Rode a Buell for the first time

[greGSXR]

the one guy i works with owns one of the older "tube-frame" style lightnings and he let me take it for a spin at lunch. i just threw on his helmet and squided it up, so wasn't really hammering on it. so here's some thoughts on it

first thing as soon as i started it up was wow these vibrations would kill you on a ride longer than 20 minutes. it's the 1200cc version and the vibes are ridiculous, probably 10x my dad's 1100 Shadow and 100x my SV650.
pulling out required some revs and clutch slipping to keep it from chugging out of your hands. rolling on the throttle from 2k rpm and it just pulls. runs out of steam quickly as you would expect though. brakes seemed pretty good, despite the fact that it has just a single disc up front. it's not the weird inside out disc that the newer ones have, but looks like it was a 6-piston caliper (dunno?). handling was very light due to the wide bars and aggressive geometry. i could definitely see how it would be fun on a tight backroad with all the torque, the upright seating, and wide bars.

i did go through a puddle though and my legs are soaked. i'll keep my fairings, thanks

thats all

[blurr]

Nice looking bike, I am not a fan of the motor at all however.

[greGSXR]

it was one of these case, but orange with purple frame and wheels

[blurr]

Had a buddy who just bought one, traded in a z1000 for it. He really likes it for whatever reason.

[Travisj]

I'd like to go down and test ride one. The local dealer is advertising them for less than msrp with no tax other than sales. Not that I could get one right now but it would be fun to take it for a spin around Savannah just to see what they are like.

And greGSXR, if you don't like the vibration on that, then don't ever take something like my 81 or 83 for a spin.. Honestly on my 2000 sporty I notice it when I'm just sitting but aside from that it's nothing I've ever paid any attention to.

[Whymista]

Cool but buells are just ugly!

[kevin_stevens]

Last year I rode both the XB12R and the 1125R at Willow Springs at the Inside Pass track day. I was really thinking about getting an 1125R, as I liked everything about Buells but the motor.

I expected to not like the XB, and sure enough, I didn't. That low redline for me just translates into a narrow powerband, doesn't matter that it's down low vs up high. The vibes do go down noticeably once you leave an idle.

The 1125R was nice, I liked it better than my old TS1000S, which was the closest bike I have to compare it to. If I was in the market for a big twin sportbike, I'd definitely have to look at it again more closely, but I'm not right now.

KeS

[Fizzer]

Buells have come a long way in the handling and systems dept since the one you rode was built. I would like to ride one just for comparison purposes, and actually have a way to do that, even though there is no factory dealer here in town.

[Gaolee]

Originally Posted by Whymista

Cool but buells are just ugly!

It's why I like 'em. They make small children and grandmothers flee in terror even before you fire up the motor. They are ugly to the point of being pure visual evil.

[Whymista]

So ugly not even cell phone talking sunglasses wearing white girls will hit you.