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Xb9er
| | Posted on Saturday, January 26, 2008 - 02:50 pm: | 
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Yesterday at the ims show in cleveland I finally got to see/sit on the 1125r in person for the 1st time. they look great in person for sure. I didnt notice much difference in the seating position compared to the firebolt. Cant wait to demo one! |
Brad1445
| | Posted on Saturday, January 26, 2008 - 04:16 pm: |
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Zac, I got stuck in, sorry I did not post earlier. Need a rain check to meet up.. I hope you out tearing up the mountains! |
Kyrocket
| | Posted on Saturday, January 26, 2008 - 04:58 pm: |
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Saw my first one today.
It does really look better in person than on paper or on-line. The blue-black colors look better than I anticipated. The front is wide but I didn't think it was abnormally wide. I still ride a tuber so anything will look wide to me.
Overall I liked it but I didn't get to sit on it or hear it so I can't make a definite decision that I would own it. |
Scout
| | Posted on Monday, January 28, 2008 - 02:02 am: |
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I almost, but couldn't bring myself to do it, ditched my 12R for the 1125R. I'm happy with my choice for now, but I was also strangely excited when I first saw an 1125R rolling down 29 in Pensacola/Cantonment about a week ago. I think I was just feeling the excitement of the streets transferred over to me as I rode the other direction, sending a "welcome to the neighborhood" wave to the rider.
Was there some pride in evolution for the tubers when the XBs hit the streets? |
Strato9r
| | Posted on Monday, January 28, 2008 - 02:36 am: |
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I saw it for the first time last week, and it knocked me out. Somehow, it seems more compact and elegant in person than in the photos I've seen. Too bad every dealership doesn't have staff that are as stoked about it as Lethbridge Buell H-D; every mechanic, partsman, office girl and salesman has totally done their homework on the 1125r, and the last time I was in the shop there, they had it up on a lift, scrutinizing every detail of the thing.
It was a little strange, though not surprising, that it hit me in the same way that other unique machines have over the years. There is some intangeable, visceral element that some machines (and people) have that somehow doesn't co-operate with being photographed, yet that same element is what will make it breathtaking in real life. To me, the Studebaker Avanti and Vincent Black Shadow are good examples, or maybe I've simply never seen a photo that really captured the impressiveness that either of those machines exude in reality.
Avantis and Vincents weren't for everyone, though. Bad timing, bad luck, bad public perception, those are the things that can sink even the best ideas, and if history has taught us anything, it's that the general public is too busy basking in conformity and mediocrity to give a damn about much beyond fitting in.
Timing. Luck. Public Perception. Well, if I may paraphrase Ted Nugent, Buell has really "laid their nuts on the anvil" with this bike. Since the inception of the XB model, "The Press" has been put into the position of reporting to the marketplace that the former concerns regarding reliability of Buell motorcycles is now a non-issue. And, that the XB platform is a stunning display of innovative ideas, that the competition started implementing on their own products. Not to mention the nearly universal praise for the XB's handling abilities. The only fault they ever seemed to find, and it was relevant only in the context of competitor's horsepower output, was the wonderfully refined engine, which could trace it's roots back to 1930. That's not a bad thing, so can the BMW boxers. But a potential customer who is unimpressed with tradition and nostalgia is going to see the numbers on any new 600cc Supersport, and spend their money on a new green, yellow, blue or red bike, never knowing or caring about what they missed.
Well, Buell goes out and puts a bunch of pre-production bikes in the hands of the people who are going to tell the general public what a piece of crap, OR, what a gem this 1125r is; after all, it is exactly what magazine writers and many potential Buell buyers had been wishing for, and here it is, like it or not. But when what everyone said they wanted was a light, modern powerplant with lots of horsepower, what's NOT to like, especially when you factor in the 1125's expansive torque curve?
But at some point, it's gonna come down to winning races, and there's already a team up here putting an 1125r out on the track this coming season, and I'm sure that there is going to be plenty of European and American teams gearing up for the new bike as well. And I wish every one of those teams the best of luck, because if they win, they'll sell. Which would be good timing for H-D Buell, attracting a large new demographic to it's customer base, one that is less concerned with tradition and "lifestyle" than they are with forward thinking and a modern, well engineered product.
One thing I know is that it is a magnificent machine, and I'll be counting the days until the test ride........ |
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