Buells

[Hap Call]

I've ridden both an XB9 and a XB12. I found the XB9 to be very underpowered (but to be fair I ride a built GS1100 so a lot of stuff seems underpowered) but handled and stopped well. The transmission was acceptable in performance. The engine performance was on par with a Suzuki Katana 600.

The XB12 had acceptable power but I found I hit red line too quickly (as I recall it is either 6500 or 7000 rpm). Like the XB9, it handled and stopped well, and the transmision was maybe a shade better than the XB9. What I REALLY didn't like about it was that my right leg felt it was on fire from the heat from the exhaust system. It was unbearable.

I loved the looks of the bikes and the independant approach to engineering on the bike but I would not purchase one unless it was a fantastic deal.

They need to let Eric Buell build something around the V-Rod engine...

Hap

[gotdurt]

Speed Triple...

[Spider]

Oh, yeah, the Blast is easy to throw around. If you want to try it out sometime, and you aren't too far away, you can come play on it. Found the inner race on the wheel bearing was cracked and a chip was missing. I'm guessing that's what took this one out. I'm very curious to see if all the bearings I've gone through have had the same problem. Replacing them with something other than stock this time, since it's no longer under warranty.

[Spider]

Originally Posted by JadeRider

That is what I did last year before I baught the Bandit. In my case it was the blast so experiences may vary. The seat was the worst I have ever been on. I had an awful time walking after 40 mins on the thing.

Fortunatelly I had rented it

Good luck

I drove mine from Houston to Dallas and back (amazingly it stayed in once piece). I must be a hard ***.

[Jack Giesecke]

HD makes nothing I'd want and charges a premium for it. I sorta like the sporties, but not THAT much. I've ridden many HDs over the years, yawn.

The older Buells, I've ridden. They had the hot rod sportster motors in 'em. They pretty much sucked for what the cost and what they were, or were trying to be. I've ridden the Blast! Yawn. It's my understanding that the new motors are Blast! top ends, the XB12 being stroked for more displacment. The old motors were just hot Sportster motors.

I've talked to a LOT of Buell owners/former owners. The negatives I get from them are far in excess of what they are for any other marque and actually exceed the positives. That speaks volumes. I mean, the subject comes up on the boards with regularity. HD doesn't seem to have this problem with anything, but the Buell. I will steer clear of any Buells, buy one if you like 'em, your money. I wouldn't want a Ducati either, but for other reasons. They are fast and they are reliable at least. I couldn't afford one if I liked 'em so it's a good thing for me I don't want one. As far as HD goes, I'm just NOT a cruiser type. Don't want no Vulcan either. If I were into cruisers, I could see a HD. I don't think they're bad bikes for what they are. They cost too much, goes without saying. The guys that buy them on the average don't know diddly about motorcycles or how to ride them. There ARE exceptions to that rule, I know. I have a Harley riding friend that is a former pro motocrosser, for instance. But, I mean, if the first thing you want to do is put loud pipes on it so you can revel in that sound and impress your friends, how much are you actually buying the thing for logical reasons? I'm more about the function and reliability of the bike and the lowest price you can pay to get said function and reliability. That's where I'm coming from. I don't care squat about hanging out at Rita's Lounge in my fringed leather vest and chaps with a Harley's best, F*ck the rest attitude.

This thread asked my opinion and I have given it.

[Jack Giesecke]

With the short wheel base, I can’t imagine any bike on the market outperforming it in city type commuting
(lane-splitting/parking lots/quick downtown u-turns…). I wonder how it would do on a very twisty road compared
to other of the faster sportbikes??? It seems, from my initial impression, that it would do well in the twisties.

For city commuting, I'll take a DP bike or motard over any Buell. The Buell is too cramped for riding position and the tard or DP will out maneuver about anything in city traffic and has the suspension to handle Westheimer's potholes and woops. It sits high, like an SUV, too, with a lot of leverage on the bars.

From what I've read of the Buells, they're hard to set up. You can see why just looking at that short swingarm. Jeez, thing is so short it hits any bump and compresses the whole chassis geometry changes radically. The longer the swingarm the better, but from what I've read of it, once you get it properly set up it works pretty well. At least it's fairly light. But, they're nothing to write home about. If you want handling, buy a 600cc sportbike, something like an R6, and oh BTW, you'll get over a hundred horsepower with that and pay less than an a XB9 to boot! I'm thinking R6 or such, any of the 600s including the Triumph, really. An SV, properly set up, will run with a Buell pretty well for 6K bucks and is bullet proof. The 600 will TROUNCE a Buell.

