Because my Tesi is currently parked and waiting for some parts from Italy, I was able to put the first 1,000 miles on my new-to-me Buell quite quickly. Here’s what I think about it so far…
Missed Part 2? I explain what the XB12Ss “Lightning Long” is.
As noted in Part 1 of this series, I broke it in with a fantastic 200+ mile ride with some friends but I had a rough start due to a loose battery cable.
Turns out my electrical issues didn’t stop there, as the regulator/rectifier was also on the way out. Finding Buell parts can be difficult nowadays – my service department had to source the reg/rec from the Netherlands. While Daniel was installing it, he noticed an oil leak. Unfortunately, rocker box leaks are quite common on these models, so we ordered a gasket kit.
Even more unfortunately, to replace said gaskets the motor has to be lowered out of the frame. So with that in mind, I’m going to wait until I have a few more parts accumulated before doing everything at once.
With the reg/rec sorted I was able to get back on the road, immediately using it for most of my commuting and weekend rides.
I was most surprised by the vibration, particularly under 3k rpms. But what Buell was able to do with this engine as a base is pretty impressive. It’s obviously on the heavier but I love the way it handles and I dig that it’s relative unique. Over the first 1,000 miles, I’ve been averaging 33 mpg. My main gripe at this point is that I find myself underwhelmed with the bike of the ZTL front brake. Ovrall, the folks over at MCN summed this bike up in a way I absolutely agreed with: “Easy to love if hard to justify.”
I definitely wouldn’t call it my fastest or most agile bike, but I’m still able to get a spirited pace going with the old girl. During one ride, I was even going fast enough where the “u” in Buell fell off!
Up next – a Bike-urious reader comes by to visit me and school me on the tips and tricks he’s learned over the years with a Buell Lightning that he has over 87,000 miles on!