• There has been a recent cluster of spammers accessing BARFer accounts and posting spam. To safeguard your account, please consider changing your password. It would be even better to take the additional step of enabling 2 Factor Authentication (2FA) on your BARF account. Read more here.

New 1200cc Buell's Firebolt & Lightning

I'd buy a new Buell today, IF they had a modern engine, and IF the suspension where better. Except for a kickstand cutout switch, it's been totally reliable. Since the Motor Company will never allow that to happen, (oh, god, please let them buy KTM) I'm waiting for the '04 liter bikes to show themselves, and then it's RC51 or something I've not yet seen.
 
H-D will not buy KTM, and I highly doubt thet since KTM is doig well and and introducing new models and is starting a gp racing, they would let a buy out happen.

On the other hand Cannondale is in big trouble and needs to be rescued. PLEASE H-D or Victory/polaris snap these guys up and help the american dirt bike effort!


oh yeah the new street KTM's with the LC8 are on my short list of next dream bike :teeth
 
hashde said:
. Since the Motor Company will never allow that to happen, (oh, god, please let them buy KTM)
Click to expand...

Whaaaat... :wow HELL NO !!! :mad Don't even joke about that dude.
KTM is the real thing FUCK HD. They don't deserve KTM. Let them buy Cannondale and put some serious money down in development. Get some bad ass US made Supermotos
 
Whaaaat... HELL NO !!! Don't even joke about that dude.
KTM is the real thing FUCK HD. They don't deserve KTM. Let them buy Cannondale and put some serious money down in development. Get some bad ass US made Supermotos
Click to expand...
H-D will not buy KTM, and I highly doubt thet since KTM is doig well and and introducing new models and is starting a gp racing, they would let a buy out happen.

On the other hand Cannondale is in big trouble and needs to be rescued. PLEASE H-D or Victory/polaris snap these guys up and help the american dirt bike effort!
Click to expand...
Business is business. KTM could easily be had, they are a tiny fraction of the size of HD, and who says it would have to be a friendly offer. As to Cannondale, would you rather buy a burned down house or one that was just remodeled. WILL they? Probably not, but they would get into 2 new market's instead of one (Ducati) and have a good R&D team to add to their own. It makes sense.
 
Not too crazy for the Firebolt, but I always liked the way the lightning looked. I even considered buying one after I seen some dude that looked like he was suppose to be on a chopper, pop a fat wheelie on mission! Almost 12 o'clock! Sure they look different & sound sick, but one thing for sure...there reliability is "average" at best.....

check it out.....http://www.mybuell.com/
 
The Buells are interesting bikes, I like the look, and I'd like to try riding some of them. But the bad rep for reliability would make me hesitant to buy one.
 
Buell's "Bad Rap?"

I seriously belive it's all in how you ride it.. Well, that or I just managed to get one of the few good ones:p .

Almost half of the guys I've talked to who have said bad things about their Buell's, also admited that besides heavily modifying the engines, they also beat the living crap out of the bikes.... Constantly ran the RPM's up near or in the "Red."

Basically, rode it like it DIDN'T have a 1950's era power plant in it. (What do you expect???)

The other half were the sort who couldn't turn a wrench if their lives depended on it, and who took it to the shop any time the bike hiccupped or they saw a drop of oil somwehere.

I on the other hand, I am a pretty mellow rider and have had no problems at all.

It's funny (kind of), but most of the people who bitch the most about the Buell's unreliability, DON'T RIDE BUELL'S and never have!

So long as you don't expect (or need) it perform like a GSX-R 1000, you shouldn't have a problem.;)

-T:teeth

BTW... I like the belt drive... Just one step closer to a maintenance free shaft drive!:laughing
 
Last edited:
Blue i think the problem people have with Buel is they EXPECT to be able to ride it like a japanese sport bike. Hell its the H-D preformence line right? its marketed that way right? Well... I would be one of those guys running it up to the red line cause in my riding experince, that consists of inline 4 cyl 600 cc bikes, those little red marks on the tac are their for a reason, shift indicator.. :laughing

seriously though, thier is a segment of the riding populos that wants a true blue all out american performence bike. Buell is as close as we get, and compaired to whats offered from Japan, its not up to snuff. So some people buy a buell with the wrong expectations and get dissapointed. Buell gets the bad wrap.
 
Actually, the belt drive and the self adjusting valves are selling points to me. If it wasn't for my misgivings about reliability Buell's would seem to make kick butt low maintenance commuters.

The comment about being able to change the gearing was interesting but, I think I could live with whatever it has on a streetbike.

...maybe I'm just amused by rubber band power. :)
 
Belt drive and self adjusting valve are huge selling points to me as well. I might pick up a used 12R in a couple of years.
 
I've got the XB9S and I like the way it looks.

