Bought this bike expecting stump pulling torque and at 1500 miles still not even close to the 87 Buell S3 I had years ago. Any thoughts

www.mastertune.net It is all in the EFI tune.

Bought this bike expecting stump pulling torque and at 1500 miles still not even close to the 87 Buell S3 I had years ago. Any thoughts

I woulda looked at the torque curve before expecting that :p ;)

Take it back to the dealer and have them fix it under warranty. If you touch it, you will void the warranty. No one has complained about lack of torque on an XR 1200. Especially considering it has low gearing.

XLXR

He is talking about a lack of torque at 1500 RPM I not shure you will ever get what wold be described as "stump pulling torque" that low. It will take a tune to get that description around 1900. You can get there but not at 14.7 AFR. I throw quite a bit of fuel at the motor down there.

AW

XLXR

He is talking about a lack of torque at 1500 RPM I not shure you will ever get what wold be described as "stump pulling torque" that low. It will take a tune to get that description around 1900. You can get there but not at 14.7 AFR. I throw quite a bit of fuel at the motor down there.

AW

whit, i think you misunderstood the original post. read it again.

my bad it was early...

Bought this bike expecting stump pulling torque and at 1500 miles still not even close to the 87 Buell S3 I had years ago. Any thoughts

The Buell was probably quite a bit lighter as well.

Seems like it's the cams. I haven't seen a XR yet with even 80 ft lbs. XB's that have about the same cams struggle to make 80 ft lbs.

Also don't forget about the massive jelly donut XR's are dragging around compared to any Buell.

The Buell was probably quite a bit lighter as well.

I dunno about that, the guy said 87, those early tube-framed Buells were totally different than the XB chassis you see today.

The oldest MCN lists is a 1996 S2 which was 520 lbs wet.

The 87 may have been even heavier, so not a big weight difference in the end.

The oldest MCN lists is a 1996 S2 which was 520 lbs wet.

The 87 may have been even heavier, so not a big weight difference in the end.

That would still make an XR 60 or 70 lbs heavier. :frownone

The Buell was probably quite a bit lighter as well.

That would still make an XR 60 or 70 lbs heavier. :frownone

I guess it depends on how you define "quite a bit"

But, that does assume they made no progress in weight between 1987 and 1996.

and frankly, I've seen that much of a weight difference in riders.

But yes, that's still more.

1987 S3? I don't think so.

1987 S3? I don't think so.

I was wondering about that? When did the first S3s come out? early 1990s?

Can't say for the S3, but I had a first year S1 and that was a 96.

A family friend had a V-Star and is now looking hard at an XR-1200, and asked for my input. He wants a Harley, and he wants something "good in the curves" as he put it. He also wants to use it to commute to work, and to tote his girlfriend around once in a while. I've never been on an XR-1200. I understand they're agile, good in the twisties, and have pretty good brakes.

He was also looking at a V-Rod of some sort, but I think he's leaning toward a new XR. My concern is that he'd be at the mercy of the dealer because he's not any kind of mechanic at all.

Any informed pros and cons that I could pass along would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
O.W.

A family friend had a V-Star and is now looking hard at an XR-1200, and asked for my input. He wants a Harley, and he wants something "good in the curves" as he put it. He also wants to use it to commute to work, and to tote his girlfriend around once in a while. I've never been on an XR-1200. I understand they're agile, good in the twisties, and have pretty good brakes.


Depending on what V-star he's riding he might find the XR-1200 is overkill for the twisties.

I don't think the XR is a particularly good (read that as one of the worst Harleys) for passengers.

And "pretty good" brakes is a huge understatement, from what I understand they are the same brakes Honda used on the RC51, they are night and day better than the brakes on most Harleys.

at 2000 miles on the xr here is my experience. At 6'1 the ergonomics of the bike are perfect. It handles very well and the brakes are great. You can feel the bike start to come on the cam and make some real power at 3000rpm's and pulls very strong up to about 4500 rpms where it just lays over. Also has a mild surge at 3000 rpm under lite throttle . I think it just needs some more air and fuel. Maybe HD will have a new map avail along with and exhaust and air filter upgrade.

The Sportster engine will loosen up more around 3-5k miles on 'er. I found I practically had a different engine when I hit the 3500 mile mark...

