Buell Xbi2x Ulysses

CYCLE WORLD TEST

new bikes 2006

BUELL XBI2X ULYSSES

Erik & Co. invent the "Adventure Sportbike" Can they build one for you?

STEVE ANDERSON

SO WHAT IS THIS LATEST BUFLL? Resembling the illicit offspring of a Honda XR65OL and a Harley Sportster, the XB 1 2X Ulysses is apparently a great, big. rowdy dual-purpose machine. That's what you might think after a quick look. but you'd be wrong. According to Erik Buell, the Ulysses is actually a replace ment for the defunct S3T sport-tourer. And just why is that, Mr. Buell? "Because sport-tourers don't sell," says the man with his name on the company stationary. The problem, according to Buell, is that as much as moto-journalists might write nice things about sport-touring models, their sales statistics are grim, rarely sufficient to pay for their expensive saddlebag tooling, let alone the rest of the bike. So how to build a versatile, sporting, comfortable long-distance bike, and still make enough money to justify the effort'? The answer was to completely rethink what is meant by sport-touring.

After playing with the idea of a “touring-supermotard,” Buell product-planners fixed on the concept of an “adventure-sportbike.” It would emphasize performance, but with the comfortable upright riding position of a dirtbike. It had to have exceptional handling on all road surfaces, not just pavement-Buell points out that of the hundreds of thousands of miles of “roads” in the U.S., fully 35 percent are unpaved. The new machine would offer some wind protection, but not so much that it burdened the bike with excessive plastic. There would be ample and comfortable room for a passenger. Hard saddlebags would be available, but only as an option, because not everyone needs or wants them. The machine would be sized to fit larger riders, answering complaints about the small stature of Lightnings and Firebolts, and suspension travel and ground clearance would increase.

With those ideas in mind, Buell engineers quickly modified an XB12S Lightning with longer-travel suspension and hand-cut tires to see how it would fare in off-road environments. Real-world rides in the Wisconsin woods and Arizona desert resulted in further refinements, and before long the Buell engineers had a proof-of-concept machine with which they were happy. Those early Lightningbased mules became the basis for the new machine, the 2006 XB12X Ulysses.

Changes from the mules to the production bike were major, though. While the Ulysses’ frame is related to that of other XBs, it is far from the same, sharing only a few castings and inner rail stampings. A longer-range machine needs more fuel capacity, so the main frame beams (which carry the gas, remember) were widened. By how much? “About a gallon,” says Buell. Those slightly wider frame rails and the elimination of the air passage in the left-frame rail (the new bike breathes through a snorkel in front of the gas cap) increased tank size to 4.4 gallons, making for a more-than-200-mile range with the Ulysses’ frugal engine. Extensive testing also yielded new frame geometry, with the steering head raked out by an additional 2 degrees and the fork angled back by a similar amount with offset triple-clamps. That keeps the front tire in almost the same location as on other XBs, for ideal weight distribution, but with greater rake and trail. The

2-inch-longer swingarm comes from a new vendor, using new processes. The previous Brembo arm was cast in one piece, with elaborate coring to create the internal oil tank. The new Japanese vendor creates the swingarm in two parts using a high-tech, vacuum-assisted die-casting process, then welds them together down the middle of the oil tank, a very low-stress area. The new arm is stiffer than the old, and allows re-routing the oil pickups to the top of the arm for cleaner and shorter oil lines. It also stretches the wheelbase out to 54.5 inches.

Suspension travel was also determined in riding trials. Early testbikes ran as much as 7.5 inches of travel, but the extra height was judged excessive for the benefit achieved, particularly as the bikes had already been raised by an inch for improved ground clearance. For the Ulysses, suspension travel was instead set at 6.5 inches front, 6.4 inches rear, compared to the 4.7-inch front/5.3-inch rear of a standard CityX. Early on, the Buell engineers questioned whether the under-engine muffler would work off-road. But their testing indicated little need for relocating it. Indeed, the muffler, reinforced as it was with internal baffling, made a functional skidplate, and could survive hopping over logs with only minor cosmetic denting-though sharp-edged rocks could be a problem.

The new frame was strengthened to handle jumps, and the rear subframe was sized to be extremely roomy for both rider and passenger. The footpegs were located lower than on other XBs, and the seat was made thick, wide and heavily padded. The seat-to-footpeg relationship is among the most generous of any current motorcycle, excluding some feet-forward cruisers. Buell marketing had requested both an adjustable-height seat and a removable rear portion, replaceable with a luggage rack a la the BMW GS. But Buell engineering determined that an adjustable seat with acceptable appearance (i.e. no gaps) was not do-able, and elected instead to provide an optional low seat as an accessory. Likewise, they finessed the luggage-rack requiremènt with a clever adjustable rack/backrest that flips and locks in three positions.

