| First Ride on a |
Pashnit about Motorcycles |
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The Ulysses does have some thoughtful features to it. What struck me as especially useful were the two power outlets. One is the cigarette lighter style- nowadays known by the more politically correct term of ‘Power Accessory Outlet', which interestingly enough is placed in the instrument panel beside the speedometer. You know those riders that have every wiz-bang gizmo under the sun bolted onto their bikes- this definitely simplifies things. I could plug my Cycle Pump air compressor in there, a radar detector, the charging cord for my digital camera (yes, my digital camera is hardwired into my bike). I even have a battery charger installed on my bike for recharging AAA batteries so realizing the potential of that simple outlet really grabbed me. A day later I finally noticed poking out from under the seat was another power accessory outlet. Lo and behold it was a match for my Widder electric vest. A splitter plugged in to this could also supply the passenger with power also. |
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Okay, so I'm a bit old school with my paper maps and a highlighter. But since you asked, yes, the bike does come with an optional ‘Buell Quest Navigation System' for $700. The Garmin GPS unit comes with mounting hardware and brackets specific to the Buell and mounts just to the side of the right switch controls. It's even accented with the Buell Pegasus logo. The unit hardwires into the bike so power isn't an issue and the usual earpiece can be wired into your helmet. Bear in mind that with a plastic tank cover, your magnetic tank bag is about to be retired. So if you're used to having that map in the tank bag in front of you like I am, another option such as a tankbag with straps could be a solution if GPS isn't your cup of tea. |
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Speaking of electrics, while this bike is a standard, and protection from the wind is essentially non-existent, the bike does have a very small windscreen on it. Don't be fooled, this is no Goldwing, but it does raise the air flow over the faux tank by just a wee bit so the wind isn't hitting you directly in the chest. There is a tall windscreen option for 2006 models at a cost of $100. It's 4” taller than the stock one you see here in the pics made of 4.5 mm thick clear polycarbonate. And just for good measure, the literature on the bike says the windscreen as been ‘hard coated', presumably a method of strengthening the plastic. And instead of bolts, zip-ties and bubble gum to hold the windscreen on, it's removable for easy cleaning. Also note there's a small gap in-between the windscreen and the painted bikini fairing. Buell designed the removable windscreen by mounting it on small 1/4 inch thick rubber grommets to lift up the windscreen off the painted bikini fairing. This small space (think Laminar Lip) in turn is what's supposed to help cure that buffeting or chance thereof. Again, I have no idea how it works, only that indeed there was no buffeting to my 5'9" frame, and the airflow was very smooth, easily able to run 60mph sustained speeds with little or no fatigue sitting bolt upright in the wind. |
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And to make things a bit more interesting- Buell offers a ‘Camo Paint Windscreen' option for $155 which replaces the color-matched bikini fairing beneath the clear windscreen. Okay, so ya got me. I'll take it. I think they knew an ex-Marine would be writing this article so I'm off to get out my greKrylon spray paint and extend that camo paint scheme to the entire bike. Maybe not. Should also mention a photograph posted on AdvRider.com showing the windscreen modified to move it several inches upwards. I can imagine this might dramatically change the airflow over the screen from stock, you'll have to take a look at the photo and see for for yourself. Click the link to see. This was a custom mod by the owner with hand-fabricated brackets. (Click here if that link doesn't work). And it's worth mentioning another cheap mod several owners have done is taken a regular can of black spray paint and painted the backside of the windscreen. The result is more black on black, and it just looks plain cool. |
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Remember that the Ulysses shares quite a few pieces and parts with other Buell models. If you look at the lineup- each bike seems to be a slight variation of the next. To accomplish Dual-Sport intentions- Buell extended the wheelbase on his signature stubby bikes lengthening it by 2 inches to 54 inches. Carrying on the same theme of appealing to exploration minded riders, he also expanded the size of the gasoline carrying frame up to 4.4 gallons. Oil of course resides in the swingarm and is easily accessed by the oil plug on the left hand side of the bike behind your boot heel. The bike did go through a quart of oil, but I was assured that's normal when breaking in a new bike for the first 1000 miles. While you may have to read that twice, it's sort of like that. Actually you insert the key into the left side of the instrument panel just above the headlights. As in on the side of the motorcycle in front of the fork. I had to actually bend down and look where the key was supposed to go for the first 1000 miles. Insert the key and turn one click, headlight on, ready to start the bike. Or while sitting on the bike, a simple lean forward to flip the key on. The front fork can be locked in the usual way with the key. Like on most modern bikes, an extra turn of the key while in the locked position would also turn the taillights on making them into warning lamps. No blinking, just on. |
