2009 Buell 1125cr

Activity Log:

20091025 -

Purchased new from Central Texas Harley Davidson.  CTXHD is a big fancy new HD dealer seven miles from my house. After an initial lousy experience, I went back on a Tuesday morning to get a good look at and ride the 1125. I was the only customer in the place. The salesman gave me undivided attention as did the "Buell expert" parts guy who just bought a cr himself. I rode an 1125r and an 1125cr (with the clubman bars) and then a cr with the high bar kit. The the r and stock cr are both pretty extreme sport riding positions. The cr with the high bars is really comfy in a street fighter kinda way. Just what I'm after. I have the high bar kit on order.

By the time I was able to get enough info to make a purchase decision, there were no more 1125's at any dealers within 250 miles of Austin save for my local one who had three. The reason they had three was they were unwilling to match the screamin' deals being reported on the web. They figured they'll sell theirs when all the others were grabbed up. I had also heard that there may be more arriving from the Buell warehouse, although, Cowboy HD told a buddy of mine they'll have no more, ever. Who knows?

I didn't have the time or inclination to take on a search, long distance telephone negotiation and road trip production. Time is precious. Also, I wanted a new red cr with no miles and I was able to get one right out of the crate from CTXHD. So I bought it and paid a bit more than the bargain basement deals reported on the web for the convenience.

What I now have is a tremendous bike in which I've been intrigued since I first saw it. BIG Rotax V, flat torque, designed and built by an innovative engineer/racer. It's a very cool bike. And, it was still a great deal compared to retail and compared to what's comparable in the market. I'm very happy and hope to be as long as I can keep my license out of jeopardy. It is fast.

20091110 -

My cr drips fuel out of the overflow tube during and after every ride. It doesn't matter whether the tank is full or empty.  Doesn't matter the ambient temperature (although it's worse when it's hotter). It just drip, drip, drips.

My garage is just off of the kitchen and hence, whatever happens in the garage is experienced, to some degree, in the kitchen. My dear wife just loves the new cr.  NOT! The gas fumes it regularly exudes permeate the living space she frequents.  I don't like it much either though I do "understand" it. I need to do something.

What to do? According to the manual, the California 1125 has an EVAP feature that includes a charcoal canister which collects the overflow. It is plumbed between the fuel tank vent and the throttle bodies. The accumulated overflow is sucked back into the throttle bodies and never escapes into the atmosphere un-combusted. Its a fairly standard passive system, i.e. the vacuum circuit between the throttle bodies and the canister is open all the time (this last statement being conjecture on my part).

I ordered the following to add the CaliCan and associated plumbing to my bike.

27042-84A Carbon Canister <> Retail = $37.50

P0066.1AM Hose, TB to Can <> Retail = $9.75

P0067.1AM Hose, Fuel Vent (CALIF) <> Retail = $13.25

UPDATE:  The CaliCan has mitigated the stink.  It's not gone, but much improved.

20091122 -

I just returned from a break-in ride. I'm between 300 and 600 miles and therefore kept the revs to below 7500 rpm. All I can say is HOLY CRAP is this thing fast. 146HP, ~10.5 1/4 mile is exhilarating and intimidating power and speed. It's going to take some time to re-learn corner exits as compared to my 50HP MZ track bike where I'd just whack it wide open exiting corners.  The relearning will be time well spent.  Thank god for the Buell's flat line torque curve.  It will ease the transition. 

The ZTL2 brake is quite strong and the suspension very firm and very well sorted. I set it to the manual's recommended settings for my weight. I had thought that with such tight geometry it'd be a twitchy ride. It's not. It has a resistance to turn in.  I'll probably increase rear ride height and lower the front a smidgen. Also, I'll back off on compression damping for more road riding compliance. I'm thinking there will be many track days for me in 2010.

20091212 -

First service - 607 miles, OF and checked all items specified in the owner's manual.

