I have had my 57 plate Uly for nearly a year now and the engine has always given off terrible vibes, especially so under 3K rpm. A shame because other than that, I really love the bike.

I have checked all the earthing points, taken them off, cleaned and WD'd but it made no difference.

I followed someone on the forum's advice and earthed the engine direct to the negative battery terminal.

Result - TRANSFORMED - much smoother engine, still slightly lumpy up to 2.5K but smooth above and it feels as if it has a bit more power too. And doesnt feel like its going to explode any minute .

Thanks to all who have posted advice, very much appreciated.

Although I don't think I have a bad connection at present (it's a Buell, it vibrates), I saw this on BadWeb in reference to the comfort kit install, which I'll be doing soon...

"Court- there have been several threads here about cleaning up various ground connections and using star lockwashers to improve the current path. IIRC, there's a factory bulletin on the subject. While the tail is disassembled for the kit installation is a perfect time to do it."

So, a couple of (stupid) questions as this is new to me :

1) What do we call 'star lockwashers' in the UK? Not heard of them before.

2) Where are the earthing points that need cleaning and what would be best to prepare the surface?

Better still, does anyone have the bulletin Court is referring to?

Ta.

And - at least at my bikes - there are two fastener without function left at the back side of the freame below the airbox cover, which look as if they were made to hold an earth wire from the frame to the tail subframe.

As you regulars know I'm no technical guru and I'm a bit of a company man so I'm not big on divulging what I feel is sensitive information.

I don't believe the following link is anything at all sensitive and I think the instructions it gives would allow a muppet like me to perform the task. It was drawn to my attention after our workshop had endured a particularly lengthy period of substitution and analysis to solve a problem on a customer's bike.

On first casual inspection all fastenings appeared to be fully secure.....they weren't!

Click away https://www.h-dnet.com/dpweb/ResourceServlet?wcmStubPath=/H-Dnet/Documents/Service/Tech_Tips/TT399.pdf

Think this could be a big help to more than one owner out there.

Steve

2006 – 2009 Buell Ulysses Ground Repair
Poor ground connections have been found at the tail section ground locations.
Below are some of the symptoms that you might see, and a procedure to repair
this condition. While the specifically affected models are 2006 to 2009 XB12X,
this Tech Tip could serve as a reference for improving ground circuits on any
model.
In the figure below, you can see where the negative battery cable is attached to
the tail section of the vehicle. This ground location is essential to virtually all of
the motorcycle’s electrical systems. A poor contact here can cause poor running
issue and no crank conditions. The instrument cluster may even stay on after the
key is turned to the OFF position. These issues can also be intermittent.

To clean the ground area, you must remove the fastener that secures the ground
terminals to the tail section and clean all surfaces. This includes the fastener, tail
section boss, ring terminals, and battery tray. (See images below)

Once the faster is removed, lightly sand both the threads and the face of the
screw. (See image below)


Lightly sand both sides of the ring terminals to clean any impurities from the
surfaces. (See images below)

Lastly, clean the ground boss and the battery tray surfaces by sanding to remove
any paint or other impurities.

After all of these surfaces have been cleaned, apply dielectric grease to the
fastener and reinstall to 72-108 in/lbs. (97.6 – 146.4 Nm).