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| Mounting the bike, it's quite clear this bike is a wee bit higher than most- even with the lower seat option. Reach forward past the handlebars to the left side of the headlight and turn the key. Thumb the starter and the bike immediately comes to life with a familiar Harley-esque chuf-chuf. One thing Buell didn't get rid of was the sensation of the Harley motor beneath you. Starts just like one. The motor started up every time as a new bike should, no choke or fast idle lever. It's all electronic these days and there didn't even seem to be a need to warm the motor up. Just get on it and go. Upon leaving with the bike, the position of the rider immediately came to mind. As mentioned, it's a bolt upright straight-back position. Arms extended comfortably to bull-by-the-horns handlebars with that cross bar that reminds of my BMX bike when I was a kid. There is a natural aura of a cockpit that was immediately apparent to me, and even somewhat satisfying. Ever have that sensation when you hop on a new bike that the handlebars are too wide, too high or the gauges are over there somewhere in front of you, ala BMW GS or Aprilia Tuono. Not the Buell- the gauge panel wasn't too far away or in your face- from an ergonomics standpoint of fit, the bike had some thought put into it. I was instantly comfortably and at ease on the new bike. Although do bear in mind that the bars will rotate on the triple clamps with the loosening of the four alan head bolts to find that just-right-position. |
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The gauges are clear and easy to read analog dial type with the idiot lights on the right hand side. To the left is the speedometer and at center is the tachometer which came to be essential with such a narrow powerband, I actually found myself watching the tach at times when railing through the gears to know when to shift. Hit that rev limiter and the bike suddenly begins to protest (as in lose power) as I quickly found out at some rather inopportune moments mid-corner. If you aren't familiar with Harley motors, or narrow power bands for that matter, imagine that it's simply the opposite of your ‘power-all-the-time-no-matter-what-the-tach-says' type motorcycle. Your typical sportbike for example. The digital odometer also includes two trip meters, a clock, and the readout that starts counting up when you hit reserve. This was something new and I thought immediately of a friend with a brand new BMW GS- his counts down. He actually ran out of gas at the exact moment the bike counted his miles remaining to zero. (We actually coasted into the gas station). So the counting up was rather befuddling and I was never quite sure when the bike would run out of gas or if. Assuming you had a gallon left when the low-fuel light came on- you'd have to guess at what your gas mileage was which can vary (as I found out!) depending on how you were riding or terrain being traversed. Not sure if that odd attribute to the bike will someday be relegated to the ‘what-were-we-thinking' category or it's simply I'm the one that has to adjust. |
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| One unusual thing I was hesitant about was covering great distances, in excess of 600 miles per day (or 16 plus hours in the saddle), without a throttle lock. I knew I'd be putting in some long dawn-till-dusk days on the bike and even thought of attempting to rig up a throttle lock before I left. Now first off, throttle locks don't actually lock anything, we just call them that. Some years ago, I can remember riding a 16 hour day across two states on my ZX-11D and then spending 3 days thereafter trying to get the feeling back in my right hand. Since then, I have never owned a motorcycle that didn't have some sort of throttle lock device be it an inexpensive Vista Cruise ($17 thumb actuated throttle lock), or the tried and true Throttlemeister (which replaces the bar end for $117). So a pleasant surprise awaited me in that the bike offered up a throttle pull that was an easy one. It quickly became apparent as my day wore on and miles went by in increments of 100 per, any sort of hand fatigue was nil, if any. I quickly forgot about my earlier trepidation. It was one of those moments where you were thankful that an engineer or bike designer actually thought of something like this- the amount of force required to actuate something as simple a 10 cent throttle spring. |
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Clutch pull is also resoundingly easy and smooth. So smooth in fact, it's as if this is how all bikes should be. Could Buell have possiby had anything other than this? If he did, they're trying to forget it! It works beautifully. As it turns out, sure enough, clutch pull is 22% lighter than the previous model year. Relegated to the ‘What-were-we-thinking' closet possibly? However despite the lighter clutch springs, gently fingering the clutch and shift lever failed to give any aid when attempting to find neutral. Quite simply it couldn't be done. Finally, I gave up and flipped the kill switch to turn the bike off. Ah, there it is. I chalked that up to the bike being brand new, and just lived with it. I can only assume as the transmission begins to wear in, neutral will be found somewhere out there. The kill switched was used for the remainder of the ride to accomplish said feat and I only noticed a very slight improvement during my time on the bike. Possibly, this could be another area of improvement for Buell engineers to accomplish, especially when competing motorcycles have had things called ‘positive neutral finders' for years listed on the brochure. Unlike the large majority of motorcycles, the clutch lever isn't adjustable but I never felt the need to have that feature. The positioning fell naturally into my hand and worked great. This also could be highly subjective due to the rider- others might loathe this oversight. On the other hand (figuratively and literally), the brake lever on the right side was adjustable giving a raised eyebrow as to why one, and not the other. |
