| Author | Message | ||
     Anonymous |
Please post 1125R impressions from RA below. | ||
| Lake_bueller |
They crash well. Full report to come later  | ||
| Neb25 |
Got to ride the 1125R for 5 sessions at RA and was totally impressed. 5 sessions at almost race pace. The brakes are the best I have ever experienced. Really really good and they were street pads. Rider envelope is great and with 30 mph winds we got to really test that out. For the street a little taller windscreen might help because you have to have your chin down on the airbox to get out of the airflow. Motor was great as expected. Transmission was flawless. Not a single missed shift all day. Slipper clutch was good. Did get the wheel to hop a couple of times under severe braking but things did stay in line. Will be perfect for the street. Pull on the clutch was nice and easy. Color of the bike is unlike anything on the road. Looked great and the pods did too. I did not hear a single person complain about the looks of the bike or the pods. The way the bike handled was the biggest surprise. The bikes were setup for someone 170-190lbs. I am 160lbs and thought the bike handled almost as good as my race bike with high end racing suspension and sprung for my weight. I have been on GSXRs, R6s and the likes and I am telling you this is one of the best handling bikes out there. After only 3 or 4 laps to figure out the gearing I was already pushing hard. It is very easy to go fast on. Maybe the settings on the suspension have evolved since some of the early magazine articles and other on track events. I rode 5 different bikes and had no issues with settings. It was a cool and windy day but my right foot did not get cooked liked some journalists said it would. One thing most riders will want to add is a steering damper. The engine is too powerful not to have one. Not a must but recommended. This is a fun and fast bike. I walked right on by a GSXR 750 on the main straight. Also because of the power curve the bike will be even better on the street. Thank you Buell for a great event. | ||
| Josh_ |
Interesting bike. I think sport touring is out of the question unless there are fairing, bar and footpeg changes (plus bags) and even then I doubt my wife will ride comfortable on the back. Fix the heat and vibrations and put it in an S3 chassis and I'd be all over it. Overall: Handling is more forgiving than a Firebolt, less forgiving than others I’ve ridden (I’ll put a bio at the end of the review). Once you get used to the throttle and brakes it’s a great ride. Comfortable track bike, good seating position for a track bike, seems to push you into the "correct" riding position – today my legs are sore not my arms/shoulders/upper back like a ZX6R does to you. Vibrations: first bike was terrible. I mean major bounce-your-foot-off-the-pegs-shake-your-fillings vibrations. The second bike was better, the others (I rode 5 total) I did not notice excessive vibrations or I was used to it. They shake the most under load 5k-8k, but that’s not a problem it’s the steady buzz 7-8k RPM. I don’t know what that translates to on the street. Yes, they are pre-production but that still scares me - what are the odds I'd get a viby bike? Buell went to great lengths back in 99 to check my S3 for vibes (the "Y" exhaust bracket was the fix for me) but I don't see them checking owners bikes at homecoming anymore. Should I trust the brand-new local Buell dealer? Engine heat: Yes I ride a torching FJR1300 and it gives a nice over-all roasting. But the 1125R (especially as the day warmed up) really cooked my right foot. Love to see the heat shields they are developing, but is this a repeat of the 98 exhaust issue? Where is the heat coming from and how will the fix look? I wonder also if this will be much of an issue on the street. I know my S3 would cook my legs on a track (before coating the exhaust) but wasn’t a problem on the street. Crashing: saw two after they'd gone down on the left side, both tore up the fairing and of course the pod, but didn't hit the frame or (I believe) the forks/swingarm. But the left engine case was trashed. Looking on the right side the engine cover (tranny cover?) seems to be the farthest out. How expensive are the engine covers? Fairing? Engine/throttle: Other than vibrations, engine is fine. Smooth enough power curve that I never did get a handle on when to shift based on power delivery and hit the rev limiter repeatedly, I ended up using markers out of the corners to upshift. Louder exhaust might help ;) Throttle response shows almost no drive train lash, but an almost-abrupt "on throttle" transition – I ended up liking it. Power is very similar to the FJR (w/o the extra 200lbs to carry around). Brakes:whoa nelly! First lap, middle straight the guy in front of me slowed unexpectedly so a grabbed a finger full .. and seemed to slide the front tire just a tad. Interesting effect at 90+ I was more careful after that. The brakes come on harder and sooner than other bikes I’ve been on. I‘ll be terrified the first time I ride it in the rain. Later that session, the demo rider in front of me (an XB rider) pulled a stoppie when the rider in front of him did something dumb. Maybe 4" of air under the back tire, at maybe 60MPH. I asked him about it later and he didn’t indicate much drama. I think he was more careful on the brakes after that also. After the initial bite they are very predictable and a few