[Spider]

At 23,200 miles, my belt snapped yesterday. I've heard of problems with this with XB owners, but not with the P3 owners. Driving back from Conroe yesterday and something smacked me in the back of the helmet. I quickly glanced over my shoulder and saw what looked like my belt dragging behind me. I pulled over, watching my speedometer read 20 mph even though I wasn't moving. That was eerie. Got off, and yanked it on out. Yay. Broken again. By some miracle, Texan HD/B*ell of Conroe had 1 in stock. Otherwise it was a 2 week special order and I'd been SOL until then... again.

[Klaus]

I've been riding on streets for 35 years now. Long term bikes include: Kawi Mach III and IV, the great Z-1, Yami XS-11, Buell S-2, Triumph Trophy 1200, Honda Blackbird, KLR650 and BMW 1200LT. I've only been stranded twice, both times by the Buell.

[STrider]

Croissants Scratch? Mine is like a crisp baguette.

I would love to want a XB12R, but the ergos are really no good for me, and the problems as detailed previously outweigh my desire. given that, i think Erik Buell has some truly innovative ideas in place. FWIW, I believe the problem is not with Buell, but with HD.

Does anybody really think that Buell wants to put all the best of 1930's long-stroke tech into his bikes? I think if he had his way, his motor would be very like the RC 51 or TL 1000 motor. Perhaps he doesn't even want a twin. Would it be a sin if an American bike had other than 2 pistons? Not to me. Come to think of it, isn't the American twin phenomenon rather recent? I can think of at least two HD's off the top of my head that had other than 2, and the best looking (if you go in for this sort of thing) Indian was a lengthwise 4.

Bottom line for me, if its about cash, and has to be an American sport-type bike, Buell is the only choice. If you can wait a while (possibly a long while) and $$ money is no object, wait for a Czyz, Rhoer, Fisher, Vincent, or Norton.

BTW- It was written about a Sprint, but should be equally true on the speed triple:

It could only be better if it ran on water and shot diet cokes out the exhaust.

[El Guapo]

I heard the Blasts had the best reliability rating of all HD products. Don't know if it is true, but if it is and if these horror stories are true, then that doesn't say much for HD. I considered getting one because I wanted a bike with low maintenance features, like the hydro valves and belt or shaft drive, because Japan is definitely not the low periodic maintenance winner it used to be, unless you get a 'Wing or a large displacement cruiser, neither of which I want. I dunno, I've only ridden a little over 12K miles in my riding career and I'm already tired of carb synches, valve adjustments, and chain cleanings/adjustments. Yeah, I'm *****ing because I have no idea what it was like in the old days, but man, I'd kill for an updated Honda Nighthawk 700 or 750 or something like that with FI, hydro valves, and a shaft or belt. As it stands Buell is only sporty bike that offers those features.

[X1Glider]

The new Buells are better than ever. They still have some problems but not like the tube frame models. The XBs look real good. Still, I don't recommend them on my experiences. 33 months of ownership, 19 months in the shop, $450 in warranty deductibles and $16k in repairs on a $11k bike. I got 400 miles out of my last repair (total engine rebuild) and it's in again (same repair.)

The new Speed Triple rocks!!! The best qualities of the I4s and twins and it looks mean!!! Radial brakes to boot. Hard to argue with 120 easy to manage HP too. Good power bands.

[whoa]

Never been on one but plenty of time on Harleys. My instructor at the MSF has six Buells setup for different styles of riding so he was a little high on them. He did agree that they require more maintenance than many other bikes.

He said to buy one used from an individual due to the high depreciation. I love Harley's but since I've already owned them I got the Triumph to try something different.

Don't recall if you said but if you want to compete or do well on the track you might consider another bike. But if your into Harley's this looks like a fun bike. Good points to consider on maintenance and crash costs though.

[Jack Giesecke]

Read on another site that HD may be backing away from the Buell line. According to this sources "inside info", 400 dealers will drop the Buell from their show rooms this year. They have terminated their FX efforts in AMA road racing, too.

If they survive (doubtful IMHO), they need to scrap any engine design resembling a cruiser motor. IMHO, this has been the problem with the motors, expecting to pump up a 40 hp design and have it last. Short stroking it is a bandaid. Ask the Brits, they took basic reliable designs that were workhorse everyday reliable motors and pumped them up and tried to make superbikes out of them during the 60s and they turned into unreliable jokes. The CB750 was the straw that broke their backs and bankrupted them.

I don't have any racial predudices against the Japanese and forgive them for pearl harbor, so I ride Japanese, always have, well, with the exception of the Puch I started on and a BSA lightening I had for about three months just because it was a deal. I made money on that one. If you have a hang up about anything Japanese, there's plenty of good European sport bikes to chose from, the new Triumph being one. IMHO, the Japanese still offer more bang for less buck, though.