20091212 -

626 miles on the clock.  I found a deserted, flat road with lots of visibility.  I made a pass and then spun around and stopped.  From a standing start I rode the first four gears, hard, to red line...  Words escape me.  I swear Gene Wilder screamed in my head "It's ALIVE!"  I've been riding for forty years and I've owned some very fast bikes, but, I've never been on anything that gets there as fast as this 1125 freight train does.  It is astonishing.

20100814 -

About 5k miles.  I've been frustrated trying to get my '09 cr to turn in and maintain a line. Since day one it has required way too much effort to initiate a turn and then constant counter steer mid-turn to maintain a line.

In preparation for the first track day I replaced the Pirellis with Michelin Pilot Power 2CTs. WHAT A DIFFERENCE! With the Michelins, turn in is light and effortless and mid turn lines are maintained with no hands. Boy I wish I had done this sooner. I've always been a Pirelli fan. Not so much now.

FACTS and SETTINGS:

Rider weight: 185 lbs

Front preload: 0 (as in none)

Front vehicle sag: 15 mm

Front rider sag: 34 mm

Rear preload: 6 (notches up from none)

Rear vehicle sag: 9 mm

Rear rider sag: 32 mm

20101110 -

Given the many reports of charging problems, I've been keeping a pretty close eye on the voltage readout on the dash. Under normal operating conditions it never went below 12.8 and was usually 13.8~14.2. Today, the battery light came on (for the first time ever) as I shut it down at work in the AM.   It barely restarted and showed only 12.2V.  With revs, the V slowly climbed. On the ride home, with the High Beam off, the V slowly climbed to 13.6V.  With the High Beam on, the V slowly dropped back to 12.4V.  This behavior was very repeatable and a clear indication that the charging system is not keeping up with the load.  When I stop at a light and idle, the V quickly drops to 12.1 and stays there.  It never went that low before.  When I resume revving, the V slowly climbs again as described.

I checked the resistance on the three wires from the stator.  At room temperature they each read infinite to ground and 1.9 ohms leg to leg.  When the stator is hot, they read infinite to ground and .7 ohms leg to leg.  This is as expected. 

After sitting for twenty-four hours, the battery V was 12.39V.  After forty-eight hours the battery V was 12.37V.  Looks to me like the battery is fine also.

UPDATE:  After two weeks of the above behavior, the charging system failed.  It barely started and the voltage slowly dropped from 12.1 eventually down to 10.7 as I, literally, rolled into the dealership's parking lot. After two days at the dealer, they are still "diagnosing" the problem.

I just spoke to Central Texas Harley Davidson. They replaced the stator, added the harness "upgrade" and gave it a good washing - all under warranty. Total time at the dealer, four working days. I certainly can't complain about the service. This was fast.

I retrieved the bike from the dealer. It's all sparkly clean. According to an unnamed dealership employee, they have pre-ordered stators so they'll have them on hand because they "are seeing quite a few of these failures". He also stated that none that have had coincident stator replacement and harness upgrade have had subsequent failures. One can only hope.

20110110 

The LFL is coming on when the tank is full.  It's about 35 degrees outside.  It stays on 'til the engine gets good and warm.  See service procedure below for LFL.

20110228

My second stator is acting flaky.  I called HD Customer Service and asked if they knew of the large number of stator failures on the Buell 1125?  The customer service representative acknowledged that they did.   I asked if HD will be extending the warranties of the affected models.  I paraphrase the response thus: HD has no plans to extend the warranty at this time.  If it fails out of warranty, take it to the dealer and they will contact HD to determine if the repair will be covered. 

20110411

When I start it up first thing in the AM, it starts and runs for about three seconds at 2K RPMs then dies. It restarts fine but dies again. It'll do this three or four times before it settles into a low, rough idle. After it warms up, it'll start up and keep running as it should at the normal idle (~1300RPM).

Also, it is way down on mid-range power. Again, in the AM, about a mile into my commute after the "cold" warning on the instrument cluster changes to the "AT, Gear" readout, at 4K RPM, if I whack the throttle wide open, it makes intake noise like the throttle bodies are opening as they should, but there's really not much power. It almost doesn't accelerate. If I do the same above 6K RPM, it seems there's the normal amount (lots) of power. After it warms up to good and hot some of the mid-range power returns.