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The 1203cc Thunderbolt motor with Digital Fuel Injection is a stressed member of the frame for increase rigidity and essentially unchanged from previous Buell models. However, Buell threw on his thinking cap in order to reinvent another bike for the lineup by modifying the design of the muffler instead. Called the new 'InterActive' exhaust, an electric valve inside the system changes the exhaust flow resulting in a change to the torque and power of the motor. While you're actually on the bike and running around, it's little more than an afterthought, it all runs smooth as ice. Or glass. Anyway, you get the idea. Aside from the bike's one-wheel tendencies, it also creates a torque curve within a narrow power band that takes some getting use to, but is all too familiar to cruiser and Harley riders. Want horsepower? You'll be using the last 2000 rpm of power band before bumping into the rev limiter. However, there's never a shortage of horsepower or torque on tap. Never once did I feel the bike was underpowered, although with the caveat that the tachometer needle was in the right place when the throttle was cracked open. One might question the logic of placing the exhaust underneath the bike if it had off-road intentions, but Erik Buell gives a reassuring nod they've thought of this and thoroughly tested the exhaust for durability even stating the muffler is designed as a stress point. Meaning that on paper at least, you could place a hydraulic jack under the bike and use the muffler to lift the bike up. Another example given was during testing, the bike was parked in a streambed, water up to the axles and the muffler allowed to fill with said water. The bike was simply re-started, and ridden off. Another added bonus was the tractor sound of recent memory is now long gone, possibly one more quality someone took notice of and sought to correct. The bike emitted a sweet, sweet sound, one even your mother could be proud of. The result of this tinkering with the exhaust is nothing short of unbridled hooliganism any time you crack open the throttle. And that's putting it lightly. Quite simply, this bike is the unruly mean kid from 5th grade that kept beating you up. |
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Vibration of the bike caused by the motor took some getting used to, as in is it supposed to do that? Coming up to a stop sign and setting the bike into an idle, the entire bike shook and vibrated in a rhythmic pulsation. Now remember, let's split the room in half, those that are familiar with Buells/Harleys and then there's the rest of motorcycledom. But with this bike, Buell is clearly going after that 2nd half of said market segment- those that may have little familiarization with Buells as an off-road bike for that matter. Indeed, these things are designed to do that. Between 1000-2000 rpm, the whole bike just plain shakes, but then again, there's not much you're able to do at that engine speed except bake in the sun in rush hour traffic. During one particular segment of my ride, choosing the scenic route along Lake Tahoe was not the smartest thing I've ever done I'll admit. A mere 20 miles took nearly an hour. All the while shaking and shuttering about. Buell/Harley aficionados will gleefully point out that's what makes a Harley motor a Harley motor. Mr. Buell also might be quick to point out its part of the character. Regardless, just hope you don't get stuck in stop-n-go traffic. Once you're up and running though, it all smoothes out, and power delivery is right there at a twist of the throttle. |
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What's it like? Riding the Buell Ulysses. TRANSMISSION - 3, 4, and SOMETIMES 5 And on today's menu, our new and improved transmission, gone are the days of crushing rocks. The transmission shifted smoothly with nary an embarrassing word uttered from these lips. The gearbox is only 5 gears, with 5th gear being moreso an overdrive gear reserved only for higher speeds. I found myself tooling along in 65 mph freeway traffic and still hadn't up-shifted into top gear. Other times, I simply forgot and 30 miles later realized I should probably click it into top gear, at least for the fuel economy. And surprisingly, yes Virginia , it's been said with all the improvement to the transmission, you can short-shift. As in bapping through the gears sans clutch. While the owner's manual probably doesn't recommend it, I wouldn't advise it either. After short shifting once or twice, the tranny gave out an audible clunking protest, not exactly sportbike smooth. Possible, but not advisable despite all the improvements. Again, as the bike wears in, maybe such things work a bit better. They say that every motorcycle has a sweet spot and I found this ones at 80 mph while tooling along in typical California freeway traffic. The bike settled in, vibration was minimal, and bike just hummed along in 5th gear. |
