| Author | Message | ||
     Brucelee |
I came across a review of a Moto Guzzi recent issue of a bike mag (name withheld to protect the guilty). Bottom line, the bike ran the quarter in 12.2 (about the same time as a 1990 ninja 500) and cost 14000 US. The whole article was about the character of the MG and largely was a walk around the fact that the bike was slow by most standards for almost any bike. Hey, if that were a Buell, well, you can write the rest. But it was ITALIAN! Don't get me wrong, I am not knocking the bike, but the writers. I LOVE ducatis and some models are slow AS COMPARED to JAP racebikes. But that does not seem to matter to these writers EXCEPT when the dreaded SPORTSTER BUELL is reviewed. Hmmm! edited by brucelee on December 23, 2003 | ||
| Davefl |
I recently rode a Guzzi Le Mans. It had a very narrow usable power band. It also had some weird handling quirks, for example when i would lay on the throttle mid turn the rear end would rise up and unload the rear tire. Needless to say I was more than happy to return to my S3. Talking with the salesman after the ride I had him talked into going for a demo on a new buell. | ||
| Davefl |
I recently rode a Guzzi Le Mans. It had a very narrow usable power band. It also had some weird handling quirks, for example when i would lay on the throttle mid turn the rear end would rise up and unload the rear tire. Needless to say I was more than happy to return to my S3. Talking with the salesman after the ride I had him talked into going for a demo on a new buell. | ||
| Dynarider |
SPORTSTER BUELL Is that on 05 model?  | ||
| Bigsherm9r |
It's obvious why some magazines trash Buells... You guys gotta remember what a Buell felt like the first time you rode it, after a lifetime of riding Japanese stuff- WEIRD! I still remember the first time I rode a Thunderbolt... it sounded like a VW and shook like a combine! When you get down to it, even if I rode a '69 CB750, I'd become intimate enough with it and modify it enough so that I'd be able to keep a respectable pace on it because I made my choice, and was determined to have fun on the thing. The same goes true for many people on almost any bike- some bikes feel strange and/or crappy (and some are!) compared to the most refined stuff the magazines are used to riding. These guys switch bikes constantly, and even the XB's are strange compared to most stuff. If even Peter Stark had only an XB to ride, I imagine he'd figure out how to pick up the pace on it and be defending it against other bikes before too long. So Buells are an acquired taste, a lot of people think I am, too! Vive la weirdos! Sherm | ||
| Wyckedflesh |
Sherm, I literally went from a '74 CB360 that I had ridden 600 miles just a few days before hand to an XB12...yes it was night and day and ALL for the GOOOOODDDDDDDDD! | ||
| Glitch |
I don't think you can do a good comparison/review of any bike if all the time you have is an afternoon or so. It's not fair to anyone. I think it's easier for the mags (US anyway) to compare the I4 Big 4 Japanese bikes, because they are so close to the same. Through in a truly different bike and you get a review of the journalist more than the bike. | ||
| Wyckedflesh |
Honestly I tend to avoid the US mags. Have any of them done a longterm test on an XB? | ||
| Boulderbiker |
Not that I've read it that often or that much, but from what I have, Cycle World seems to have a pretty open mind in their perceptions of bikes. | ||
| Hardluckxb |
Hey Wyckedflesh... I started on a '76 CB360 before buying my XB9S. | ||
| Xb9srider |
I found it interesting how Motorcyclist forgave the Ducati of it's handling sins by taking the time to do a proper set-up (they raised the rear ride height). However, the XB12S was granted no such provision. I have raised the fork tube on my 9S (effectively raising the rear ride height) and the stand up tendency went away along with most other niggles. It's a great bike. Stark is a punk and I didn't like him before he trashed a good bike. Never Give Up! |
