Harley pulls the plug on Buell Motorcycles!

[88Racing]

A sad day at Harley!
Just released.
http://www.buell.com/en_us/

Lars:shrug:

[Power Hungry]

That is a sad state of affairs. For me, the Buell was the only Harley I would really consider. I remember when Erik Buell first introduced the bikes in 1983 and I thought "Man those are sweet!"

Good luck to Erik and the rest of the folks at Buell. May you land on your feet.

[cleatus12r]

There wasn't much attraction for me to the Buell, but if I had to buy one, it would be either an XB-12R Firebolt or a Ulysses XB12X.

XB12R Firebolt:
http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/photos/2008models/2008-Buell-FireboltXB12Rd-small.jpg


XB12X: BMW GS1150 killer.
http://www.motorcyclists-online.com/moto-essais-articles/images/illus/Buell_XB12XUlysses_13.jpg

Unfortunately, there was not much desire for me to own a V-Twin that was engineered 6 decades ago. I'll keep my Japanese inline 4 cylinder bikes.

[Power Hungry]

Have you ridden one? I only say because I was a ricer-rider back in the day (1987 FZ-700) and have always loved sportbikes. However, one of the guys at Edge has an XB-12 and I took it for a spin. Despite the fact that it has the V-twin thump (which I don't necessarily mind), the bike is smooth, responsive and nimble. The first tight curve I hit had me in at about 50º and just rolled out smooth as glass. A little goose in 3rd would get the front end right up in fine fashion and with a smooth torque curve, you could hold it as long as you wanted. I'm not into that, but it felt nice.

The one thing that kept throwing me off was the redline on the tach, not to mention fighting the urge to wind that sucker up like an inline 4. You get over that pretty quick though.

Anyway... just my thoughts.

[cleatus12r]

Have you ridden one? I only say because I was a ricer-rider back in the day (1987 FZ-700) and have always loved sportbikes. However, one of the guys at Edge has an XB-12 and I took it for a spin. Despite the fact that it has the V-twin thump (which I don't necessarily mind), the bike is smooth, responsive and nimble. The first tight curve I hit had me in at about 50º and just rolled out smooth as glass. A little goose in 3rd would get the front end right up in fine fashion and with a smooth torque curve, you could hold it as long as you wanted. I'm not into that, but it felt nice.

The one thing that kept throwing me off was the redline on the tach, not to mention fighting the urge to wind that sucker up like an inline 4. You get over that pretty quick though.

Anyway... just my thoughts.

Nope, never ridden an XB-12R. I rode an XB-12 S2 and couldn't get over how quickly I had to shift....I felt like I was constantly lugging it but there's enough low end to get you moving in a hurry.

My main v-twin experience comes from an Aprilia RSV Mille and a Ducati 996; neither of which I owned but I didn't care for the jerky sensation on every power pulse from the engine. It's impossible to match the handling of a v-twin in the twisties though. :2thumbs::drool2::drool2:

[88Racing]

Never did like the early ones and the way there seats squared off to the gas tank. But in the last 2 years the MOCO redid the seats. I was actually thinking of picking up one of those 1125r's. Great ride!
Of course however a hyabusa is more up my alley. Since I am a former gixxer rider/racer.
Lars:thumbs up yellow:

[cleatus12r]

Of course however a hyabusa is more up my alley. Since I am a former gixxer rider/racer.
Lars:thumbs up yellow:

You know I have to put you on permanent ignore now since I am a diehard ZX-12R rider......

:smiley_roll1:

[Power Hungry]

You know I have to put you on permanent ignore now since I am a diehard ZX-12R rider......

:smiley_roll1:

:giggle: :smiley_roll1: :hehe: :rofl: :whistle1:

[88Racing]

You know I have to put you on permanent ignore now since I am a diehard ZX-12R rider......

:smiley_roll1:

Oh Cody!
I still got my 07 FLHX!
So you can't completely ignore me.

Lars:2thumbs:

[88Racing]

Well Cody at least you ride a respectable class of bike. Its not one the Y's or H's. Just sat on a SV1000 2 weeks ago didn't like it one bit. Then I hopped on the hyabusa and man what a difference!
Of course I will stick with HD but it was nice to revisit the past.

Lars

[jimmyv13]

Ex-Gixxer rider here as well, '92 600 at first then went to a '96 750, gold/black like this:

http://www.suzukicycles.org/photos/suzuki-history/1996/1996_GSX-R750_450.jpg

I absolutely loved that bike. I rode a lot with my dad and his Truimph Bonneville and my uncle with his Ducati Supersport 750 Desmode.

I miss riding terribly, but the wife says no more 2 wheels. I honestly teared up pretty bad when the 750 was ridden away.

I can, however, ride snowmobiles and 4 wheelers.

