kreinke
New member
I originally posted this on my fav board, www.f650.com but thought you guys might be interested.
How'd I end up in a Harley Dealer?
Believe it or not it was because I thought I could get a good deal on a BMW dual sport.
I've been lurking on the Buell boards to see what the comments on the Uly have been now that a few guys have had them on the road for a while. Found right here in Wisconsin one of the guys who ordered one was trading in an R12GS so I went to the dealer only to find out from the salesman that the R12 was sold before it was even traded in. Suck!
Forget what you've heard...
about Harley dealers ignoring Buell customers. The Buell salesman who I talked to at Appleton H-D, a gentleman by the name of Dave Stueve, was nothing but courteous and helpful to me.
I'd like to publicly give Appleton H-D some free advertising here (I have no interest in the dealer) and thank Dave for being a good salesman.
Dave personally knows Erik Buell and really believes in the brand and talks passionately about it. He's an accomplished track day participant with both his Buells and with his Aprilia RSV Mille R.
He arranged for me to have a Uly test drive even though I told him I wasn't really in the market for a bike at this minute (under penalty of castration with a dull rusty knife from my wife if I came home with another bike) but he was still happy to let me take a ride.
No high pressure.
No hype.
"How long do I have Dave?"
"How long do you want?" he answers. Hmm....he trusts me with a bike with 13 miles on it.
"The only thing I ask is that you don't beat the crap out of it because it's not broken in and be mindfull it's cold out and the tires are new."
The beast comes out of the shadows
When Dave rolled the motorcycle out of the service doors I'm stuck on how attractive this motorcycle is in person. The machine I test rode was black. All black.
In the bright sun I can tell that the workmanship, from the fasteners to the seat stitching, is very good. The gauges are easy to read and as are the indicator lights. I still criticize these motorcycles for having such dinky cheap controls on the handlebars. The starter switch is a little yellow piece of plastic the size of my pinky nail. I am wearing my BMW rain gloves and I can see this could be a problem for an alleged adventure-sport-tourer when guys are wearing Gore-tex glove in colder climes.
The test ride is almost over for me before it begins...
I climb aboard and OMFG this thing is tall. I run about a 30" inseam and I can't even tip-toe on both feet. I have to resort to shifting my butt to one side and just using one set of toes. Not confidence inspiring but do-able.
Dave tells me that there is a lower seat available.
The bike is sitting there idling on it's stand
with a very throaty and satisfying potato-potato and the mirrors and windshield are jiggling and gyrating. Ordinarily this would scare someone off but I've ridden Buells and the rubber mounted Sportsters and know that this goes away as soon as you're underway....or so I thought.
I get the machine underway and the powerplant is very nice and controllable. I practiced some slow turns in the dealer lot and find the bike is much better at slow speed stuff than my BMW R1150R. One criticism is that I feel it's geared too tall and I can see how someone would be slipping the clutch off road alot.
It shifts great and I'm liking this thing right out of the gate. Right to the point to where I'm waiting at my first red light to get on the super-slab and it dies.
I need to mention that it died two more times coasting up to stops during my 16 mile ride. Dave thought perhaps that there was a throttle position sensor that needed tweaking.
It quickly fires back up again and potato-potato-potatos until the light turns green and I'm onto the ramp to the expressway.
On the Lightning and Firebolt models I test drove before...
it was disconcerting that the bike wasn't neutral and had to be held into a turn to hold a line. It felt like I was in an arm wrestiling match and losing.
Not so with the Uly. It was very Neutral on the decreasing radius on-ramp. At this point it felt like a much smaller dual-sport like a Suzuki DR650 or a BMW F650. Very nice indeed.
In spite of a nearly 100 pound weight difference and 20 horse advantage, the Uly doesn't feel faster accelerating onto the slab than my R1150R. It could be just me though.
The Ergos arern't bad
but I find that I'm leaned forward more than I like and putting more pressure on my wrists that I'm used to. I could be just because I'm short and the seat is high but it does seem like a long reach from the seat to the tank.
The seat us hard as a plank...but it's a nicely shaped and roomy plank. The rear of the driver position seems perfectly scooped out for my butt.
