| Author | Message | ||
     Davegess |
From reading the CW story and seeing the contingency money it looks like Buell is undertaking a major racing effort, albeit doing it differently than many other folks. Correct me if I am wrong but Buell is planning on offering complete race engines for the FX type series? Are they offering a complete race kit? suspension, brakes etc? What do they cost? With the pretty nice prices on used XB's methinks you could build a competitive racer for not much cash and make some money back from the prizes. I would think this would put a lot of XB's onto the track. Does anyone else offer a setup like this? Does anyone else have a good enough chassis and swingarm to allow a rider to be competitive with a completely stock chassis? Don't know, curious. | ||
| Kowpow225 |
The way I read it, dave, is that buell will be building engines for a privateer out there who needs a place to start. I'm not sure about an entire bike. That was a great article because it broke down each change made to the bikes from stock to race form. I gotta admit. I LIKE the sound of things to come. (gasp, cough, drool) | ||
| Brupska  |
What month is the issue that the article is in? brupska | ||
| Lpd22 |
I have read the article twice and drooled over the pictures many a times. I hope they do awesome at the daytona 200. Brupska-March issue | ||
| Brupska |
Thanks Lp, I will keep my eye out for it. brupska | ||
| Fullpower  |
march issue??? i subscribe, but have not gotten mine yet. | ||
| Reepicheep  |
Yup, march. Mine was late also (for some reason). | ||
| Xbcrazy |
Like everyone else, I was really excited when I read this article. Unfortunately, at least one of the teams featured in that article is NOT actually racing at Daytona due to lack of funding and support. I wish Buell would get it together so that we can actually watch these guys compete with the best factory teams in the world!! (Message edited by xbcrazy on February 09, 2005) | ||
| Fullpower |
ok, got my march issue. you should listen to those guys lather up over all these 600cc race replica bikes. they fall all over themselves trying to heap praise on these little toys, the whole time lamenting how impractical and useless they are for actual road use. the Buell write up was nice. where can i get that 8 piston caliper? | ||
| Nedwreck  |
I wonder how much extra fuel the frame holds when they weld up the snorkle area like that. Bob | ||
| Court |
>>>>I wish Buell would get it together Please explain how. Court | ||
| Gonen60  |
is Buell racing Daytona or Not...if not, that would be a start in terms of getting it together. I do hope they are going racing. Maybe the development cost for the CityXs handguards, headlight brush guard and see through air box would have been better spent, backing the FX race machine | ||
| Glitch  |
is Buell racing Daytona or Not... Buell is not as a factory, they never have as far as I know. Racers that race a Buell however will be racing at Daytona. Confused me too when someone started a thread stating Buell Motorcycle Company wasn't going to race this year. Yet in another thread, I was reading about how bright the future looked for Buell racers this coming season. BMC doesn't have a race bike, private racers use Buell motorcycles, and it looks to me the factory is now doing more than ever to help these guys. The start of something good if you ask me. | ||
| Blublak  |
Nedwreck - According to what I remember reading, about a quart of fuel is gained once they close up that hole. Hmmmm.. Still seems like a doable idea, if only they could figure out a practical street version with that hole changed back to fuel capacity. Ok, so it's not that much extra range, but it's a bit more then we get now.. Later, | ||
| Fullpower |
if that hole is a quart, than i can run 14 miles on that much additional fuel. | ||
| Xbcrazy  |
>>>>I wish Buell would get it together Please explain how. Court Here is how I see it. This article makes several points that tie Buell Motorcycle Company to the racing efforts of two dealer-sponsored teams. The second sentence states "the bikes were entered by dealer-sponsored teams, assisted by factory help and engineering." I am intimately familiar with the work of Buell Racing; i.e. Henry Duga, and the support he provides privateers at the CCS and FUSA level. However, it is my understanding that he is the ONLY employee at Buell solely dedicated to racing. That makes "assisted by factory help and engineering" pretty lame. Please correct me here if I am wrong. The article goes on to chronicle the developments of two other Buell employees; Jon Bunne and Gary Stippich. I believe that both of these men have full time positions as engineers for Buell and hefty responsibilities to the production versions that we all ride. It seems that they could hardly have the time to fulfill their everyday responsibilities and be dedicated to race development at the same time. Especially, when you consider the challenges that the Buell has to overcome to be competitive on the same track as full factory backed teams. Finally, the article quotes Erik as having said, "We're doing it because developing a bike for racing is the best way to achieve bulletproof reliability in production bikes...Racing is the ultimate test." I understand that magazines take liberties when quoting especially in regards to the context that they use the quote, but it seems to indicate that Erik, meaning Buell Motorcycle Company, is endorsing these two independent teams and that he is intimately involved. Hence my original statement...I wish Buell would get it together. Are they interested in supporting the dealer teams that want to go compete at the AMA level as this article makes it seem? Then give them the resources that they need to do so. If not, don't get wrapped up in articles like this one that makes it seem like Buell is interested in racing. | ||
| BadS1  |
I didn't read it that way. | ||
| Buell2001b  |
