I always thought Buell would have a fighting chance if he got the right motor in one of his chassis, but now that he's done that i think he's lost the plot with the bodywork and made it uglier than any Buell I can think of... it almost looks ok from some angles, like this shot:
The upper fairing looks like he pulled it out of Yamaha's YZF parts bin... a "built it myself with some plastic laying around the garage" styling exercise. ugh. reminds me of how bad one of the round 1996 GSXRs would look with a 2006 GSXR upper on it...
Oh well. At least they have a motor that is should be durable at this level of performance.
re: "125R" -- heh heh... that Blast is a real dog, and YEAH a 125 would be a cool step for them too. You'll have to settle for a current CBR125 or older japanese 2-stroke to get some kicks in the small displacement categories. A guy I know at one of our local dealers has been bringing in mid-90s small displacement RVFs, TZRs etc this year. I haven't dropped by in awhile but he had something like a '92 NSR250 earlier this summer for a reasonable price. A cool bike for sure. I think he said one of the next bikes being imported was a RGv250.
re: engines... Rotax's reputation has definitely been built over the past 10+ years with those small 2-strokes, like those ultralight and kart engines, and the 250cc vtwin which propelled Aprilia to a few 250GP championships, and the larger snowmobile and watercraft 2-strokes. The four-stroke range is definitely impressive as well. Kevin Cameron touches on the engine used in the Aprilia RSv10000 in the article on the development of the 1125R motor. They've got some nice big singles too (used in the BMW650, the Can-Am ATV's, etc.)
I picked up the CycleWorld mag at the store since it has some other fun stuff in it too, like the BMW HP2, an Isle of Man story, etc.. Kevin Cameron's brief technical article touches on some of the technology behind the new motor. It was a good reminder and a TINY TASTE of the high-level of engineering going into the engine and the bike's Buell is famous for... enough to make me wish I was hanging out at the Buell headquarters or lounging around Rotax's facility. Very cool.
"Zounds! Zorched by Zarches, Spaceman Spiff's crippled craft crashes on planet Plootarg!"
For Sale: Ninja 600 with parts bike, needs minor work, $30, no title... (GEE THAT DOESNT RING ANY WARNING BELLS DOES IT?)
reminds me of how bad one of the round 1996 GSXRs would look with a 2006 GSXR upper on it...