Because the Ulysses was intended as an adventure-sportbike, little consideration was given to running a 19or 21-inch front tire. While larger tires work for motocrossers and pure off-road bikes, sportbike tire sizes make for better pavement handling, and can work reasonably well on dirt, as proven in supermotard racing. The tires on the Ulysses were developed just for Buell by Dunlop, and started with a sportbike-style carcass and compound. The tread pattern resulted from much testing off-road, and as pointed out by Buell Test Engineer John Bunne, “It’s similar to hand-cut supermotard tires.” The Dunlops are optimized for wet asphalt or the type of reasonably dense-pack surfaces you’d find on a dirt or gravel road, without giving up much outright traction on pavement.

The result of all this is an aggressive-looking motorcycle. The front half of the front fender sits high, giving a dirtbike look, while a subtle lower rear portion hugs the front tire behind the fork, just long enough to help keep debris off the engine but not so much as to easily pack with mud.

An apparent numberplate rises above the brushguardshielded headlights, and handguards protect the grips at the ends of the cross-braced handlebar. The seat stretches broad, long and thick to the back of the bike, tempering the aggression with more than a hint of comfort to come.

When you sit on the Ulysses, the height of that seat is the first thing you notice. The standard seat is fully 35 inches above the ground before the suspension sags under your weight-if you’re less than 5-foot-9, you’ll definitely want the accessory short seat that is 1.5 inches lower and narrower at the front. But any uneasiness from the height evaporates as soon as you’re moving, and you start noticing some of the new features of the Ulysses.

Take the clutch, for example. Softer springs reduce lever effort, while a new, specially developed gearbox lubricant allows the clutch plates to grip harder, maintaining clutch capacity. As a result, the clutch lever is no longer a gripstrengthening tool for masochists, and now requires only normal effort. Similarly, there’s improved shifting; the XB-X slips into gear so easily that you hardly notice you’re doing it-shift quality is positively Japanese. That was no minor change, requiring an all-new transmission. The new gearbox, like BMW’s latest, was designed with future noise regulations in mind, and uses quiet-running helical gears. Such gears, unlike previous straight-cut cogs, can’t be slid sideways to engage; instead, racecar-like rings carry the shifting dogs. The reduced inertia of these dog rings and further attention to detail in the shifter mechanism make for the best-shifting Milwaukee-produced engine ever. We didn’t note a single missed shift while riding the Ulysses, and the improvement in shifting quality over the already improved 2003-04 XB gearbox is so great as to transform the riding experience. Look for the improved clutch and tranny in all 2006 Buells and Sportsters.

In first gear, one aspect of the XB platform remains the same: Wheelies are a whack of the throttle away. The engine tune of the Ulysses powerplant is essentially the same as last year’s XB12, with strong torque from below 3000 rpm ramping up gradually, and power climbing to the 6800-rpm rev-limiter. When you first light it off, the engine shakes about on its rubber mounts, transmitting high-amplitude but low-frequency shaking to the chassis-the Ulysses never feels cruder than when you’re sitting at idle. The turnsignals bobble up and down, and the entire bike quakes visibly. But smoothness increases dramatically at higher engine speeds, and on the highway the Ulysses rumbles gently, with less buzzing than a number of other Twins with more inherently balanced engine configurations or counterbalancers.

The highway is a pleasant place to be on the Ulysses. You sit upright with the pegs directly under you, but far away. With the standard tall seat, the Ulysses offers more legroom than just about any motorcycle, more than a BMW R1200GS with its seat in the tall position. The seat itself, though slightly wide at the front, offers thick foam cushioning and broad support, and as Editor-at-Large Peter Egan indicated, “may be the best seat in the class.” Your hands sit comfortably on not overly wide bars, as if, said Editor David Edwards, “you just plopped into a natural riding position.” The small windshield (a 4-inch-taller one will be optional) breaks much of the airflow hitting your chest while leaving your head in clean air. Meanwhile, the replaceable crash pads on the frame rails shield your knees, and the handguards your hands. For a bike that looks nearly naked, the Ulysses offers a surprising amount of wind protection. At speeds above 85 mph, the windblast starts to push you back, which can be compensated for by sliding back to the thick part of the seat for more forward lean-the rider portion of the seat is long enough to allow almost 6 inches of fore-andaft movement.

Only Honda Gold Wings and their like offer better passenger accommodations than the Ulysses. The rear seat is broad and well-padded, the pegs nicely low. The adjustable luggage-rack/backrest is covered with soft rubber, and gives assurances to the co-rider that she’s not going to come off the back-very welcome given how readily the Ulysses wheelies with a passenger on board.