[cleatus12r]

:giggle: :smiley_roll1: :hehe: :rofl: :whistle1:

So what is that supposed to mean? I can take that a couple ways.

1. You find humor that Lars likes the Hayabusa and I love my ZX-12R which happen to be fierce competitors and the 12 existed for one reason: to be a 'busa-killer......but failed. :doh: I couldn't be seen on a "Hayabugly.

2. You know something I don't about the ZX-12R and you think it's funny that I love this bike so much. :shrug:

3. You just thought it was funny that I kind of antagonized Lars. :D


I bought this bike brand new in July of '00 after I got tired of my '88 ZX-10. Since then, I have changed the oil every 2-3K miles and put a few new sets of tires on it along with performing extremely anal maintenance. It's got 26K trouble-free miles on it and I wouldn't give it up for any other bike. The stupid thing gets 50 MPG on road trips and can carve canyons better than it should be able to for a bike that is this long and weighs this much.

Power to weight ratio is the name of the game. 186 RWHP (dyno-proven) and my 150 lbs. make it pretty snappy while all the time being very comfortable. Although I have yet to even break 130 MPH in the 9 years I've owned it, I wouldn't have any reservations to try for 190 if I ever had a nice stretch of sea-level road.

It's due for a paint job because ever since my wife moved in it's lived outside for a couple of winters/110 degree summers. It's finally living in a shed right now, but the paint damage is already done. It's faded very badly.


In Colorado Springs during a visit with one of my Harley-riding friends. This was taken when it had about 18K miles and lived inside the house during bad weather.

http://i641.photobucket.com/albums/uu132/cleatus12r/Copyoflotsofpics038.jpg

Bishop's Castle in Colorado. The trip started out at 85 degrees.....:skeptic: I'm the retard in the gray shirt/red jacket.
http://i641.photobucket.com/albums/uu132/cleatus12r/Copyoflotsofpics015.jpg


Small ( :smiley_roll1: ) cross-Montana trip with my friends. Green ZX-12R and Aprilia RSV Mille. (That's not me in the pic.)
http://i641.photobucket.com/albums/uu132/cleatus12r/lotsofpics352.jpg

Enjoy

[88Racing]

Cody,
1+3 probably are correct?
But you are ignoring me, right?

Didn't kaw finally have to come out with the 1400 to be even considered as a busa killer?

I never did need anything more than a tricked out over bored sv650 to break +150mph on a drag strip back in the day when I weighed 165. That bike was my carbon fibre money pit weighing in itself at 275! I had put almost $9g additional into the bike and final displacement was at 780cc. never got to put it on a dyno to find out the numbers. The only thing fancy about it was it was a sleeper.

Lars:2thumbs:

[cleatus12r]

Cody,
1+3 probably are correct?
But you are ignoring me, right?

Didn't kaw finally have to come out with the 1400 to be even considered as a busa killer?



:smiley_roll1:

Yeah, they came out with a 1400CC, Sport Touring-looking, ugly as hell, non-handling, turd yacht of a bike.

However, it's not a top-speed race anymore. The feds (who else?) imposed speed restrictions on '01 and later motorcycles to 184 MPH. Both the Hayabusa and the ZX-12r were capable of those speeds so they both got "castrated".

I don't care who you are. If you're on 2 wheels and not acting like a d*** on the road, you're alright with me.

[Power Hungry]

I just like the minor antagonizing going on. :) I always like to see people avail themselves of the right to express their opinions, especially in regards to vehicle preferences. As for me? I have to look on with envy since I no longer have a bike, but I agree with you Cody... As long as you're not acting a fool on the street, you're OK riding whatever you've got.

Sadly, I have no sympathy for the "Organ Donors" we see on the highways pulling wheelies, using traffic as a personal slalom course, and just acting stupid in general. Take that crap somewhere else where there's nobody around and have at it.

Back when I still lived in Miami and rode my FZ, all the local sportbike riders would meet up at Fuddruckers in Sunrise and then head out to US-27 (Krome Ave.) to ride. At the time (1988) the only thing out there at midnight was alligators and semis. We could ride along at 150+ MPH pretty much undisturbed. Even the police were relatively tolerant because we were so far out of the city limits that it wasn't really bothering anyone.

I'll tell you one thing... Even though I only rode a 700, when you only weigh 130 Lbs. it's amazing how fast that can go. My only issue was the shape of the fairings combined with my lack of weight would cause the front end to start to float at about 140 MPH. Just a little freaky. :yikes2:

Also, for what it's worth, one of the scariest bikes I ever rode was a 74 Kawi H2 750. That thing was a screamer although the chassis left a LOT to be desired. Poor handling would put even the most skilled of rider's nerves to the test. Another fun one was a CBX, but only because it was cool to ride a 6 cylinder... not that it was really a fast or great handling bike.

Anyway, I'm out.