Harley pulls the plug on Buell Motorcycles!

[88Racing]

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

Lars

[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:



XB12X: BMW GS1150 killer.


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]

Originally Posted by 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.

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.

[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

[cleatus12r]

Originally Posted by 88Racing

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

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

[Power Hungry]

Originally Posted by cleatus12r

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

[88Racing]

Originally Posted by cleatus12r

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

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

Lars

[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