I went to the Harley dealership today to look at the Buells. Pretty nice looking, dunno too much about reliability, power, mileage, etc. The dude in there was ready to sell me a used Buell Blast for $3000 and he was even going to teach me how to ride, so long as I financed it through them for $50 a month. Other than the almost forcing me to buy the bike thing I liked the looks of Buell Blast. So, question, what's the opinon of the Blast? Should I stick with my dreams of a Ninja 250 (which I can get used for about $1000 less) or push back my Bike Day a few more months and get a Blast?
Avoid used blasts like the plague. If you are anything over about 5'7" or so you probably wont be very comfortable on it, they are really intended for shorter riders.
A used blast for 3000 is a rip off, you can buy a brand new ninja 250 for that
The Blast is a 500cc single that develops about the same HP as the ninja 250.
I haven't ridden a Blast, but the people who like them have a "brag list" that sounds about the same as an EX250 owner's... they are pretty much being sold to the same people... new riders who want a simple and reliable entry-level bike that is more fun to ride than some of the 18-25HP cruiserettes.
Anecdote of the day... I was driving along Sunday afternoon and saw a ninja 250 parked alongside the road with a sign on the windshield. I pulled over... "2005 Ninja For Sale (that) that-XXXX".... out of curiosity I called the number. The conversation went like this: "Hello. You have a ninja 250 for sale?" "Yes" "How much?" "I'm asking $3000" "Haha goodbye...<click>"
The Buell Blast may be in the history books someday that bike will be a future collectors item, ever notice the bikes that were a flop in the 60's and 70's are high valued collectors items today? I suggest buy it, but don't ride it, store it away for 20 years then sell it.
2011 Toyota Tacoma 4x4, 09 Yamaha Tmax, 08 Suzuki King Quad 750
If you are interested in buying a Buell, I would say learn on a beater for 1 season then check out the XB9 or XB12. New Buells 2003+ are very reliable... if you take it easy enough you can probably safely learn on an XB9... the CityX is an awesome bike and super fun. The Blast is overpriced for a bike that you might only keep for a short period... the "bigger" Buells, 900-1200cc bikes are worth the extra money they cost. An awesome forum for Buell riders is www.badweatherbikers.com - the site looks crappy but I think every single Buell owner in the world uses that forum. You will want to look in the Thumper section.
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