| Author | Message | ||
     Moondust |
Hmmmm... I've had my city cross a few months - its new ! 07 model - I love it - put a nice aftermarket can ( Remus ) - still running her in. But ! I just saw on the Buell website - that they are now offering a cheap insurance deal - 2 year fixed rate on any new 07 models ( just after I purchased mine ..damn ) When I first purchased my city X - my gut feeling or first choice would've been the firebolt - but the price & practicality of the city X as well as being a fairly new rider ( 8 months ) is what made my descision on the City X. Thing is - since I've seen the insurance deal ( my insurance rate is double that at that price  ! ) -im getting the " greener grass " feeling.. thinking... I shoulda ... gone all out for the firebolt - hell I even like the yellow ! But - going back to the dealer & trading the07 City X back in for an 07 firebolt would probably be a big money loss ?? but at least the insurance would be half. Anyway - anybody outhere with a city X been this route ? ie: trading it in for a firebolt or a 12s etc your opinions would be much appreciated BTW - I use my City X for commuting - which is why I opted for it - so lt me know the pros & cons of gettin a firebolt. Cheers badwebbers (Message edited by moondust on March 05, 2007) | ||
| Mesa_cityx |
Even with my short inseam, the 'bolt was too cramped for me to consider.. | ||
| M_singer |
The handle bars on your city x are much more comfortable for commuting then the firebolt clip on's. | ||
| Midknyte |
Sounds like you need to go shopping around for better insurance rates | ||
| Moondust |
Believe me - i shopped all over ! I guess i could always ask the dealer if the deal still applies to a recent buyer ? it is an 07 model afterall. Anyway - still love to hear more on this - I didn't think of that M singer.Also I only noticed the other day - that the handlebars were different on the City X from the xb12S as well ? I guess that is def a factor - I have to rethink. | ||
| Towjam |
Assuming you do a lot of in-town commuting, you should test ride a Bolt before you put too much time in worrying about this. The Bolt is not the most comfortable bike for stop/go traffic. In fact, I traded my '07 12R in on a 12Ss after less than 100 miles. (Don't get me started on the $$$ ass-whipping I took on the trade.) | ||
| Swordsman |
Ha! The Bolt is not the most comfortable bike, period! I'm sure it's ergonomically superior for hitting the curves, but man, I can't stand that seating position! I really, REALLY wanted to like the Bolt over the S and Ss when I first started shopping around, but I just couldn't make myself suffer through that. I even tried again at the Atlanta International Motorcycle show... still can't stand it. Which kinda' sucks, because I wanted to put a Bolt fairing on my Ss, but it would require me to swap bars.  ~SM | ||
| Mrs_glitch |
Moon, you'll take a major hit if you trade in your bike, it's a fact. Also it sounds as if you need to check with your company with regards to rates between an XB12 and XB9, I don't see how it would be cheaper with the bigger engine, the same maybe, but not less, unless of course it's a used R. If you're worried about the looks of the bike, and not the function, stick with the City Cross, and take a look in the Lets see your custom XB and see just how far some of these bikes have come from stock. Point is, you make the bike the way you want it, we all do it to some extent. Some have even gone from XBR to XBS, some frome XBS to XBR and some of us have done half. I just put an XBR tail section on my XBS, the mods you can do are endless. My advise to you is stick with what you've got, learn the bike, learn to ride, mod your bike, love the experience. | ||
| Glitch |
Sword, it's not as difficult as it sounds. With an upper triple, a clutch cable, the fairing stays, the fairing, a few other parts, and an hour or so in the Buell Barn, we'd have your CityR ready to ride! And that was me Cross-Posting above.  | ||
| Isham |
Did you try sentry/dairyland. I pay 40 bucks a month full coverage. | ||
| Moondust |
Cheers Glitch - you are probably - right - this all started from lowering my seat - I kinda thought then - Why the hell didn't I go for the 12Scg in the first place ? then shortly after - come to think of it the firebolt was the first buell that got me hooked. But talking to dealers & researching bad web etc - I landed on the city X as commuting in to London town everyday was my main use. You guys maybe right - maybe a firebolt isn't practical for commuting & its probably not worth the hit in £££ for a trade on the 12Scg . I've already added a nice Remus can & a lower seat so - maybe I've had a moment of madness. With regards to the Insurance check here : http://www.buell.com/en_uk/promos/engineering_radi cal/index.asp basically Buell are offering a fixed rate insurance on " ANY " new Buell - my current rate is £450 for this year. But Buell are offering £275 on any new buell so - thats just bad timing on buying my 9SX a few months ago. unless - it applies & I can cancel my current insurance without too much fuss - then thats pretty cool. as you can see - offers like this play with your mind & you start to think out of the box ie: " what if I trade my 9sx in for a XB12R or XB12Scg - then I'll be able to get cheaper insurance " .... anyway - cheers for all the comments people.  (Message edited by moondust on March 05, 2007) | ||
| Glitch |
I guess I should have looked at your profile, then I'd see where you live. You have it made! Matt from Trojan would have all my money if I could get the parts without having to pay shipping and the cost of converting $ to £! thats just bad timing on buying my 9SX Think of how I must have felt after buying a new XB9S at full price just months before Buell introduced the (then) new XB12S for the same cost! | ||
| Kootenay |
I have a Firebolt, but I also live in the "wilds" of British Columbia, where the nearest stoplight is ten minutes away and the nearest town 25...if I had to ride in traffic, I'd want at CityX. | ||
