I move them either.
I may have to unbolt everything and start over...
It does work rather well though, but it's a fiddly bastard to setup right this thing...
So I decided to build it over per a video I found online and it is now setup right.
It still seems a tad short so I am thinking of using Velcro strips on the old Laminar lip to add to the Kenimoto and am thinking through several anchor schemes to make it work.
While doing this I noticed that under paint bubbles have appeared near the filler cap in the picture above ant inspection revealed it will need sanding, treating, priming, painting and gloss coating and that I have several other areas where under the paint bubbling is taking place - like on the rear swing-arm near the oil measurement cap.
I will need to investigate remedies here - type of primer - treating it after I sand it down, the color paint for the job....
Of course it will be 20 years old in 2029, so it has not done that bad at keeping this all at bay.
To be continued......
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