BUELL XB Wheel Conversion
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Interested in upgrading your tube framed Buell? Upgrade to XB forks, XB wheels, and XB ZTL braking! There are a several ways to go about doing these. Below is information on this conversion.
If you have an S1, S3 or X1 with factory inverted forks, these are 54mm diameter forks (Also refereed to as 41mm forks which has to do with the internals). Both the upper and lower mounting points on these forks are 54mm. The 2003-2004 XB's and ALL years of Scg forks are also 54mm. Scg or SL are Buells OEM lower forks. This means that these year XB forks will slide into these tube framed triple trees. 05+ buells have a larger lower fork diameter of 56mm (and are also referred to as 43mm which again pertains to the internals). If using 05+ forks, these will NOT fit tuber tirple trees. You will any year XB upper with a 05+ lower. However,and XB triple tree is not a direct bolt on to a tube framed bike. Both Tube framed and XB's use a 1" diameter XB triple stem is longer and spaces the XB triples further apart. The XB forks are tapered in the middle and therefore ONLY have one spot that they can be clamped to. This means for the X1 triple trees to be safely clamped to the XB forks, the XB forks needs to be slide roughly 2.00" up into the the triples causing the forks to stick out the top of the triples. This is fine if you want the front of your bike lowered and use clip-ons, BUT If you want your bike to sit at the correct height and be able to use handle bars, you are going to have to go a different route. You could try a set of 2"+ bar raisers but i didnt want to do this. |
I chose to go another route. I used XB triple trees. By doing so, this allows the XB forks to be clamped in the factory location and lets the bike sit at the correct height. You do lose some of the turning radius by doing this modification, but its a motorcycle.. who cares!
I did need to modify the XB triples to make them work. XB triple trees are thicker then my X1 triples. To get around this issue, i machined a counter-bore on the underside of the lower triple. I also machined a counter-bore on the upper triple as well, the reasoning for the upper is described below. Since the XB stem is to long, the X1/S1 stem will need to be used. By counter-boring the lower and making it the "same" thickness as the X1 lower, and the X1 stem pressed into the XB lower, making the stem the correct length.
I counter-bored the top triple to accept the factory X1 stem bolt. You could get around this by using a large allen headed bolt, but I wanted to keep the factory hardware. REMEMBER - make a mark or mental note on the "clocking" of the X1 stem before pressing it out..... if you do not "clock" when you press it into the XB triple, your neck lock will NOT
Once this is completed, the XB triples and forks bolt on like factory.
This allows the XB wheel and brakes to also bolt on.
I have also read of others machining a bracket to mount the XB ZTL caliper to the X1 / S1 forks. This would allow you to keep factory triples and forks. Spacers MAY be needed for the XB wheels when using X1 / S1 triples, but i am not sure. You will need to verify.
I did need to modify the XB triples to make them work. XB triple trees are thicker then my X1 triples. To get around this issue, i machined a counter-bore on the underside of the lower triple. I also machined a counter-bore on the upper triple as well, the reasoning for the upper is described below. Since the XB stem is to long, the X1/S1 stem will need to be used. By counter-boring the lower and making it the "same" thickness as the X1 lower, and the X1 stem pressed into the XB lower, making the stem the correct length.
I counter-bored the top triple to accept the factory X1 stem bolt. You could get around this by using a large allen headed bolt, but I wanted to keep the factory hardware. REMEMBER - make a mark or mental note on the "clocking" of the X1 stem before pressing it out..... if you do not "clock" when you press it into the XB triple, your neck lock will NOT
Once this is completed, the XB triples and forks bolt on like factory.
This allows the XB wheel and brakes to also bolt on.
I have also read of others machining a bracket to mount the XB ZTL caliper to the X1 / S1 forks. This would allow you to keep factory triples and forks. Spacers MAY be needed for the XB wheels when using X1 / S1 triples, but i am not sure. You will need to verify.