| Soggycal |
Do not trade in your CityX, you will lose your ass! I can't imagine the money you save on insurance rates over two years will balance out the money you lose on the trade. | ||
| Bumblebee |
The last time a motorcycle manufacturer tried a "it comes with insurance at a low price" once the policy expired there was no offer for a renewal. I think it was Kawasaki that tried that. What seemed like a good deal at first turned into a nightmare after a year. | ||
| Chainsaw |
Moondust: If it didn't involve such a long cold swim across the Atlantic, I'd swap you bikes for a week or so. I'm pretty fond of the City-X and have delusions of trading my 9R for one. I should actually RIDE a City-X first! | ||
| Teddagreek |
Put some crossroads bars on it... Thats what I did... Best Mod for a lightning IMO.. Like a whole other bike... | ||
| Vanvideo |
The Firebolt not comfortable for city commuting? Feh! I ride mine to work in rush hour traffic all the time, and love it. Coming from a '92 ZX-7 Ninja, it's practically a Lazy-Boy recliner in comparison. You guys need to hit the gym more and work on that upper body strength. | ||
| Towjam |
I think I'm in good enough shape to ride a Firebolt. In fact, here I am before I caught the flu.   | ||
| Bdabuell |
you gotta ride it and see...i love my firebolt...I'm over 6' tall and am very happy riding it all day, twisties, commuter, whatever. When i sat on and rode the lightning I didn't like it. | ||
| Vanvideo |
Damn, Towjam, looks like you've been hitting the Wheaties!  | ||
| Towjam |
Damn, Towjam, looks like you've been hitting the Wheaties! That was back when I was riding regularly on my Firebolt. Here's a pic of me after I'd been riding the Lightning for a few weeks...  | ||
| Plag |
Thanks for making it creepy...  | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
I think someone needs to take a crap!  | ||
| Swordsman |
Holy crap! he's gonna have quintuplets! I can see why he's shirtless though... do they even make something that would wrap around that??? ~SM | ||
| Elff |
MoonBaby, I used to own a CityX and now ride a 12R. My Motorcycle career has been on Crotch Rockets. Ive owned all brands but a yamaha. My last pre-Buell bike was a CBR600RR. For some reason, I never got in sync with this bike. So I started looking for a substitute. A Friend suggested that I look at Buell. I really liked the look of the CityX and thought it would be nice to have a more upright position. When I rode the CityX, I was amazed at the flickability and almost laid it down because it turned in WAAAAY faster than the CBR. At the time, the firebolts still had Dunlops, same exact tires as my CBR and when I rode one of those I really didnt like it. Felt weird. So I went with the CityX. I really liked the bike, especially commuting to work, but on Long trips, the upright position, lack of wind protection and very un-passenger friendly rear tail section made me start to double guess my choice. I never liked the stock seat or any variation so I installed a really cool Eurofighter seat from Trojan. Gave the bike a rear crotch rocket look.  The new option of a regular passenger, kind of killed my Single Seat setup. So I re-looked into the firebolt. In 2006 Buell changed the clutch and transmission, so when I test drove one of those, I liked it a lot more. I de-modded my CityX, sold the aftermarket parts and bought the Firebolt. I am glad I did. It has worked out to be what I needed in regards to a passenger and wind protection. The handlebars were still weird, but I got used to them. Now that I installed the Helibars, I feel like I have the best of both worlds. The Helibars make the bolt flick like the CityX as the clip ons are directly in line with the forks. They relax the riding position just enough to where I love it and I still have my cool Insect Face [Fairing looks like a bug to me].  So I am happy I made the switch I even managed to snag one of the last Buell race kits. So I say, test drive a new Bolt and see how it feels. | ||
| Vanvideo |
Elff, how do the Helibars relax your stance? Do they bring the clips closer to you? Are there any problems with the bars clearing the fairing, or slapping against the tank? If you could, I'd like to see a pic of the bars from above. I'm curious to see how you mounted them. I like the idea of the bars having more of a true clip-on style. | ||
| Elff |
The stock firebolt triple clamp puts the clips in front of the forks The helibar moves the clip ons, Back 1.5" and up 1" The clear everything with no issues. Real easy install too. Here are some pics   I had a thread about it here http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/327 77/257589.html | ||
| Lord_deathscyte |
I love my xb12r for driving in rush hour and for long rides. Did a couple of 400+ mile(longest 555) plus rides last year. At homecoming last year people could not believe I rode the bike such long distance. I will admit that I did not find the bike comfortable for the first 300 miles that I owned it, but it turned out I was riding the bike wrong. After some minor changes to my riding position I was fine. I did try the lower pegs from the lightning but did not like the way they repositioned my body in relationship to the rest of the bike. So I guess the riding position between the 2 bikes is all preference. | ||
| Cityxslicker |
Moondust, you can change your insurance at any time. I would call them and get a good rate quote on your bike rather than change your bike. besides, going over that magic 1000 cc mark will raise your insurance a bit too. Talk to the agent, you should be able to get the same deal as it is still an 07 bike. If they wont give it to you, ask to speak to a supervisor. All things being equal, the cityx should have lower insurance than the firebolt XB12R for displacement. The black on the engine case CityX is better for commuting, esp through the rural county roads. I would NEVER do on a crotch rocket style bike on the dirty, bendy and twisty roads that I push my CityX through. Keep the CityX |