The new colors are UGLY. An extra $1000.00 for 6 ponies? I think I'll pass. The Aprilia Tuono R can get away with that color scheme but it just doesn't work on the XB chassis.

The XB-12 was unvieled yesterday. from the rumor mill, I was expecting a lot more. very disappointing.
 
Yeah, and the 2000 M2 was recalled, as was most of their bikes, and required an ugly retrofit of the shock with reinforcing hardware.

Self-adjusting valves? an RC51 requires a valve adjustment at 16,000 miles. So what? A buddy of mine knocked out a ton of miles on his M2, but needed duct tape to hold the tail section together.

Not a bad bike, really. The low end grunt is very cool but the engine runs out of steam pretty quickly. My stock 2000 Cal-spec R6 is faster than the latest models.

Belt drive is sweet... quiet, easy to maintain.

I heard the 2004 Buells will have a new motor... that from the local dealer. Not sure if that means a V-rod derived water cooled unit or just another revamp of that 1950 Sportster motor. If a v-rod motor, that would be interesting indeed.
 
Mike95060 said:
When wil they wise up and scap the belt drive? I am no fan at all of the belt, for crusers its fine, for a bike that is supposed to be riden hard and played with, forget it.
Click to expand...

As far as a belt drive being reliable I think there would be no problems. If you follow top fuel or know anything about blowers you know that they are belt drive and spin at very high speeds.Granted you'll see a top fueler throw a belt once in a while but with 3000 hp I think a chain wouldn't fair to well either. They also run belts on the TF Harleys.But chains are nice for gearing and such.I like high revving motors too but with the way everyone on BARF "talks" about how they wana ride in the real tight twisties , do you really think you need the high end HP of a Gix 1k ?! For roads like that torque is what ya want ! I agree that it may not be a good commuter but for some people just the fact that it gets them away from the usual import sport bike crowd but still allows them to own/ride a sport bike thats the only reason they need ! All this coming from a "Honda" guy
 
An extra $1000.00 for 6 ponies? I think I'll pass.
Click to expand...
Actually, they lowered the MSRP for the XB9R from $9,995 to $9,195 for 2004 and the XB12R is $10,995. So, it's actually $1,800 for 11 more horsepower. :)

XB9R: 92 HP @ 7500 rpm
XB12R: 103 HP @ 6800 rpm

...Of course, I'd be just a s happy with the XB9R as the XB12R for my needs.
Self-adjusting valves? an RC51 requires a valve adjustment at 16,000 miles. So what?
Click to expand...
Yeah, but I just don't enjoy doing it very much (I'd rather ride than wrench generally speaking) and 16,000 miles is still at least 3 times a year for me. If I was to pay someone to do it that's an extra $1000/year in maintenance. :)
 
I love the comments about 'tractor motor' and 1950's technology. A lot of modern tractor engines are very high tech, actually. They've come a long way from the old Holt 4 bangers.

So... along the same lines, a Z06 engine isn't much different than a '57 Vette engine, then, eh? Hell, you could even get the '57 fuel injected.

Also... I-4's, watercooling, overhead cams, and even fuel injection and superchargers have been around a long, long time. There's more to technology than engine config.
 
Monkey_Boy said:
Yeah, and the 2000 M2 was recalled, as was most of their bikes, and required an ugly retrofit of the shock with reinforcing hardware.
Click to expand...


But it beat the hell out of being catapulted over the bars after the motor plowed into the ground:laughing

Monkey_Boy said:

I heard the 2004 Buells will have a new motor... that from the local dealer. Not sure if that means a V-rod derived water cooled unit or just another revamp of that 1950 Sportster motor. If a v-rod motor, that would be interesting indeed.
Click to expand...


Nah. It's a 1203 Buell engine. Just a bigger bore than the 984 with only about 6 more (claimed) horses. Granted, though it's a far superior engine to the EVO mill, it's not a V-Rod motor. If it were, I'd have been signing the papers last night. I'd have them swap the wheels with a XB-9 though. Those gold wheels are what makes it look like wall painting in a French whorehouse. Too much. The gold pipes on the black and silver was what made the XB-9s look good.

The XB-9 is cheaper and were I so inclined, I could easily exceed the XB-12s power for less cash. In fact, for under $2K, I could install a Nallin 1200 kit and see some real power gains and still be able to use pump gas.
 
aminalmutha said:
I believe the 1200 engine has a longer stroke, not a larger bore, than the 984.
Click to expand...


You're right:

XB-9 B/S = 3.5" X 3.25"
XB-12 B/S = 3.5" X 3.182"

Maybe when It's time for overhaul, I'll look into the possibilities of making that mod. The compression stays at 10.0:1. With the crap they call gas these days, that's a good thing.

Thanks for correcting me. I just assumed the 1200 conversion would be in the Harley tradition of increasing bore size. That's what happens when you assume.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top