Resolution:  I had had the bike into the dealer for warranty service prior to the appearance of this behavior. The tech had fouled the throttle cable routing such that the throttle plates were not fully opening. The diagnoses was done by looking down the throttle bodies and observing that the throttle plates were only opening half way.

Properly routing the throttle cables totally alleviated the issue.

20111001

The voltage readout has increased across the board by .4V.  I called HD Customer Service and reported this anomaly.  The customer service representative recorded the incident.

Service Procedures:

Throttle Position Sensor Reset:

1. Turn on the key. 

2. Set the kill switch to the run position.

3. Don't start the engine. Rotate the throttle from fully closed (gently forced closed) to fully open (gently held open), and then back again to closed (gently forced closed). 

4. Repeat 3 times. Hold each position (fully open, fully closed) for 1 full second.

5. Turn the key off and on.

Resetting the Service Counter

1. With ignition key ON and security system disarmed, enter the setup menu by pressing and holding the Toggle and Mode switches for five seconds. 

2. Press the Mode switch to advance to the SERVICE COUNTER menu item. Press the Toggle switch to select.

3. Press the Toggle switch to display MODE TO RESET.

4. NOTE: Pressing the Toggle switch again will exit the Service Clear menu item without resetting the service odometer. A SERVICE NOT RESET message will be displayed.

5. To reset the service odometer, press the Mode switch. A SERVICE RESET message is displayed.

6. The setup menu will advance to the next menu item, click the Mode switch until the Exit menu item is displayed. Click the Toggle switch to exit the setup menu.

Change Oil:

The 1125 has left and right oil drains.  I recommend you use a track stand but, if you must use the kick stand, put it down inside the drain pan, wrap the left foot peg in tin foil and use cardboard to shield the Helmholtz (muffler).  With a track stand you don't need to cover anything.  Drain the left side first.  The oil drains vigorously from the left side so be prepared for an enthusiastic stream of oil.  Then drain the right side.  Then remove the oil filter cover and there's no way to not make a mess of it.  Replace the filter cover's o-ring every time you remove the filter cover.  They're prone to seepage.  You have to really jam the filter into the cover to seat it.  I put the cover on the work bench inserted the filter and gently tapped it home with a driver (36mm socket) and small hammer.  I left all three openings drain for fifteen minutes. Then in goes the new filter (torque to 11 nm), then the left drain plug (torque to 25 nm), then lean the bike to the right to drain the last drops from the right sump and button it up (torque to 15 nm).  Refill with 3.0 quarts of your favorite 20-50 oil.  Buell recommends 2.7 quarts as the oil capacity for the 1125cr, build date Jan. '09.  I carefully measured and added 2.7 quarts, checked the level and the dipstick was dry. I incrementally added another .6 quarts, checking by the "hot oil checking method" per the manual, as I progressed.  With 3.0 quarts total, the oil level is just below the "over full" line of the dipstick.  With the many reports of overheated stators, it's important to keep the oil level up there.

Checking the Oil:

Buell outlines an elaborate "hot oil checking method" for checking the oil level.  Essentially, ride it 'til it's good and hot, let it idle for three minutes, kill the engine, let it stand for three minutes, with the bike vertical and level, clean the dipstick, screw it in all the way, unscrew it and observe.  I've found this measurement is dramatically influenced by longitudinal, non-level surfaces.  I observed that with the bike dead level, it read exactly on the full line.  With the bike in a track stand which elevates the front tire three inches, the oil level read 3/4's of the way up between the "Full" and "Overfull" marks on the dipstick.

Sticker Removal:

Get some Goo Gone, peel the stickers off, apply and reapply and reapply the Goo Gone to the glue residue. Be patient, let it dissolve the glue. Give it fifteen minutes. Then with a glue gone soaked paper towel, work the glue residue inward from the edges into one lump that you can lift off cleanly. Don't spread it around at all. This is the mistake I made and it made a mess. Instead, work it in on itself. Easy sneezy.

