I am considering buying one of these. My main issues with it are the fuel capacity (300km) and the fact that its the first of its type.

Does anyone have any experience with this bike? Any thoughts?

How would this bike compare to the BMW 1150 Adventure?

Would we have any problems with maintenance of this bike in South America? How would it compare for spare parts and stuff in SA against the BMW 1150 Adventure?

Thanks very much for any help.

It's a cold snowy night here so I'll give you my personal experience. I work in a bike shop in a town that doesn't have a harley shop. I have worked on a few buell's and talked to owners. My personal opinion is ride a buell-- carry your hiking boots cause you will end up walking. Just my opinion so don't take it to seriously. Personally I would rather trust anything from japan or germany.
Bill the mechanic in montana where only 25% of the roads are paved.

I was going to test ride a Ulysses but after reading the comparison against a 1200GS in Dec05 issue of RIDE magazine I won't bother.

The 1200GS beat it for town riding, distance riding, country roads and off road.

Tim

I wanna go to Montana!

Thanks guys,

Bill, Im hoping its still snowing there...so that you can expand a little bit
Would you mind giving me a bit more info? Are the Buells notorious for breakdowns and what kind of breakdowns do you see with them?

Thanks muchly
Stu

I haven't seen the Ride Magazine report, but Motorcycle Consumer News www.mcnews.com did a comparison with the BMW R1200GS, and the Ulysses beat the bimmer in most categories except for pure off-road use. Obviously, it is a brand new bike, so noone is going to have any real answers about longterm use and reliability for a while.

In this category, don't overlook the Triumph Tiger, and there are some low mileage Ducati-powered Cagiva Gran Canyons available if you search.

Tires,oil, filters, and occasional fork seal replacement should suffice, just like any other brand. The Ullyses is based on the XB12, which is about as reliable as an anvil.
I ride a lot of gravel, and way out in the sticks, so changed mine over to chain driv, which is easy and inexpensive. now i just change tires, oil, and regular maintenance.

I did a test ride on one about a week ago and was impressed. It handled well, very good low end grunt, and smoother than I expected. I liked the belt drive, no chain lash. I didn't like the fact it is air/oil cooled, but it does have fans to kick in and cool it. It has some really great innovative featurs. I think the sporster engine is not right for a sport bike and they need to replace it in the Buell line, it works very well in the Ulysses since that low grunt is important for this type of bike. BTW other may like the fact it is air cooled since it is simple. Also Harley dealers all over the world have parts for it in case of problems.

Just my bit:

Pro: There are Harley shops every where! If there is one thing your can assure is that just about every city in the world has a Harley shop.

Con: The muffler mounted under the engine looks like a disaster waiting to happen, and for mine disqualifies it as a serious off-roader.

I did a test ride on a Buell too. I agree that it is a very nice bike to ride, but make sure you make a testride yourself to see if the bike physicly fits you because it is very high. I am not small but I could hardly touch the ground.

FYI: Buell recently announced the release of a new version of the Ulysses that provides a more typical street bike height. They call it the Buell Ulysses XB12XT, where the "T" is indicating "touring". If you are interested and want some feedback from Ulysses riders, check out the fairly extensive Ulysses Forum at BadWeB.

I'm 6'-3" and totally dig the taller/original Ulysses, especially now with the major engine upgrades that the 2008 models got. A bigger crank pin, much improved direct drive (versus helical gear driven) oil pump, and an improved drive sprocket connection scheme.

The original was great; the '08 version is excellent.

The Uly isn't intended to be used as "a serious off-roader", only a bike that can handle very well the fire roads and other rough road scenarios that would give other more pavement-only oriented machines pause.

As to the muffler, we were initially wary of that too, but that muffler and its mounts have proven themselves over and over again. The muffler is heck for stout (thick steel not thin aluminum) and has endured incredible abuse. Think of it as a bash plate with exhaust running through it.

Blake
BadWeatherBikers.com/Buell
"Bad Weather" as in Buell's Thunderbolts, Lightning, Cyclones, Blast, err... Firebolts? and err... didn't Ulysses encounter some really bad weather?

Check on ADVrider for more, current info.