Buell XB12R custom build
Discussion
Roll back to last September when I bought my first Buell, which I rebuilt over the last winter... I have ridden it all summer, at the expense of some of my other bikes
, it's an incredible bike to ride! Probably now one of my favorite bikes of all time! the combination of useable power and torque, handling and braking, there is just something about it!So when a few months ago the chance of a Buell XB12R came up at the right price, I jumped at it! Its been at the back of the garage, waiting for the riding season to come to an end before I start the rebuild on it...
Here it is, along with the one I built over last winter.
Over the next few months I will document the build here...
one thing for sure is that the clip ons have to go, so the first job has been to make a new top yoke. I drew it up in CAD and sent it to the water jet cutter along with a 25mm billet of aircraft grade alloy, it came back perfect!
I had to machine a recess in the top, and this needed a bigger lathe than mine so I popped in to see my mate… Nice and easy job but I did come away with Lathe envy!
more water jet cutting…. this time some risers and headlight brackets to fit a Yamaha MT03 headlight
I had to machine a recess in the top, and this needed a bigger lathe than mine so I popped in to see my mate… Nice and easy job but I did come away with Lathe envy!
more water jet cutting…. this time some risers and headlight brackets to fit a Yamaha MT03 headlight
the build will be slow at first as there are a few holidays!
I now have the overall vision of how it will look in mind... the tank cover and seat unit will stay, this is for two reasons... Firstly I like it and dont think I can improve on it... and secondly (and some may say more importantly
) It will give me the opportunity to have another bike with a pillion seat as I have come in for some stick this year about constantly riding the other Buell which is a single seat
the strip down has started and one of the first jobs was to make an engine cradle so I can remove the frame easily… this sort of thing is time well invested as it makes things so much safer, and also provides an engine stand for later.
One of the first problems I encountered was the K nuts on the front exhaust were badly corroded the bottom on was easy to get to with the angle grinder… the rear took some thinking about. In the end I used the tip of my power file to grind away one side, which was surprisingly quick to do… That power file is a tool I bought thinking it would be of limited use, but I find I use it all the time…
I now have the overall vision of how it will look in mind... the tank cover and seat unit will stay, this is for two reasons... Firstly I like it and dont think I can improve on it... and secondly (and some may say more importantly
) It will give me the opportunity to have another bike with a pillion seat as I have come in for some stick this year about constantly riding the other Buell which is a single seatthe strip down has started and one of the first jobs was to make an engine cradle so I can remove the frame easily… this sort of thing is time well invested as it makes things so much safer, and also provides an engine stand for later.
One of the first problems I encountered was the K nuts on the front exhaust were badly corroded the bottom on was easy to get to with the angle grinder… the rear took some thinking about. In the end I used the tip of my power file to grind away one side, which was surprisingly quick to do… That power file is a tool I bought thinking it would be of limited use, but I find I use it all the time…
Bob_Defly said:
That frame is huge! Is there any fluid in it?
yep!well it didn’t take long to get apart! I can see why its such a light bike, even given the heavy engine… I love the design of the fuel in the frame, and oil in the swinging arm, and the way Buell seem to have taken every opportunity to save weight!
myvision said:
What colour you going to paint this one?
Bookmarked! Wish I had your skills!
you knew didn't you Bookmarked! Wish I had your skills!
I normally leave the paintwork until close to the end of the build, but that is often Jan/Feb and as I paint outside its very weather dependant.
As I am keeping the bodywork standard I decided to do it early and put it to one side. I am SO impressed with this new lacquer! It has a great gloss straight from the gun.
I also have a new supplier of decals who has a machine that can cut quite small... he is quick to send them and very reasonable! The single most important thing when lacquering over decals is to wipe them with panel wipe before you paint! they always have some sort of silicone residue on them!
With the engine on the bench, I started to pull things off… first item was the front engine mounting… one bolt came out easily… the other was solid. I tried all sorts to undo it, but in the end the bolt snapped. Frustrating as its a large critical bolt, and its high tensile so drilling it out would be difficult… So I resorted to the trusted method of welding a nut on… Plenty of amps so it gets it nice and hot… and then a tap with the hammer, and it screwed out!
My last bike before I hung up my leathers a few years ago. A bit tired of racing around on sports bikes which only became fun at triple digit speeds, I bought myself a BMW 1150 Rockster but never gelled with it. Just too heavy and clunky. The Buell came up, was stupidly cheap and I thought ‘why not?’ and I loved it.
Its all coming apart… Looks to be VERY clean in there! I needed to remove the plug off the stator wires, and dug out my selection of terminal tools… these are essential when working on bikes and cars and are very useful.., and cheap as hell! The only problem is deciding which one to use!
I popped into the see the guy I have used for years for stripping paint and plastic coating to say I would be bringing in some parts… He said he had a visit from the council who informed him that his dipping tanks no longer conformed to H&S… and basically said he needed to get rid of them immediately or they would close him down! He looked into alternatives to using the chemicals he used, but the setup cost, and then an energy hungry plant that involved less aggressive chemicals combined with heat, didn’t make it cost effective. He said the cost of car and bike wheel refurbishment is set to rocket when a full ban on the chemicals comes in shortly… I then popped to see another guy I have used over the years, he said the same… But added he had three tins of real paint stripper, which he couldn't officially sell. Boy its effective! Lethal stuff though so it was used with the extractor fan on full, and a suitable mask!
I popped into the see the guy I have used for years for stripping paint and plastic coating to say I would be bringing in some parts… He said he had a visit from the council who informed him that his dipping tanks no longer conformed to H&S… and basically said he needed to get rid of them immediately or they would close him down! He looked into alternatives to using the chemicals he used, but the setup cost, and then an energy hungry plant that involved less aggressive chemicals combined with heat, didn’t make it cost effective. He said the cost of car and bike wheel refurbishment is set to rocket when a full ban on the chemicals comes in shortly… I then popped to see another guy I have used over the years, he said the same… But added he had three tins of real paint stripper, which he couldn't officially sell. Boy its effective! Lethal stuff though so it was used with the extractor fan on full, and a suitable mask!
Cases are now bead blasted so assembly can start as soon as I get the plating back… I did debate Cerakote, but decided to leave them bare as I am going to polish the outer cases. I did buy some new bead, they came up really nice!
I have also taken the wheels in for powder coating and the frame and swinging arm for dipping to remove the paint. I think it would have been OK to allow the stripper to go inside, but as the fuel is in the frame, and the oil tank is the swinging arm I played safe and blanked everything off… that took ages as there are some strange threads in places!
I did use the apprentice to do some of the bead blasting but the hourly rate was far to high and she takes long breaks…
I have also taken the wheels in for powder coating and the frame and swinging arm for dipping to remove the paint. I think it would have been OK to allow the stripper to go inside, but as the fuel is in the frame, and the oil tank is the swinging arm I played safe and blanked everything off… that took ages as there are some strange threads in places!
I did use the apprentice to do some of the bead blasting but the hourly rate was far to high and she takes long breaks…
all the parts are back from plating… another superb job! I love to visit this company… they are easy to deal with and SO helpful. There were some really small parts in this batch and I said I was worried that they would fall out ot the drum… The guy took me into the factory and showed me just how small the holes in the drum were, which took away my concern. However, the smell of hydrochloric acid was overpowering! they have a flat fee per barrel… so one bolt, or 100KG is the same very reasonable price! I went for silver this time instead of gold…
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