Rear wheel removal:

1) Get the rear wheel off the ground.

2) Rotate the rear wheel to align the slots in the disk with the two caliper bolts and

3) Remove the two caliper bolts and rotate the caliper up and back to move it out of the way

4) Loosen the pinch bolt on the underside of the left side swingarm

5) Remove axle using the tool in the tool pouch> Important: It is a left handed thread!

6) Remove upper and lower belt guard (Torx fasteners)

7) When the belt gets slack carefully move it of the pulley while rotating the wheel

8) Fully remove the axle bolt and guide the wheel to the ground

9) Remove the two caliper bolts (allen bolts) and rotate the caliper up and back to move it out of the way.

10) Pull the wheel out towards the back

Putting the wheel back on is the reverse of the dismount, but keep a couple things in mind:

1) When putting the axle bolt back on: Rear axle is first tightened to 27 ft-lbs then backed out 720 degrees and re-tightened to 48-52 ft-lbs. Rear pinch bolts are tightened to 40-45 ft-lbs. Make sure you apply anti-seize on the axle before putting it back on. Avoid getting the anti-seize on the swingarm paint. It can be a pita to clean up

2) The caliper bolt torque spec is 18-20ft-lbs!

Rear Wheel Bearings:

Problems with '08 bearings led to a switch in suppliers during the 2009 production run.  The first part of the 09 production run used bearings that have an orange seal. Buell had problems with them and switched suppliers. The later portion of the 09 production run used bearings that have black seals.  You can easily ID your bike as having the early vs. late bearings by the orange vs. black seals.  My understanding is if you have the orange seal bearings and you have a problem with them, they'll replace them with the black seal bearings. But if you don't have a problem with the orange bearings they won't replace them with the new type. You need to document a failure to get the upgrade.  You may still get orange bearings if that's what the dealer has in stock. Only reason you would get the black seal or any other bearing is because that's what the dealer had. Oh, and the black seal bearings aren't really an upgrade. There have been several failures, so the jury is still out on them. The only real upgrade would be the 2010 wheel, which has a new larger 3 bearing setup and different axle.

Low Fuel Light comes on erroneously when ambient temp is cold

Fix is to replace the instrument cluster (IC). There is a bug in IC's software where the IC is checking for an LF sensor open condition when it shouldn't.  This is causing the issue. The new cluster should be running sw 6.2 for 08/09 bikes and sw 7.1 for 10 bikes.

Style and Fashion:

Pods:

I confess, when I first saw it, I thought the 1125cr was ugly.  After a while, I came to think it was just weird.  Since, it's looks have been growing on me.  I now find I like the way it looks. In fact, I really do like it. It's one very cool looking bike. Unique, stylized, edgy, clean and complex and organic. Great character. I regularly find myself out in the garage just staring at it.  Good job Erik.  The Pods are particularly controversial.  Some think they are bizarre, stink bug inspired contrivances.

Parts Information:

Oil Change:

Filters:

Hiflofiltro HF564

Fram CH6103

K&N KN-556

Filter Change Parts:

o-ring:Buna Part # 141, I.D.= 2-5/16", O.D.= 2-1/2", thickness= 3/32"

AL crush washer:  ID: .715(18mm),  OD: .938(24mm),  THK: .033(.09mm) (washerwerks.thomasnet.com, Item # 10000755050ANN, OD 1, ID .755, THK .05 )

CU crush washer: ID: .480(12mm), OD: .700(18mm),  THK: .050(1.25mm) (washerwerks.thomasnet.com, Item # 07500453063CSA, OD .75, ID. .453, THK .063)

Spark Plugs:

NGK CR9EKB

Brakes:

Front Pads:

EBC (EP)FA454/4HH (contains four pads which is what you need for a frt brake job)

Vesrah SRJL-17 (street compound) ,Race compound: VD-9038

Dunlopad HH+ compound pads SDP993

Front Speed Bleeder:

Goodridge Speed Bleeder - 8mm x 1.25 SB8125