Buell, Ducati or KTM

[ding dong]

Throwing a question in for my PH frends... I stopped on the way home from work tonight on Kings Rd, Chelsea at the Harley garage. Had my eye on the clever Buell - petrol stored in frame, belt driven , exhaust underneath, short wheelbase,snappy turning etc.

Are these things worth £7k though as they are essentially American and we all know what most petrolheaders think of US machines, Z06 excluded.

If anyone has an opinion or experience of a Buell vs Ducati Monster/ST4 or Duke then I would be interested - bit of a change from the Fazer, but summer is round the corner and I like this style of bike. Don't anyone start on BMW GS btw! I've seen Long Way Round

Cheers!

[sybaseian]

BMW K1200R.....

160+ BHP.

Hmmm.....
more.....
more2....

[bagpuss 996r]

My mate had one as trade in took it out said it shook all his internal organs about was a laugh though.

[slim_boy_fat]

I had one out for an extended test ride last year. I have to admit I really do like the look of the bike, especially in black, but….

Its defiantly not worth the RRP they want.
They depreciate faster than a Renault Sal Vatis!!!
They have very poor fuelling
Clutch is heavy
Very small fuel tank.
Front end is a bit spongy.
Clocks are Mickey mouse

At the right price I might still be tempted, especially wit the race can. As th bike has many great qualities too.

Brakes are very good
Ride position was good for me, (short arse)
Looks
Belt drive

For me the bike needs better fuelling, another 20bhp, another 4l in the tank and better dash.

I went for a VTR Firestorm which has similar attributes but is a better ownership proposition.

[tuffer]

I saw a Buell in Hungerford last weekend and never has a bike just made me want to say "sod it, I'm taking my test and getting that thing right now" so much! It was a sparkling/mettalic dark blue with a really short tail, looked like keeping the front end down would be a real issue. Fantastic looking machine.
Edited to add link:

XB9SX
Same as this but I think the plastic mudguard had been removed and the plate repositioned.

Edited by tuffer on Thursday 8th June 12:47

[huckster6]

have a look in this week's Motorcycle News road test...they're not very impressed with the Buell. Ducatti better, BMW F800 even better and Honda CBF1000 best.
(MCN 07/06/06 p28-9.)

[wassy]

According to Bike mag KTM are doing a o % finance deal on the 990 Superduke and 950 Supermoto untill 30th June. Might help the decision.

[ding dong]

Thanks for all the replies guys - sounds like I need to do a bit more research on Buell and defo take an extended test ride. It could be that a second hand Buell is a good buy, but as a second bike. The KTM deal is certainly tempting and one of the few bikes I would buy new as they hold their value well. The BMW 1200 is a bit extreme for my abilities I reckon and a CBF1000 also probably a bit ambitious (I only have one years experience).

No one mentioned Ducati - still a viable compromise between a nice reliable Honda and something silly and impractical. Would be purely buying that for the noise mind you... I would be interested if any of the bikes you have all mentioned sound particularly good with the right cans.