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Blake
| | Posted on Saturday, August 24, 2002 - 04:45 am: | 
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Thanks to Road Racing World for the following excellent track ride report on the Hal's Pro Thunder XB9R racebike. If you enjoy the world of motorcycle road racing and honest coverage of the Sport Bike market, you will find Road Racing World an outstanding value. They provide the best in depth and interesting articles I've ever seen. They are head and shoulders above the mainstream moto rags.
Not Your Buddy’s Dad’s Harley-Davidson!
By Michael Hannas
The Hal’s Buell XB9R as raced at Road America. The bike runs the
standard XB9R frame with the fuel tank built into the frame spars
and the oil tank built into the swingarm. Photo by Brian J. Nelson.
Before riding the Hal’s Performance Advantage Buell XB9R, I didn’t really know what to expect. My previous American V-Twin experience consisted of riding my buddy’s dad’s Harley up and down the block once, trying not to drop it. I see the Buells at the racetrack, but I am usually packing my stuff up and getting ready to leave during the Pro Thunder races on Sunday when I hear Richard Chambers belt out something about one of the Buells exploding on the track. This being the extent of my knowledge on the Buell Pro Thunder machines, to be honest, my expectations weren’t very high. I mean, after all, it is a Harley, right?
Wrong. Upon swinging my leg over the Hal’s XB9R and blipping the throttle, I realized that this wasn’t my buddy’s dad’s Harley. Going through the gears down pit lane towards Road America’s turn one, it became apparent that this was no warmed over cruiser motor, but a seriously high-tuned race weapon.
On the XB9R racebike at Road America: "One of the things that
struck me was how immediately comfortable I felt on the bike."
Photo by Brian J. Nelson.
The "somewhere over 1200cc" motor pulled hard from 5000 rpm up to around 7500 rpm, but the twin-cylinder powerplant made its speed deceptively. I expected the thing to vibrate more than a porn star’s favorite battery-powered appliance, but it wasn’t even noticeable by the time I had the clutch all the way out in first gear. One of the first things that struck me was how immediately comfortable I felt on the bike. Without a normal gas tank, it was extremely narrow, and the Renthal grips and Woodcraft clip-ons were the same that I use on my ZX-6R. For a larger rider, the ergos may be a little cramped, but the XB9R fit my 5’6", 140-pound frame like a glove.
The Buell XB9R is narrow and
compact, and looks a lot
sleeker than earlier Buell
racebikes. Mike Ciccotto
usually races this one.
Photo by Brian J. Nelson.
As I came down into turn five and got on the brakes hard for the first time, I realized the next thing that separated the Hal’s XB9R from any other four-stroke I’ve ridden. This thing flat out stops! It felt like it stopped just as well as the TZ250 I raced last season, and that thing had works Brembo master cylinder and calipers on it. I learned later that the Pro Thunder Firebolt runs some trick six-piston Nissen calipers from a MotoGP bike with a works master cylinder that you would have to trade your first-born child for. Whatever they were, they were awesome. One finger was more than enough to get you slowed down from 165 mph to almost stopped in no time. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get the things to fade. I kept going in there deeper and deeper every lap, way past my usual braking marker on my 600, and I couldn’t overshoot the corner. It felt like I could stand the bike on the front wheel and carry it all the way to the corner. The brakes were just mindblowing, I don’t know how else to describe it.
I remembered reading about how the Firebolt had 250 GP chassis geometry when it first came out and some quotes from the Buell test guys saying how great the thing handled, blah, blah, blah. I remember thinking to myself, yeah, right, some Buell is supposed to handle like a TZ250. Well, those guys were right on. As soon as I got up to speed on the Firebolt, I immediately realized that it handled more like a 250 than my 600, or any other four-stroke I’ve ridden. While I don’t have a tremendous amount of experience riding different types of motorcycles, I did race an R-6 for two years, a TZ250 for a year, I ride an Aprilia Mille when I am instructing for Pacific Track Time, and I’ve ridden the odd 996 or two on track days. The XB9R makes all the other four-strokes I’ve ridden feel like, well, four-strokes. I didn’t really think it was possible for a four-stroke to feel like a 250, but the Buell XB9R Pro Thunder machine proved me wrong.