Give 'er some time.

Bought this bike expecting stump pulling torque and at 1500 miles still not even close to the 87 Buell S3 I had years ago. Any thoughts
A "97" S3, i assume you did mean "97"?, put out 79ft/lb at the crank, which would not be quite as much as the 74ft/lb that the XR1200 puts out at the rear wheel.

A family friend had a V-Star and is now looking hard at an XR-1200, and asked for my input. He wants a Harley, and he wants something "good in the curves" as he put it. He also wants to use it to commute to work, and to tote his girlfriend around once in a while. I've never been on an XR-1200. I understand they're agile, good in the twisties, and have pretty good brakes.

He was also looking at a V-Rod of some sort, but I think he's leaning toward a new XR. My concern is that he'd be at the mercy of the dealer because he's not any kind of mechanic at all.

Any informed pros and cons that I could pass along would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
O.W.


Compared to a V-Star they are 'pretty good' in the twisties, and the brakes are 'pretty good'. Commuting to work, great. 'Toting' the gf around, just fine to the corner bar, or local bike night 5 miles down the road. It is not a 2 up touring bike. In fact, it is not a 1 person touring bike, though some people do seem to like riding long distances on theirs. I use my sport-touring bike for anything longer than 200 miles. And anything longer than 5 miles with my wife on the back.

I've only got 1500 miles and 6 months on mine.

I *really* love how the XR handles around town with the stop-n-go traffic and all of the turns in our little town that I have to go around.

However, once out on the highway, it becomes boring. At 70 MPH, the tack is sitting exactly at 4000 RPM. Find a torque curve for the XR, and you'll see that 4000 RPM is the "no power" zone. That was some bad planning from HD.

I remember anxiously waiting to pass the break-in period so I could really open this bike up, but I was disappointed when I finally was able to open it up and realized that I'd already seen the best this bike had to offer.

I also read that the 14.7 AFR was a deal breaker for this bike, so I found a Plug-In called the XiDE (Google it) for about $100 that just plugs in. Low end response is much more aggressive (almost throws me off the bike), but it can't help the higher RPM range.

If anyone ever finds an upgrade for this bike that works and that won't void my warranty, kindly let me know. I asked for something to upgrade my bike with at the local HD shop, and they pointed to some saddle bags. What the Hesus? Where is the Screamin' Eagle 3 kit?

Also, I was a little disappointed to learn that HD's Sportster Buy Back Program when upgrading to a bigger bike excludes the XR. That's just sad, HD.

I've only got 1500 miles and 6 months on mine.

I *really* love how the XR handles around town with the stop-n-go traffic and all of the turns in our little town that I have to go around.

However, once out on the highway, it becomes boring. At 70 MPH, the tack is sitting exactly at 4000 RPM. Find a torque curve for the XR, and you'll see that 4000 RPM is the "no power" zone. That was some bad planning from HD.

I remember anxiously waiting to pass the break-in period so I could really open this bike up, but I was disappointed when I finally was able to open it up and realized that I'd already seen the best this bike had to offer.

I also read that the 14.7 AFR was a deal breaker for this bike, so I found a Plug-In called the XiDE (Google it) for about $100 that just plugs in. Low end response is much more aggressive (almost throws me off the bike), but it can't help the higher RPM range.

If anyone ever finds an upgrade for this bike that works and that won't void my warranty, kindly let me know. I asked for something to upgrade my bike with at the local HD shop, and they pointed to some saddle bags. What the Hesus? Where is the Screamin' Eagle 3 kit?

Also, I was a little disappointed to learn that HD's Sportster Buy Back Program when upgrading to a bigger bike excludes the XR. That's just sad, HD.


The current HD sportster buy back includes the XR but the spring thing did not.

Consider the Pipercross airfilter (with or without the enlarged airfilter box), SuperTrapp slip on mufflers (less wt./better sound/?HP), and an EFI tuner like Patriot, Remus, PCV, SERT, MasterTune...

Enjoy!

Bought this bike expecting stump pulling torque and at 1500 miles still not even close to the 87 Buell S3 I had years ago. Any thoughts

I think if you look at the actual numbers, you'll find it does better than that Buell. As with every other FI bike however, put on a good exhaust system and a tuner like the PC5, and you could pick up another 10ft-lbs.