What bike are you obsessing about today?
Discussion
Had a goosey gander at some nice bikes today. These are the ones I would pay money for...
The KTM Duke 390 and RC390 also look great in person. I was surprised at how substantial the Duke 390 looks up close. I've been to the dealership before, but skimmed over it's presence and never took much notice. I was under the impression from seeing it in magazines and stuff that it was tiny, but it's a reasonable size in person.
I also saw this beast:
I've always had a love for the Goldwing, and although they looks rather out of place on our roads, I'd guess they'd be incredible for crossing America. This older model has a few shared design features with the Pacific Coast bikes I love. I saw quite a few in Virginia and Maryland when I was there, where they sort of make sense, on roads so wide you could filter a Goldwing between two F-150's. There was even one being muscled up Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park, which looked like hard work.
The KTM Duke 390 and RC390 also look great in person. I was surprised at how substantial the Duke 390 looks up close. I've been to the dealership before, but skimmed over it's presence and never took much notice. I was under the impression from seeing it in magazines and stuff that it was tiny, but it's a reasonable size in person.
I also saw this beast:
I've always had a love for the Goldwing, and although they looks rather out of place on our roads, I'd guess they'd be incredible for crossing America. This older model has a few shared design features with the Pacific Coast bikes I love. I saw quite a few in Virginia and Maryland when I was there, where they sort of make sense, on roads so wide you could filter a Goldwing between two F-150's. There was even one being muscled up Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park, which looked like hard work.
Mastodon2 said:
Want so badly
DO IT!I bought one in the summer. It's a fantastic bike. I don't think i've ever taken it out without someone stopping to chat about it. Everyone seems to know what it is but have never seen one in the flesh. Buells have a bad name for reliability and build quality. It seems they really nailed this down through the production of the XB series. With the later ones being very well built and reliable. There's actually another chap on my street with one. His is the translucent "cherry bomb" (best colour) and mine is the "hero blue". not had chance to go out together on them yet but hopefully next summer.
I reckon it will be another year on the GSX-R for me, at least, but I do really want to look at Buells as an option for my next bike. The idea of that nimble, short-wheelbase chassis, mass-centralised design and a booming old iron engine is such an interesting proposition.
I'm the sort of bloke who thinks anything with two wheels and an engine is a good thing, and you can have fun on any motorcycle, so I'm quite open minded about my future bike ownership. I took my GSX-R out for it's last ride of the season the other day, just a short one to dry it after a it's last clean and put some petrol in it, and while I was whizzing down the road north of 11,000rpm, I did think "this is bloody great". I love screaming sports bikes, and there are so many bikes in this sector I'll never have enough time to own all the ones I want. At the same time, I don't just want to own sports bikes, because variety is the spice of life, and in between adventure bikes, sports tourers, nakeds etc, there is just so much to choose from and so many things I'd like to try.
Given that the weather here is utterly s
t at the moment, seeing that Goldwing above has got me dreaming of riding a GL1500 somewhere nice and warm. Just cruising the open road and basking in the sun. I'd have to get some loud pipes on before the trip, as Honda deliberately engineered the Goldwings of this era onward to be as quiet as possible, and what's the point of a flat 6 if you can't hear it?
I'm the sort of bloke who thinks anything with two wheels and an engine is a good thing, and you can have fun on any motorcycle, so I'm quite open minded about my future bike ownership. I took my GSX-R out for it's last ride of the season the other day, just a short one to dry it after a it's last clean and put some petrol in it, and while I was whizzing down the road north of 11,000rpm, I did think "this is bloody great". I love screaming sports bikes, and there are so many bikes in this sector I'll never have enough time to own all the ones I want. At the same time, I don't just want to own sports bikes, because variety is the spice of life, and in between adventure bikes, sports tourers, nakeds etc, there is just so much to choose from and so many things I'd like to try.
Given that the weather here is utterly s
t at the moment, seeing that Goldwing above has got me dreaming of riding a GL1500 somewhere nice and warm. Just cruising the open road and basking in the sun. I'd have to get some loud pipes on before the trip, as Honda deliberately engineered the Goldwings of this era onward to be as quiet as possible, and what's the point of a flat 6 if you can't hear it?
rufusgti said:
Mastodon2 said:
Want so badly
DO IT!I bought one in the summer. It's a fantastic bike. I don't think i've ever taken it out without someone stopping to chat about it. Everyone seems to know what it is but have never seen one in the flesh. Buells have a bad name for reliability and build quality. It seems they really nailed this down through the production of the XB series. With the later ones being very well built and reliable. There's actually another chap on my street with one. His is the translucent "cherry bomb" (best colour) and mine is the "hero blue". not had chance to go out together on them yet but hopefully next summer.
my one had the welding on the swing arm come apart. No real biggy except that's the oil tank. Was great fun riding with engine oil puking onto the road 6 inches in front of the rear wheels contact patch!
Great bikes to ride, but need re-commissioning with decent components and bearings.
Buy a Buell XB and you're basically wiping your arse with your money.....