There was no hesitation flicking the thing into corners, all you had to do was think about turning it in and you were at the apex. I was told it weighs around 380 pounds but it felt at least 50 pounds lighter than that. The front end was simply planted. On my 600, the carousel at Road America, which is a seemingly-never-ending, constant-radius right-hander, is one front-end tuck after another until I can see the exit, then gas it. If I get off line, there is no way to get the front to come back, basically. On the XB9R, I could basically just run the thing in there anywhere I wanted, apex whenever I wanted, and come out full throttle without the front ever even pushing. Even with Dunlop medium/hard slicks that had a whole Pro Thunder race on them, on a cold misty day at Road America, the thing was hooked up.
The Hal’s Buell XB9R with usual pilot Mike Ciccotto aboard, during
the Pro Thunder race at Road America. Ciccotto finished third.
Photo by Brian J. Nelson.
Another thing I didn’t expect was the lack of engine braking while downshifting. I expected the big Twin to have a lot more engine braking than I was used to, but it actually had less. Upon talking with Hal’s Performance Advantage Buell Crew Chief Terry Gallagan and Buell Factory Test Pilot Shawn Higbee, I learned that this is a result of a special fuel injection map designed to keep gas going into the engine even while the throttle is closed. It worked great, there was no rear wheel hop or chatter no matter how early you banged your downshifts.
As far as the rest of the engine goes, it felt pretty strong overall. It had a lot of torque, but the fuel injection was so good that there was no abrupt lurch or surge when cracking the throttle like on other big Twins I’ve ridden. It hooked up really well, you could pretty much just pin the thing right at the apex and it would just hook up and drive out of the corner. The motor was so tractable it almost felt like it wasn’t going anywhere, like you were just grabbing gears but not really moving. However, when you popped up out of the bubble at the end of the front straight, you realized you were hauling ass!! Gallagan said the tractability is something they aimed for, that they have tested a quicker-revving set-up but the rear tire didn’t hook up as well. As it is now, the motor pulls hard from around 5000 rpm right up until it hits the rev limiter, which was at somewhere around 8000 rpm. It didn’t start to sign off at all before it hit the limiter, which sometimes made it hard to catch the next gear before it was bouncing off the limiter. Gallagan explained that the limiter is placed there so that the riders don’t accidentally rev the bike too high and risk damaging the engine, that they can make the thing rev a little higher, at the expense of reliability.
Right-side view of the Hal’s Buell XB9R, with chain drive replacing the
standard belt final drive. Note the lack of an obvious exhaust system
and muffler, which rides underneath the engine, in the belly pan.
Photo by Brian J. Nelson.
Overall, I had very few complaints about the bike. It did seem a little nervous while shifting gears at high speed at a slight lean angle, but I’m sure a few turns on the steering damper would cure that. Also, the suspension may have been a tad bit on the stiff side for me, since I weigh around 25-30 pounds less than its normal pilot Mike Ciccotto. I also had a little trouble backshifting from second to first, which may just be a simple matter of lever adjustment or the decreased mobility I have in my ankle from an injury earlier this season. Gallagan noted that the Hal’s crew is working on reversed internal transmission parts that would allow them to keep the stock shift linkage set-up while still retaining the GP shift pattern.
If I had to sum up the Hal’s Performance Advantage Buell XB9R in one sentence, I would say it is a 250 with a bad-ass Harley motor. You can bet that from now on I’ll wait to pack my stuff up until after the Pro Thunder race, because I want to see what these Buells can do against the Ducati 748s. I for one hope that the Pro Thunder class doesn’t go away, because it is neat to see such a well-thought-out racebike with so many trick parts. It would be a pity if there was nowhere for tuners like Terry Gallagan and the Hal’s crew to battle-test their magic.