I have not read the article.I need to go buy the magazine. From what i read here i get the impression that BUELL is making an attempt to get into racing and I think its great. Someone mentioned above that the BUELL enginneers would not have enough time to deign race engines cuase they are too busy with production. well am an Architect that has always been interested in engineering. With the computer software that is available now adays it is a lot easier to design. I can basickly design a motorcycle before a tool is even lift of the floor. I myself would be very interested in working with a group designing changes for the XB but i would need a group of people that have a good background in engines, machine shop skills and motorcycle egineering. If there is anyone with the same idea i have lets talk more and form a group. I am in the DC/VA/MD area | ||
| Gowindward  |
Okay, So here is a little story that may in some small was shed some light as a point of reference for factory support (Buell Engineers, Erik, and any other support staff that are there for a quick question from a race team…etc) So stick with me here. So there is this very famous and talented French artist sitting outside a café in Paris doing some sketches. A woman walking by recognizes him (we will call him “Frenchy”) and say “Is that you Frenchy?” He says why yes that is who I am. She is amazed and ask if he will do a quick sketch of herself since she is a huge fan of his work. Well, Frenchy being the nice guy that he is agrees and quickly makes a beautiful sketch of this woman sitting at one of the outside tables of the café. When he is done he signs it and hands it to her and says that will be $10,000 dollars. She is astonished that he would ask so much for a sketch that took him a whole 5 minutes to complete. She says that only took you 5 minutes how could you charge so much. Frenchy replies “No Madam, that took a life time” So maybe with that you can see that even having only a few minutes of time from the talent within Buell can be worth a huge amount of value to those race teams. How much would a sketch on a napkin from one of the Buell engineers be worth to a race team?? You have to also think about Buell’s business is manufacturing and selling motorcycles, not racing them. | ||
| Midknyte |
if that hole is a quart, than i can run 14 miles on that much additional fuel.\ That's significant, considering we've figured out here that the reserve gets us about 30-37 miles... | ||
| Gonen60 |
You have to also think about Buell’s business is manufacturing and selling motorcycles, not racing them. Your right, at this point, it seems they stand well on the production side, not the race. I do believe the two can go hand and hand. Race on sunday, sell on monday. There is no doubt the world of race engineering benefits street production and R&D by leaps and bounds. | ||
| Reepicheep |
If Buell does not "have it together" the racers would not be running XB engines with trapdoor transmissions, 8 piston calipers, or be running exhausts tuned for both high power and lower noise. Those ain't things you throw together on the drill press over your lunch break. | ||
| Gonen60 |
does buell make the 8 piston calipers or the race exhaust? | ||
| Davegess |
does buell make the 8 piston calipers or the race exhaust? Buell designs stuff, sometimes the people with different areas of expertise make the stuff. Buell designs the frames but there has not been a single Buell motorcycle with a frame MADE by Buell. The making is left ot experts just liek the designing is. | ||
| José_quiñones  |
I think what people want is a FULL factory team, like the HD VR1000 Factory Team. But this requires Commitment to Win at all costs. What they have now are Factory backed, dealer operated teams. Which is very convenient for Buell in the following way: If the team does good, Buell gets the credit and mentions it in their press releases. If the teams do bad, well..... | ||
| BadS1 |
I agree also Jose.Buell is a small company in comparison to Honda,Yamaha,etc.To do a full factory effort is huge involvement and big money that Buell may not want to do or financially support.What Buell is doing is giving us great bikes by doing exactly what their doing as far as supporting the privateer teams. | ||
| Reepicheep |
I would love to see a Buell on a podium, but not if it meant my $8,000 9sx was suddenly a $10,000 bike. | ||
| Wyckedflesh  |
If the teams do bad, well..... It doesn't get tacked onto the price of my next Buell  | ||
| Firebolt020283  |
its actually not bad how they are running the race program right now. I mean come one do u really want to pay duc prices for ur buell? I know i dont want to pay $20,000 for my motorcycle (not that there not worth it it just thats alot) | ||
| Xbcrazy |
I guess we have really struck a nerve here because we all want to see Buells racing in bigger events, like the ones that AMA sanctions. However, the pivotal point in our thread is whether CW's article regarding the future of Buell racing is truth or fallacy. Basically, is Buell in or out? The CW article says that they are in and that Buell is committed to supporting both dealer-sponsored teams in their quest to compete at Daytona. Because one of the teams is not going to be there, I believe that they are out. If you don't believe me that's fine, but I would encourage you to call the race teams like I did and find out for yourselves. For the sake of all Buell race fans, like myself, I hope that factory "assistance" is waning for dealer-sponsored teams because a true factory team is in development. That would be excellent, but is pure speculation on my part. As far as all the cool race stuff detailed in the article, like the eight piston caliper...it was all designed and tested last season. What the article doesn't tell you about was all the stuff the teams needed to be ready for this season that they still don't have. Whoever thinks that they can design a better bike with a keyboard, mouse and a good CAD program better talk to Mr. Czysz. Lot's of time, loads of money. It just ain't that easy! |