If the accommodations make the Ulysses suitable for touring, Buell offers options to complete the deal. A set of color-keyed Hepco-Becker saddlebags is offered, along with a top box. These German-made bags are among the best aftermarket offerings, and were redesigned at Buell’s insistence for better weather sealing. With no muffler in the way, the large sidebags are identically commodious, and the Ulysses should offer more luggage space than its competitors-though at the cost of width across the back if you happen to live somewhere where lane-splitting is legal. If you opt for the top box, you lose one of the luggage rack’s three positions, though it will still serve as either a rear-seat rack or sissybar. As factory options, the bags and their racks survived Buell’s brutal test regimen, aimed to dish out far more abuse than the average rider will give them. Other options will include heated grips and GPS. Noticeably absent is an ABS option, though our guess is that Buell is looking hard at anti-lock hardware.

The touring potential of the XB-X is almost the antithesis of its rowdy character. The bike is a one-wheeled monster, ever ready to ride on its front or rear wheel, whether braking or twisting the throttle, respectively. On a twisty road, the machine is fully at home. The front brake provides all the stopping power you could want, though you have to adapt to the increased dive that comes with the long-travel fork. The machine rolls easily into corners, and leans until you think your elbows might drag. The new steering geometry hasn’t

WAYNE DAVIS

XB12X, CW Editor-At-Large Peter Egan up. Optional bags for the Ulysses are by German specialist HepcoBecker, and are among the largest on any bike. Prices were still being set at press time, but the saddlebag set with mounting hardware should cost around $800, the top box about $400.

It's only the coolest luggage rack ever, is all. The tn-position rack has an aluminum core and a molded rubber face, with slots to hold bungee cords. To flip its position, you insert a key-any key-into a slot on the left side of the pivot, slide the rack to the left to disengage locating pawls, and then rotate. Additional bungee-hook recep tacles are molded into the underside of the rear fender.

completely eliminated the Buell’s tendency to stand up during trail-braking, which bothered some of our testers a lot, others not at all. Still, it’s fully sportbike-quick on a mountain road, with more than enough cornering clearance to use absolutely all of its tires, and if the road surface gets rough or debris-covered, the Ulysses will simply leave a proper road-going sportbike in the literal dust.

As for off-road capabilities, they’re surprisingly high, though the Ulysses was not designed as a serious off-roader. It was intended to get its rider over any road he might encounter, whether a four-lane interstate stretching for hundreds of miles across Kansas or a double-rut fire road in the California mountains. Dan Hurda, the lead powertrain engineer for the Ulysses, spent much time recalibrating the fuel-injection for excellent low-speed drivability, and he created a machine that can lug down to 1200 rpm in first gear and accelerate smoothly and precisely enough to give you the choice of either breaking the rear tire lose on a slick grassy surface or not. He was aided in that with flywheel inertia far above the sportbike norm, which both slows throttle response and reduces engine braking. At 471 pounds dry, the Buell weighs in at the middle of the adventure-touring class, 18 pounds heavier than a KTM 950 Adventure but 34 pounds lighter than a BMW GS. With a frame designed to offer the same stiffness as other XB frames, the Ulysses has a bulky but stiff steering head that offers less steering swing (28.5 degrees each side) than its competitors, a limitation of minor consequence pushing around the garage, but of greater concern on a tight trail (or, as we discovered, during photo-pass turnarounds), especially with the tall seat height. Things can get a little clumsy.

On stock settings, the Showa suspension provides a smooth ride on pavement, but quickly proves a little soft if you’re attempting to charge hard on a dirt road or trail with big bumps. Fortunately, Buell provides easy preload adjustment at both ends (there’s a readily accessible hydraulic knob at the rear), and a wide range of compressionand rebound-damping adjustments. Once firmed up, the Ulysses deals readily with bumps that would have a streetbike kicking of its rear tire a half-foot in the air.

A primary focus of Erik Buell & Co. is to build the highest quality and most reliable motorcycles possible. Problems with early so-called “tube-frame” bikes tarnished the Buell reputation, though Erik is quick to point out that quality surveys showed that even those bikes weren’t at the bottom of the motorcycle reliability pile. But he intends to be at the top, and the XB series, introduced in 2002, has helped move Buell toward that position. According to Buell, the XBs have reported fewer warranty claims than any Harley model, and a scan of Internet discussion boards confirms that the XBs have had relatively few and minor problems. With the Ulysses, Buell aims to improve that further.