And, NO, HD is NOT Buell! HDs are cruisers. You go pumping the things up beyond reason, well, you have to expect reliablility to drop off, but they'll take some added power and still be reliable. I've heard little complaint from the HD screaming eagle stuff and the 95s seem to hold up about as good as stock, which means at least 100K motors. The sportster engine design seems to handle the 80 horses that the XLS put out pretty well, too, but it doesn't seem to want any more. I don't see that as a reliability problem. They may have a few more nit picky problems than your average Japanese cruiser, but not anything to worry about. Harley has finally go it right. That IMHO does not extent to the Buells, though. The Buell is simply an adaption of an agricultural motor to the wrong application. Asking that motor to put out triple digits or near so is just too much.

There's more to Buell than that, though. I think the engineering is often flawed, too new to have been cured by time. And, the assembly line QC with Buell seems to be non-existant. I gather this from all the complaints and reading I've done about them and some of the recalls, like wheels cracking at the brake disc mounts on the first Blast!s. Now, that sort of thing shows me a total lack of engineering capability. They should have been able to TELL that would have been a problem if they knew anything about the materials and processes they were working with. HD in general seems to be a might engineering challenged. Why else would they hire Porche to design something with an overhead cam for them? They were incapable of doing it in house! God knows they have the MONEY to invest!

Anyway, I don't know anyone with a V rod, but haven't heard anything bad about them yet. That might have something to do with the kind of riders that buy the things, cruiser guys. I had a XS650SF Yamaha once that spent more time on my work bench than it did on the highway. I always heard how reliable the ****** things were. I finally determined it was oil pressure challenged and I rode the crap out of that bike at high rpm often. Problems seemed to be mostly related to lack of proper oiling and lots of vibration problems. That thing shook about as bad as a Sportster. It just didn't like having the throttle pinned all the time. If I'd have ridden it like your average cruiser rider rides, not got it over half the tach, well, it would have given me far less problems, I believe. After that experience I steered away from ANY twins for a long time. But, I got over it. I wrung my VX800s neck, same with my SV650. Those things are rock solid, take anything you dish to them, and they're twins.

I thought when that VRod motor was being developed in the VR1000, it'd eventually find its way into a Buell. That hasn't happend. WHY, I do not know. Maybe it's too heavy a lunk? Not sure, but a sport bike to compete in todays market NEEDS some modern technology.

[Spider]

Originally Posted by Jack Giesecke

And, NO, HD is NOT Buell!

And, the assembly line QC with Buell seems to be non-existant.

HD owns Buell. At least 51% anyway. My speedometer clearly says Buell a Harley Davidson company. I have it in writing. SO yes, HD is Buell. I do think that Buell could become a viable motorcycle company w/o the HD bean counters and their engines. The Porche engines would have made more sense.

Straight from the show room floor, my Blast came w/o a functional tail light. I know this for a fact because I followed the first person to ever ride it while it was dark. I immediately purchased a new bulb from somewhere other than HD.

[Jack Giesecke]

Originally Posted by Spider

HD owns Buell. At least 51% anyway. My speedometer clearly says Buell a Harley Davidson company. I have it in writing. SO yes, HD is Buell. I do think that Buell could become a viable motorcycle company w/o the HD bean counters and their engines. The Porche engines would have made more sense.

Straight from the show room floor, my Blast came w/o a functional tail light. I know this for a fact because I followed the first person to ever ride it while it was dark. I immediately purchased a new bulb from somewhere other than HD.

I know that HD bought buell a couple of years ago. It was in the zines. It was after the HD buy out that they came up with the Blast! and the XBs and I'd truly hoped HD had turned Buell around, but it wasn't so as I've deduced from all the complaints of the things I've heard. So, what I'm saying is, they are separate divisions. The Buell production line is run separate of HD and while HD has ultimate control, they don't seem to micromanage it, control is left to Buell. And, from what I have read, the Buell production is terrible, QC and that, compared to HD production lines. HD's are reliable at least and I can't say that from what I gather about the Buells. QC appears to be completely lacking with them. You might get a decent one, you might bet a lemon, seems like a 50/50 crap shoot when you buy one. THAT is NOT typical of the HD line of cruisers. Also, the engines are quite overstressed for their designs, not so much the blast, but the big Buells. I'd hoped the XB series with their more oversquare designs would work better, but I don't think HD was up to the engineering on those things. That's just my opinion, though. I really don't know for sure what their problem is, but I know for sure they have a problem that doesn't seem inherent in the overall HD line.