At 70 mph the Uly is nimble and changes lanes quickly.
The superslab portion of my test drive consisted of about 7 miles of heavy cage and semi-infested highway. I notced that my right calf is getting hot. Very hot. Later I find out that there's a cooling fan blowing air across the rear cylinder from the left side of the bike to the right and the air is exiting right on to my leg.
Remember when I said the vibration would go away? It hasn't. On the interstate the motorcycle is only runnig about 3200 in 5th gear and I've had to reposition my right foot back on to the peg about once per mile. It feels like my riding boot is attached to one of those jitterbug orbital sanders. Perhaps this is Buell's way of making sure my leg doesn't get too hot?
More than one hour after turning in the bike the arch of my right foot still felt as though it were partially asleep. I'm not sure if there was something amiss with the assembly (perhaps an engine mount wasn't tightened???) or whatever but the vibration to me wasn't just annoying, it was obtrusive.
Whereas my Beemer is brick solid around other vehicles, the Buell's front end is getting blown around worse than my F650 ever did. It just doesn't feel very stable in the wind...especially when passing an 18-wheeler.
The second half of my test drive......
consisted of meandering frontage roads and heavy mall traffic. This bike does very well as a city bike. The front brake as very good initial bite and great feel. This bike corners better than any Harley product I've ever ridden. In heavy traffic the visibility is great.
I can see that while the vibes I mentioned earlier would preclude me from doing a 300 miler, this bike would make a great commuter.
I did go to a construction site and try the Uly on some gravel and a little dirt. Standing up wasn't bad and the bike was compliant. I may try these Dunlop supermoto-style tires on my Roadster in the future beause they corner well and arern't jittery on gravel.
Bad vibrations
I tried to like this bike. I really did. I went into this tesdrive after self hypnosis to help suppress any anti-Harley feelings that would have tainted my test drive.
In a nutshell I guess the Uly is a great handling easy to ride bike let down by vibrating footpegs and poor ergos.
The F650GS is clearly a better value because it's $2000 cheaper, more comfotable for the long haul, probably has more accessories, and is more versatile.
How'd I end up in a Harley Dealer?
Believe it or not it was because I thought I could get a good deal on a BMW dual sport.
I've been lurking on the Buell boards to see what the comments on the Uly have been now that a few guys have had them on the road for a while. Found right here in Wisconsin one of the guys who ordered one was trading in an R12GS so I went to the dealer only to find out from the salesman that the R12 was sold before it was even traded in. Suck!
Forget what you've heard...
about Harley dealers ignoring Buell customers. The Buell salesman who I talked to at Appleton H-D, a gentleman by the name of Dave Stueve, was nothing but courteous and helpful to me.
I'd like to publicly give Appleton H-D some free advertising here (I have no interest in the dealer) and thank Dave for being a good salesman.
Dave personally knows Erik Buell and really believes in the brand and talks passionately about it. He's an accomplished track day participant with both his Buells and with his Aprilia RSV Mille R.
He arranged for me to have a Uly test drive even though I told him I wasn't really in the market for a bike at this minute (under penalty of castration with a dull rusty knife from my wife if I came home with another bike) but he was still happy to let me take a ride.
No high pressure.
No hype.
"How long do I have Dave?"
"How long do you want?" he answers. Hmm....he trusts me with a bike with 13 miles on it.
"The only thing I ask is that you don't beat the crap out of it because it's not broken in and be mindfull it's cold out and the tires are new."
The beast comes out of the shadows
When Dave rolled the motorcycle out of the service doors I'm stuck on how attractive this motorcycle is in person. The machine I test rode was black. All black.
In the bright sun I can tell that the workmanship, from the fasteners to the seat stitching, is very good. The gauges are easy to read and as are the indicator lights. I still criticize these motorcycles for having such dinky cheap controls on the handlebars. The starter switch is a little yellow piece of plastic the size of my pinky nail. I am wearing my BMW rain gloves and I can see this could be a problem for an alleged adventure-sport-tourer when guys are wearing Gore-tex glove in colder climes.
The test ride is almost over for me before it begins...
