MrDeadeye

First, I've been riding for 20 years, and interested in all kinds of bikes, from repli-racers to luxo-tourers to dirt bikes.



But the Buells..... always been so butt ugly. This is the best looking one yet. But that's like saying "best looking Ural I ever saw". Buell needs help in the design department. Until then, the only people who will buy one is Harley riders... as a second bike.... the same people who own the majority of Buells now.



Looks isn't everything. But it is something. Buell is in the sportbike market, not the station wagon market. Style counts.

LimeSqueezr

I suppose your favorite libation is pharmaceutical alcohol mixed with distilled water, rather than something with a little more "character."



NO, to me riding is a complex human activity that is a synthesis of man and machine and road and even the weather. Swimming OTOH is a simple *animal* activity that can even be enjoyed by non-humans with simple brains (some do it all their lives). So your analogy is very flawed. However, even simple activities done by all animals are more enjoyable to humans if they involve a little "soul" which you seem to think is dirty. Geez, I sure pity your sex partner (if you even have one that doesn't run on batteries).

DrDeath

Well, if the Smokie Mountains isn't hill country I don't know what is. Just a short journey to Deals Gap......318 curves in 11 miles. Have never been to California, would love to get to ride the mts there. I hear you have some beautiful country side there. Maybe someday I will be lucky enough to get off these "straight" roads and see what you are talking about.

DrDeath

Harley has to get their cruiser guys use to the idea of a new motor as the EPA will have standards in the future that the old clunker just can't pass.

BuellBoy

Again, I disagree. First off, I've NEVER liked Harley Davidsons, and I don't own one, yet I own a Buell. As for styling, I've had LOTS of people ask me "Which Ducati is that?" when they see me at gas stations or talk to me at traffic lights. They look DIFFERENT, but that's part of the attraction. It's getting so you can't tell the difference between the latest sport bikes from Japan without walking up to them and reading the gas tanks (The YZF-R1, YZF-R6 and Hayabusa being the only exceptions I can think of).

LimeSqueezr

but then the Japanese big 4 sell quite a few sportbikes with styling plagiarized entirely from comic books, video games and Saturday morning cartoons. Since most of the people who buy them are presumably over 12, styling must not matter very too much to a whole lot of people.



To some people OTOH it matters a lot. The rides they choose force them to pay more money or else get less performance for the same money, but to them the price is worth it. Those who care *only* about style and little else ride chrome-monument cruisers. Others might ride a Duc, Guzzi, Triumph, Beemer, Cagiva etc *or* maybe, a Buell! It's obvious me that Buells do have rather distinctive, clever, provocative styling NOT made to appeal to everybody. IOW what those other marques have. They should receive accolades for that even from people who don't care for it and don't like much else about Erik's bikes either. I have yet to see a station wagon that looks very much like one.

BiZ

Screw the V-Rod motor. Let's think about this for a moment.

XB9R:
984cc's, 2-valves per cylinder, 92 horsies, 68 lb ft of torque...

My '98 VTR1000:
996cc's, 4-valves per cylinder, 100 horsies @ the rear wheel, and about 63lb ft of torque @ the rear wheel (according to a dynojet 150)

Of course you'll have to subtract around 10-15% from the Buell's numbers to really compare the two. But still, if you ask me, that's really not bad for a 2 valve, air cooled, CC deficient motor. Just imagine what it'd do with a 4 valve head, and a slight bore job (aside from shake more...).

starvingstudent

The post was more curiosity than an all-out attack on the engineering, so no need to get riled up.



As for remaining stuck to the bike, the only time I've went down, my left leg was trapped underneath the bike(ouch!)--I was not able to separate from it. Rider error? Perhaps, but it can happen.



Anyway, I'm treading outside of my environment--I ride a cruiser, where the handlebar hits and keeps the gas tank off the road. I did not realize that sportbikes often break open their gas tanks if they go down, and that it had not caused fire problems. In that case, the frame=gas-tank idea sounds safe.

granny

Like I said, after some track time. Track time changes how you ride which I agree is the key point. In my mind, one usually is not "experienced" until one has had both significant track time and training.



There is nothing wrong with having hardware that you can't fully exercise. All motorcycles are inexpensive, life is short, get as much training and seat time as you can and ride what you like.

granny

Famous last words



I do admit that the bike is appealing and gives me reason to hope that HD will soon build a bike I can't turn down.