times I was braking leaned over (yeah, mistake on my part, I know) without drama. Shifting: Nice tranny. Shifting in the carousel was effortless. Up shifting/downshifting, very easy and smooth. Fairing: Amazingly smooth hole in the air, especially considering how low the fairing is. The wind picked up in the afternoon and the fairing really shone. Heading into the wind on the mid-straight, there was no buffeting, no drama. The faster you go the more you need to tuck in and there wasn’t much of a bubble left over about 130 but under that it was great. End result? I took a check with me for a deposit expecting to fall in love. I brought the check back home. It’s a fine bike, has some correctable (I hope) issues, but does it’s job well. I’d like to take it for a real ride (200+miles) to see how the seating position is for weekends and see if the wife likes it. I need to think about what I need from my next bike and the best bike for that. I loved the S3 and made it do everything I wanted (commute, long touring, track, drag strip) but I don’t see the 1125R being nearly that versatile, and I’m not in love. misc I got a few laughs from Buell workers when I asked about a shift light... until I pointed out the glossy marketing manual claimed there was one. What production Buell had an under-slung muffler in 85? Best lunch at a track I’ve ever had. Great snickerdoodles too! I should have gone with the Advanced Group so I could say I ran with Tripp Nobles! Last session some clown decides he’s the best rider in my demo group and tried to pass everyone between 5 and 6. Unfortunately he forgot about 6. Right as I got under the Toyota sign, he went shooting past flying between two riders and into the peas. Julian-the-Demo-control-rider was fun, but he didn’t want to get too far ahead of the group and only let me push him so hard. I believe he rides an XB in a racing series? Supertwin? My Bio: Started on Sportster Huggers (92, 96) graduated to a 99 S3T put 46,000miles on it including 8 times at Road America with Reg Pridmore’s CLASS. Bought a S1WL but sold it when I couldn’t get used to the riding position (rear sets, clipons), bought a RS1200, got the wife a Blast. Sold the S3T for an FJR1300. Took the FJR to Road America and Barber with RegPridmore. This year I took Keith Code’s school for 2 days at Barber on an Kawasaki ZX6R. I’ve demos XBs (9/12 Lightning/Firebolt), rode an SV650 once and stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night. I’m looking for a street/track bike that maybe I could take club racing. (Message edited by josh_ on October 10, 2007) | ||
| Josh_ |
Steering damper: heard a couple of guys talking about that in regards to the bumps on the front straight. I found relaxing on the bars resolved the "shimmy" across the bumps. I was in Intermediate wearing the black/blue Aerostich (and very color co-ordinated with the blue-taped black bikes) (Message edited by josh_ on October 10, 2007) | ||
| Ccryder |
Josh: Add: Bags Taller screen Taller bars LD seats Lower pegs Built-in radar detector Subtract: Right foot heat Some 8k vibes And MB's "buy in" and you are on the road again....... Now tell us what you REALLY think ;+} Neil S. | ||
| Reepicheep |
The glossy stuff I was reading yesterday suggested the tach needle changed color as a shift light... From the little glossy (2008 Motorcycles, page 19)
Sounded like a cool feature, but if it was there I never noticed. Though I was too chicken to look at the tach anytime I had the thing wound out near redline anyway.. | ||
| Anonymous |
For reference, 7500 rpm is about 125 mph in 6th. | ||
| Josh_ |
>And MB's "buy in" and you are on the road again I have that - she's more of a Buell fanatic than I am! (tho she thinks selling the RS to buy the 1125R is a good plan) I was hoping to replace the FJR, but that won't happen, so I'd just need a RAM mount so I can swap the detector to/from the FJR ;) If I didn't ride an FJR I would be amazed at the power, if I hadn't tracked a prepped 07 ZX6R I would be amazed at the handling. >I was too chicken to look at the tach anytime I had the thing wound out near redline I'm betting the light is one of those little bitty ones right above the tach, so it will be mostly useless anyway. I'd need a really big light higher up. Maybe a fiberoptic effect off the windshield? >For reference, 7500 rpm is about 125 mph in 6th. Hmm so it will only affect cruising speed in Montana? | ||
| Lake_bueller |
Bio: GSXR 750 track bike; S1W & S3T as street bikes. I've turned laps on all 3 at some point. I've also done track sessions on the XB9 & XB12 platforms. Let's start with my impressions of the bike: Styling: I thought the bike looked a little out of proportion. The front fairing caused the XB tailsection to look small. The pods weren't really noticable. Overall I'd give it an 7 out of 10. Vibrations: The first session was the worst. The buzz was almost unbearable in the throttle. The second bike was much better. Engine/Power: WOW!!! The bike was almost scary fast. It seemed to carry a ton of inertia into the corners. That took a little time to get used to feeling. But once I understood the dynamics, it made the corners (especially the more sweeping ones {7 & 13}). More on the power a little later. Braking: They were extermely touchy. But they also worked very well. As with other parts of the bike, it took a little time to get the feel. The brakes were similar to my GSXR with a