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Anyone ride one or have experience with one for more than a test ride or met someone one time that had one? They've got the last XB9Sx in all of Arizona sitting at the Tucson HD Stealership looking all lonely and sad and I'm thinking about taking in the R1 as a trade-in and financing the rest since they're right now at $6,999 and I'm fairly certain I can talk them down some more.

It's an absolutely gorgeous bike and it was very comfortable to sit on, but I'll have to take it for a test ride and then make sure they'll honor the warranty on it and all that other crap if I decide I do want to get it.

Mostly looking for any reliability issues or any parts that are known to wear out quickly or need frequent checking, and also how they do at highway speeds for extended periods of time. I'm sure I'll end up taking it to grandma's at least a few times so will be about 3 hours on the freeway each way.

They don't do bad on the interstates, better than most supersports.
I'd be very very cautious on warranties though. I've been hearing tons of stories where HD shops will no longer even work on them, much less honor warranties. Get everything WRITTEN DOWN that they will do the services there and the warranties too.
As far as parts wearing out... They seem pretty reliable. Do be careful with keeping the belt tensioned properly. Oh and the Zetel or whatever braking system sometimes causes problems. Otherwise I've seen em go for 20, 30, 40K miles without a problem.

yeah, i've heard the same stories about the warranties and whatnot. definitely gonna make sure they write EVERYTHING down before i sign any papers. but damn that bike sure looks good on their floor. gonna have to call and see about a test ride.

Never ridden one myself, but they do look awful nice. I seriously considered trading in my old Volusia on one when I had it. Had they had the 1125 R or CR I probably would have done it lol.

OH buddy.......
Up here in the Springs, 06 XB9R for 5K with extras...
http://cosprings.craigslist.org/mcy/1761284118.html

Jaskc I have a feeling that coming off that R1, you'd feel the XB is a pig. If you're looking to get a Buell, best bang for buck is the 1125. Wrider is correct in that some dealerships are refusing to work on Buells now. Some are but at terrible customer service. Some dealerships offer quality service, but parts availability under warranty situations is terrible at best. My 1125R has been at the dealer for a month now for clutch leak issues (common issue), latest ECM flash (common), first service and fairing lower warping. Waiting on the fairing now. Warping, leaking and flash covered under warranty. Alot of other issues have popped up for some 1125 owners. Some have no problems at all. Hopefully i'll be in that latter group when i get my bike back!

I don't know if HD is still issuing its dealership the large sales incentive it was back in October but I'm sure you can talk that price down. I paid $6 for my 1125R so you should get below that (as long as the incentive for the dealerships is still active). Take a look at the badweatherbikers or buelletinboard forums. You can get an idea for what owners' issues are just from the post topics. With every brand and model, there are issues here and there. Some people end up with the bike put together at 5:50 on a Friday before a holiday. I love Buells. They're unique. Nobody has them and many people don't like them at all. Let me know if you want to talk more about it.

I have to say that my experience with Buell has been good. Gail's has been good, I've had no trouble getting my bike in for service and warranty work. I think the problem dealers are the ones that didn't commit to the product in the beginning.

Johnj wrote:I have to say that my experience with Buell has been good. Gail's has been good, I've had no trouble getting my bike in for service and warranty work. I think the problem dealers are the ones that didn't commit to the product in the beginning.

+1.

I always like the tubers from the 1990s.

Well, to make a long story short the local dealership lowered the price in an XB9SX to $6499 but then wanted $9199.23 out-the-door price. I refuse to pay $2700 in fees on a $6500 bike with 68 miles. Hell, I only paid $1200 in fees on my Vic, and that's a $14,000 bike that only had 0.4 miles on it when I signed the paperwork.

I found one on CycleTrader that I was ready to buy, but I sent the guy an email and later that day saw that his bike was also listed on eBay. He never took the time to respond to the email (36 hours) before the eBay auction ended, so I never bid. If you aren't interested in selling enough to send me a quick email saying, "Hey it's also on eBay, you should take a look and maybe get it below my asking price on Trader," then I'm not gonna do the leg work for you. Last I saw it was still about $1,000 below his asking price and reserve wasn't met.

So I been searching around the CL sites for cities all over AZ for Buells, SV650s, and Ducati Monsters. Yesterday while eating breakfast I came across a very interesting bike that I just had to go see in person. Drove the two hours up to Glendale and fell madly in love with one of Dr Frankenstein's creations. It's an old Goldwing that's been chopped to look like a cafe racer. Clickly link.

The one I'm getting is his next project. Will be black with a red seat and it says, "Habeus Corpus" on the side of the tank. No engine guard, but the exhaust will be wrapped with the fiberglass heat wrap--black, of course. It started as a 1978 GL1000, so I'm just going to tell my parents that I bought an old Goldwing (my dad will want to ride it til he sees the pics) and let them get that image in the mind for a bit before sending pics. I took some pictures with my phone, I'll try to get them posted later.