Edited by bass gt3 on Friday 28th November 11:36
Mastodon2 said:
I knew there was someone here who'd had a swingarm weld fail on a Buell. I still really want one and would like to get a Lightning as my next bike, but that is a way off yet, and I'd need to put some real careful consideration into it before putting my money down for one.
Lightning,S1 or such is a different proposition altogether. The XB however is a brilliant bike built by idiots. HD cheapened EVERY component beyond acceptable limits. Spend some time on the Buell forum and get a feel of the XB issues. Mine was far from a one off case in terms of massive and catastrophic failure. I suspect the dealers having to buy the bikes back finally convinced the Mothership to cut their losses and shut Buell down before it all got too ugly. What other reason would they have?? There's no competing product in the HD range after all. Most importantly, get in touch with Maz and understand the potential pitfalls.
bass gt3 said:
Lightning,S1 or such is a different proposition altogether. The XB however is a brilliant bike built by idiots. HD cheapened EVERY component beyond acceptable limits.
Spend some time on the Buell forum and get a feel of the XB issues. Mine was far from a one off case in terms of massive and catastrophic failure. I suspect the dealers having to buy the bikes back finally convinced the Mothership to cut their losses and shut Buell down before it all got too ugly. What other reason would they have?? There's no competing product in the HD range after all. Most importantly, get in touch with Maz and understand the potential pitfalls.
Thanks for the advice, it will be the year after next at the earliest before I change, but the Lightning ticks all my boxes. However, as shown by my obsessing over a Goldwing above, I do have eclectic tastes and may well change my mind a dozen times before then!Spend some time on the Buell forum and get a feel of the XB issues. Mine was far from a one off case in terms of massive and catastrophic failure. I suspect the dealers having to buy the bikes back finally convinced the Mothership to cut their losses and shut Buell down before it all got too ugly. What other reason would they have?? There's no competing product in the HD range after all. Most importantly, get in touch with Maz and understand the potential pitfalls.
I had wondered how it all went so sour between Buell and HD. I knew they'd stiffed Buell from that start, making him put his house on the line as part of the collateral for HD letting him run his project. Also, when the Buell Blast was removed from sale, they crushed the bikes they had left in stock and ran an advertising campaign about it, which seems an odd thing to do. Almost like saying "We're not selling this anymore, and it's so bad we're destroying the stock we have left". With what you've said above about dealerships having to buy back bikes, I can't help but wonder if HD made that advert run as a move to distance itself from Buell by embarrassing the brand in public.
Mastodon2 said:
Thanks for the advice, it will be the year after next at the earliest before I change, but the Lightning ticks all my boxes. However, as shown by my obsessing over a Goldwing above, I do have eclectic tastes and may well change my mind a dozen times before then!
I had wondered how it all went so sour between Buell and HD. I knew they'd stiffed Buell from that start, making him put his house on the line as part of the collateral for HD letting him run his project. Also, when the Buell Blast was removed from sale, they crushed the bikes they had left in stock and ran an advertising campaign about it, which seems an odd thing to do. Almost like saying "We're not selling this anymore, and it's so bad we're destroying the stock we have left". With what you've said above about dealerships having to buy back bikes, I can't help but wonder if HD made that advert run as a move to distance itself from Buell by embarrassing the brand in public.
I guess only Erik knows all the answers. I had wondered how it all went so sour between Buell and HD. I knew they'd stiffed Buell from that start, making him put his house on the line as part of the collateral for HD letting him run his project. Also, when the Buell Blast was removed from sale, they crushed the bikes they had left in stock and ran an advertising campaign about it, which seems an odd thing to do. Almost like saying "We're not selling this anymore, and it's so bad we're destroying the stock we have left". With what you've said above about dealerships having to buy back bikes, I can't help but wonder if HD made that advert run as a move to distance itself from Buell by embarrassing the brand in public.
problem is he went from being a talented race bike designer/builder supplying low volume machines to a mainstream manufacturer chasing much bigger sales volumes. And it kinda worked when you consider how many XB variants were sold compared to the earlier machines Even the early bikes weren't without their issues, but once resolved proved to be sturdy and entertaining bikes.
I think in the push for a bigger market, HD (Buell) set the bar very low with the XB by using very cheap and in many cases, unsuitable components to maximise profit. Ask Maz about the bearings in the motor and how long they typically last and you'll begin to understand how badly engineered the XB series is. So you have an aircooled HD motor now pushing 100bhp and nothing inside beefed up to take the additional load. From memory, circa 25k seems to be about the average life of the motor before bearings etc are shot and it needs a complete rebuild with decent parts, which isn't cheap.
In the end, whatever went on, it got so bad HD even retained the Buell name to prevent Erik starting up again. What does that say?
Maybe the quality became an issue, maybe the floor space in HD dealerships became an issue,(back to back HD make way better $ per Sq Mtr than Buell and dealerships weren't happy at having Buell on the floor taking up prime real estate) but whatever it was, the Mothership nuked it and walked away. And yeah, it definitely looked like they were intent on deep sixing the brand for good.
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