I climb aboard and OMFG this thing is tall. I run about a 30" inseam and I can't even tip-toe on both feet. I have to resort to shifting my butt to one side and just using one set of toes. Not confidence inspiring but do-able.
Dave tells me that there is a lower seat available.
The bike is sitting there idling on it's stand
with a very throaty and satisfying potato-potato and the mirrors and windshield are jiggling and gyrating. Ordinarily this would scare someone off but I've ridden Buells and the rubber mounted Sportsters and know that this goes away as soon as you're underway....or so I thought.
I get the machine underway and the powerplant is very nice and controllable. I practiced some slow turns in the dealer lot and find the bike is much better at slow speed stuff than my BMW R1150R. One criticism is that I feel it's geared too tall and I can see how someone would be slipping the clutch off road alot.
It shifts great and I'm liking this thing right out of the gate. Right to the point to where I'm waiting at my first red light to get on the super-slab and it dies.
I need to mention that it died two more times coasting up to stops during my 16 mile ride. Dave thought perhaps that there was a throttle position sensor that needed tweaking.
It quickly fires back up again and potato-potato-potatos until the light turns green and I'm onto the ramp to the expressway.
On the Lightning and Firebolt models I test drove before...
it was disconcerting that the bike wasn't neutral and had to be held into a turn to hold a line. It felt like I was in an arm wrestiling match and losing.
Not so with the Uly. It was very Neutral on the decreasing radius on-ramp. At this point it felt like a much smaller dual-sport like a Suzuki DR650 or a BMW F650. Very nice indeed.
In spite of a nearly 100 pound weight difference and 20 horse advantage, the Uly doesn't feel faster accelerating onto the slab than my R1150R. It could be just me though.
The Ergos arern't bad
but I find that I'm leaned forward more than I like and putting more pressure on my wrists that I'm used to. I could be just because I'm short and the seat is high but it does seem like a long reach from the seat to the tank.
The seat us hard as a plank...but it's a nicely shaped and roomy plank. The rear of the driver position seems perfectly scooped out for my butt.
At 70 mph the Uly is nimble and changes lanes quickly.
The superslab portion of my test drive consisted of about 7 miles of heavy cage and semi-infested highway. I notced that my right calf is getting hot. Very hot. Later I find out that there's a cooling fan blowing air across the rear cylinder from the left side of the bike to the right and the air is exiting right on to my leg.
Remember when I said the vibration would go away? It hasn't. On the interstate the motorcycle is only runnig about 3200 in 5th gear and I've had to reposition my right foot back on to the peg about once per mile. It feels like my riding boot is attached to one of those jitterbug orbital sanders. Perhaps this is Buell's way of making sure my leg doesn't get too hot?
More than one hour after turning in the bike the arch of my right foot still felt as though it were partially asleep. I'm not sure if there was something amiss with the assembly (perhaps an engine mount wasn't tightened???) or whatever but the vibration to me wasn't just annoying, it was obtrusive.
Whereas my Beemer is brick solid around other vehicles, the Buell's front end is getting blown around worse than my F650 ever did. It just doesn't feel very stable in the wind...especially when passing an 18-wheeler.
The second half of my test drive......
consisted of meandering frontage roads and heavy mall traffic. This bike does very well as a city bike. The front brake as very good initial bite and great feel. This bike corners better than any Harley product I've ever ridden. In heavy traffic the visibility is great.
I can see that while the vibes I mentioned earlier would preclude me from doing a 300 miler, this bike would make a great commuter.
I did go to a construction site and try the Uly on some gravel and a little dirt. Standing up wasn't bad and the bike was compliant. I may try these Dunlop supermoto-style tires on my Roadster in the future beause they corner well and arern't jittery on gravel.
Bad vibrations
I tried to like this bike. I really did. I went into this tesdrive after self hypnosis to help suppress any anti-Harley feelings that would have tainted my test drive.
In a nutshell I guess the Uly is a great handling easy to ride bike let down by vibrating footpegs and poor ergos.
The F650GS is clearly a better value because it's $2000 cheaper, more comfotable for the long haul, probably has more accessories, and is more versatile.
