NUMBSKI... Promoted and awarded

[kliff]

What this kid lacks in skills, he makes up for in grit. He' had a rough summer, apparently rougher than any of us new, with hawg nose syndrom, and some piss poor scooter luck.

But he has stuck with it, and we hope he will continue, so he is hereby, promoted to Sargeant, installed as Mechanics Apprentis, AND awarded the Bronze Star.

Keep up the good work, and I'll try to keep my blood pressure down....LOL

[Rebel]

Sounds great, and I agree, he has been through a lot with his scooter. A lot of people would have put a stick of dynamite under it and launched it back towards China. Got to admire a guy that just keeps going on when he is dealt a lot of problems.

[numbski]

I appreciate it - just to add some humor to the scenario - Kliff, you remember telling me to get a second bike to be my daily rider and futz with this one?

Well - I did. When I took the MSF RiderCourse back in June, the Harley dealership was unloading Buell Blast's for $2200 and some change. Little one cylinder 490cc deal. I've been riding that to and from work.

You might recall the thing that started the problems with my scooter was the muffler snapping an exhaust stud off. Well, my Blast has been in the shop for the last 3 weeks waiting on a part. Why? Because the motor mount for the muffler went bad, the muffler came loose and snapped one of the exhaust studs off deep in the head.

Yeah, that's me.

[kliff]

You bought a Buell Blast.....son....you are a glutton for punishment.....LOL

But I will give you this little tidbit on a Blast. They have an auto choke, much like our scooters, and no accelerator pump....through '05 at least.

If it starts getting finicky to start and keep running in the cold weather.... buy a Sportster/Big Twinn 40mm CV. It has a manual choke, and an accelerator pump, along with a 2mm larger venturi.
Put a 45 low speed jet in it, leave the main alone, may even want to take the main outta your original carb, and install it, shim the needle up with one .020" 3mm flat washer. Add a Vance & Hines muffler and Screaming Eagle K&N filter. You just picked up about 8 horses, an easier starting bike, and a MUCHO peppier bike....... and if you feel froggy, and send me the head....LOL, she will roll with some much more expensive, suposedly faster machines. Avon makes some good rubber for them too, available through Parts Unlimitted Dealers... ;D

But don't tell no one I told you all this chit, just do it, and blow there doors off...

[Rebel]

The buel blast looks like a great bike, I understand they stopped making it, too bad. And too bad that you had problems with it, three weeks sounds like long time to have to wait for a part like that.

[numbski]

Well, they screwed up. They forgot to order the engine mount when they ordered the new head (they couldn't get all of the original bolt out). So I sit here waiting.

So far the thing that annoys me is that - much like our bikes - the only thing holding the carb in place is the intake manifold, only on the Blast, there's a rubber "boot" in between the two that likes to crack and leak. I ordered a custom-made boot from a guy over at buell forums that wraps the whole thing in stainless steel and compresses the entire length of the boot at once. Problem solved. Sorta.

Also, the airbox is bolted straight to the carb, so if you want to keep the stock carb, you have to order a custom-made intake that will screw onto the carb. UGH! I was going to stick a sock filter on it until I realized that. Oi.

A glutton I am. I'm determined to get to a point where both bikes run so my wife can start learning to ride the scooter!

[sandalscout]

Nov 2, 2009 16:05:21 GMT -5 Rebel said:

The buel blast looks like a great bike, I understand they stopped making it, too bad.

They stopped making the Blast last year, and I agree, it IS a bummer, I thought it was a great intro bike for someone just getting into bikes that didn't want a stripped down crotch rocket (not that I don't like them too). What's an even bigger shame is that Harley dropped Buell all together last month, Buell will not be mass producing bikes anymore. Seems like bad logic too, Harley sales are down 91%, so they dropped Buell (sales are down about 40% from what I saw) in an effort to save Harley. Shame really, I'm not a modern Harley fan, at all, but I do like Buell, and I REALLY like the Ulysses line of bikes, not that my wife would let me buy one.

[numbski]

I agree. It's another one of those "woulda coulda shoulda" things. I could have bought a brand new Ulysses for what I've spend on the Blast and Longbo so far. $5000 rebate on Buells right now.

[Rebel]

Wow, five grand is a good clearance sale. But what about parts, can the Harley parts bolt onto a buell motor?

[sandalscout]

Wow, you mean Ulysses for like $5000-6000? DAMN, if I hadn't just bought a car....

[sandalscout]

Wow, it looks like many Harley/Buell dealers have already dropped the Buell part from their website, but I did find one dealer in Tennessee that still has Buell's listed. The have a 2008 1125CR (originally 11,325) for $5995. The also advertise $5000 off all Buells. Harley is giving each dealer a $5000 bonus for each Buell sold.

[Rebel]

It is sad that they are dropping the line, I thought it had potential, seems people don't want anything from the USA anymore. Buying a Buell would be a big gamble now, if it breaks who is gonna have parts for them.

[numbski]

Harley will continue to make parts for the next 7 years. So they say anyway.

It's really lame that they're killing off the models that are selling to save the ones that aren't.

[sandalscout]

I don't worry about getting parts for them, I can still find (new and used) 25 year old Tomos moped parts, and I know more Buell's sold then Tomos mopeds.