Brembo master cylinder. Shifting/Transmission: By far the best Buell ever. The clutch was effortless and the shifting crisp. I'll also throw the great power delivery from the belt into this area. There was none of the "lashing" that I sometimes get from the chain. Overall: While I like the bike, I don't love it (yet). My deposit was canceled when I heard that there was no easy method for converting the tailsection into a sport touring model. I hope you reconsider making an ST model in the near future. This is a solid platform for a real performance "cruise". Now on to the crash: I'd like to start by saying it was not completely operator error. I wasn't riding over my head (probably only running 6.5 out of 10). I was riding directly behind the CR and having a great time. He passed 2 bikes at the end of the carousel but didn't leave me any room to get past them there. I tucked in behind the slower bikes on the left turn and was setting them up for a pass coming out of the right. I made the turn and was still in partial lean. At that point, I have the bike a handful of throttle. Again, nothing I wouldn't have done on my GSXR. The bike was probably in the 4-5k range on the rev limiter (guessimate based on gear and engine sound). It was less than 2 seconds later that I was sliding down the track on my right butt cheek. The beautiful 1125R was making nice pirouettes down the middle of the track. My feeling is that there were a number of variables that lead to the incident. In no particular order: cold track surface temps, tons of midrange torque, street tires, my heavy throttle hand. I was eventually able to get the bike back to the pits. The damage included a badly scuffed right pod, a little scratching on the frame (pucks would have prevented), bent brake lever and scuffed fairing. There may have been more damage but Chuck was fairly pissed off at that point (sorry Chuck!!!). All in all, it survived that lowside okay. Especially considering it slide about 20 yards (or more) down the middle of the track! Thanks to Buell for another great event!! I hope the number of "incidents" doesn't prevent them from continuing these events. | ||
| Josh_ |
Lake, Which group were you with? So the right engine/trans cover didn't get hit? What session and lap did you crash on? I kept hopping on one of the first bikes in line and kept getting hot tires. The last session I hopped on one mid-pack and slid the rear in turn 5 while taking it easy. I decided it was cold tires and got hard on the rear brake and gas (when upright) for the next 1/2 lap to heat up the rear then cut loose again. I did not hear "warm up your tires" during the demo talk. | ||
| Mikef5000 |
a little scratching on the frame (pucks would have prevented), WHAAAAAA????? I didn't think that was possible! | ||
| Rfischer |
WRT various comments about head-shake and need for a steering damper, I would suggest most of the observed 'wiggles' were rider-induced. They usually are, as Keith Code or Reg Pridmore will tell you. Concentrate on staying neutral on the bars after turn-in as power is applied and most bikes will track true if they are properly set-up. Maybe a twitch over a bump or if the rear tire spins up from too much throttle, but nothing serious. Modern sport-bikes are pretty sorted handling-wise with the new 1125r apparently head of the class for now. | ||
| Davegess |
What production Buell had an under-slung muffler in 85? That would be an RR1000. The first one was done in 1985, barely. The second in 1986. | ||
| Hughlysses |
I think every on-line article and at least a couple of people in every test session have mentioned that one, and only one, of the bikes vibrated like heck. I wonder if Buell left the balance shafts out of one just for S&G, or perhaps tried different (smaller) amounts of compensating balance to see if potential buyers really noticed? | ||
| Court |
You think the folks at Buell are smart enough to have fielded several various bikes and a "control" bike in an effort to know everything they could about this bike before building it? . . . . spose they are that smart? | ||
| Josh_ |
but they were not asking for feedback when we got off... We did get a questionaire at lunch that asked about out impressions of Buell before and after the demo. now where is my camera... | ||
| M1combat |
It could happen Court... You're such a nay sayer... | ||
| Reepicheep |
.... and still pulling *hard* ... | ||
| Lake_bueller |
Josh... I was running intermediate all day but took the last demo ride in the 3:40pm novice group. We were definately running strong for that class. I was up and off the track before the rest of our "group" passed by me (I think). It was the 4th lap of the session. Cold tires are definately out of the question. I didn't get a good chance to inspect the bike after getting back. When on the track, I was only worried about getting the bike back up and running again. | ||
| Josh_ |
Upon closer inspection, I dont see where they'll put the shift light?  | ||
| Ratbuell |
The shift light is indeed built into the tach pointer. According to our dealer class, the needle changes to a redder color and gets brighter around 10k. They also admitted to us that it's tough to discern in daylight. | ||
| Reepicheep |
If that's all plumbed in, that should be an easy thing to "intercept" and convert to a more visible indicator for serious track light. If Buell drops an 1125r off in my garage, I'll get right on it ;) | ||
