Total Motorcycle Community Forums

CentralOzzy wrote: It looks to me like when some of the 'Harley Bashers' run out of Puff, Buell could be the next best thing for them to crucify.

I think they are both great! And I ride Kawasaki. All bikes are cool, not all people are...

I heard one for the first time yesterday (XB12R) and all I can say is sweet.

Hard to believe that in all their promotional videos, you never hear one... seems like that would be a very distinctive trait that they would want to advertise.

It sure would be a boring M/C world if everyone rode the same bike.

Thank Goodness for variety!

(& V-Twins!!!!!!!!!!!!) Ha!

I rode a blast last week. I was riding with a buddy and he took a minor spill on it and was shaken up so we moved some bikes and cars around and drove him home while I rode the bike. I wsan't expecting much going from my bandit 600 but it deffinitely had some low torque and handled pretty well through the canyon roads we were on. I'd still take my bandit 600 any day but they're a completely different class of bikes. I'd still love to get on an xb9 or 12r one of these days.

After riding a Blast, I found an XB9 was like piloting a rocketship

and the XB12 is like an XB9 on steroids

Aren't you glad somebody invented these?!

Very

Ok, to re-open this topic.

I took a little trip to my local H-D dealership this weekend to take a closer detailed look at a 9. First of all I can't believe how lousy a location this place has, It's one of those big dealerships that looks like disneyland. It must have cost a couple million to put up, and yet it doesn't even have a street going to it. You have to find your way through a maze of parking lots that look like an ex land mine test range. Once you get there though It's pretty nice especially if you're just looking for "motorclothes"... motorcyles? yeah I think we carry those... they're in the back. (that's an exaggeration but it's just the feeling that I got) they actually had a decent selection of cruisers, and around five XB12/9S's, one blast, and one XB12R. No XB9R in sight. So I took a little while to look over the 12: First of all, I like and respect the design and the designers... it just fell off hard in production. People always complain about Buells looking too "plastic" which never really made sence since all japanese bikes have just as much plastic on them, the japaniese companies take the time and spend the money that Buell doesn't to finish out thier parts and put a good layer of two stage paint down. The Buell still had tooling flash at all the seams along with huge and glaringly uneven gaps in the body work, and it was covered with textures and (I hesitate to call it) polishes that would have made more sense on something with Playskool or Mattel printed on it.

Although this is all aesthetic, if they use the same tier manufacturers for thier internal hardware I would stay as far away from these things as possible.

I wonder what the Members of BRAG (Buell Owners Club) have to say about their respective models?

First off, I love the xb12r. I rode one for a weekend, and it's a great bike. It perfectly defines what a usable street bike should be with plenty of grunt and cornering capabilities. That being said, it's not a super-high-speed machine, but who wants that anyway

My biggest beefs with the Buell was the gas-tank/frame. It only holds 14 liters, which is ok for a streetbike I guess, but not enough for me! The second problem was lack of passenger space which is semi-important for me.

Now Buell just introduced a new line of adventure tourer type bikes - the Ulysses xb12x. Looks awesome and if I were a betting man I would say it's set to be an awesome all-arounder - especially because harley derived v-twins are great engines for dirt applications. (Dirt track racing for example) Unfortunately, they only increased tank size to 16 liters - what the heck kind of adventure can you get in on only 16 liters???

Hopefully these bikes will catch on and the aftermarket will find some kind of fuel solution. Also it looks like it has a usable rear seat ... yay Buell !