Michael Hannas wore IXS leathers from Motorace during
his test session aboard the Buell XB9R at Road America.
Photo by Brian J. Nelson.
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Sarodude
| | Posted on Saturday, August 24, 2002 - 10:48 am: |
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Cool article. Thanks Blake!
-Saro |
X1glider
| | Posted on Saturday, August 24, 2002 - 12:14 pm: |
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Sounded objective to me. I wonder how the guy would like it in stock trim. Did you notice the swingarm? Not that it's chain drive, but the normally removable piece used for belt changes had sheetmetal welded over it. I'll bet they now have oil in both sides. 4-5 quarts might be necessary in that bike. Cool how they mapped it so it didn't engine brake so hard. Smart dudes at Hal's. I swear that bike looks great fully faired. |
Anonymous
| | Posted on Saturday, August 24, 2002 - 01:19 pm: |
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No extra oil capacity in the Hal's swingarms. The sheetmetal bracing was added at the recommendation of Buell engineers. Why? Because when the swingarm had pieces welded in it for chain drive, it wasn't re-heat-treated to the strength level of production. The engineers looked at the production FEA plots and suggested that a brace be added due to the fact that the area where a chain rub block was welded in was near a higher stress area.
BTW, Erik read some articles where magazine guys commented that the stock swingarm needed reinforcement for racing. He asked the guys to take off the sheetmetal and re-heat-treat the doggoned things next year so people wouldn't get the wrong idea. That's the actual inside 100% truth scoop...you got it here on BWB BBS!
BTW, since I'm on a roll with acronyms, RRW rocks. It is the most honest and informative motorcycle publication out there! |
Lake_Bueller
| | Posted on Saturday, August 24, 2002 - 01:22 pm: |
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X1: I saw one of Hal's race bikes at the dealer. The left side of the swing arm doesn't hold oil. I didn't ask why they welded the sheet metal. If I had to guess, I'd say it was for aerodynamic reasons. |
Blake
| | Posted on Sunday, August 25, 2002 - 12:35 am: |
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Thanks Anonymous. I've been trying to understand why the added web on the right side swingarm. Your explanation makes PERFECT sense. 
I hope the racers honor Erik's request. |
Loki
| | Posted on Sunday, August 25, 2002 - 08:02 am: |
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Blake,
All,
Catch the most recent issue of RRW.....
vol 12 no.9 Sept 02
It gives the low down on the Hal's bike.
I got to say this too, RRW is an awesome publication.
Loki |
Mikeyp
| | Posted on Sunday, August 25, 2002 - 09:00 pm: |
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If the Bolt came from the factory pushing 165, and fully faired i'd own one...
If Buell were smart, they should use Hal's to make limited editions based on their race bike.
Kinda like AMG does for Mercedes... |
Blake
| | Posted on Sunday, August 25, 2002 - 10:41 pm: |
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Loki,
Yeah, I haven't seen it yet, but I hear it is a good read.
Mike,
I'm with you. And actually, I'm pretty sure Hal's is more than willing to sell a racebike to whoever is willing to pay their price. But wouldn't Cecil's Zixxer still be faster?  |
Ezblast
| | Posted on Monday, August 26, 2002 - 08:44 pm: |
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Thirteen could become a real lucky number!
Blasting on the darkside!(Hell - I'd buy one of those - sweeeeet!)EZ |
Buellish1
| | Posted on Monday, August 26, 2002 - 10:16 pm: |
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Nice!!! |
Buellman
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 28, 2002 - 07:33 pm: |
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Ugh....I NEED one of these XB's in race trim..
Hello? Buell, are you listening? |
Xoptimizedrsx
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 14, 2009 - 07:59 pm: |
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very nice article. I love reading stuff like that one!!!! its my inspiration to go further and try harder to figure a few more things out.
mike |
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Riding The Hal’s Buell XB9R Pro Thunder Racebike At Road America