| Author | Message | ||
     Tleighbell |
Went to the show Sunday afternoon. Met Steve Crevier wearing the Buell Racing Shirt as the place was closing around 5:00. He was exhausted from being there three days so didn't talk long. He did say they have some changes coming for the XBRR for next season but I got the impression it wouldn't be as radical as some may be hoping (liquid cooled 8 valve overhead cam etc etc). I wished him good luck. Hope they do well this season. I feel the potential is there. But then, we had high hopes for the Maple Leafs too. Seeing all the new stuff gives a little bit of a hankering for greener pastures. The 1078 looks great. didn't get to sit on it. The PaulSmart replica gained some credibility as they had the Daytona 8 hour class winning bike there. The one that appealed most to me was the KTM Super Duke., perhaps because it is most like my XBS. 120 HP claimed at the wheel. But I don't often use all the power on the 12S on the street, and from what I have read the Buell handles better. Plus it is $17,000. Cdn. whereas I have about $8,000 into the 12. Buell was there too. They had the Canadian Thunder series winning (second year in a row) XB12S. And seeing and sitting on the 12Ss and even more so the City X still feels just right. Everything moves on so fast these days that a fresh new design can seem to be left behind very quickly. But so much of the new stuff is marketing and style, with some incremental improvements, all designed to create a need and sell more product. I think this is especially true in the japanese sport bike sector. It reminds me of the planned obsolescence approach by the US auto sector in the 1950's through the 1970's where the cars were completely restyled every 2 years just so everyone had to keep replacing them. I know the new bikes are marginally better than the last year's model but who but a racer is going to be able to use those improvement to any real advantage? I say that complaining about the Harley engine on our bikes is like complaining that your cat won't fetch your newspaper. If that's what you want then get a dog but don't blame the cat for being a cat.There are historical,business and engineering reasons for using that engine and it has it's virtues and drawbacks. For me it is a big part of what makes the Buell so much cooler than any other bike. And Buell has done an excellent job of getting the most out of it. In a few short years the game has moved on and Buell will eventually have to move on in order to keep up, but that doesn't mean there is any thing wrong with our bikes. Of course we always want more and there is always someone who wants to sell something by offering more and convincing us that we want it, and eventually they are right and we move on. But we are cheating ourselves if we don't appreciate and make the most of what we have got right now which IMHO is still one of the coolest most enjoyable bikes around. OK get the flame throwers fired up! | ||
| Djkaplan |
Steve Crevier. He probably won't be happy that that's the alias I've been using when I don't want to tell people my real name. For some reason... I always use Steve Crevier when I got to give a name to get a haircut and such. | ||
| Djkaplan |
Been doing that since the 80's, btw. | ||
| Jscott |
Rumor is that he and Darren James may try to enter the XBRR in the Canadian SuperBike class for next year. I don't know if they will be able to do it or not as some rules may need to be modified. Curiously though, they do not have a displacement limit in that class. | ||
| Tleighbell |
He said he would be racing in the US only. | ||
| Doerman |
I say that complaining about the Harley engine on our bikes is like complaining that your cat won't fetch your newspaper. If that's what you want then get a dog but don't blame the cat for being a cat. Great way of saying it! Asbjorn | ||
| Blake |
I agree. I'm gonna be stealing that line!  | ||
| Trojan |
So why enter a cat in a dog race in the first place? | ||
| Tleighbell |
for every good line there is an equal and opposite comeback. How about my elephant is too big? | ||
| Crusty |
So why enter a cat in a dog race in the first place? If your cat happens to be a cheetah, you might enjoy it. Remember how much and how loudly Kevin Erion was whining last February? |
