Sunday at the track

The track was fun as usual. I had four bikes ride over Angeles Crest with me. We talked about riding techniques and headed up the canyon with no issues. Once we were at the track our hosts, Glendale Harley-Davidson / Buell, were already set up and waiting for their race. Unfortunately, Patrick was not able to race due to a crash the week prior. Apparently he was knocked out by someone else with a few laps remaining. He was still awarded 2nd place despite not being able to finish the race.

Jeff "Slipp" Dixon didn't get much of a chance to run on Sunday. His RR was being worked on so he rode Patrick's XB12R. There was some mechanical issues with the bike that Ernie was able to sort out before the second race, but by lap four or five the bike started experiencing issues. Hopefully Jeff's RR will be ready to go next weekend for the Pro races (check the event calendar).

On the other hand, Buell had a great day. Shawn Higbee rode the new 1125R for Bartel's, pretty much stock, and did a great job. I have some video that hopefully turned out. I have not had a chance to look at it yet, but will try to get around to in the next couple days. I think with a little modification that bike it will be a rocket. BTW, Shawn is a professional racer so he had a skill advantage over the rest of the field.

Ride to Willow on Sunday

We will be meeting at the Shell gas station in La Canada at 8AM on Sunday and heading out at 8:30AM. Make sure to check your tire pressure before you head out (it should be checked cold). We will be going through some twisty canyon roads. Depending on the skills of the group we may split up into two different groups up to the coffee point. I will probably have a couple people coming with me that will lead the route up to the coffee point for the faster riders. Depending on our time we may stop or keep going through. From there it is pretty easy sailing.

Here is the link to the map :

http://motocaliblog.googlepages.com/ridetowillowsprings

The cost to get into the track is $10. I just talked to Ernie Snair and he is going to swing a few passes to get in. Glendale Harley-Davidson / Buell will of course be catering lunch at the track. This is a lot of fun and it looks like the weather will be nice this weekend, 63 and sunny.

Email me if you have any questions. motocaliblog@gmail.com

Races This Weekend

FYI, there are some races going on at Willow Springs this weekend. I will be out of town and will not be able to make it. I have someone taking photos and notes on the race for me. I will post the info as soon as I get it.

I will be organizing a ride out to Willow next weekend (Sunday April 20th) over Angeles Crest. We will be stopping for coffee and breakfast for about an hour or so on The Crest, and continuing on to Willow for the races. There will be food and drinks provided by the Glendale team for lunch. Email me at motocaliblog@gmail.com if you are interested in joining. I will post the meeting point and route next week.

Request for video / pics

I got a request for some pics on the mod I did to my bike regarding the performance. I will work to get a video or some pics up on the mod. I will also explain what is going on in a little more detail when I get it all together.

To answer your question I don't think it will hurt anything at all. When you put on one of the after-market exhausts you actually disconnect that actuator cable and remove it from the bike. The control unit on the airbox cover is still there and in operation but with nothing to manipulate. I would assume that if this mod has some sort of longterm effect on the bike you would have the same problem with an after market exhaust as well.

I ran in the canyons with my Ducati friends and the bike was a lot more responsive than it was prior to the mod. I think the next thing in line will be a K&N air cleaner kit from AmericanSportBike.

Calendar of Events

By linking to this post you will be able to see the calendar. I will repost the calendar as new items are added. Let me know if you want your event added to the calendar.

Buell XB12X Ulysses Performance Mod

Ever since I purchased my 08 XB12X from Glendale HD / Buell I noticed that there was a slight delay when getting on the throttle. I talked some other folks that had test rode them as well, including the new XT, who experienced the same issue. Still, the bike had tons of power so I really didn't think much of it and put over 6K miles on it.

After some talks with my Buell experts, Josh and Ernie, and some analysis of the service manual I discovered that the exhaust might be the problem. When the bike is cold the actuator in the exhaust system is closed off. Once the bike is up to temp it opens up a little, and when applying throttle it will open even more. I noticed that I had to bury the throttle in order to get the exhaust to open up.

I theorized that if I could force the actuator to stay in the open position the bike would respond better and I wouldn't need to buy an after market exhaust. After all, the bike has plenty of juice, I just need to get past the delay in power.

I disconnected the actuator cable from the regulator on top of the air box. The actuator is spring loaded so it failed into the open position. I thought to myself, "that was too easy." I started the bike up cold. Immediately I noticed the bike sounded more "Harley-Davidson" at idle. I grabbed throttle and wrenched down on it to discover there was no delay or sputtering (something that occurs when the Buell is cold)!

I rode around town for about 10 mins with a huge grin on my face. I had to get on the highway so I headed west towards Angeles Crest HWY. The sun was still up so I headed up the mountain. I was able to let the bike run lower in the RPM's and when I buried the throttle I got immediate response. I rode back home and was absolutely satisfied with my discovery.

More Power?

I am sure that the Drummer, SpecOps, and Jardine pipes will give you some extra power but I am not sure there will be such an extreme difference. Another thing to consider is your neighbors and local laws. If noise will land you in trouble you may want to try my mod before you buy an after market exhaust. You will see immediate improvement in power and response without causing or getting into trouble. Those of you in countries like Germany may want to consider this before anything else.

This cost me absolutely nothing to do (maybe 10 mins) and I am floored by the improvement. I am going to look into getting some Dyno tests done to show the differences. If anyone has any info on that please post a comment. I have never had one done and don't know what it entails.