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Acceleration off the line is ample. While this is not a Hayabusa motor mind you, the 1203cc Thunderbolt motor gets the job done with its 80 horsepower. And that's putting it nicely. Power is always available as long as you learn where the power is located (which is worth pointing out... again). All in all, the bike finally gets breathing about 3500 rpm. Anything below that and you'll find yourself downshifting to find it. On the other hand, hard accelerations (also easy to do) in 1st gear will pull the front wheel off the ground effortlessly. Click into 2nd gear and again the front end goes light and comes off the ground. I won't lie, it was intense fun given a deserted stretch of straight road. It's also worth mentioning the pride and joy of Buell owners: 'torque'- as in that low down grunt. This too is heavily emphasized by the Buell media machine. Literature refers to the bike as a "red blooded stump-puller" which does have a nice ring to it. |
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One important thing to note about the use of a Harley motor in an Adventure Sport Bike (or whatever the latest term might be) is the heavier counter-balancer. While in-line four cylinder motors you may be familiar with have instant response when you crack upon the throttle- not so here. There's a split second where you need to wind the motor up to hit that sweet spot of power delivery, and of course the motor was designed that way. Buell comes from another school of thought. This was another unusual thing I had to get used to during rather spirited corner carving with a Harley motor between my legs. Revs too low and there was no power, roll on the revs and you had to wait (play Jeopardy theme song) that split second for the motor to get up to speed- or downshift to instantly bring the revs up, than shift again. Passing also requires of bit of pre-planning depending on which gear you're in. Slam down the throttle in the wrong gear, and you'll instantly bump into the rev limiter at around 6000 rpm which I soon realized was an easy thing to do, so that gives you a mere 3000 rpm to work with. All the power is within that narrow band. Now mind you, it only takes a split second to bring the motor up to speed so you might be thinking what's the big deal? Only that it was remarkably noticeable and I had to constantly remind myself to add in that extra split second. It's also worth noting that any owner who has this bike will quickly adjust to this unique attribute, much like I did. |
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I soon found it was neccessary to be careful about gasoline. Make sure you put in premium I had been warned earlier. Out of habit of using the cheap stuff, midday I threw in a tank of 87 octane and moseyed on down the road. However at low idle, I got a fistful of pinging instead if the revs weren't held up. Maybe it was because I'd been running the bike for 14 hours straight and the motor was getting rather ripe, or indeed it was the gasoline. Power delivery came on a little slower, and I had to make sure I didn't gas it at low revs as I burned off the tank of low octane fuel. That was my first and last tank of the cheap stuff. GAS MILEAGE While literature states the bike will hit over 50 mpg in city, and up to 64 highway, mine was more in the ballpark of about 45 mpg. The fuel warning light came on around 145 miles without fail, although a few times as high as 155 miles with normal relaxed riding. The digital odometer automatically switched modes to a 0 mileage clock and started counting up. I had over a gallon of fuel left when the warning light came on. The furthest I pushed the bike was 175 miles and still only put 4 gallons of premium with a scant .4 gallons of fuel left. On other hand, fastest I managed to get the fuel warning light to come on was at mere 110 miles which was a bit of a surprise as it was the moment when I'd ridden myself the furthest out into the Northern California's High Sierra Wilderness. Not to worry though, I was carrying extra gasoline in my MSR Fuel Canisters and a siphon hose to boot, tricks of the trade of the Adventure Tourer (or your friendly neighborhood motorcycle tour guide). |
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As you've probably noticed, that front brake disc is rather, shall we say, unique. A few years ago, you'd probably only find it on the latest concept bike at the yearly motorcycle show. Nowadays, it's become one of Erik Buell's calling cards. Just one is needed, and the ZTL Perimeter Rotor at 375mm is massive. Bolted to the right side of the rim, the six-piston caliper behind the upside-down Showa fork had some thought put into it as to its off-road capable intentions. And wonder of wonders, this bike comes standard with steel braided brake lines further aiding outstanding braking power. Another bonus is a claimed weight savings of 6 pounds due to the lack of the usual dual discs and calipers. Anything with a 375 mm brake rotor has to stop well, and indeed it does. Running a steady 60 mph and slamming on the front brakes brings the bike to a sudden front-tire-chirping halt. I experimented with using solely the front brake, or a combination of both with spirited sport riding. Flicking through the accordion shaped hyperactivity of Hwy 245 simply illustrated the bike didn't really care what I was doing; the brakes worked beautifully either way. I've had riders tell me that their rear brakes were useless and don't even bother using them. I myself would have to concur with this, as I also rarely use the rear brake for fear of locking up the rear in a panic stricken pucker moment. The rear brake though reacted just as it should on the fully loaded bike, and it was easy to use a proportioned approach, heavy on the front, light on the rear. Riding styles may vary, but never once was I able to get into a pucker moment with the powerful brakes. Although granted, I'll leave the knee and elbow dragging to others of more spirited persuasion. |
