I owned my Ulysses for 6 months. It is/was a 2006. Likes: The second most entertaining motorcycle that I have EVER ridden (out of 32 that I have owned.) My wife liked to ride on the passenger seat more than any motorcycle that I have ever owned. The belt drive took the work out of periodic maintenance. Other people wanted to test drive it all of the time. The Harley people like it. Dislikes: Lack of turning radius. Heat off of the pipes of the motorcycle. Lack of steering damper (huh?) I hit a rough patch of pavement when I had to make an emergency stop. The bike went into a tank slapper. I got the bike stopped in time but it jack-knifed and threw me straight to the ground. The two bones in my lower right leg are now five bones held together by screws and a narrow seven inch plate. I beleive if I would have installed a steering damper, I would have been alright. In 38 years of riding and 32 motorcycles, in on and off road motorcycles, I have never experienced anything like that. Someone else is enjoying that motorcycle now. I wouldn't have another Ulysses without a steering damper. I am now going after the most entertaining motorcycle that I have ever ridden.
You had the original Dunlops on it didn't you? There's a reason Buell switched to the Pirellis. The Ulysses does not need a steering damper.
I'll tend to agree with rwven. Below 40mph the D616 front can be spooky. Sorry to hear about your off, though.
That is a strange one. The last thing I would of thought of putting on my Uly is a steering damper. Maybe some spikes on the front so I would of killed the deer I hit, but certainly not a steering damper. Or maybe an ass A/C system but a steering damper certainly not.
What was the most entertaining bike you ever owned? I guess I will pile on too. I have experianced the same behavior you did. I had to do an emergency stop with the wife on the back and yeah as the front end squatted down and bars did a bit of a shimmy. It wasn't uncontrollable, more like a shudder, but then I had Syncs on it. If you "jack-knifed" the bike, which I take to mean you locked up the front brake and endo-ed it. That is not a function of the front end stablility and a steering stabilizer would not have done you any good, except perhaps it wouldn't have induced you to take a death grip on the brake lever?
I have experienced the front end shudder locking the front wheel on my old R100GS. But I was in control because I was also using the back brake to stay straight. Also at a time like that a death grip on the bars causes a magnification transfering the shudder to the whole bike and then a tank slapper. I comment on this because a fellow riding some twisty roads with me a few weeks ago on a BMW R1100RT had a similar experience. He told me he grabed the brakes hard going into a turn too hot, hit a rut in the road and went into a tank slapper stopping just short of going down the embankment on the shoulder. I thought it strange because I didn't remember a rut as I went through first. Talking with him some more I found out he had wrecked a BMW K100 a few years ago. I asked him what happened then and his story was basicly similar. He told me he grabed the brakes going into a curve, hit a rut and went into a tank slapper, throwing him into a guardrail. I think this is where ABS can benefit riders when they grab the brakes as hard as they can in a panic situation and freeze up. As far as my riding partner, he has ABS on his R11. I don't know what happened there since I was in front of him. I do think sometimes we tend to blame the equipment instead of rider error. Gus
Now that's a good idea! And on the older ones prone to stator failures, an electric one would suck up all that extra current!
a steering stabilizer is like a paper bag for your girlfriend.It dosen't fix anything. It just hides the problem.
I installed one of these since I planned on doing track duty with my Ulysses. I've retired the Ulysses from the track, but I left the damper on. Never had it shake it's head. http://www.americansportbike.com/shoponline/ccp0-prodshow/9048.html
No steering damper, no shake. Pirelli Scorpion Syncs. Stick like glue, rides on rails. I set up our new (to us) 2003 XB9S for my wife, who is 110 lbs soaking wet. I have been testriding it as I tune it, and took a bit of a bumpy sweeper at moderate speed. OhMyGosh. Thought the thing was going to throw me down. Won't do that again. Funny, when it was set up for my son (about the same weight as me) it rode on rails. Let's just say he and I weigh a bit more than my wife... ahem. There is no motorcycle as sensitive to suspension setup as a Buell. They are very short and very responsive. They don't need steering dampers (track aside), but they absolutely need to be set up (easy to do, and a chart to follow in the OM) for rider(s) weight. You definitely cannot ride a Buell like a Beemer no matter what...
I hope the OP is reading this thread and can re-analyse the accident to see what else may have caused the off. There are already enough people around who jump to false conclusions and then forever will expouse their "ALL 12Xs need a steering damper because ...." theories. Just for the record I'm a "me too". For a bike with the geometry of the Uly you'd expect that it would need a damper, but I find mine to be extremely stable. Interesting that the OP mentioned a tank slapper when hard on the brakes. I thought tankslappers were caused by the front end getting light under accelleration. I can only imagine that a very slippery surface like wet clay or ice or maybe fine sand would be required to cause that sort of behaviour.
He also said he was able to stop in time and was slammed to the ground. It sounds almost like he locked the rear brake and the bike fishtailed then he released the rear brake while crossed up and high sided. Gus
I keep wondering about all these guys who have horrendous problems with their Ulys that I cannot make happen even if I tried. Not to doubt their experiences, not at all. Just their conclusions about cause/effect.
Repeated theme for those new to Buell. My mistake = setup for two up loaded bags and trip ended Sunday night. Monday morning on the way to work minus two side bags and mama, with the same suspension setup, some genius in a race truck SUV thought it would be a good idea to get his qualifying time improved. While leaning his vehicle side to side at 80+ he ran out of lanes and decided it was time for me to share the diamond lane with him. Now the important part. Just a week earlier Faultline Harley in Fremont replaced my front rotor and rortor springs on shoulder mounts under warranty. (Warped rotor due to rotor springs bound up) The fatguy and others advice had me aquire the Lyndall Gold pads. If these items were not performed prior to my suspension mistake I surely would be making another mistake by hanging a "paper bag" on the forks thinking about high speed hula.:eek1