| Hughlysses |
You think the folks at Buell are smart enough to have fielded several various bikes and a "control" bike in an effort to know everything they could about this bike before building it? . . . . spose they are that smart? Hey Court, Well, yea, that's kind of what I was alluding to. I've just noted some of the reviewers seem to think it's a QC problem with the new engine, as if there was a real goober on the assembly line in Austria that forgot to put the balance shafts in one engine. It'd be real interesting to know exactly what info they glean from deliberately fielding a "control" bike like that. | ||
| Reepicheep |
They will find out if counterbalancers effect reliability for intense track use... Or maybe they figure that at this rate, somebody will wreck it before long anyway, so why bother taking it back to the factory to scrap it  | ||
| Court |
Erik and the Helicon team landed from Austria a couple hours before loading the truck full of band equipment and driving xc to Liberty a couple weeks ago. The final sign off on the motor was more than 4 weeks after Laguna Seca. Who knows? . . . maybe they are that sharp. I find it quite odd when two similar thinking (don't start . . I know it's an oxymoron) journalists come to press with two divergent opinions. Even, given today's technology and mfg tolerances, if the engine sucked I can't see one sucking and the next one semi-sucking and the next one not-sucking. Try to get that range in any 3 consecutive things off a line. | ||
| Schmitty |
First, let me say kudos to Buell for having the BALLS to allow anybody with a motorcycle license and a paid admission ride a pre-production version of their new 145hp superbike on one of the fastest and most challenging circuits in the country. Try and get one of the Japanese or Italian companies to do that!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Two items of complaint, and only one actually pertains to the bike. First, the bars seemed rather buzzy from about 8 grand on up. I was told by a Buell rep that this would be taken care of on production bikes. The second was the fact that I am used to GP style shift. So I found myself concentrating a bit too much on getting the shifting right at times. Getting back on my 9R race bike seemed like a lot of work. I really had to work hard to go fast on my bike compared to the 1125, and not just because of the hp advantage. The combination of incredibly smooth and powerful brakes, slipper clutch, and super smooth transmission made the bike a real pleasure to ride. The other thing I noticed was that my bike required a constant pressure on the inside bar to hold a line around the carousel. On the 1125 I could set the line and almost let go of the bars and it would track itself around. I love the new fairing also. With the speeds we were seeing down the front straight, coupled with a 30mph head wind the pocket behind the pod was very calm. Finally, the power was incredible. It was a smooth seamless delivery all the way to redline. There were never any surprises. Just smooth power anywhere in the range. The bike was still pulling all the way to the rev limiter. I know this because I ran smack into the limiter, and the cut off was so abrupt that it lifted me right off the seat!! I was out on track with a couple of the intended targets for this bike, the 999 and the 1098 Ducati. I got into a pretty nice cat and mouse game with the 1098 rider. I was able to drive out of the corner harder and faster almost every time. I was also able to draft and pass him on the front straight on one occasion. Overall a very good time!! Let's hope Buell keeps this program going!! Schmitty | ||
| Indy_bueller |
I have a new suggestion for a name for the 1125R. The Buell "Insta-Woody". The bike is very good. Almost too good, if you can believe it. It is very forgiving and will make up for mistakes that you make as a rider. Very fast, very stable. It handles very confidently. Amazing power and acceleration. The torque is very linear with a stable delivery. Even if you go into a corner in a higher gear than you should be, all you have to do is twist the throttle and power yourself out. The trans shifts so smoothly I thought it was broken at first. The slipper clutch works very well. The front brakes are astonishingly good. In short, it is an amazing motorcycle. I only had a couple small complaints: First was that there is some considerable buzzing in the footpegs and handlebars of both the bikes that I rode. Second, the rear brake locks up easily (not that it is a big deal, I don't use the rear brake that much). Third, both times I rode the bike, the kickstand didn't actually go up when I pulled it with my foot. I started to ride away with the stand down. I don't think this is really much of a problem, since I didn't hear anyone else mention it. It was probably just me. There were no issues that would keep me from buying it though. You guys did a great job! +1 What Schmitty said. | ||
| Josh_ |
Indy (and Schmitty), What have you ridden other than an XB9R? I can completely see your comments from a 9R rider, especially it being "very forgiving" seeing as how of all the bikes I've ridden only the 9/12R is less forgiving than an 1125R. Course you could also say "more responsive" Photos are out.  | ||
| Dtx |
So what were the ramifications for the riders that wrecking the fleet bikes? Will insurance cover that? |