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It's well-known that Buells have a limited amount of steering lock, as in at idle with the wheel turned- they have a much larger turning radius than comparable competing motorcycles. This I simply got used to. I had to since I shot nearly 600 some photos in a few days aboard the bike, and had to make countless u-turns in the road to get set up for the next shot. Imagine burning around a corner, realizing, ah, that was the shot, slamming on the brakes then making a u-turn in the road, and a second u-turn again to come up on that same spot. Do that say 100 times- that's 200 u-turns in a couple days. Turning counter-clockwise took some concentration as I tip-toed the tall bike around at times. I soon figured out for some odd reason it was easier to make the u-turn in a clock-wise rotation, smoothly easing the bike around in the middle of the road. Possibly, it was a combination of balancing out the throttle and steering while dragging the rear brake to pull the bike around in a tight radius was the trick. So turns out, that steer lock thing wasn't as big of a deal, just takes a bit getting used to. Turning around in dirt though and even some deep sand took even more concentration to not fall over. There again, practice would allow that to be accomplished with ease. |
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Relegated to the ‘What-were-you-thinking-category', the cooling fan was the one thing on this bike that just about drove me nutty. The fan is designed to stay on after you shut off the bike and even pull the key. In addition, it had a tendency to come on quite often while riding the bike down a straight section of road. Now this shouldn't sound all that unusual and most cooling fans on bikes are thermostatically controlled. However, the cooling fan Buell chose to go with must have been an afterthought of engineering as it emitted so much noise; I began to wonder if that was normal. The cooling fan is a two speed, the hotter the motor, the noisier the fan was. After shutting the bike off and walking away, the fan continued blaring a high-pitched whine. At some point, it cooled the motor enough to change to the low setting, then after several minutes it finally shut off. Approaching the 1000 mile mark of my ride, I was beginning to get used to the noisy bike. However, at one particular pullout while in Sequoia National Park, I parked the Buell off the roadway to enjoy the scenic vista where I could see for miles across the Sierra Nevada Mountains . In rolled some Harley riders, also on brand new motorcycles. “It always do that?” the Harley rider asked incredulously looking somewhat befuddled. This wasn't just any noise, it was the screeching of a dying animal suffering an agonizing death. He looked at me with an air of downtrodden sympathy, and that alone captured the moment. Hopefully, Mr. Buell and his team actually ride their own motorcycles and will come to their senses to put that fan out of its misery. Also bear in mind that at no point in my ride would I have considered it 'hot out'. Temps ranged from the low 40's to the 70's for the duration of my ride, yet the fan seemed oblivious to that. During our hot California summers of 100 degree temps for days on end, you might have to endure quite a bit of that dying animal beneath you. |
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Imagining that I actually did own this bike and this wasn't just a test ride, one of the very first things I'd do was figure out a way to toss the ‘What-were-you-thinking-cooling-fan' and source an aftermarket one that was whisper quiet. If I were Erik Buell's mother, I'd kick him in the shins for even allowing this bike to be released to the general public with that fan. It was the one thing on this bike that made no sense at all. If you're going to plop down over $12,000 for a motorcycle, that last thing you should find annoying is something as simplistic as the designers intelligent choice of a cooling fan, or lack thereof. Hopefully, Mr. Buell won't relagate this attribute to his 'Character' category. Possible fixes may exist. The addition of a right-hand side air scoop (the bike has only the one on the left side), it may be possible to channel more air to the rear cylinder decreasing the temperature, and thusly the fan. Also switching to fully-synthetic oil may help keep the motor cool. AmericanSportbike.com sells a right side match for $240, Carbon Fiber is available for $270. Other owners report after the break-in peroid and the first oil change with fully-synthetic oil, the fan comes on less. As for heat, bear in mind the exhaust practically resides on the right side of the motorcycle, however I never noticed any heat coming off this naked standard bike. (Bear in mind I have owned several fully-faired bikes that simply baked me alive in 100 degree heat during stop-n-go traffic.) As for overheating, it's never been mentioned on any owners site regarding this bike. Plus it should be noted that if even if this were to happen, the engine electronics automatically modify the firing of the cylinders (called 'skip fire'), skipping every other spark so the engine will cool itself down and bleed off excess heat. One more option worth mentioning for heat is a heat barrier available from Specialops-Online.com. Basically, it's a small woven heat shield cut to the shape of the motorcycle and placed under the seat of the Buell. |
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