One example is the new Goodyear drive belt. Buell is committed to belts because they’re lighter, cleaner, more efficient, require no adjustment and last longer than chain drives. But the Ulysses, because of its greater weight, potential off-road use and the shock loadings from jumps, stresses a belt far more than do other XBs. So Buell enlisted Goodyear to create a belt that’s stronger and far more resistant to damage caused by ingesting stones between belt and sprockets. Proof of that comes from an amazing video showing a test fixture with a belt system being fed small steel slugs; this rapidly damaged the older belts, but the new one compliantly absorbs the slugs with minimal degradation. The new belt will come on all 2006 Buell XBs, and the company has such faith in the design that the previous 25,000-mile replacement interval has been raised to the life of the bike!

Similarly, the cast wheels of the Ulysses were beefed up for curb-jumping duty. The original XB wheels were found to be susceptible to rim denting in tough off-road riding, so the rims were thickened sufficiently to prevent that, adding about a pound to each wheel. That still makes the front wheel, tire and brake assembly 10 pounds lighter than the corresponding BMW GS components.

Other reliability improvements can be found in the engine, and include lessons learned from racing. For example a silverplated cage for the big-end bearings and more durable bronze gears for the oil pump. More importantly, though, is the science-and-statistics-based test program to which Buell subjected the Ulysses, which included jumps, wheelies, brakies, simulated muddy creek crossings and long-duration top-speed runs with full luggage. It’s this testing, which included benchmarking competitors’ bikes on the same routine, that makes Erik Buell confident that the bikes that bear his name are now among the most reliable offered by any company.

But the most important thing about the Ulysses isn’t its potential reliability, or its almost-unparalleled versatility, or its touring capability, or even its butch supermotard looks. Instead, it’s the fun it provides when you ride it. Cycle World Online Editor Calvin Kim said it best as he hopped off the Ulysses after a fast blast up 10 miles of twisty mountain road. With his face lit by a big grin, Calvin declared, “This thing is the best, the very best, American motorcycle ever.” Ain’t too shabby compared to the rest of the world, either. □

EDITORS' NOTES

THE ULYSSES IS LIKELY TO BE BUELL'S breakthrough, the bike that moves it toward eventual BMW-level sales vol umes. It's the best thing Buell has ever made. Versatile and aggressive at the same time, the Ulysses is unlike any thing else. It's comfortable enough for 10-hour days, yet it flat-out rocks on a twisty road-if that road twists like a rib bon draped over a bush, you can hound riders of sportbikes who are convinced that they should be faster, but aren't. The Ulysses abounds with neat details that tell you its designers are riders. The engine torque means you can float the front wheel over rises on a country road, or relax in a tall gear with a passenger on back. The optional luggage is high-quality and huge, the belt is clean and maintenance free, and riding the Ulysses brings a grin to your face. it's a great bike. -Steve Anderson, contributing Editor

PRODUCTS THAT CLAIM TO DO IT ALL ARE subject to added scrutiny. Sure, it slices, dices and may even blend a margarita, but how well does it perform its pri mary task? So, naturally I questioned the Ulysses' off-road capability after hearing Anderson describe it as though it were an enduro bike. I even found his supermoto reference hard to swallow, having witnessed the folly of a talented young dirt-tracker wrestling a Ducati Monster through a ITstyle dirt section at a local supermoto race a few years ago. The valiant charge toward the back of the pack ended in a spectacular over-the-bars crash as the street-bred machine hit the steering stops mid-slide. Just don't go there! As for the casual cruise down a graded dirt road, why not? Viewed in a more realistic context, the Ulysses is poised to become one of the great utility machines of our time. You can endow a streetbike with added suspension travel and an aggressive tire tread, and given time it may even earn the cred. How far is East Troy from Dakar? -Don Canet, Road Test Editor

I'VE RiDDEN BUELLS SINCE THE BEGiN ning, and it hasn't always been happy motoring. There was the very first Street Buell off the assembly line in 1987, the power-egg-looking RR1000 Battle Twin that fried its clutch, lost its brakes and gave up all damping in its goofy reverse-action shock. Later there was the SI Lightning with accommo dations so sparse I said of its one-cheek saddle, "That's not a seat, it's a suppository." Then there was the extended fiasco of our long-term S2 Thunderbolt some years back-"About as reliable," I wryly noted, "as the MIR space station." With the Ulysses (named after the wandering Greek hero of Homer's epic poem the Odyssey), though, all is forgiven. This is a very good motorcycle. It's got a clutch, it's got brakes, it's got suspension, it's got a seat and, judging by our experience with the new XB-series, it's got reliability, too. Here's a predic tion: The XBI2X will be Buell's best-selling bike in 2006. It deserves to be. -David Edwards, Editor-in-Chief

BUELL XD12X ULYSSES

$11,495