I have never had the chance to ride an "adventure bike" before, but yesterday I got bored and decided to head up to the local Buell dealer in south Austin. I have been eyeing the Ulysses for a while now and wanted to go sit on it. I was looking at the bike and they asked me if I was interested in taking it out for a ride. I accepted the offer without hesitation.
I had a blast riding the thing and am now dead set on an buying an adventure bike. I have been eyeing the DL1000, GS1200, and most recently the Ulsses as viable options for after my graduation (this December).
The things I did not like:
-Very rough idle made it tricky during slow speed manuevers to keep the throttle steady.
-Throttle response was very on/off from the start and this added to the difficulty of slow speed manuevers.
-Lock to lock turning was not enough. Once moving the bike was fairly manueverable but I couldn't imagine taking it on any single-track trails.
-I had guessed a 1200 CC bike with an extra 35hp and 40lbs more torque would pull much harder than my SV but it only felt slightly faster (I have a stock SV with extra HIGH gears)
-No skid plate (the muffler is a jacking point and is supposedly the skid plate)
-500lbs is pretty heavy.
-$12,000 is a lot of money.
The things I liked:
-Ability to take "short cuts;" this thing sucked up curbs as well as my XR200 dirtbike.
-40,000 mile no maintenance drive belt.
-Hand guards.
-Loads of torque from down low.
-I got to finally experience the appeal of "riding naked"
-I had the feeling of being in a big bad truck compared to my little SV. Also let me see further ahead and over other cars. Made me feel like a big bad mofo...
-The small windscreen combined with the seating position made for a MUCH more comfortable ride than my SV
-When RPMs raised above idle speed, it was a super smooth ride, with less vibration than the SV.
-It was easy to throw this beast into the corners (not as easy as the SV) but surprisingly the tires gripped extremely well and there seemed to be plently of clearance for getting crazy.
-Stainless steel brake lines and the Buell's perimeter rotor made for brakes that felt they had twice the stopping power of the SV's.
Other notes:
-It was a little tricky to hang off in the corners because of the "tank" (fuel is stored in the frame). I found ways to contort around it but I guess this wasnt really designed to be hanging off too much on.
-I spent a good 10 minutes in the parking lot just doing super slow speed U-turns to get the feel of the bike and despite its size it is at least as manueverable as my SV and I am sure it would have been even more so if I had the time to get used to it. What made it tricky was the choppy throttle response and very rough idle. It was killing my smoothness. I think I understand the on-off problem you fuel injected people are always crying about.
-I couldn't believe the semi-offroad tires held the road so well. I wasn't dragging knees or anything but I did get on it a little bit and didn't feel any sketchyness at all. Maybe that's a tribute to the suspension's capabilities, but I think they were just nice tires.
-Speaking of the tires I noticed a big patch of gravel in the road while slightly leaned over and decided to see how they would grip on it while leaned over. No problems there. Where my SV would have slid around at that angle of lean (not too much) the Ulysses's tires bit through to the asphault with no problems.
Well thats about all I can think of for now. Anyway it was a blast and I recommend you all go test ride a Buell since it's free and fun!
-josh
Almost forgot for those of you who have not seen one: http://www.buell.com/en_us/bikes_gear/ulysses/
I had a blast riding the thing and am now dead set on an buying an adventure bike. I have been eyeing the DL1000, GS1200, and most recently the Ulsses as viable options for after my graduation (this December).
The things I did not like:
-Very rough idle made it tricky during slow speed manuevers to keep the throttle steady.
-Throttle response was very on/off from the start and this added to the difficulty of slow speed manuevers.
-Lock to lock turning was not enough. Once moving the bike was fairly manueverable but I couldn't imagine taking it on any single-track trails.
-I had guessed a 1200 CC bike with an extra 35hp and 40lbs more torque would pull much harder than my SV but it only felt slightly faster (I have a stock SV with extra HIGH gears)
-No skid plate (the muffler is a jacking point and is supposedly the skid plate)
-500lbs is pretty heavy.
-$12,000 is a lot of money.
The things I liked:
-Ability to take "short cuts;" this thing sucked up curbs as well as my XR200 dirtbike.
-40,000 mile no maintenance drive belt.
-Hand guards.
-Loads of torque from down low.
-I got to finally experience the appeal of "riding naked"
-I had the feeling of being in a big bad truck compared to my little SV. Also let me see further ahead and over other cars. Made me feel like a big bad mofo...
-The small windscreen combined with the seating position made for a MUCH more comfortable ride than my SV
-When RPMs raised above idle speed, it was a super smooth ride, with less vibration than the SV.
-It was easy to throw this beast into the corners (not as easy as the SV) but surprisingly the tires gripped extremely well and there seemed to be plently of clearance for getting crazy.
-Stainless steel brake lines and the Buell's perimeter rotor made for brakes that felt they had twice the stopping power of the SV's.
Other notes:
-It was a little tricky to hang off in the corners because of the "tank" (fuel is stored in the frame). I found ways to contort around it but I guess this wasnt really designed to be hanging off too much on.
-I spent a good 10 minutes in the parking lot just doing super slow speed U-turns to get the feel of the bike and despite its size it is at least as manueverable as my SV and I am sure it would have been even more so if I had the time to get used to it. What made it tricky was the choppy throttle response and very rough idle. It was killing my smoothness. I think I understand the on-off problem you fuel injected people are always crying about.
-I couldn't believe the semi-offroad tires held the road so well. I wasn't dragging knees or anything but I did get on it a little bit and didn't feel any sketchyness at all. Maybe that's a tribute to the suspension's capabilities, but I think they were just nice tires.
-Speaking of the tires I noticed a big patch of gravel in the road while slightly leaned over and decided to see how they would grip on it while leaned over. No problems there. Where my SV would have slid around at that angle of lean (not too much) the Ulysses's tires bit through to the asphault with no problems.
Well thats about all I can think of for now. Anyway it was a blast and I recommend you all go test ride a Buell since it's free and fun!
-josh
Almost forgot for those of you who have not seen one: http://www.buell.com/en_us/bikes_gear/ulysses/
